Vilcabamba - Retirement ?

Not many towns are as relaxing and secluded as Vicabamba, population 4000. This is Ecuadorian cowboy country at it´s best with stunning green hills and mountains. The local, friendly people are laid back, while running little tiendas, cafes, organic farming and advertise horseback riding trips and massages. The weather here is warmer, considered "eternal spring" all year around. So far, perhaps because Ecuador has a higher elevation, and certainly not including the jungle, there are few bugs or mosquitos.

I heard about Vilcabamba from friends of mine, who built a home here for their part time retirement. This is the perfect inspiring location for musicians, artists, and anyone who is or wants to be creative. It is also extremely peaceful, with a small quaint downtown area.

I was delighted to stay at Jardin Escondido, a colorful little hotel, surrounded and hidden in the gardens. Several varieties of colorful birds and butterflies are enjoying the vegetations here.

Vilcabamba is known and famous as the ¨Valley of Lontevity¨, where people easily live to 100 years old and older. Perhaps the secret is the natural pure spring waters, or the organic, healthy foods available or what appears to be relaxed living? The locals I´m told, do work hard, walk everywhere and have no cars but utilize their horses and donkeys. To change statistics a bit, at least in the last few years, foreigners from all around the world are moving into the area, building houses and retiring here.





My three travel partners..George, Judy and Angela.

One day we all decided to go to an orphanage in Loja, about 45 minutes bus ride from Vilcabamba. We thought we did well in spanish, including getting and following directions, and receiving information about the facility. Even though we were told this was "the orphanage", the facility didn't really look like an orphanage and was more like a day care center/school. Whether it was or was not an orphanage, I was happy to unload-donate my art supplies and books, I'd taken with me from San Francisco. In a classroom we visited, there were about 15-20 kids. Anyway the administrator gave us a background in spanish and they were delighted to receive the donation. The children were so cute and then they clapped....and then all together in unison said, "gracias".

Another little adventure was to take a short horse tour around the town with our guide Julio. My thought was to finally face my fears about horses, since the last time I was on a horse, over 20 years ago, I was bucked off, and it resulted in a serious, painful, back fracture (with hospitalization and two months off work). Carefully,
I chose my horse from a book where guests wrote in about their horse experiences. Because the name, "Corazon" was mentioned so many times, I decided this was the horse for me. "Corazon" means ¨heart.....how very appropriate for me. She was a sedate, reliable, loving horse who liked to snack on weeds continuously along the way. Slowly...slowly, I began to trust Corazon that she wouldn't buck me off and it was then that it became a very healing experience for me. In the past, I've always loved horses!