大咖福利影院

SoyJames wrote:

Thank you for the response cccmedia - I am also looking at an office in Quito.聽 聽I should be stopping in there before the end of the year as well.聽 聽Do you live there permanently now?聽 Do you have the same insight into the Gringo communities in Quito, Cuenca, Ba帽os ??

I own a condo in Quito which is my primary residence.聽 I will be back in Quito late this month.

The 9350鈥� altitude of Quito has become more of a challenge, which is one reason I have been spending more time in Colombia in recent months -- in Medellin and Eje Cafetero.

I don鈥檛 recommend anyone move permanently to Quito without living there at such altitude for a good while, to be sure of the adjustment.

Medellin and the cities where I stayed in Eje Cafetero are at an altitude four or five thousand feet lower than Quito, and that seems to make a major difference in terms of my energy level.

As for 鈥淕ringo communities鈥� in Quito, I think the term Gringo-friendy or Gringo-ready would be more appropriate, since Gringos are a small slice of the population anywhere in the capital.聽 (There is even a smaller percentage of Gringos in Medellin.)

In Quito... Mariscal and the upscale Gonz谩les Su谩rez are sectors that would fall into the Gringo-friendly categories.聽 The business center of north Quito is another possibility, although I consider pollution to be unacceptably high near the major avenidas up there.

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As for Ba帽os, it鈥檚 not recommended -- at least by me.聽 The volcano on the edge of town was active as of last year, and scientists have said that Ba帽os could be destroyed if Tungurahua had a major eruption.聽 Given the El Ni帽o flooding, the coastal earthquakes and the volcanic activity that have all menaced Ecuador since last year, I wouldn鈥檛 gamble on safety in Ba帽os.

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There鈥檚 a Cuenca forum of expat.com ... There could be some advice available to you over there about that much-loved city which is outside the Ring of Fire and volcano zones .. and at about 12 percent lower altitude than Quito.聽 I imagine that Nards and the gang would be glad to advise you.

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Since this is technically a Colombia thread, please post any additional comments or questions about Ecuador at the Ecuador forum or the Cuenca forum, or start a new thread in an Ecuador section.

cccmedia, from Medellin, Colombia