Salinas and the Coast of Ecuador

Salinas Malecon – Sandcastle that we have seen being built during our stay here!

It is our last three days of the three weeks that we have spent in Salinas.  Our visit here was long overdue. Hemant had been reading online about Salinas and how it is a favored destination for retirement for Americans. I believe that Panama City has now lost is ranking and Ecuador is topping the list for an affordable retirement location.

Our first sight of the Malecon or the boardwalk was breathtaking. There are not many people on the streets. The one bedroom/studio apartment that we are renting is basic.  It could have been furnished better and also maintained better.  I will not go into the accommodation details.  Although, we did have a fantastic view of the Yacht club from our side of the apartment as you see in the photo.  Ecuador is on the equator, so the days can get hot. However, the weather is sunny during the year, with little rain.  The sun is strong and headcover is advisable.  Even the locals take shelter under the umbrellas on the beach and wear hats all the time.  The drive from Guayaquil to Salinas is very dry and barren. It is a desert after all!

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The Language spoken is Spanish and very few speak good English.  So I was translating everything on google translate, and you know how that goes, sometimes its give you the most bizarre translation and the question mark on the Ecuadorian's face, is worth noting.  The Salinas Malecon is where we spent most of our time and went for walks every morning all the way up to Chipipe Beach.  The pace of life is s l o w.

There are two grocery stores, Super Maxi and the larger one in the Paseo Shopping Center.  Milk is UHT.  I have not found fresh milk anywhere.  Will I miss fresh milk?  Don't know yet.  The supermarkets are well stocked, but due to import restrictions the choice is limited.  There are Mercado's (Markets ) one in Salinas and one in La Libertad.  Expats rave about organic and non-GMO foods here.   As far as I can see there is little regulation on locally grown food.  Some even wash their veggies in Potassium Permanganate before cooking.  I just cooked normally, I guess I have immunity from India LOL!  The water did smell strange.  We drank only bottled water as we did not want to take that risk. The power can go off anytime and it did once during our stay, however, was restored in 10 minutes.  I heard this was common.

I saw a cinema in Paseo Shopping Center.  Don't know if they screen English movies or are they dubbed?  There is not much by way of theater. No one mentioned it anyway.  Most are happy watching their American TV programs, and subscribe to Netflix or youtube for their entertainment and communicating via the internet (Skype etc) with family and friends overseas.  And getting together for lunches, dinners or going to the Salinas Golf and tennis Club to play squash or swim. Part of the Davis cup tournament of South America is played in this club.

During the season, I am told that one can see Whales from the apartment balconies.  Since we were here in the off-season we did not have that pleasure.  My best past time during my three weeks were the extremely entertaining Pelicans that fish in the ocean.  At first, I could not believe that they just dropped from a height into the water to catch fish.  They look clumsy as they dive and fall into the water, but their purpose is achieved to catch the fish to eat.

Every time we went down from our apartment, we met someone who was living in the building.  We were told by one person that we live in the "Expat Bubble" building called the Alamar.  We visited several apartments in this building and others to check out the various options available.  The expat community was really warm and welcoming.  The warm reception that we were greeted with by this expat community here in Salinas, is something to experience. A big thank you to all we met and had lunches, drinks, and chats with.  We continue our journey and hope to keep in touch with new friends we made here in Salinas. Adios!