Posted on 09/15/2011 5:52:49 PM PDT by Former MSM Viewer
Costa Rica sounds awesome. Ecuador sounds exotic. Are they as good as they sound?
He's probably in an unmarked grave somewhere, now.
Consider going a bit further South, too - Chile is stable, open, nearly zero national debt, has fabulous climates, and is cheap to live in. Vina del Mar is a wonderful little city on the coast and you can live there for very little!
Cotacachi is near Otavalo which I have visited. A very interesting area in the Andws highlands. I have not been to Cuenca. Quito has more modern conveniences and inexpensive, excellent restaraunts.
My GF years ago in jr. college was from Ecuador. She was damn caliente’ and loved to drink THEN dance to anything latin. Of course, i didn’t mind because she was drunk anyways..
Anyhoo, she was a city girl from Quito and she kept telling me that the place to go to beach-wise which acts like a city is Puerto Ayora or Riobamba.
If I did live outside of America right after the impending Civil war, I would live in Cebu, Philippines. As a matter of fact, I know a lot of peeps who bought condos in Makati and Cebu because they;re cheap...and the population speaks English AND Tagalog.
No, but from what I hear, Panama should be on your list.
Index of Economic Freedom, The Heritage Foundation.
I have been to Chile (and Argentina) as well. I enjoyed Chile (Santiago) and the ski resorts NE of there. Mendosa, Argentina was also nice. The seizure of retirement funds may be making things not so nice in Argentina.
Costa Rica is pretty nice, having visited there. They do have a lot of our fast food places, but the local restaurants (sodas) are very unique. The mountains are much cooler than the coasts, which are so hot and humid it is hard to move. I am sure, given enough time, you could acclimate to it.
Learn to speak Portuguese before you move there, it’ll help you tremendously!
Have written about Latin America for more than a decade, just returned from CR, and own a home in Honduras.
As to CR, absolutely fantastic place to live; San Jose is more European than Latino. But keep in mind that the country has a socialist government, so expect personal freedoms to be a bit restricted.
As to Ecuador, too much turmoil and Marxism. Still, it’s a beautiful country with great prices.
Right now, the best buy for the buck in Latin America is Honduras. Wonderful people. Incredibly low prices. Remarkable beauty. Caribbean coast is very hot. I prefer area around Tegus, where it is mild all year round.
In short, buy property in Honduras now. It is a great investment. Then, if Obama wins in 2012, prepare to move south!
Just make sure when you bring home a date that “she” isn’t tucking a little surprise.
I feel the same way about Canada, we have it pretty good here, except for some socialist crap we have to deal with, but overall, it’s not bad. Some of the best scenery in the world I’ve ever seen has been in western Canada.
I’ve also traveled a lot in the US, and I love the scenery and real Americans there too, downside was a lot of cities I didn’t feel particularly safe in. Then again I don’t like cities to begin with.
I just got back from the Philippines, what a fantastic place, I’ve been all over the world, but have never met people like that, I was very impressed.
It’s also incredibly cheap there, doesn’t take much to live off. One FReeper lives there already that I know of.
Costa Rica? Fine. You’ll be OK.
Ecuador? Lotsa politcal turmoil, with big-time anti-Gringo sentiments. Stay away.
Lived in San José one year. At 3500 feet, it has 84º every day. In the wet season, drenching thunderstorms every day, no problem, kind of neat. Did not have any special problem with bugs, etc. It is unbearably hot and humid on the Atlantic shore, hot and dry on the Pacific. Innumerable things to do outdoors. It did not have the amenities readily available. Also, if you live there for long, you WILL develop a gastrointestinal infection, and it WILL be bad news. But all in all, it was a great experience.
Don’t know Quito.
It's an old FR joke.
My bro is married to one and we have a distribution company in Pampanga, with an office in Makati. We are sent there once to 2X a year.
And YES, it’s damn cheap to live there. My bud from college heads the Dell center there and his condo in Makati (top floor) costs the equivalent of a Honda Civic 2012 (I am not kidding you). Most of the newspapers are also in English. I have been to Ibiza and the Manila and Cebu nightlife beats it hands down.
Living in Chile on very little is a thing of the past. It’s very expensive now, with gas at $5.80/gal, milk at $5.70/gal, simple ham slices at $4.93/lb, etc. To eat out at a decent restaurant for lunch runs a minimum of $8.50. FWIW
In Costa Rica you can order any food you want, as long as it’s some variation on rice and black beans. May be better these days...
I know that the real estate laws are screwy in Costa Rica. Probably would not want to buy real estate there.
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