Roaming South America

Milagro, Ecuador

December 24, 2022

Milagro, Ecuador: Around 135,000 live in the city of San Francisco de Milagro. The city is known as the "sweetest land in Ecuador" because of its sugar cane and pineapple farming. Milagro sits about 45 kilometers (28 miles) east of Guayaquil and is considered a bedroom city of Guayaquil.

Milagro dates back to 1786. The story is that a couple, María de Salcedo and her husband Don Miguel de Salcedo, had moved from the mountains down into the plains of the river, and María got sick. An indigenous neighbor gave Don Miguel some roots and told him how to make a potion with them, which he did, and he gave the potion to María. She was healed of the deathly illness. The people living in the area began calling their home "the house of the miracle." In 1786, Don Miguel asked the governor of Guayaquil if they could name the area of their home and neighbors "Milagro" (miracle). And so started the town of Milagro.

Archeologists have found that the indigenous people have lived in this area since at least 500 AD. It was the Spanish conquest in 1526 that ended their civilization. In 1874 one of Ecuador's first railroads crossed Milagro which did wonders for the growth of the town. In 1879 electricity was introduced to the town, which also happened to be the first town in Ecuador to have electricity.

The climate here is classified as typical savannah. The yearly average rainfall is 1800 millimeters (71 inches) of rain per year. With an average of 30° C (86° F) during the days and 22° C (71° F) during the nights. In all the towns I have visited in Ecuador so far, I have seen rain only 2 times and both were only a few hours in the afternoons in Quito. So, while the stats show rainfall every month for Milagro, stats can be deceiving.

So, my impressions: Milagro is a small city, it has everything needed to live here, including a new mall. The city center is much larger than I expected and surprisingly busy. In fact, in Google maps the area of the town shown in white is probably 80% business district. I walked 18 kilometers of Milagro and did not find any purely residential streets. I guess they are further out at the edges of town. Bus service to other towns is exceptional.

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. 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 an inland town. 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. I've also decided that any town with more than 100,000 population will be too big. I've decided that any small town that meets the temp specifications and has a supermarket and ATM is one worth considering to live in.

At this point in my journey I have two towns on my top-20 list - Jipijapa, Montecristi, and Playas.

Next up: Quevedo.