iwantsun

mancora doesnt look like the busiest of places how many people live there i just went onto google earth and it looks like the are about 50 houses and a man with a horse

dakota44

lol it isn't a big place. That is one of the things that makes it good for tourists. There are about 10,000 residents.

The beach town has over 30 different beach resorts that receive tourists from all over South America. It is not uncommon to see license plates anywhere from Argentina or Chile to Colombia. It boasts a large porportion of luxury restaurants and nightclubs for being a town of 10,000. Resorts brim the nearby kilometers of beaches connected by one road. Most people arrive by bus, private car, or plane from the Talara Airport or Tumbes Airport. Currently tourism is booming as a humongous influx of tourists take to the beaches all year round. In 2005 340,000 tourists visited Mancora. The resort town has the magical ability to seem private and empty when relaxing on the beach, while brimming with people late into the night at the many nightclubs in town playing loud music. It is extremely well connected to the rest of the country and world. Buses run down the Peruvian coast to Lima every day with various different companies varying in quality and price.

iwantsun

it seems a bit remote we are planning to have a kid in a few years so schooling is important it just seems to isolated

dakota44

Well that is a new dimension in the equation. You need to know that wherever you go in South America, the schools suck unless you pay for private school, usually Catholic Schools because they are all very Catholic countries. Mancora is a bit isolated for a family and school there would not be the best. In Peru, Lima offers the best for families. I have to be honest. As much as I love South America, I am not so sure I would want to raise a kid there. But it all depends on where. There is another place in Chile that I like, La Serena. On the ocean, a high tourist destination for Chileans in the summer. Houses can be had there for a good price and it is a city of about 200,000, so it has everything you need.
There's more to La Serena, the Serene One, than sun, beaches and white sand. There's more to recommend the area than a pleasant year-round climate, pure air, great scenery and superb seafood. La Serena is Chile's second oldest city. Pedro de Valivia founded Santiago in 1541, and thereafter went on to order the founding La Serena in 1543/4 as the sea link between Santiago and Lima. It was fortified against pirates in the 1700s's and enjoyed an economic boom in the 1920's.

A one hour flight from Santiago, or about 7 or 8 hours by bus, but big Mercedes bus with wide comfortable seats, on board attendant, a movie, and snacks. Cost, about $12 the last time i was there.

I have friends there too, including a former girl friend who works for the observatory in the mountains. It is a lovely place. The beach is very very long and open to all the public. I love it there. The nice thing about Chile, very stable, honest police, low crime by comparison. And a good medical system.

Check out some photos
http://images.google.ca/images?clien...h+Images&gbv=2

iwantsun

so does it have all year sun ,, we are gonna have around £200k sterling to start our new life so we are quite flexible we just want to make sure we can still earn as well not loads just enought o live on ,, iwould say the uk is no place to bring up a child its getting worse all the time were aren,t gonna be moving to a south american slum area after all ,,so what would you recommend ,,,decent school all year sun ,cheap beach house and we need to earn a living ,where would you put us,,oh yeah we would prefer not to get shot as well

dakota44

Pretty much all year sun. You get a few cloudy and cool days in the winter, but usually quite nice. Keep in mind the seasons are reversed. Might take a bit to get a beach house in La Serena. Pretty much the whole beach is held public and all you will see on them are the occasional restaurant or la tienda (store). Across the street from the beach are apartment buildings that have reasonable rents or can be bought. You walk across the street, and on the beach. Sit on your balcony or look out your window at the pacific. There are a few pics I just posted in my gallery of the beach. You can see that it is open for miles. You can also see apartment buildings across the street in one of the photos. If you want to have a business in South America, you better speak the language or you won't last long.

Remember this also...anywhere in South America you get the occasional earthquake. Especially on the Pacific coast. Rare to get a big one, but not unusual to get minor one. But big ones do happen. Chile is very fussy about construction. You have to build to earthquake codes. Good way to do it.

iwantsun

what build a house on springs then thats either a joke or i,ve just solved a major construction problem,,you seem very well travelled ,, i,m still thinking brazil but only time will tell ,,anyway its 4.15 am in uk so i need to sleep i cant beleive i,m up at this time but be sure i will be testing your knowledge again very soon you have been very helpful thank you

lisa

dakota44

I need to sleep too. Work tomorrow. Glad to be of some help. Be careful in your decision. It is a lot to risk. I can tell you this. On 250,000 pounds, in Chile you would not have to earn money. You could live a very long time on that kind of money. I could live in Chile nicely for about $2,000 a month. All inclusive. So you might be able to get by just on the interest. Buenas Noches.

YankeemovingAbroad

I've been to Fortaleza it was ok kinda reminded me of a sleep beach/fishing town.Three days there was more than enough.I couldn't wait to get back to Rio.

iwantsun

yeah but that depends on what your looking for ,i,m looking for a slow pace of life not a all night all year round party been there done that ,,now we keep getting told about all the violence so whats the real story, we are just , two westerners who just wanna buy a small beach house, grow fruit trees and anything else we can grow, fish as much as possible ,learn the language and meet some friendly locals ,buy a small bar to bring in enough money to pay for the electric bills ,really whats the chances of us getting mugged, robbed ,shot, killed yeah the country has problems where doesn,t but will we be relatively safe ??????????????

dakota44

Relatively is a relative term. Relative to where you are, more dangerous in Brazil. But Florianopolis is much safer than other cities in Brazil.

If I were choosing, as I mentioned before, La Serena, Chile would be my choice. But that's me.
There is no place perfect.

iwantsun

right we have looks at le serena so we are now a bit concerned about brazil,,le serena whats the weather like year round could we earn enough to live on dont forgoet the house will be paid for but we dont want to just live off savings then end up skint ,,how about schooling and house prices remember beach house

dakota44

I'll see if I can get a friend to give me a link for property. I mentioned in another post about La Serena, the beach is open and public. You won't be building on the beach, but you can live across the street from it. 8 posts back from this one I gave some of that info about La Serena. Private schools are fine and not too expensive. About $150 a month I think from memory.

It is never really hot in La Serena. Just comfortable.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Serena%2C_Chile

iwantsun

it looks like le serena might be getting a visit then ,,are there any english speaking people there, some property guides would be great ,and you say it is easier to get residency there ,,would you have to get residnecy before buying a property and are their many westerners living in these regions

dakota44

There are some English speakers there, but not many. You do not need to be a resident to own property there. This link answers many questions you might have about property, safety etc.
http://www.allsouthernchile.com/sout...ons/index.html