Roaming South America

San Vicente, Ecuador

December 5, 2022

San Vicente, Ecuador—inhabited since the 1st century AD but not given status as a city until the early 20th century. The town has a population of around 20,000 and survives on agriculture and shrimp farming, with cattle ranching and fishing accounting for a smaller portion of the economy. The climate is pleasant year-round—daytime high year-round average: 28° C (83° F) and 22° C average nights (72° F) with a typical humidity of around 70%. But, being so close to the equator the UV is extremely high, pretty much always at 10 on the UV scale.

So, my impressions: When I was in Canoa a couple of days ago another gringo told me, "Don't bother stopping in San Vicente other than to use the ATM. There's nothing of interest in that town." So, I spent one night here, and I explored pretty much all of the town (see the photos and click on the Strava app link on the right). The beaches are only good when the tide is out, so not even those are worth writing about. She was right, there's nothing whatsoever interesting in this town.

This is my goal: to find a new place to live. So to reach that goal I am traveling most of South America, visiting the countries of Ecuador, Perú, Bolivia, Chile, passing through Argentina, visiting Paraguay, passing through a bit of Brazil, and finally visiting Uruguay. I have a list of towns, about 70 towns, that meet these qualifications: Cities with average day temperatures of 22-28°C (72-83°F) and night temps of 14°C (57°F) and higher; and a population between 28,000-330,000. I analyzed climage and population data of around 700 towns in the above mentioned countries then pulled out the ones that meet the previously mentioned criteria, which leaves about 70. My preference leans towards towns of less than 100,000 people. Of the 70 towns about 20 have populations of 100,000 - 300,000. And, now that I've been here on the coast for a few days I've decided I will probably want a town more inland. I love the beach and walking in the warm water, but, getting sunburned is just too easy, even on a cloudy day. At least, here in Ecuador.

Next up: Bahía de Caráquez.