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| A look from the beach through the Portico |
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| The Main House |
The following day we returned to Crucita (about an hour and 15 minutes from Bahia) for round two. Another long day, saw a bunch of interesting properties but more importantly, made the acquaintance of, yet another, real "Pro" in the real estate biz. Tom Saunders, his lovely wife Lynn, and their incredible son Kai are as far from the stereotypical image many conjure up when thinking of a "real estate agent" - as is possible. The story of how their professional careers initially brought them to Ecuador is most interesting (you can read it on their website) and provides an insight into their love of their "adopted" home. After viewing a number of properties, enjoying an incredible almuerzo, and spending the better part of the day with the three of them, we knew in our hearts these were folks we could not only trust to look out for our best interests, but that we would very much like to have as neighbors - and friends. We consider them as such, and we're proud to add them to the list of NBFF's. We're also 100% comfortable recommending them to you as an honest, hardworking, firm that will protect your interests, work tirelessly on your behalf, and whom you will likely come away from with the same feelings we did. Despite their best efforts, and despite the number of places we saw that were incredible values, and despite the fact that Crucita and its surrounds impressed us as the most beautiful area we had seen yet, we still had not found that place that rang all the bells. Most were beautiful, some better than others, almost all incredible deals (by our standards), almost all too BIG (for us, in the price range we were looking), but that "This is IT!" light just never seemed to go on in both of our hearts at the same time. This, of course, doesn't mean they might not for you. The important thing though is that Tom and his company is a valuable resource to keep in your quiver.
The contact info for EcuadorBeachFrontProperty is here.
Returning to Bahia and the Casa Grand for an originally unplanned for, extra night held an extra degree of anticipation as we were finally able to arrange for a visit to new beach front community we had been watching for over a year on the web and was high on our, "sight unseen, short list". As anyone who has spent any amount of time banging around the web knows full well, one cannot take all that is published there at face value. It's way too easy to create an image on a website that portrays almost anything in a light that simply isn't what it is in real life. "Too Good to be True" is a concept that comes all to frequently to mind, and in many cases one that proves to be the case. Indeed, a number of the pictures we had seen of various properties had been "cropped" or the angle from which the photo taken specifically designed to conceal attributes that would detract from the appeal, despite the fact that they exist. From a marketing point of view it's totally understandable as to why it's done, but from a "trust" perspective, once you view the scene in person and recognize the "deception" - trust wanes. Sadly, the prevalence of the practice in our society, results in an almost innate distrust of most of what exists on the web. Likewise, in this new digital age, it's quite possible for a single (or small number) "disgruntled" employee, customer, constituent, etc, to create a whirlwind of negative publicity that may even go "viral" - justified or not. Such is the age in which we live, and it's imperative that anyone relying on the internet as a major source of their information, take this fact into consideration.
We first became aware of CocoBeachVillage very near the same time we became aware of Ecuador as a possible retirement destination - over a year ago. At that time it was still in its infancy, the majority of lots, both "beachfront" and "second line", were unsold, and it was very much in the "pre-construction" phase of development. The website was impressive, not so much from a technical point of view as from a "vision" one of the two brothers involved as principals. There is a fine line (at least in our minds) between "impressive", and, "two good to be true". In this case, it was both. We were impressed to the point that we, literally, came to the point of making a commitment for a front line lot online, filled in the forms, and just couldn't push the "Send" button when the "To Good to be True" instinct kicked in.
The morning of our site visit Gary Swenson met us at Casa Grand and we headed north to see the property. The hour plus drive was probably the most informative and educational hour we spent during our entire 5 week stay in Ecuador. Gary's knowledge of the area and the country in general is extensive and his willingness to share his numerous experiences insightful. Prior to arriving at CBV we made a short detour to Jama where he showed us the new hospital, infrastructure improvements, and introduced us to a couple of local "friends". Their respect for, and genuine friendship exhibited toward him was immediately obvious. That one of the main tenets of the CBV "vision" (to be a good neighbor), had been achieved, was not only obvious but went a long way towards negating the "too good to be true" thoughts.
Our arrival at CBV was the final straw....literally within our first minutes those lights, indeed fireworks, went off - "THIS IS IT!!" Everything we had hoped for, all of our "wish list" items, they all came together....add to that the fact that Gary didn't spend ONE MINUTE "selling" it to us. Truth be told, Gary really is a terrible "salesman" (in the sense that we typically think of a "salesman"). In fact, the two comments from that day that have stuck with us are that one (to which we added that "you (Gary), really don't have to be a salesman because CBV sells itself"), and "CBV is even better than we imagined and our expectations couldn't have been higher". Seems we were not the first to express either opinion.
This post, though, isn't supposed to be about CBV, it's about our NBFF's and if you haven't figured it out by now, Gary Swenson ranks right up with the best of them. So too does his brother Larry who, despite the fact that we've not yet met face to face is so obviously his "brother's brother", and, such an integral part of the "vision" of CBV that his inclusion is a given. These are guys that simply do what they say they will do, start from a set of principled values, have a true "vision" that balances the greater good with profit, and with whom you can trust to do business with on a handshake. Years ago, such traits wouldn't have been considered so far out of the mainstream - today they are.
We'll revisit our trip to CBV in a future post with some more details, pictures, and information soon, but for now...
Here is the link to the CBV website.
If you have stuck with us to this point you can be excused for thinking "these two are a pair of polyannas willing to trust anyone" or maybe that we bought two giant pairs of rose colored glasses prior to leaving for EC and wore them full time. I might believe that if I were you but will tell you such is not the case. Trust me, ask those that know us, or ask anyone that has crossed Mrs. V by doing less than 100% for one of "her" (their) kids. Remember, these pages are specifically dedicated to those that went "above and beyond" and earned our trust and friendship so, of course, it's all good. We could make a page of those that didn't, but it would be a short one and not very interesting.
Just noticed that our next entry is a couple of days out of chronological context (happened before we left the beach house in Curia for Bahia) but that's back on the last blog entry and way too much work to change now so you'll just have to deal with it<g>).
We've made a couple of references to the gentleman that is the property manager of the beach house we rented in Curia - Carlos, one of which, having to do with the night we arrived and couldn't get in to the house, was probably not the most glowing. Despite that initial, somewhat disconcerting "introduction", Carlos and his wife Jeanette became yet another of those we will always remember as NBFF's. Despite the fact that their home was located just a few houses up the beach from us, and that as manager for our place we would call him whenever we had an "issue" or needed help, we didn't have the opportunity to spend nearly as much time with them as we wish we would have. "Life" just got in the way - for both of us. For us, it was the constant array of "day trips", for them, a combination of fighting the bureaucracy to obtain a resident visa and entertaining a group of 19 American "volunteers" in their home who arrived to volunteer for "community service". It took us a couple of weeks to find a night that worked for both of us but we finally were able to and arranged to meet them in Salinas for dinner at Gabriela's (the Italian restaurant we learned of when meeting the owner at the 4th of July party at Score). Our first really "social" get together, but a continuation of a relationship we'd been building over the month on a day by day, but informal, basis. Dinner provided us the opportunity to just "talk" and get to know each other - to learn more about our backgrounds and how we each got to the point we find ourselves on life's journey. Suffice it to say, Carlos and Jeanette are two extraordinary individuals, with interesting and incredible histories, and whom have dedicated a significant portion of their lives to improving that of those around them. In addition, they are just plain "fun, and nice" folk that we enjoyed spending all the time we could, with. Carlos is native born Ecuadorian but spent much of his life in the US where he met his wife Jeanette. They will be spending their "retirement" years in EC but hardly in "retirement". Regardless of where we end up, we'll be seeing them again and should you find yourself in the Curia area and need a "friend", email us and we'll give you their number - you'll not find a better one. Likewise, contact us if you're interested in donating some time and effort to their cause and we'll put you in touch.
Back on the time line, and back to the beach house things settle down for a while at least as it pertains to meeting additional NBFF's. We spent time with Carlos, Jeanette, Todd, Leigh, Ivan, and met a couple others who, had we had the time, could well have qualified for inclusion on the NBFF list. But, sadly, the end of our journey was closing in and it was time to head back to Quito.
Our intention was to leave the beach a couple days before we actually had to in order to have time to visit Quayaquil, Cuenca, Banos, and then return to Quito in time for our return flight home - and so we did.
We'll recount those days later but as it appears we're running out of space (yet again!) we'll time-warp ahead to our final afternoon/night in Quito and revisit yet another NBFF we mentioned briefly at the outset.
If you recall, our initial contact with the rental car agency we had made arrangements with online prior to our arrival in EC didn't start off on the best of terms. We had printed out the reservation details and terms and figured it should be a relatively painless transaction. We were packed, geared up for the 8-9 hour trip through the mountains to the beach, and excited about moving into our new "digs" on the coast.
Arriving at the airport counter on time for the pickup was about the only thing that went according to plan for the next couple hours. That no one there spoke English, and that our command of Espanol was virtually non-existent, meant that either of us understanding the other's point of view was close to impossible. Patricio was eventually drafted as translator which helped to clarify the differences but it wasn't until Roberto (who spoke very good English) arrived that we could get down to business. Long story short, our reservation was made with the parent company (whom we'll not name here until the issue is finally "resolved"), and the "parent" company hadn't bothered to inform the "local" company (Roberto) of the terms. Once we were able to understand each others position, and agree that each of us had a valid point, we were able to move forward and, finally, agree on how to proceed. Were this to take place on our home turf, we'd have walked out, went next store, and dealt with someone else regardless of price - just on principal. Not having a command of the language (our fault) and with the pressures of time weighing heavily, we did what we felt we had to do under the circumstances.
By way of background, it should be noted here that pretty much every piece of advice you will read will tell you in no uncertain terms that 1) you don't need a car, 2) rental cars are outrageously expensive, and 3) you're NUTS to even consider driving anywhere in EC. Be that as it may, in our case, if we had it to do all over again we'd do exactly the same thing we did. Our circumstances may be very different than yours but our advice would be to ignore those that dismiss renting a car out of hand - IF it makes sense for your plans.
Back to Quito, our last day, and returning the car. One of the things that has become "urban legend" is that every rent a car place will clean your clock when you return the car....don't pay for the additional collision insurance and when you return it they'll find thousands of dollars of "damage" that you'll be forced to pay for. We heard this on line, heard it from any number of people we trusted, and were, quite frankly, experiencing an elevated level of trepidation in anticipation of the return. What we actually encountered was, as far from that one could imagine.
We planned our arrival in Quito so as to be able to stop first at the Andino and drop our bags, then drive to the airport and return the car since our plane left the next morning at 6am. Keep in mind that we originally had only planned to keep the car for one week and we ended up keeping it for almost 5 (keeping in touch with them in the interim) and that we also had an "issue" midstream where we had to replace two tires, so the final "bill" could, arguably, be anywhere between $1000 and $2000 depending on one's interpretation).
Upon arrival at the Andino (downtown Quito), we called Roberto to advise him of our arrival and intention to return the car to the airport in an hour or so and to be certain that he would be there so as to avoid the language barrier. After a couple of calls back and forth, we made contact. When we did he asked, "Would you like me to pick up the car there (at the hotel)?".......Are you KIDDING?.....save me the rush hour drive to the airport and bus ride back?......(but......how much is THIS going to cost me???)......"No extra charge" he replies......
So, since my Mother didn't raise no fool, we make the arrangements.
He shows up, we conduct the formalities, I can't locate the receipt for the tires and he says "just tell me about how much it was".....his guy checks over the car and doesn't question a thing even though there were a couple "obvious" (pre existing) conditions (for which I had photos) and made the phone calls to finalize the credit card transactions. While the entire process took close to an hour, only 10 minutes or so of that hour were "business" - the rest was shaking hands, talking with Mrs. V and Mom, gabbing, and learning to trust each other in a situation where, were it to take place in the US, he had the obvious "upper hand" and could easily have taken advantage. That the entire tenor of the transaction was so diametrically opposed to that we would expect (at home) left an impression that won't soon be forgotten and summed up our entire stay in EC and virtually everyone we did "business" with.
I would recommend Roberto and his business without reservation (but with the proviso that you contact him directly rather than use internet sites that we did to make the arrangements) You can do so at:
Roberto Parejia - 09 045 7690
We have intentionally omitted some of the personal contact information of our NBFF's usually because we don't have explicit permission to disclose it on a public forum and won't do so without it. If you would like to contact one of them privately, feel free to contact us via email and we'll put you in touch.
We're not sure if our descriptions here can come close to conveying the degree to which Roberto, Carlos, Gary, Leigh, and the others have impacted the impression of Ecuador that we bring back home with us but we hope so.
We hope too, that you will find our endorsements of these individuals helpful should you find yourself in need of the specific services they provide, or even if you should find yourself just in need of a "friend" as I'm sure each and every one would help if they can - just because they could and because that's who they are.
