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IT IS NOW OFFICIAL !!
Friday, October 19, 2018 is the date we finally got our national I.D. cards - our cedulas! Foreigners must go to either Quito or Guayaquil to the Registro Civil to complete the cedula process. We made the 3 hour trip to Guyayaquil (Ecuador's largest city), and also did some shopping while there! All in all, a very successful trip!
Couldn't wait to get back to Cayo to see the progress made while we were gone. Photos from the last couple weeks follow below - and several slideshows are included.
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Wednesday, Oct 17:
Work continues on the bodega/pump room/palapa. We need the pump room finished so that the water can be pumped from the cistern to the casita. The pool maestro will also then be able to complete the equipment installation.
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Friday, Oct 19:
Guayaquil, Ecuador. Outside the registry building downtown Guayaquil, after getting our cedulas. Right across the street is one of the many historic churches in South America. A beautiful, but very busy city of about 3 million people.
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So these are what we had to travel to Guayaquil to obtain... our cedulas! We were prepared to spend most of the day on this process (based on the amount of time spent "waiting" each time we went to the ministerio in Manta for our visas, etc.) - but amazingly, it went very smoothly here, and only took about 2 to 2-1/2 hours!
Really pretty - with lots of holograms.
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These are the back sides of the cedulas. Besides your signature, they even feature your thumbprint! This is certainly the most complete I.D. I have ever seen - too bad the U.S. doesn't adopt something similar - there would be no problem with voter suppression because of a lack of I.D.!!
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Saturday, Oct 20:
A series of walkways and patios will surround the area around the pool...here, the beginning of stairs which will lead from the palapa side of the pool towards the casita.
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Saturday, Oct 20:
Painting has begun on the casita. Elia, our worker who spends the night on the property as a guard, hangs out on the front porch - here we are looking into the living room area.
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Saturday, Oct 20:
The pool deck has been topped with a layer of small stones (making it more slip proof)...here Maestro demonstrates how they make the rounded edge inside the pool - very high tech....they just use some plastic wrap and run it along the side!
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Saturday, Oct 20:
The casita really looks different with a couple coats of paint! The closer we get to moving in, the more anxious we get! Can't wait.
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Monday, Oct 22:
Took a break today to do some shopping in Puerto Lopez. Looked at appliances for the casita - found several good buys. Also went to the fish market at the beach - you just stroll through the sand and look at what the fishermen have for sale. Choose your fish, and they will clean and/or filet it for you.
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MAESTRO SAYS "8 MORE DAYS" !!
It's still hard to believe this crew moves so fast - but according to our builder, we should be moving in the casita by next weekend! Wow!
Tomorrow we leave for Guayaquil - hopefully everything goes smoothly, and we return on Saturday with our cedulas. We are really hating being gone from Cayo right now - things at the construction site are changing hourly!
Here, the tile is being installed in the bathroom. Below are a few new photos from this past week:
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Saturday, Oct 13:
Per Maestro's suggestion, we had a line of glass blocks installed in the front wall. Also bought 3 beautiful handmade wood interior doors - $40 each!
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Saturday, Oct 13:
Looking through the living room window at the steps leading up to the pool...
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Saturday, Oct 13:
Doug gazing out the window..through the soon to be French doors you can see the ocean view!
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Monday, Oct 15: El Gato is sealing every small opening so that no critters of any kind can take up residence between the roof and ceiling or in the bamboo rafters.
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Tuesday, Oct 16:
Walls of the bodega (storeroom w/bathroom) are going up so that the "pump room" for the pool and cistern pumps can be completed on the side of the bodega.
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Tuesday, Oct 16:
An hour or two later, and the pump room walls are going up.
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Tuesday, Oct 16:
Day two of the granite installation in the kitchen and bathroom. Javier and his helper are true craftsmen and have done a beautiful job.... we love it! Total price for granite and installation? A little over $600!
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Update October 6th:
Electric was connected yesterday! Hooray!
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WE "ALMOST" HAVE ELECTRICITY!!
After a rather lengthy process to get the electricity run to our property, we are almost there! And for what this is costing, we could have built our swimming pool and had money left over...!
We have been in Manta for three days - the first day trying to get the appointment set to go to Guayaquil for our cedulas (this was NOT accomplished!).... the second day shopping with our Maestro (we purchased all the bathroom fixtures/sinks/toilets, plus a kitchen faucet, and most of the light fixtures). By the third day, the government computer system was still down (the reason we did not get our date set on Monday), so we headed to the bus station to return to Puerto Cayo. Luckily, the chicos worked hard while we were gone and got quite a bit done!
Follow the details of our progress below, and then view a slide show of photos from September 27th through October 5th below:
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Thursday, Sept 27: Pedro and his son worked all day planting trees in the quebrada (ravine)...plantains, bananas, papayas, mangoes, avocados, figs, and carambolas (star fruit). Click on the photo to see Doug's layout plan.
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Thursday, Sept 27: The holes have been dug to install the electric poles to bring power to the property. We have purchased 4 cement power poles for along the street, and the fifth one will be located on the property next to the casita.
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Thursday, Sept 27: Because there is a high voltage power line running from the substation just to our south, and crossing the line where we need to bring the power in, we must connect to the power on the pole by the highway through an underground conduit. Here the guys are working on digging that passageway. This little underground bypass, we are told, cost us $2,000 to $3,000 extra!
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Thursday, Sept 27: Back up on top of the hill, here are several of the five coconut palms that we purchased. Paulo planted them at various intervals along the front of the property facing the ocean.
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Thursday, Sept 27: The bamboo for the rafters have been sanded and lacquered, and the cement board panels for the ceiling have been painted... ready to start the roof installation.
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Saturday, Sep 29: Work on the roof is underway - the high ceilings will have the bamboo rafters exposed, and will provide a beautiful contrast with the "sand" colored ceiling.
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Saturday, Sep 29: The power for the property will be brought underground from the pole near the casita, here to where we are building a room, which will also serve as a "tool room" for Doug. Here, the footers have been poured, and the walls will be blocked in.
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Saturday, Sept 29: The chicos are beginning to lay the cement board panels over the bamboo, which will form the ceiling. Here they are working on the porch ceiling. Looking great!
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Saturday, Sept 29: Ceiling panels have been placed on the front side of the casita roof. And yes, our guys seem to like to "pose" when they see us taking photos! Cuidado! You are on the roof after all!
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Saturday, Sep 29: Working on the ceiling/roof... Maestro on top of the ladder with two guys holding the ladder and handing up the cement boards to the fourth guy on the roof.... hey, it gets the job done!
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Wednesday,
October 3:
We were still in Manta today, but the guys took some photos for us with Doug's tablet.... here, the cement ceiling boards are up on the porch. We like the bamboo against the sand color of the ceiling.
Just like sheetrock in the U.S., the seams will be taped and sealed and repainted.
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Wednesday,
October 3:
We were not here to see the work done on the electricity - but the guys got this shot of the pole beside the casita which holds our transformer (yes, we own that too) and the security lamp.
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Thursday,
October 4:
Back from Manta, and Doug couldn't wait to see our power installation. Here are three (of the 5) of our poles lining the street to our property.
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Thursday,
October 4:
Looking into the kitchen/powder room section of the casita. At the left side, the "round hole" is where the exhaust fan will be in the half bath, and the other hole in the wall is approximately where the wall between bath and kitchen will be. The window is above the sink in the kitchen.
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Thursday,
October 4:
Looking into the bedroom/bath area. The window at the left is in the bathroom, and where the holes are in the back wall is where the wall will separate bath from closet area (which has the small high window). The "front" part will be the bedroom with the French doors onto the porch.
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Thursday,
October 4:
View of the casita from the bedroom (north) end... the electrical/tool room has been blocked up in the area below the casita. There will be one small window on north side for ventilation.
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Thursday,
October 4:
The box beside the power pole for the incoming power lines into the room below the casita.
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Thursday,
October 4:
Three of the walls are up for the power/tool room. A small window on the north side, and glass blocks (for light) on the west and south walls.
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Thursday,
October 4:
Checking out the power installation next to the highway...Pedro and Pedro Pablo have finished their work today - they are still busy working on the barbed wire fence around the property perimeter.
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Friday,
October 5:
The wood is being installed for my beautiful wood floors in the casita. This is from the underneath side of the bedroom.
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Friday,
October 5:
The power room is ready to add the electric panels... the crew is working on connecting the power today.
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Friday,
October 5:
Another view of the casita from the front.
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Friday,
October 5:
The electric meter box is attached to our pole, and they are ready to bring the power into the room under the casita.
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Friday,
October 5:
Another view of the wood floors... looking into the living room. I don't remember the name of the wood they are using - I need to get it written down for me so I can get it in my brain! But whatever it is, is very hard and beautiful with an almost reddish color grain to it.
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