School summer holidays here in Manabi province start around the beginning of February and go until the end of March or so. In the middle of that somewhere is the beginning of Lent, preceded by the final long weekend holiday of Carnaval. Ecuadorians love to go to the beach at Carnaval so that is when Canoa is busiest. Unfortunately, it’s also the time when there’s more likely to be robberies.
People often ask us if Ecuador is safe. That’s a hard question to answer. There is definitely more crime than in our little village at home but perhaps no more than in other developing countries. Travelers learn to be cautious and use common sense everywhere. Be aware of your surroundings, don’t wander the streets drunk late at night and don’t flash a lot of cash.
There are a lot of Ecuadorian families here for a beach vacation around Carnaval. A very small minority of the vacationers are here to steal. Recently we have heard of one attempted robbery of 2 ladies walking on the beach who were confronted by a young man brandishing a broken bottle. We’ve also heard of 2 break-ins.
Generally, the robberies are crimes of opportunity. So, we don’t feel unsafe but we always try to be vigilant.We are relatively wealthy people where the average wage is about $450 per month. Don’t flaunt it. Lock your doors. Don’t be an easy target.
Another possible concern for some people is the potential for earthquakes. The quake here 3 years ago devastated the local area and killed over 50 people in the village of Canoa. A few weeks ago, about 5 am, we were woken by the building shaking for about 30 seconds. About 20 minutes later there was another short shake. Later we discovered that it was caused by a 6.4 earthquake centred further south and east of here and deep in the ground. The closer, shallower quakes are much more devastating. We were fine but when it starts you’re never sure if it’s going to stop or get worse. It can be a little nerve wracking when it happens but, once again, we try to stay in structurally sound buildings and we have an earthquake bag with clothes, water, bug repellent and a few other items in case of disaster. It really doesn’t happen very often.
The only other problem here is that, because it’s the rainy season, it often rains a bit at night although hardly ever during the day. But the frequent rains encourage the mosquitos to breed. That can be an annoyance at sunset if we’re near any of the brush that surrounds our condo complex. This is particularly problematic for Anita as the bites she gets turn into large itchy welts. This happens in every country we’ve been to except Canada. A couple of weeks ago she got a lot of bites when we walked near the brush on the beach on a very still, hot, humid morning. That was a mistake that caused her several days of pain. At home the bugs in May and June are much worse but the bites don’t affect her any more than they do anyone else. Even when we go into the village for the evening, we always spray PiActive on our legs, which works quite well.
There are always some dangers and inconveniences with any travel but for us, the positives far outweigh the negatives in spending our winters here. We have already paid a deposit to stay here for 3 months next winter.
We have included 2 pictures from our balcony at sunset and a picture of Anita walking along the Malecon in the village in late afternoon on her way to happy hour at the Bambu. The final picture is of Anita, with our friends Connie and Andy, enjoying a homemade passion fruit flavoured ice cream in a freshly made waffle cone after an evening out on the town. For $2 it’s a great way to end the evening before our $2 taxi home to our condo.
People often ask us if Ecuador is safe. That’s a hard question to answer. There is definitely more crime than in our little village at home but perhaps no more than in other developing countries. Travelers learn to be cautious and use common sense everywhere. Be aware of your surroundings, don’t wander the streets drunk late at night and don’t flash a lot of cash.
There are a lot of Ecuadorian families here for a beach vacation around Carnaval. A very small minority of the vacationers are here to steal. Recently we have heard of one attempted robbery of 2 ladies walking on the beach who were confronted by a young man brandishing a broken bottle. We’ve also heard of 2 break-ins.
Generally, the robberies are crimes of opportunity. So, we don’t feel unsafe but we always try to be vigilant.We are relatively wealthy people where the average wage is about $450 per month. Don’t flaunt it. Lock your doors. Don’t be an easy target.
Another possible concern for some people is the potential for earthquakes. The quake here 3 years ago devastated the local area and killed over 50 people in the village of Canoa. A few weeks ago, about 5 am, we were woken by the building shaking for about 30 seconds. About 20 minutes later there was another short shake. Later we discovered that it was caused by a 6.4 earthquake centred further south and east of here and deep in the ground. The closer, shallower quakes are much more devastating. We were fine but when it starts you’re never sure if it’s going to stop or get worse. It can be a little nerve wracking when it happens but, once again, we try to stay in structurally sound buildings and we have an earthquake bag with clothes, water, bug repellent and a few other items in case of disaster. It really doesn’t happen very often.
The only other problem here is that, because it’s the rainy season, it often rains a bit at night although hardly ever during the day. But the frequent rains encourage the mosquitos to breed. That can be an annoyance at sunset if we’re near any of the brush that surrounds our condo complex. This is particularly problematic for Anita as the bites she gets turn into large itchy welts. This happens in every country we’ve been to except Canada. A couple of weeks ago she got a lot of bites when we walked near the brush on the beach on a very still, hot, humid morning. That was a mistake that caused her several days of pain. At home the bugs in May and June are much worse but the bites don’t affect her any more than they do anyone else. Even when we go into the village for the evening, we always spray PiActive on our legs, which works quite well.
There are always some dangers and inconveniences with any travel but for us, the positives far outweigh the negatives in spending our winters here. We have already paid a deposit to stay here for 3 months next winter.
We have included 2 pictures from our balcony at sunset and a picture of Anita walking along the Malecon in the village in late afternoon on her way to happy hour at the Bambu. The final picture is of Anita, with our friends Connie and Andy, enjoying a homemade passion fruit flavoured ice cream in a freshly made waffle cone after an evening out on the town. For $2 it’s a great way to end the evening before our $2 taxi home to our condo.
Great insight into the community, Since we have enjoyed many more great adventures, sunsets, and ice cream in Canao. So may little businesses in this resilient town.
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