Casa Timbuktu Information
Invitation
Would you like to live in one of the best climates in the world? In a superb house that easily accommodates you and any company/group of friends and family that you would like to entertain? With trained and very reliable personnel that costs you no more than $10-12 a day or $200 a month? And where your total cost of living is easily between $400 and $800 a month? With driving expenses $100 a month?
Price
Our asking price is only $575.000,00.
All the furniture (click here for a list) comes at $10.000,00 extra.
CasaTimbuktu
That this House and Property is Exceptional, we don't need to tell you, because you have pictures and video's at your disposal to get a good idea of everything.
What is there to tell you?
Quality
The building was made to high English building standards, not the local Ecuadorian.
The house received a plaque for quality of architecture when the building was finished, in 2002.
Figures
By the way, some figures: area is 0,79 acre (3200 m²), Construccion 8600 ft² (800 m²) including the villa in the back right-hand corner. Elevation 5000 ft (1552 meters). Swimming Pool is 60 ft. long.
Usability
The property has been used as private home, restaurant, hotel, for wedding receptions and as a conference centre. The guests were mainly from the provincial capital and love to come for the climate, the ambiance, and the good food and treatment.
Climate
The best climate of the nine climates available in Ecuador (click here for the nine climates), which is a lot for a small country, and is one of the best climates in the world. It is, the whole year around, nicely warm. Not hot and humid. Between 72 ºF - 86 ºF (22 ºC - 30 ºC) during the day and 54 ºF - 61 ºF (12 ºC - 16 ºC) during the night, which is just excellent. Daylight is from 6 AM to 6 PM, with half an hour more, or less, during the year.
That is because of two circumstances: you are living very close to the equator, but also at an altitude of 1500 meters or 5000 ft in a valley between mid-sized friendly mountains. There are only two seasons, a bit dryer, from mid-june to mid-october, and a bit more rain during the rainy season. But also on rainy days it is normally no more than an hour or maybe two, and after that again sunshine. A day without sun and blue sky is really very, very rare. There are windy periods during the day, normally from June to August between 10 am and 3 pm.
To sum it up in four words: Spring all year around. That is how people from abroad who have lived here call it.
Local population
You will live in the valley of Malacatos and close by the village of Malacatos. Your neighbourhood is called Landangui, situated in the province of Loja.
The population is very friendly, hardworking, and used to a simple life. Most of them walk to get to school or work, for longer distances there is a bus ($0.80 to Loja) and some have a donkey or horse. There are cars, but most families have no car.
It is usual to have local people to work for you, and we have excellently trained and very reliable personnel that you could hire if you wish so. Just to give an example, a full month salary wil vary between $200 and $250 depending on what kind of service, like cooking, cleaning, taking care of 'everything', also while you are away for longer periods of time. If you like to entertain guests, even a large group, you can hire your personnel for the time you need them.
Local living
On the weekly market you buy al sorts of delicious fruits and vegetables and fish and fresh meat, for prices that afford you to eat a week with two persons for $40-$60. Every day (different) fruit and vegetables is below $10-12 a week.
 |
 |
|
| No more then six dollars | Everyday another Fruit |
One of our neighbours has made two video's to show his family (1) the market place in Malacatos once a week and (2) how many birds he has seen in his garden in just one half hour time. He kindly let us use these video's, if you click here. Sorry, the text isn't English, but you will get a good idea about these topics.
Local neighbourhood
The neighbouring valley is that of Vilcabamba, 10-15 minutes by car. Famous village for its longevity, as one of three places on earth mentioned in Time magazine, while there is quite a group of Americans living there permanently or visiting as tourists.
 |
 |
 |
||
| Valley of Malacatos - Left Side | Valley of Malacatos - Right Side | Valley of Vilcabamba |
Just before Loja is the posibility of horse riding (also in Vilcabamba) and visiting the very large Podocarpus National Park with some waterfalls and many different birds.
At about 25-30 minutes driving lies the capital of the province, Loja, with very modern supermarkets where you can buy food and practical products that are not available in the local village of Malacatos. But also the central market, with indians in traditional clothing, is a feast for the eyes.
At two hours driving is Zamora, at the other side of the Andes mountains, where you could entertain your guests with a real tropical forest.
By the way, Casa Timbuktu lies at one of the only two main and asfalted roads in the vicinity, which means not the usual dust. And don't be surprised to see donkeys walking by themselves, or other animals with their human caretakers.
Coordinates
Google Maps, www.maps.google.com, type in "Malacatos, Ecuador".
The neighbourhood? Type in "Vilcabamba, Ecuador" or "Loja, Ecuador".
Sorry, Google has parts of the earth very clear, but not this part.
GPS? Casa Timbuktu has these coordinates:
S(outh) 04º12'30.3" = Lat(itude) -4.20841666666
W(est) 079º13'36.2" = Lon(gitude) -79.2267222222
Getting There
From the States:
American Airlines, Continental, Delta, and a host of other airlines…
From Europe:
KLM (directly), British Airways, Iberia, and a host of other airlines...
…fly regularly to Quito (Capital, high up in the Andes and therefore sometimes a bit chilly weather) and Guayaquil (Coast, hot and humid), the two main cities of Ecuador...
…and from there the modern national airline, Tame, flying with brand new mid-sized airplanes from Quito three times a day every day and from Guayaquil on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, to Loja Airport (Catamayo or La Toma airport, LOH is the international abbreviation)...
…from the airport is less than 1,5 hour with a taxi costing $20, no matter how full or empty (for a road map, click here). If you tell them to drive to Malacatos, Restaurante Timbuktu, they will probably know the way, or ask a collegue. A new road is coming up that wil make it 40 minutes in the future.
Reservations?
www.tame.com.ec
reservas@tame.com.ec
00593-2-209-0454
Financial Talk
For USA Citizens there is an extra financial advantage in comparison to other South American countries: Ecuador's monetary system is dollar based. So this is one of the few countries in the world where the dollar has the same value it always had! Think about how much this property "Timbuktu" would cost anywhere else, and in the States.
For European Citizens there is also an extra financial advantage, because the euro is strong in comparison to the dollar, the asking price in euro's is just € 410.000,00 (at a rate of € 1,00 to $ 1,45). Compare how much this kind of property would cost in your home country!
Pitfalls
There really are none. There could be, buying property in a foreign country. We know. But the owner is Englishman, very well adapted to the country of Ecuador, and will himself take care that the paperwork will be done properly and without any afterward difficulties.
Research
You like to do some extra reading?
1.
www.internationalliving.com
More specific pages from this website about Ecuador:
www.internationalliving.com/Real-Estate/Countries/Ecuador
www.internationalliving.com/Real-Estate/Countries/Ecuador/Reports-on-Ecuador/Ecuador-Owner-s-Manual
2.
www.pathfinderinternational.net
More specific pages from this website about Ecuador:
www.pathfinderinternational.net/images/uploads/Ecuador.pdfwww.pathfinderinternational.net/news/view/the_news_from_ecuador
www.pathfinderinternational.net/site/tags/tag/ecuador
3.
www.escapeartist.com
4.
www.intlistings.com
5. (same author as Ecuador Living)
www.garyascott.com
More specific pages from this website about Ecuador:
www.garyascott.com/2007/01/08/1460.html
And of course with just a little searching you will be able to find more sites.
Questions?
Please contact us.