Roaming South America

Jipijapa, Ecuador

December 15, 2022

Jipijapa, Ecuador: Founded in 1565, but it never really grew until the 19^th century with the introduction of coffee farming. The city may be very old but has little in the way of equally-old buildings and architecture. Since there's little to attract tourists the city is currently working programs to bring eco-tourists to the area. Some of the attractions include the Agua Dulce Waterfall, the Andil fresh-water wells, the mineral water wells of the volcano Chocotete, the Anegado waterfalls. Other area communities are also promoting other attractions, including bird and flora observation trails, archaeological sites of the Manteña culture such as the Petroglyphs, and tours of ecofarms.

So, my impressions: Jipijapa reminds me a lot of Roldanillo, Colombia (where I used to live). Except that Jipi is not in any way a tourist town while Rolda is. Therefore, Jipi is more rustic, yet I like it enough to put it on my top-10 list. It has a solid central business district easily walked from end to end. And sure, there's nothing particularly beautiful here, but overall, I like the location in the valley, the size of the town, and the layout with the central business district around a central plaza.

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, and 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 28,000-300,000 (preferably under 100,000). I analyzed climate and population data of around 700 towns in the above-mentioned countries and 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: San Lorenzo.