ECUADOR REAL ESTATE 

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Ecuador Real Estate: Cotacachi, San Clemente, and Mindo, Ecuador

 

FIVE MORE MINUTES

  

Prepared by Willard Robinson

 

A couple of weeks ago we made arrangements for a group to fly from  Quito to the Coast to view new resort property in San Clemente.  My wife, Isabelita, made all the arrangements and the trip was set.  We flew on Tame Airlines, one of Ecuador’s three national airlines.

 

Appointments in Quito used most of the day before our flight, and our friends agreed to meet us at the airport.

 

Isabelita and I were at the ticket counter, checking in, when the cell phone rang.  Our party was still in the office of their last appointment.  We told the ticket agent about the delay and he assured us there was still time for our group to board if they were within 5 minutes of the airport.  Ten minutes later the cell phone jangled again.  They were finished with the appointment, but must return to their hotel and grab their luggage.  Isabelita told them to hurry.  They could still make the flight.

 

We informed the ticket agent of the delay, and we emphasized how important it was for our party to get on this flight.  They were tourists from the U.S. and they were on a fact finding mission about Ecuador, “ please don’t close the flight,” we told him.  He glanced at his watch.  “O.K.  I’ll give them five more minutes to get here.”  At this instant we were listening to loud speakers announce Tame Airline passengers were boarding the Manta flight…Our flight to the Coast!

 

Ten minutes later another frantic call from our group telling us their taxi was crawling through the snarl of rush hour traffic and they were not even near the airport.

 

By now boarding agents were calling our six names over the intercom to immediately report to gate 3.  The ticket agent motioned us toward Security as he called the gate to advise that two of the six stragglers were en route.

 

When we topped the ladder into our Boeing 727 my wife told one of the flight attendants our predicament, and asks him if there was any way to postpone take off.  He promptly checked with the Captain, who replied “I’ll give them 5 more minutes…but I can’t wait any longer.”

 

Finding our two empty seats was a cinch…the other passengers all boarded well before us and were obediently buckled into their chairs.

 

Plopping down in our seats, we began alternately watching our watches, then looking out the window in hopes of spying our group, then checking our watches again.  The five minutes past.  Six minutes.  Seven minutes…yes, my palms were sweating…Ten minutes later our frazzled group appeared in the front door of the plane and we immediately heard the airtight seal make its “whooshing noise” as the door secured. 

 

The captain held a Boeing 727 at the gate, with the engines running for 10 minutes…and you know how expensive jet fuel is…and you can imagine how much more fuel he used to make up for those 10 minutes he lost waiting for our four visitors from the U.S.!  I can’t guarantee that the airlines will hold the plane again, but it does emphasize how much they value their passengers in this small country.

 

Once we were in the air our companions revealed their experience in the airport.  From our description, the ticket agent recognized them as they rushed through the airport doors.  They did not even go to his counter.  He intercepted them in the plaza area, waving their four tickets, and greeting them with “Are you the people going to Manta?  Follow me,” and they all sprinted through Security.  “No time…They’re ok.  They’re with me,” he said, using his most official voice to the airport Security staff, while the stragglers raced through the metal detector arches, into the waiting area, out infamous gate 3, to the large blue and white jetliner.

 

After checking our visitors into their beachfront hotel, in Manta, we then learned that one of them had left his expensive orthopedic bed pillow in the adjoining seat on the plane.  Isabelita called the Tame Airline office, but the jet was already enroute to Guayaquil, the largest city in Ecuador, some 300 miles away.  The airline would try to find the special pillow and return it the following day, we were told.  Sure enough, when we called Tame the next afternoon, the pillow was waiting for us at the airport.

 

Now I know high gas prices and rising airline fees may be keeping you closer to home than you’d like to be…but they shouldn’t.  There are two resort communities in Ecuador that may be the answer to your dreams.  Look at the photos on this web page.  Read about these two beautiful communities, and then come check them out.  One is near the Andean village of Cotacachi…Spring-like weather every day, safe, and a breath taking view of the mountains and the city below.  The other community is on the Coast in San Clemente…wide, uncrowded beaches, warm South Pacific waters…and the Sunsets are fabulous.

 

Sure, it’s easy to complain about the extra $15 - $20 many airlines are tacking on for “premium” seats and checked bags.  But don’t let that turn you off.  Because, really, when you put things in perspective, flying is still a bargain.  And the experiences you’re rewarded with when you hop on a plane and visit this exciting country are priceless.

 

Food is affordable.  Gas is $1.48 a gallon, the currency is the U.S. Dollar, and a two bedroom condominium is $85,000.00…and the developer may help finance it for you. 

 

Contact us for more details.

 

What are you waiting for?…O.K… you’ve got FIVE MORE MINUTES.

 

 

Prepared for Ecuador Real Estate by Willard Robinson