I know an answer to all my questions is "Come and see for yourself" and that was indeed my plan but bear with me...
I'm a Brit expat living in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. I've been here 3 years, effectively retired. It's an easy place to live. Easy visa (for the time being), cheap, very good interest rate on term deposits, not a lot of bureaucracy most of the time, no more crime than anywhere else. People are mostly laid back and appear friendly.
It does have some downsides: endemic corruption, useless police and judiciary, mostly crap healthcare, poor education system, poor but slowly improving infrastructure. When you do have to interact with the bureaucracy it's inefficient and usually requires tea-money to get anything done, especially if you want it done "quickly". Sounds bad but most days none of those are a problem.
The things that wind me up are people don't give a stuff about anyone except themselves and possibly their immediate family. This manifests as careless in the extreme driving, no concern for the environment (rubbish thrown everywhere) and incessant noise pollution from 2-3 day wedding/funeral/party celebrations or any other excuse for playing crap music at maximum volume at any time of day or night. I don't want to spend the next 20-40 years putting up with retarded drivers and selfish neighbours.
International Living (or International Lying as I've seen it referred to around here) would have me believe Ecuador is a shining jewel in comparison with better healthcare, cheaper health insurance, better education systems, better infrastructure and basically better all round. My guestimate is the cost of living and accommodation are broadly similar.
I've already seen plenty of comments on here about the locals chucking their rubbish anywhere they feel like it, dogs barking all the time, incompetent drivers and dodgy drinking water.
In terms of size of country, population, economy, climate there are lots of similarities. I think it would be an excellent idea to come and see for myself and I was planning a 6 month or so trip to take a look at Ecuador, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua and perhaps one or two other Central/South American retirement destinations. If we found somewhere we liked we could potentially just stay.
Then my wife got pregnant and 3 months in she's still not having an easy time of it. Our exploratory trip really isn't looking likely now. A single country trip might be possible. Alternatively we could take the plunge, come to Ecuador with a suck it and see attitude and have the baby there. There could be significant advantages for the baby: automatic citizenship, better medical care, better education system. Obviously harder for my wife with none of her family and friends around for the birth. I speak a little Spanish, she speaks none but taught herself to speak English and to read and write a little too. I'm confident she could do the same with Spanish. We'd be taking on a lot going this route but I think it would be possible. If she or we don't like it it's easy to return to Cambodia.
So some questions:
What don't you like about Ecuador?
What specifically does International Living not tell the whole truth about?
Would you be happy having a baby there, raising children there?
How is the education system? In Cambodia it looks good on first glance, then you realise most of the students bought their exam results and University degrees and most are nowhere near as well educated as they appear. Every school has "International" in it's name but very few offer anything anywhere near International standard teaching and those which do are very expensive. Is the same true in Ecuador?
How incompetent are the drivers? Here they don't generally set out to kill you but they just don't care if their actions or inaction result in you being injured or dead. 95% of road users have no driving licence, motorbike drivers are no longer required to have a licence, 99% have no insurance, 50% drive around drunk or on their mobile phone. They are all total retards and their retardedness doesn't get any more endearing after being here a few years.
Do wedding/funeral/other parties routinely last 2-3 days and involve blocking off the street with a great big tent and playing truly crap "music" at ear-splitting levels from 04:45am until midnight for the duration?
Are they big karaoke fans? Here the same deal as the weddings/funerals except they start and finish later and don't have the tent blocking the street.
Have any of you lived in Cambodia or elsewhere in SE Asia? How do you find the comparison?
How do you see the political situation there developing over the next few years? Anything on the horizon you might be wary of?
How about earthquakes? Not something we need to worry about in Cambodia. But when the icecaps melt a lot of the country could be under water and I don't think the same would be true for Ecuador.
How long's a piece of string but what's a sensible number for a monthly budget for 2 people living a fairly simple existence? We own our house in Cambodia and get by on $1000 per month quite easily. Obviously we'll need more when the baby arrives and probably one of us will need to work again.
Thanks in advance for any helpful replies.
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