Cuenca, Ecuador

Cuenca, Ecuador

Sunday, January 25, 2015

Selling Our Cars Until the Countdown

SELLING OUR CARS

We're "car guys." We like cars, we know cars, and we've owned many, many cars over the years.  Small cars, large cars, luxury cars, SUVs, pick up trucks - you name it, we've probably owned it.

We just sold our 2007 Mini Cooper and 2011 Subaru Outback. For the last week, we have been using a rental car from Hertz. We have a 2015 Chevrolet Impala. It has been a great road car. We drove it from Richmond, Virginia to Atlanta, Georgia dealing with Sonny's pet visa paperwork. We turn the rental car in today at 3 o'clock.

At this point, we do not plan on purchasing a car in Ecuador. We live very close to bus routes in Cuenca, and the city is very mass transit friendly. Taxis are very cheap as well. We live within walking distance to a lot of shopping; therefore, owning a car does not make a lot of sense right now. Eventually, I'm sure we will want a car to do some exploring around Ecuador.  Automobiles are very expensive in Ecuador - almost double what you would pay for a car here in the United States. For the most part, the cars and trucks on the road in Ecuador are newer. When I was living in Poland, there were a lot of antiques on the road!

We do plan on buying bicycles once we arrive in country. And I am thinking about possibly buying a Vespa motor scooter. 

Our building has a secure parking deck, so we will park any bicycles, Vespas, or automobiles there. 

THE COUNTDOWN IS ON!

Well, almost 24 hours from now, we will be heading to the Charlotte airport to begin our journey. A friend of ours is driving his pick-up truck to Charlotte to transport us, Sonny, and our 14 pieces of luggage to the airport.  Pictures will follow.

As luck would have it, the east coast of the United States is socked into cold, cold weather. The good news is: there is no additional snow or ice in the forecast. As a result, we are hopefull that there will be no flight delays or cancellations. We fly from Charlotte to Miami. Our layover in Miami is about 3 1/2 hours. Then we board the 4 1/2 hour night flight into Guayaquil. We get into Ecuador at about midnight. We will be staying at a bed-and-breakfast across the street from the airport. On Sunday afternoon, we will make the 4 hour trip through the mountains from Guayaquil to Cuenca. We have hired a private van and driver for that trip. 

This morning we began the medication for altitude sickness. We start that 24 hours in advance, and take it for two days. Guayaquil is at low altitude; however, Cuenca is at about 8,400 feet. 

Next post will be the progress of our trip!






Sonny's Passport Update

As I mentioned in my last post, we were concerned about the USDA closing its Raleigh, North Carolina office.  That threw a wrench in our plans to have Sonny's paperwork approved within our 10-day window of arriving in Ecuador.

Sonny's local vet visit is scheduled for Thursday, February 12. That is 9-days from our arrival in Guayaquil on February 21.

As it last stood, Tom was planning on driving the local vet's paperwork to the closest USDA office in Richmond, Virginia (5 hours away) for an appointment on Friday, February 13.  That was..."IF" the Richmond office was willing to have a vet come in on Friday.  They don't typically work on Fridays!

We just got confirmation from Richmond that they will indeed have a vet come in just to approve our paperwork!  Yeah!

So our plans are now:

1) I will now quit my job on Wednesday, February 11 (rather than the 13th)

2) Tom and I will take Sonny to his vet in Charlotte on the 12th.

3) We will then head to Richmond on the afternoon of the 12th, and spend the night in Richmond.

4) We have an appointment with the USDA vet on the 13th. Sonny does not need to visit - just his paperwork is needed.

5) We will drive to Atlanta on Tuesday, February 17 and spend the night.

6) We have an appointment with the Ecuadorian consulate on Wednesday, February 18.  The consulate will grant Sonny an entry visa for his pet passport. Sonny does not need to make this trip, either.

7) We will call an Ecuadorian office in Guayaquil 72-hours prior to our arrival to alert them of Sonny's arrival at GYE.

Sonny Bunny has always been high maintenance.......and we wouldn't have it any other way!

NEXT ENTRY: Selling our cars!