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Vilcabamba Glimpse #03

Butterflies, rain, and volleyball.

At a time all over the world when scientists report the disappearance of butterflies because of ecological problems, I am struck by the number and variety that I see at Hacienda San Joaquin. Beautiful and abundant, the butterflies here are of an extraordinary range of colors and sizes.

The rainy season here has come to an end. It rained some the first week of April but not since. I have heard that the rainy season begins around October 1 and ends around April 20. It was right on schedule this year. As I mentioned in the last Vilcabamba Glimpse, it rains mostly at night. That is hard to believe but true. All plant life flourishes and gets beautifully green. Incidentally, you can grow vegetables year around here. Most plants produce in about three months. As noted earlier, we did not miss one day of work during the "rainy season". And always the climate remains the same. The temperature in Vilcabamba remains in the 65 to 83 range year around. Most nights require a blanket. Most days require only a short-sleeve shirt. It's pretty amazing. That's part of Vilcabamba's uniqueness. Nowhere else in Ecuador is it like this.

Volleyball is very big here. Everyone plays volleyball. Mostly on Saturdays and Sundays. I live in a hotel, the Hosteria de Vilcabamba, and have since last August when I moved here. It will be a month or so until I move to the hacienda when one of the two houses I am remodeling is ready. I play in a Sunday volleyball game that begins around 3 in the afternoon. It's a game that's been going on for at least ten years. The owners of the hotel, Zoilita and Raul Cortes, have three sons, all in their forties, who with their friends from Loja (35-minute drive) play volleyball together every Sunday. They are very passionate about the game. Lots of arguing goes on about close line calls. Also lots of betting (I'm ahead a little). I had not played volleyball for about 40 years when I arrived here and started to play in this Sunday game at the hosteria. As I've continued with sports all my life, volleyball came back to me pretty quickly. Now, I can hold my own with those who play here. After volleyball, the players and their families all have dinner together at the hosteria.

Yesterday, I walked along the riverfront (Vilcabamba river) on about half the hacienda's riverfront quintas (means country estates because they are large, i.e., instead of being called "lots"). Each riverfront quinta has about 100 meters (a football field) on the river. The overall hacienda property is so large, about 2,500 acres, that I have seen only a part of it. Even in the areas where we have quintas and lots (about 130 acres) I have not seen it all because we are clearing land that was very overgrown and too dense to walk through. As it is being opened up (we keep all the nice trees), it's extraordinary to see how beautiful and unique the quintas (24) and lots (26) are. The developed area is beginning to look like a large park. The undeveloped area (hundreds and hundreds of acres) will be left in a natural state. It will be used for hiking and horseback riding on trails we will create and map. Creating these trails will be a great project we will start in a couple of months.

Best, Joe

Joe Simonetta
Owner/Architect
Hacienda San Joaquin
Vilcabamba, Ecuador


P.S. International Living named Ecuador "The Best Place in the World to Retire" http://www.haciendasanjoaquin.com/best_in_the_world.html