Three years here in Vilcabamba (pronounced: Beelcabamba) Ecuador. What I have personally learned and observed being firsthand testimony from the perspective of observation, thus this is what I know of Vilcabamba and Ecuador in general. This is a so called report or an account of personal observations. Obviously some may agree and disagree with these writings which of course is normal as everyone has their own opinions, perspective’s  and personal observations, and ideas of Vilcabamba and Ecuador. Which doesn’t mean I am right, just means I am describing what I have witnessed personally, so it is the truth for me to express to the readers.

This small town or village according to ‘International Living’ has about 4000 inhabitants within the village, with many American ex-pats making this home along with many others being British settlers, as well as French, Germans, Canadians, Russians and Australians. I find the majority being being Americans by far, also known as to the local people being called ‘gringos’. With so many Americans living here, one does not need to learn the local language of Spanish, because enough people here speak English, which is a shame since we are living in a Spanish speaking country, I feel we should learn the native language, but this small village or town is liken to an American town, not like a authentic Spanish speaking community, again such a shame in my opinion.

This is the first place and time for me that I have lived amongst so many Americans in this life, and it has certainly opened my eyes to a very different culture and attitude exposing me to some crazy ass American characters and others, being so called ‘foreigners’, in this American-style village. 

During the time I have stayed in Vilcabamba, there was a young Irishman that was known to harm a young woman with cuts on her arm from a knife he used. Some would consider him to be a dangerous man and/or violent individual, but the ex-pat community ignored his actions for the most part and tolerated and/or accepted him, until one day he ended up murdering a young Argentina man I believe. At this point he was removed from the community and jailed. But it appears there are other characters in the community that seems to be tolerated and accepted although not having a very good reputation or being of a bad character.

For instance a New Zealand man that I call ‘Andre the rat’, as he rats out on people for not having a valid visa and not having a valid business license for the business he or she is operating, he talks to people like a social butterfly extracting information given to him and then using it against them to inform the police of wrong doings he or she is supposedly engaging in. He is a police informant and a no good rat, by not minding his own business which is a fault and simply harming people in this community from 5 years of age to 85. The community again ignores such a rat and accepts and tolerates his disgraceful actions, instead of having him move to a different community.

Just as with a Italian pizza maker that I have had face to face conversation with about the subject of pedophilia, we did not see eye-to-eye on the subject, it appears he did not agree with me about me condemning the practice and/or actions of such men having sexual interactions with children, from the face to face conversation with him I was led to believe he supported such and I was against it. I called Poalo a pedophile and walked away, based upon the preponderance of evidence in front of me, to not speak with him again and to ignore him if I saw him on the streets, but he seems to be liked, tolerated and accepted in the community as such, so who am I to judge one, if a pedophile is accepted in this community so be it.

As far as Americans go, I was being taught by an American Spanish teacher and she and another student both insisted that when one makes a claim/statement that the onus is not upon the defendant to prove such a claim being made, but the onus is upon the one making the claim to prove such, always has been. I know this is totally backwards all over the world, but these two women insisted so. Therefore, if I were to say to these two American women that think such, that I feel that they are both crazy dumb ass Americans, that I would not have to prove this statement at all, in fact it would be both of them having to prove that they are not crazy dumb ass Americans and good luck with that, meaning the statement I made is true and stands true according to their believes. Many would think they are idiots. Yes there are characters in this village that I just shake the head and roll the eyes in discontent and with much surprise, who am I to argue with what they think or other people’s beliefs, the bottom line is what these dumb ass Americans can prove. 

One other fellow in town has a restaurant in which it appears he has his group of loyal customers that hang out there, but it appears to me more like a mob that threatens to harm others that do not believe what Charlie believes in, or others in the group believe, in other words if someone outside this restaurant group has a different opinion, people of this restaurant group will make threatening remarks to break bones or beat one up, which to me I understand somewhat as Americans appear to like war, and it appears they like to think they are number one throughout the world, so to me it appears Americans are usually somewhat violent-type of people, along with being self-centred, egotistic, and selfish, not all, but many of the Americans from personal observations I have noticed are liken to this stereotype. 

Now the local people being the Spanish speaking inhabitants living here all of their lives, they too have some bad characters amongst them. Mostly the business owners as some like to take advantage of the so called gringo’s or so called foreigners, by over-charging, one fellow that sells steel and has a welding shop, charges up to six times more for steel than what one can buy in Loja, six times more for cost of steel compared to a short trip to Loja, unbelievable. I had a taxi driver drop off guests and their luggage to this house and amongst the brief chaos of introductions, paying the driver and having all of the luggage unloaded, the taxi driver unloaded two small bags of his own household garbage, what an unscrupulous driver. Best that I see it ends up in a garbage truck instead of thrown into the river, many South Americans like to throw bags of garbage into the river, I just don’t understand why pollute a fresh water drinking system, to the point of being undrinkable, again I just don’t understand why it is done so much in South America, Peru was really bad for this, polluting rivers and oceans.

Both with the gringos and local Spanish people that have dogs, all or mostly all leave the shit on the streets or sidewalks that their dogs excrement, no one seems to want to clean it up, ergo leaving dog shit all over the village streets and sidewalks, where people are walking sometimes in bare feet. Many dogs walk around freely without an owner nearby. This is not a good thing being not responsible responsible for ones own dog, especially when people have to always watch out for stepping in dog shit all over town. If its not dog shit then its horse shit or donkey shit, so much shit on the streets and sidewalks of this small American town.

Vilcabamba is an expensive village for me and for many backpackers that I chat with. Here there are many pizza shops, selling pizza’s as much as $20., to me that equals about $27.00 CAD for a pizza in Ecuador and I find that very expensive. As in Canada I think it would be hard to find a pizza selling for that much, as I find many things much cheaper in Canada than here in Ecuador and/or Vilcabamba. Shiitake mushrooms sell for $13.lb/$17. CAD. Coconut oil I do not understand, as coconuts are grown here, yet I can buy coconut oil cheaper in Canada getting it shipped from the US, than I can buy here, again where the coconuts are grown. Blueberries sell for $5.lb/$6.50 CAD, in Canada I think they sell for $2.00 lb or less. Pies sell here for up to $80.CAD., in Canada probably buy a whole pie for $20. I have a list of foods that are much higher in price than in Canada. Cell phones, computers, cars, motorcycles, bicycles, weights, and more, all more expensive here than in Canada. For Canadians living here they already have to pay 30% more on top of the already high prices, so again Canadians are paying a premium price to live here, no wonder many things in Canada are much cheaper than here in Vilcabamba and/or Ecuador.

I have posted how expensive Vilcabamba is on Facebook community pages, only to get defensive responses that other places in Ecuador are much higher than Vilcabamba, which to me means Ecuador is an expensive country, compared to what many people are being led to believe as to thinking it is a cheap country to live in.

Also on these community pages via Facebook, new ex-pats posted they are coming to Ecuador to live from the USA, and were wanting to know what to bring as far as food items that are not available to purchase in Ecuador, boy the list was extremely long, everything from A-Z to bring, as Ecuador does not have the right item or hard to find items. It was as if nothing was available here and to bring your favourite, mustard, jam, peanut butter, coffee, teas, toothpaste, medications, vitamins/supplements, oils, frypans, sheets, towels, clothing, shoes, boots, dog food, the list just went on and on. One needs to ask, why would one want to re-locate here if so many items are not available that the Americans are missing out on and how expensive the food items and other things cost.

Recently, (July of 2020) the government closed all of its post offices which means no more mail to send out or receive, to me its like the country just went back fifty years in time, (Ecuador rating for ease of business 133/190) but then again getting something delivered here was just about impossible as I attempted to have a few things sent here to me, only to be sent back or possible kept by customs for the employees benefit. So many complaints that I have heard with not receiving mail or packages that it is just about impossible to receive a delivery, too many rules, regulations, policies and red tape to do, to get a package received in one’s hands. Now the only way to send or receive something, is to pay the expensive shipping couriers, such as DHL (which I do not trust as they took the shipping payment from me and did not ship the package and never returned the money to me, thus I see them as a rip off fraudulent business), or FedEx and so on. To get a package delivered here to Vilcabamba there are private companies charging from $6.50 lb + to deliver your packages, which can add up and be very expensive if the package is heavy. Again, the word expensive keeps popping up in this writing.

Let’s wrap up this writing with some good things about this small community. This is a place that is at about 1500m or 5000ft altitude which means it has the perfect climate that most people like where it is not too hot and not too cold, a consistent temperature where most enjoy and there is no need for air conditioning or central heating. This also means that one can grow food all year long. Also the reason why so many ‘foreigners’ call or make Vilcabamba home.

The drinking water is known to be fresh and healthy having gold and silver ions in the bottled drinking water. The air for the most part is clean and fresh, a few years ago it has been reported that the skies above are chemtrail free, but there have been some sightings of chemtrail spraying up above unfortunately.

The local people appear to be happy for the most part, as I believe its due to the access to more money with the gringos living here paying much more for everything than what the locals pay, thus helping out the business owners greatly with making a higher income for them. The local Spanish business owners are always friendly and helpful with smiles and greetings. Just know that the prices here are going to be much more expensive whether they are taking advantage of you or not.

There are many good workers to help with house cleaning, garden work painting, plumbing and other trades that one needs help with at very reasonable prices compared to North America, as they work for a fraction being from $20.- $30 a day. But as far as showing up, or on time, do not expect such, many do not show up when scheduled, some may never show up at all, one is lucky if help shows up two hours late. People just say, they are on Ecuadorian time. I have ordered coconut oil to be delivered to the address I use, with the supplier stating it will arrive Monday morning, then I send an email wondering where it is, then the reply is it will arrive Tuesday morning, then again and again until it arrives Thursday or Friday morning, or next Monday again, it is what is, no guarantees on their word for deliveries or for commencement of work.

I have offered local Spanish speaking people to learn English for free or for a very low price, lots and lots of interest, but no one shows to learn, it appears they want to learn, but again lacking much initiative, or self-motivation to attend classes. If someone offered me free Spanish lessons I would take them up on the offer, as I’d be all over it like hair on a bar of soap, a dog chasing a cat or a kid in an ice cream shop.

Be careful of some of the women, if they find a nice man, they will ask to borrow money with promising to pay back,they have many reasons for needing the money, taking advantage of ones caring and generosity, but the women will never pay back the money and always keep asking for more. I have met too many women like this, they are a dime a dozen, an endless supply of women asking to borrow money and never intending to pay back, so be aware and call it a gift or a donation, as you will not see the money paid back, also communicating with these women by text, as in FB messenger they write so kindly, but once you stop sending money to help them out, the text communication stops also.

Here in the valley, many, many hiking trails all mapped out, not only for avid hikers but for the cyclists that enjoy biking the trails.

From what I have heard from the tourists visiting Vilcabamba and getting stuck here during the COVID/pandemic lockdown, many were quite happy and content being here, saying if it had to happen this seems like the perfect place to be confined or stuck. As it is/was a quite place without hassle as to wearing a mask or not, half the people wore a mask and the other half didn’t. People went about their business, after the initial 3 months of having closures of businesses and restaurants, the ones that never re-opened, new businesses moved in and opened up, which seems to be normal in this village, businesses are always opening, closing and re-locating to a better cheaper spot. 

Lastly, I have travelled to other parts of Ecuador like Tena, Pano Napo, Baños, Quito, Cuenca, Otavalo, Cotacachi, Loja, Salinas, Santa Elena, La Liberated and Yangana. The experience for me at all of these places has been wonderful and I enjoyed the visits, but what is so much different from all of these places compared to Vilca, is that these places were not so inundated with Americans, which means the prices were cheaper and with me living in Vilca being surrounded with so many Americans it is quite different, not only with cheaper prices but you need to know the Spanish language indeed to communicate.

I watched a YouTube video with Andy the Hobo traveller that visited Vilca and described Vilcabamba and the Americans as … “Vilcabamba is full of Americans … consider it a bunch of very, very angry at the United States Americans, and they’re all congregating together, they’re definitely what I would call 1960’s hippies that basically never grew up … it’s a place for anybody in the 1960’s still wants to be an activist never growing up, still wearing a ponytail and hates the United States … full of lost souls … too populated with foreigners. Ecuador is 30 – 40% higher than Peru. Ecuador is overpriced and one of the worst places on the planet.”

I would have travelled to more areas but the lockdown has put a damper on travelling for me, but it has been easing up over the past few months and now that the new year is arriving (2021) perhaps its a good time for me to explore more beaches here in Ecuador such as … Montanita, Olón, Ayampe, and Puerto Lopez.

Ciao por ahora mi amigos