Lifestyle in Vilcabamba, Ecuador

There is a feeling of joy in Vilcabamba. People, including kids and teenagers, seem to be content and full of life. It is refreshing. They all love being outdoors. TV or electronics are not a priority here. These people definitely have something to teach us Westerners... To us, most teenagers seem to exude selfconfidence and joy.

First things firt, let's see what Louis has been up to these days.

He still loves riding his bike

and in the back of taxis with Angelina and Yukira.

Angelina hangs out a bunch with Ely, Leo's mum.

 These are painted chicks.

 The river is used by a lot of locals for bathing. It looks like lots of Vilcabambans do not have a shower in their home or maybe they just prefer the river. You can see groups of friends wearing just shorts, walking to the river with their towels and soaps.

This family was shampooing right here. We left to give them some privacy.

It is also a social thing to go to the river to soap up with your buddies.

Ecuadorians love their rivers. They do not mind the cold water.

Cooking on the banks while laundry is soaking.

Most people do not have a laundry sink at their house. They go to the river for laundry too.
Locals love their parks too and make good use of them.

While some are sleeping

others bet a little change on a card game.
Go Grandma!

Some people still own oxen.

We have seen this man and his donkeys many times. He goes to the creek by our house and loads up his donkeys with sand for construction projects.

 

 So, he delivers the sand to whereever he is asked to. No truck needed.

People love horses here. Young kids are excellent riders.

There is a rodeo here once a year.

Check out this little guy's Christmas present

Most people do not own a vehicle, just like us!
We must be the only ones in town without a machete.

This person is one of the famous elders in Vilcabamba.

 This is the star elder of Vilcabamba. Agustin Jaramillo. He is 100 years old and walks to the plaza every day.

This is another famous elder here. He told us that his daughter lives in the US and she comes to visit. He hopes that she will come back.

Every church service is full.

 On specific religious days, some people set up their own altars on the sidewalks.

Vilcabambans are very religious.

How many nuns can you fit in a Toyota Hilux with a soft shell?

The plaza is a cool place to hang out and read. Since there are no peddlers around here, nobody will try to sell you anything.

 Locals are getting ready for the Westerners.

This one-time organic fair dowtown was planned for 4 years before it finally took place.
There is a movement to make this place organic.
  

This vendor sells fermented cane juice and also exhibits some local venomous snakes.
 

 
Crafts were available that day for kids

 The plaza always has a nice feel to it.

 Gems naturally abound in the area.

 Chek out this fun playhouse made of plastic bottles, egg cartons and beer bottle caps!

Kokopelli is here

and DirecTV too!

 A circus is in town for a week.

This nice wood is probably being carefully put aside for future art use.

 This old-timer is always sitting in front of her house selling her own produce. This feels just like Vilcabamba 30 years ago.

 These dogs are tied but Vilcabamba has a ton of free roaming dogs, too many maybe. We see a lot of dog fights in the street. Unfortunately, some people put poisoned meat in the parque central and many of these dogs die this way.

 This is the middle/high school ("colegio") in Vilcabamba. The sign fell down recently. It may take a while for it to get fixed. The high school teachers and the police work together to eliminate drugs from the school. There are six grades in the high school. It is said to be a good high school. There are also six grades in elementary school.

 A few months later, repairs were done.

This is the joyful wave of high-school students at lunchtime.

These guys are carrying some kind of old-fashioned drawing board.

Students from the colegio are doing homework together on the sidewalk.

 There are two elementary schools in Vilcabamba. This one is the "13 de Abril", formerly the girls school. This is the monday morning celebration where students sing the national anthem of Ecuador and the school anthem. One student per class also speaks on the microphone about a subject they chose. That morning, a student talked about the soccer game in Barcelona and another talked about how a mum killed herself after she gave birth to a boy because she wanted a girl...

This is the national anthem of Ecuador.

 This is also the national anthem.

Then comes the school anthem.

This is recess.

This young boy just learned how to say I like ice-cream.

Everybody rides in the beds of taxis standing up. Guess who these kids are.

 The free library was set up by an American in 2012. It is the only library in Vilcabamba. They have thousands of books in English and some in Spanish and other languages. It is open to all.

The Vilcabamba dispensary is a useful resource. We went there a few times for Louis or Angelina for small stuff. Medical care is totally free including all shots. There are several doctors, a lab and X rays on the spot.

It is a friendly place where Angelina can also practice the piano. They are open five afternoons per week and the place is mostly operated by volunteers.
 
Impromptu parties. Tons of young people from Loja come and hang out on the weekends. They drink beer and eat ice cream. Unfortunately they leave their trash behind.

The old timers "longevos"  do not appreciate of the younger crowds who come out from Loja and disturb the peace:

Wild fires are common in the dry season. As there are no fire fighters or fire department at all, fires run their course or neighbours will get together and fight fires with buckets of water if their homes are endangered.

Hail storms are very rare in Vilcabamba. They happen less than once a year. We were able to witness a good one.



Time is at a standstill in Vilcabamba. It's been 10:27 for 14 years now. The internet service is also crawling everwhere in town. No one can do skype with the video on and it can take forever just to open a simple email. We are actually spending more than a hundred dollars at the internet cafe every month. This includes our kids' internet spending for homeschooling (khanacademy) and all our emails/internet searches/skype. We found out that we cannot get an internet connexion at our home because our trees are so tall. Otherwise, for service at your house, it would cost you 50 USD per month for a speed of 500 Kb plus an installation fee of 134 USD and you do not own the unit.

 This ugly house is not far from ours. The first time we asked how much they were selling it for, we were told 250,000 USD, the second time 400,000 USD possibly down to 350,000! It has many problems including serious erosion or the land by the creek when it rises and the buyer would have to have a wall built all around the property to prevent it from being washed away by the creek. This house may stay on the market for ever, nobody will be stupid enough to buy it for that kind of price.