Dareios Alexandre

Hi,
My family and I are looking at moving to Latin America, most likely Ecuador but still open to Costa Rica, Nicaragua or other countries. We are plant based (mostly fruit based) and aspire to be close to 100% self sufficient.  I would love to hear from anyone here who has lived and gardened in Ecuador or anywhere close to the equator really, what has been your experience growing food there? Is it more or less challenging than temperate or subtropical climates?  I would be fine with just growing mostly bananas, papayas, jackfruit, and things that grow really well in the tropics, but ideally it would be nice to be able to have more of a varied diet with things like watermelons, tomatoes, cucumbers, salad greens, different fruit trees, etc.

I'm curious if you were able to find anything interesting?

H Olsson wrote:Where can I find a directory of vegan communities in Ecuador?

I'm currently eating a mostly raw vegan diet, and I'm trying to transition to more of a fruitarian diet. But living in Northern Europe, the fruit options here are very limited. I've learned about a few vegan communities in Ecuador that I'd like to visit, but information about them is sparse.

I'm going on a trip to South America soon to visit Ecuador. I've tried googling for "vegan ecuador," but most of the results are just about restaurants. I don't care much for capitalism, eating at a restaurant, or "eco-tourism" (veganism isn't a diet!). I am looking to learn about vegan projects in Ecuador, possibly joining a vegan intentional community there.

But first, to plan my trip, I'd like to get a list of all the vegan intentional communities in Ecuador.

Are there any lists of actual vegan *communities* in Ecuador?

I'm curious if you were able to find anything interesting?

H Olsson wrote:Where can I find a directory of vegan communities in Ecuador?

I'm currently eating a mostly raw vegan diet, and I'm trying to transition to more of a fruitarian diet. But living in Northern Europe, the fruit options here are very limited. I've learned about a few vegan communities in Ecuador that I'd like to visit, but information about them is sparse.

I'm going on a trip to South America soon to visit Ecuador. I've tried googling for "vegan ecuador," but most of the results are just about restaurants. I don't care much for capitalism, eating at a restaurant, or "eco-tourism" (veganism isn't a diet!). I am looking to learn about vegan projects in Ecuador, possibly joining a vegan intentional community there.

But first, to plan my trip, I'd like to get a list of all the vegan intentional communities in Ecuador.

Are there any lists of actual vegan *communities* in Ecuador?

Thanks for the suggestions but I'm looking for a warmer climate.

Rico Loma wrote:I beg to differ on one thing, land prices and home costs are not exorbitant in ALL the EU.  How much traveling have you done in Romania, Bulgaria, Portugal?  You won't be living with an ocean view, but homes with some land for gardening can still be found for under 100k if you are willing to toil over restoration and make a few compromises while the project is ongoing.  My 2 centimes

Hey Nkolaj, wow, that's super interesting! So how long have you been living in Senegal for? What's the climate like there, are there any mountainous areas that have a cooler climate? Is it easy to buy land as a foreigner? What about visa situation and costs?

Nikolaj Vinicoff wrote:I have some personal experience which may be useful, I also have a video to go along with it which may give you some inspiration. I've been living in southern Spain since 2014, before that I was living in the Dominican Republic while working as a dive instructor - best time of my life! After some years in Spain, I too felt overwhelmed with all the restrictions and regulations the government forces upon its citizens, and this has just gotten worse over time. Anyhow, I ended up buying a car and packing it to the brim with my belongings to drive southbound toward the tropics of West Africa. Senegal is one of the more stable countries, politically speaking, of west Africa, and people are very friendly and hospitable. I ended up buying a couple of plots of land there which I am now developing, growing those very fruits you long to grow, and the earth is a pleasure to work with (sandy loam is more more soft to dig through than Spanish calcium-rocky soils, both for plant roots as well as for human fingers).. Had I the option to go back today and ponder some more about where I would choose other than Senegal, I might also look into tropical countries with 0% Tax scemes, of which there are quite a selection out there.

I hope this helps. Let me know if I can share anything else.

Looking for some ideas here. I grew up in Canada and have been living in Greece with my family for the past 3.5 years. Our motivation to leave Canada was to have more freedom, better climate and cheaper cost of living, and work towards building a self sufficient homestead. After 3.5 yrs here it's clear that Greece, and probably anywhere in the EU is not a good place to be with the current political situation and the fact that the EU is just as regulated and expensive, maybe even more than Canada. We are very motivated now to move towards maximum self sufficiency, off grid homesteading as soon as possible. We've mostly been looking at property for sale in Greece so far, but now  I'm pondering other options of places to move to, including overseas. The tropics have also appealed to me more, somewhere at high elevation with a mild balanced climate year round. The other consideration is cost of buying property. I would be willing to stay in EU if prices were not so high, but seems like anywhere in the Mediterranean close to the sea is just out of our budget. We are prioritizing year round growing season and for me even Greek winters are too cold, I'm very much into the 15-25 C  year round thing. We want to grow bananas, papayas, avocados, as much fruit as possible basically, and live in a country with less bureaucracy and tension.  Ecuador seems like a good option, and maybe Colombia/Peru, but I'm curious to hear if anyone here has any other ideas or other things I need to consider with such a large move and to a new growing climate.

Hey Thomas, that sounds amazing!
Are you still there and still looking to create community in that area?

Thomas Haschen wrote:
I am 53. My wife is 44.  We have a 5 year old daughter. We sold everything and moved to Ecuador 4.5 years ago.  We bought land and built house in the Andes. It was just a little too cool for us. And couldn't grow as much as we would like. We decided to sell. And move down in elevation. Buying land and house in Ecuador. 4500ft 1371M.  
Temps 70-80F 21-26C everyday. Year around growing most anything. Property only has about 5 acres. But more land is for sale nearby. Currently has many fruit trees. Oranges several types of Lemons bananas etc.  

We were thinking it would be good to do this with someone else. Let someone else live this dream with us  Trying to be as self sufficient as possible. Seems many are interested, but no idea how to start the journey.  Two heads might be better than one so to speak. Rent free. Just contribute to Homestead.  

Would anyone be interested in Homesteading with us in Ecuador?  House is huge. It has a suite built for person to stay in while main house was being built. Bedroom kitchen bathroom living area. Seperate entrance. Perfect for single person. Couple. Or small Family.


Are thoughts on canidates. First and foremost we must get along, be friends, and work as one. We would like them to bring something to the table. Like carpenter, mason, animal husbandry, horticulture, aquaculture, anything they would specialize in. Ask any questions.

My family and I are selling a renovated traditional stone house on a 1712 m2 plot that we have been transitioning from rocky bare land into a food forest. Here are the details:

The house is 194m2 with open floor plan, front courtyard, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, small workshop.

The land is laid out on 3 main terraces. There is a huge vegetable garden and several fruit trees, both established and newly planted, including avocados, apples, bananas, lemon, orange, loquat, apricot, walnut  and tons of figs and mulberries. 10 grapevines, raspberries, herbs everywhere.  On the top terrace, there is a 40m² swimming pool which is surrounded by large mature oak trees and path up to a tree house equipped with electricity. There are 2 wells and rainwater harvesting providing irrigation water during the summer, backup water storage tank, septic...

The property offers privacy, excellent outdoor spaces and amazing views. The property also has 206m² remaining building rights. Located in the small hamlet of Monopari, 12 km south of the city of Rethymnon, at 380m elevation.

Our asking price is 295,000 euros.

I'm looking at property for sale in th south fo Spain and seeing some opportunities to buy commercial greenhouse operations for sale. Of course these are not sustainable with all the microplastics and everything but if they're already there anyway would it make sense to invest in something like this and plant food forests in the greenhouses?

Here's an example of what I'm looking at: https://www.idealista.com/en/inmueble/109364866/