Job Discussion Forums

[Moriarty]

Thinking of a move to South America after many years in ESL elsewhere. Would be grateful to anyone for their thoughts on Quito in particular and/or Ecuador in general. Not particularly interested in money, though I need to live.

Thanks for anything you can think of.
M

[naturegirl321]

Justin Trullinger is the Ecuador guru.

[brian1972]

My wife and I spent several months in Quito and traveled through Ecuador while there. I am sure someone else might have more recent info... but perhaps I could help. What do you want to know exactly?

We found it to be a great country, with a lot of diversity. Quito is a city of course, with a lot to do and great pubic transportation. There is quite a tourist area in Quito called "Gringolandia" where you will find a lot of travel info as well as several decent looking hostels. A lot of back packers seem to hang in this area.

We found Quito to be safe and never had any problems. Although several folks in our group were pick pocketed.

If you get a chance to visit the coast, you should go to Same. Small, quiet and there is a great little hotel with hammocks on the porches (next to a place with great pizza) that can be had for less than $10 per night... provided the prices have stayed stable since we were there in 2001!

The only "problem" we encountered while in Ecuador was accessing money. We brought travelers checks, but nobody would take them... not even places in Quito. Banks refused to cash them! We brought with us our VISA bank card and found that VISA was not accepted many places. We only found ONE bank machine in all of Quito that would give us money. Just make sure you talk with someone who has been (or is IN) to Ecuador recently to tell you the best way to make sure you can access your cash while there.

As for work, I have no idea! Any more questions, let me know.

[Evanzinho]

I spent a few months in Ecuador as a Spanish student, so I can't comment on teaching ESL there, but I can second what bryan1972 said about ATMs not accepting his bank card. In my case, the only places I found that would take my card in Quito were the ATMs in the upscale hotels, like the JW Marriott or the Swissotel. Since I lived not too far from La Floresta, I would just pop into the Swissotel and withdraw cash from there. But the ATMs around town never seemed to accept my card for some reason.

On a related note, I met a backpacker who had spent a month or so in a small town on the coast, near Portoviejo I think. He would have stayed there longer but his problem: There was only one bank in the entire town, and they wouldn't acccept his ATM card! So he had to take a bus ride two hours away to ge to a bank that would give him access to his money!!

[john_n_carolina]

....i believe they have 3 banks now that take VISA / Debit cards....Pinchincha, Guayaquil, and Austro?

...really, banking isn't the hardest problem....pretty theft and pickpocketing are worse if you're in a big city. if you're an early riser and home by 7PM no problem....but, if you're out on the streets after 7, you need a special "ladron" radar system...

[panamabob]

I've never had a problem with thievery, nor accessing money in the big cities. Most of the big banks have ATMs in the malls and have always worked fine for me...from 2002 to present day.

[john_n_carolina]

..yes, most of the malls have Banco Pinchincha which usually works well. one thing to check is if your hometown bank (Canada / US) charges $2 or $3 or whatever when doing international transactions.

panamabob, have you taken any busses out of the Terminal Terrestre lately?

[john_n_carolina]