For those of you who are not urbanites, preferring a small town rather than a city (like us), here is our personal comparison between Vilcabamba vs Cotacachi. Admittedly we spent more time in Vilca (10 weeks) vs Cotacachi (10 days), but this is how we perceived the differences. We asked a lot of questions to a fair amount of expats.
Setting: Vilca is located in a more tight mountainous region, meaning there is not as much more room to expand due to the terrain, whereas Cotacachi has plenty of more flattish area and lots of room to build/expand. I saw many more lots for Sale in the latter.
Cost of Living: More expensive in Vilca. Housing and food more expensive there. But neither are going to be out of reach for the average expat relocating there.
Safety: Cotacachi at the present time is notably safer. A possible contributing factor is that in Cotacachi most expats live in gated communities, whereas this is not the case in Vilca. And for whatever reason, Vilca is presently the target for robberies of Gringos, and the perpetrators appear to be mostly Columbians.
Water: Maybe not something to consider, but we felt the water was safer in Vilca, coming from the Andes and certainly drinkable. My wife got travelers diarrhea in Cotacachi from the water.
Influence of Indigenous: There is a higher percentage of Indigenous folk in Cotacachi. There is more flat land surrounding the area, which implies more locally grown organic food. We felt the locals at both areas were equally friendly, it is just that the percentage of indigenous is higher in Cota, FWIW.
Larger City Nearby: Loja is about a 45 minute bus ride away, less so with a taxi from Vilca. Ibarra is about 30 minutes away, Otavalo about half that from Cotacachi.
Pandemic/Strike Preparedness/Response: During both of these events, Vilca faired decidedly better than most other places in the country. This is from questions we asked of those who resided in these areas during each. Regarding the strike, one reason for that is its location - being detached and self-sustaining. I believe this implies that there was just not the need to shut down the province of Loja as it was with Quito/Guayaquil. I’m told they did not have any food or propane shortage. The city of Loja, apparently farther away from the rest of the country, faired quite well I’m told.
Regarding the pandemic, the majority of expats in Vilca are antivaxxers and were not near as complaint with the mandates, and for the most part, this was acceptable. They relayed that most fared just fine dealing with Covid. (As an aside, I was on the coast 2 years prior and met some young folks on a bus who had just left Vilca. I was curious of their experience there, and asked them how they liked it. They said, “It was the coolest place. Nobody was wearing a mask!” Maybe that tells us something?). So take it at face value, for what it is worth. Am just the messenger.
Major Airport: Quito’s airport is about 2 hrs from Cotacachi. The province of Loja is served by a small, provincial airport with daily flights to/from Quito only, and this system at present works well.
Nature Nearby: Vilca is decidedly better in this regard. Once you head South, East or West from Vilca you are out of urbanization right away, whereas out of Cotacachi you need to travel west a half hour or so before you reach the edge of urbanization.
Weather/Climate: Vilca is warmer being around 4600 feet elevation, and wetter also. While we were there the temps were in the high 70s to mid 80s every day. Cotacachi is at 8,000 feet, dryer and cooler, with temps mid 60s to mid 70s while we were there.
Those Iron Bars: In Vilca most dwellings have iron bars over the windows, whereas the opposite is true in Cotacachi. This would seem to imply that robbery is more common in Vilca. But in the recent past robberies were in waves of a few months, separated by a few years. The present spat of robberies may be different.
We felt we could personally live in either place, as there were no greater advantages outweighing the others, except possibly if we have to deal with another paro, Vilca seems preferable as life is more likely to carry on as usual. English seemed to be heard more often in Vilca, but we strove to understand Spanish, which improved quite a bit while there, making life more practical. Regarding crime…..if it does not get curtailed we may be steered toward Cota. However, we are more inclined to just be vigilant in Vilca.
It has been stressed to this group time and again: If you are considering moving to Ecuador, please do as long of an exploratory trip as you possibly can. I’m going to 2nd that because it is essential. Often the locals simply see you as a money bag, and so you WILL be scammed here and there for smaller bits of $. Those experiences will be offset by honest locals who can be very helpful. It is truly best to NOT make up your mind to move there before you go, or even during your time there. Wait will you get back and hash things over. It may not be your cup of tea.
No comments:
Post a Comment