Any fellow RFF'ers in Ecuador?

[KevinVH]

I'm a belgian photographer living in Cuenca, Ecuador. After 9 months of living here I saw 1 young hipster using film here, but have never seen anyone doing streetphotographing or anything of those likes here in Ecuador.

Am I alone in this beautiful country?

 

[Dirk]

Sorry, but I missed you by about 37 years. I was an exchange student in Quito in 1976, and did plenty of (landscape) photography there. Some unbelievable vistas and light... I hope you find some fellow photographers in Cuenca.

How do you like living there?

 

[Gregoyle]

Haha, I was going to say that I thought there was an RFFer who was moving to Ecuador and had posted about finding film, etc there, but now that I see your user name I think it was you!

I hope you have luck finding film and chemicals there. Let us know! I have been looking in to Ecuador, and Cuenca specifically, but it would be a few years for me. I'm definitely interested in how you are finding it.

 

[KevinVH]

Hi guys thanks for the answers. It was indeed me who posted 10 months ago about finding film and chemicals here.

So far no luck find neither film or chemicals, but I came prepared, so I still have film and chemicals which I brought in in January.

I bought about 100 rolls of film, and I shoot the occasional color Fuji ProPluss II which is available here. The D76 I brought I changed once so I think at this rate I can last another 2 years with the chemicals I bought.

As far as living here goes, it certainly has it ups and down. My apartment got broken into in March, among the stolen things was my Nikon D700, Retina macbookpro, and nikon F2 with 50 1.2. The total value of stolen things was around 15.000 dollars.

Buying new stuff certainly is a no no here. For example, a Nikon D3200 with 18-55 sets you back around 900 dollars. I met someone who imports pro models, and charges 3600 dollars for a D800 body only. Prices are off the charts here, because the government wants taxes on non-national products. Cellphones, cameras, TV's, everything is stupidly expensive compaired to what you need for basic things.

All of that aside, this is a BEAUTiFUL country with a lot of photographic opportunity, and I've only scratched the surface. If you guys have any more questions, feel free to ask, and if someone wants to come on vacation, I would love to have a meetup and help you guys out.

 

[Gregoyle]

Kevin,

I'm sorry to hear about your gear. Does insurance cover it, or is insurance hard to come by there? Great info about buying stuff there; a few friends have mentioned that they come back to the US for shopping.

I was going to request pictures, but I just found your website and blog. The pictures are stunning. My wife is looking at visiting some friends there in the next couple of years; maybe we will look you up!

-Greg

 

[KevinVH]

Kevin,

I'm sorry to hear about your gear. Does insurance cover it, or is insurance hard to come by there? Great info about buying stuff there; a few friends have mentioned that they come back to the US for shopping.

I was going to request pictures, but I just found your website and blog. The pictures are stunning. My wife is looking at visiting some friends there in the next couple of years; maybe we will look you up!

-Greg

They don't insure just cameragear here, and I haven't found another insurance that would cover what I like to be covered, so I just ended up very poor.

 

[archeophoto]

Actually my wife and I are flying to Quito next Saturday the 21st. We are going to the Galapagos Islands for a week and have two weeks left to travel around in Ecuador. Cuenca is actually on my list of places to visit. Maybe we can meet up for a Coffee...

 

[David Murphy]

Hi guys thanks for the answers. It was indeed me who posted 10 months ago about finding film and chemicals here.

So far no luck find neither film or chemicals, but I came prepared, so I still have film and chemicals which I brought in in January.

I bought about 100 rolls of film, and I shoot the occasional color Fuji ProPluss II which is available here. The D76 I brought I changed once so I think at this rate I can last another 2 years with the chemicals I bought.

As far as living here goes, it certainly has it ups and down. My apartment got broken into in March, among the stolen things was my Nikon D700, Retina macbookpro, and nikon F2 with 50 1.2. The total value of stolen things was around 15.000 dollars.

Buying new stuff certainly is a no no here. For example, a Nikon D3200 with 18-55 sets you back around 900 dollars. I met someone who imports pro models, and charges 3600 dollars for a D800 body only. Prices are off the charts here, because the government wants taxes on non-national products. Cellphones, cameras, TV's, everything is stupidly expensive compaired to what you need for basic things.

All of that aside, this is a BEAUTiFUL country with a lot of photographic opportunity, and I've only scratched the surface. If you guys have any more questions, feel free to ask, and if someone wants to come on vacation, I would love to have a meetup and help you guys out.

I lived in Latin America about three years in my earlier days. I'm not sure how it is now, and it probably varies from country-to-country, but the norm when I lived there was that a house or apartment needed to be watched 24 hours a day - preferably by a live-in house-keeper, or other paid attendant/guard (unless one had a very large family). One must also know the people watching your place (referrals from family friends are safest). This is also one reason the better houses there also typically have high iron fences and guard dogs. You are in a different world security-wise than Belgium. The good news is that in many South American countries property crimes are more common than violent crimes, although that varies from country-to-country. If you don't take precautions you can probably expect another burglary.

A middle class European income there puts you among the wealthy, so one can expect the same sort of taxation and other scrutiny that comes to the truly wealthy in other countries. There are also benefits for sure, and I'm certain Ecuador is on balance an interesting and fascinating place with a hospitable and fascinating people.

 

[KevinVH]

You still need a lot of security, we have a dog now, and an alarm. But we didn't used to check if anyone was following or watching us everytime we entered and left the house. We're moving now, to something smaller, a little more secure, and we're going to watch our backs now. I used to be wealthy over here, but having to buy a D800 at a steep price, along with a new computer, I'm struggling to survive, but it's working out, and I'm making it with some adjustments in my way of thinking and living.