Cadenbach

Hi there,
I am about to move from Glasgow to Quito, Ecuador. Does anyone has some experience with removal companies which ship to Ecuador? Any advice would help....

neilcumming

Glasgow to Ecuador,wow thats a big change.Im from Edinburgh and I live in Mexico 6 months of the year.Sorry cant help you with removal companies.

omnebonumabalto

We are thinking of moving to Cuenca Ecuador from Miami. We have been shocked by the prices quoted and I can only think it would be more from Glasgow.
Ecuador has heavy import taxes and you can only get tax free status on Household goods after you have received your permanent visa. They operate on US 110 V not like the UK and mostly no 220V. Point of that is there would be no point in us taking our 220 V washing machine. lastly anything you import may not be serviced locally and will be tough to get parts locally.
So how much? Most South American shipping is through Miami so I would expect rates to be cheapest. It is best to use a local facilitator who will really help get through we only read spanish customs.
A 20' container through facilitator $6200
A 40' container through facilitator $6900
We were told that 2.8 pallets would be the same as a 20'
Another price we got was for a pallet 87" x 87" x 45" $2800
We have looked at our furniture and decided that kind of money will buy us a lot of new in Ecuador.
Joe at Cuenca Containers will be able to help you.(760) 678-5600 US number

kirstyp

Take a look at this post http://britishexpats.com/forum/overs...ompany-851592/ which should help you find and choose a reputable international removal company.

Hope it helps!

HLJ

Did you make it to Quito?

MattieC86

Have you made it to Quito? I'm a Brit in Quito now. Because I was living with my parents, I didn't have anything shipped. They're keeping my bedroom pretty much as I left it, so if I decided to ship some things here - it is very tempting at the moment - I can do it. As for the import taxes, from what I understand they're going to go down in not too long, just in time for El Presidente's re-election I think. Please don't quote me on that though

HLJ

We've been living here for the last few years. I love Quito! We never bothered shipping stuff though.

But you get a 1 time only tax exemption to ship stuff in within 6 months of getting a resident visa.

MattieC86

Thanks HLJ, I'll bear that in mind

Cadenbach

Hi
Sorry it took so long to answer. Yes, we have made it to Quito although the last days in Scotland were pretty chaotic and more than intense. In the end we chose "excess baggage company" which was very reliable and friendly. Everything arrived within the time frame and without any further complications.
The first days here in Ecuador were also quite complicated but it seems to settle down a bit...

jerry brewer

Hi
Curiosity how is ecuador going for all of you who moved ?
cheers
jerry

HLJ

I love it here.

az2014

What do you do for income?

I am looking to move to somewhere in South America from the UK with my Paraguayan girlfriend in the next few years but we are late twenties/early thirties so would need a job of some sort.

HLJ

We both teach. I teach English.

az2014

Thats such a simple answer I didn't even think of it!

Did you already know Spanish fluently before you moved? I'm assuming you would need to in order to teach English. Any teaching qualifications or just the basic courses anyone can do to teach abroad?
Lastly, if you don't mind, whats a ballpark figure regarding wages for teaching English?

Thanks, we are visiting Argentina and Uruguay in a couple of months as we continue our search of where to move to, but got me thinking about Ecuador now

HLJ

I knew very basic Spanish, my husband was better, but definitely not fluent. I can get by now, but I still can't hold a proper conversation (that's one of the big downsides to teaching English, you speak English all day, and everyone you get to know wants to practice their English with you).

Lots of people arrive not knowing a word of Spanish. It makes no difference to English teaching, most places here want 'immersive' teaching, so they don't allow you to use Spanish in class at all anyway. But daily life would be exhausting (and very restricted) if you didn't learn something eventually.

For the lowest level jobs you don't need anything other than to be a native speaker. A bachelor degree and CELTA or equivalent will give you a lot more opportunities. But realistically you need to base yourself in Quito or Guayaquil, as that's where the work is (and the pay is better in Quito). Cuenca is over run with gringos and you can't make a decent living there teaching English. On the coast you are competing with the surfer backpackers who will work for bed and board, so again, it's hard to make a living wage.

With a degree and a decent TEFL certificate you can earn $8-$15/hr in Quito. At the higher end of that they will expect more (unpaid) prep and grading, so it pretty much balances out. As a very very rough rule of thumb you should be able to make $1,000-$1,200 / m pretty easily.

There is more lucrative work in the better bilingual schools, where it's more like $1,800-$2,000/m, but they will work you hard for that. University work tends to be easier but pays less, unless you have post grad qualifications (in any subject).

Most things here are done by reputation and contacts, so expect to have to suck it up at a language school for a while as you build up your network. Then you can jack in the institutes and just get private students. Flakey students can be a hassle, but you can charge about $10/h for conversation classes with practically zero prep, or $20+ for other classes. If you have something specialist you can offer than you can charge $30+.

If you are fluent in Spanish and have post grad qualifications you can teach content classes at university and that pays much better. If you have a PhD you can teach content in English, but that's a pretty niche market.

This info is for Quito, expect it to considerably less elsewhere, though of course living costs are lower elsewhere as well.