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| $695,000 | |
| Contact: | Mike Adams |
| Email: | vilcaland@gmail.com |
The ultimate preparedness property
I built a preparedness paradise in the Valley of Longevity, near Vilcabamba Ecuador. Spanning over 20 acres of pristine, lush land, this preparedness paradise has its own gravity-fed water supply, year-round food production, private hiking trails, a magical bamboo forest and room enough for your entire family, plus guests and visitors.
A true paradise for sustainable green living
The land is absolutely stunning: A bamboo forest, wild coffee and cherimoya plants, over a hundred fruit and nut trees, three different sources of water (including a gravity-fed irrigation canal from the river), deep rich soil for growing food, a perfect year-round climate that feels like spring every day of the year... it's an unbeatable combination of climate, soil, sunshine and sustainability that would be hard to find anywhere in the world.
I put three years of my effort into this project, directing the construction of a food forest, planting our tree orchards, building a gorgeous outdoor yoga pavilion and exercise room, constructing the private paths into the mountains, and other projects. This property is located in Hacienda San Joaquin, which has become a magnet for people from all over the world who are into not just green living and sustainable living, but also preparedness for whatever may be coming in the years ahead.
I obviously can't go into too many details about this in a public forum, but let me just say that if you're into preparedness, or you're concerned about a global economic changes, earth changes, disruptions in the food supply, 2012 or anything else that may be headed our way, you'll feel right at home on my ranch in the Valley of Longevity.
I developed this ranch for that purpose, actually. I'm a long-term preparedness advocate, and I practice what I preach. That's why this ranch has over 100 fruit and nut trees, a gravity-fed year-round water supply, a year-round food production climate and other amazing features.
The property can support from 1 to 2 families with main houses with an additional two guest houses for renters or guests. There is already one house on the property (where I've been living), and you can build more.
Almost everything you need is already in place: A huge food forest, fruit trees, unlimited water from the well, a full irrigation system, a community meeting room, tool shed, free "lumber" from the living bamboo forest, and many other features.
Very few qualify to live here - do you?
When I took over this property, I made a commitment that I would respect and nurture this land. That's why I've planted over 1000 native trees including many native species like Changue and Huilco trees that originally populated the entire valley.
I've also been careful to avoid the use of all chemicals here, so the gardens and orchards are 100% organic, using only neem oil, tobacco, garlic and hot peppers as a natural pesticides.
I've respected the bamboo forest here, allowing it to expand, and we've grown a huge aloe vera garden that's the envy of everyone who visits. We've allowed horses to graze our land, and we've used local materials like bamboo to build our canal bridges and pathway stairs.
My promise to this land means I'm looking to attract a new owner who practices these three things:
• Organic lifestyle: Not spraying chemicals in the gardens, using natural products instead of chemical products.
• Respect for life: We want to attract those who will plant more trees and take care of the existing bamboo forests. We need someone who wants to plant MORE trees and nurture the life that's here right now! This includes respect for the animal life which is both amazing and abundant on this land.
• Practices preparedness: This community is attracting more and more people who are into both sustainable living and long-term preparedness. We're looking for a family who can contribute to the strength of preparedness in the community by engaging with others here who are already on that path.
If this describes you or someone you know, contact us to learn more. We can be reached at vilcaland@gmail.com.
Also check out the Photo Tour of my property here: http://www.naturalnews.com/phototours/vilcabamba/index.html
Below, I'm listing all the features of the property so you know what this is. It is truly one of the most astonishingly unique properties anywhere in the world.
Remarkable features for preparedness and sustainable living
• THE PROPERTY is located in a gated community with an entry gate house for privacy and protection. The entire ranch is over 550 acres, with a river on one side and mountains on the other three sides. A long, half-day hiking trail traverses the mountain range on the Northern side of the ranch, offering spectacular views of the Valley of Longevity.
• THE VALUE is amazing: This property is the largest single piece on the entire ranch (most other properties are 1 - 3 acres each). It is surrounded by high-end estate properties with breathtaking homes and landscaping.
• THE WATER is abundant and endless. You'll have your own year-round water supply from the private well on the property. The water coming out of the well is so clean and pristine that we don't even filter it! (Seriously, it's that clean.) The water table is recharged almost every day from rainfall in the nearby Podocarpus forest that winds its way into the river that runs along the edge of the Hacienda San Joaquin ranch.
• THE FOOD literally falls off the trees. This property features a super-abundant food supply that can easily feed four families: We have over 100 fruit and nut trees, avocado trees, wild cherimoya fruit trees, coffee trees, a huge aloe vera garden, and acres of flat land with remarkably deep topsoil (several meters deep). You can grow YEAR-ROUND FOOD, including berries, fruits, vegetables, herbs and much more. We've been living off this for 70% of our diet over the last few months. Due to the climate being much like Hawaii, you can grow food year-round.
• THE HIKING is simply stunning. In addition to the large half-day hiking trail that traverses the entire ranch, our property also features an amazing PRIVATE mountain hiking trail that winds its way along our privately-owned mountain ridge, where you and your family (or children!) can take in the breathtaking views of the surrounding Valley of Longevity. This is a completely private hiking trail, so you can take you dog (unleashed) and you won't run into anyone else. The public has no way to access this private trail.
• A LIVING SPACE is already built on the property. It's an Ecuadorian style two-bath, two-bedroom home with a large living room, tile floor, a kitchen, pantry and loft. It is partially furnished with tables, chairs, beds, pillows, shower curtains, pots and pans, cups and plates, refrigerator, washer and dryer, Vita-Mix blender, etc. (It lacks living room furniture, bookshelves and other decorations, however, so it's not "fully" furnished, but it's enough to move in and start living right away with basic comforts!) It easily sleeps four in the two bedrooms, but could sleep 2 more in the loft and yet another 2 in the living room area, in a pinch.
• You have permission to build additional housing structures on the 20 acres of land being offered: One more main house of any size, two more guest houses (which can be almost any size you want) and two additional housing structures for workers. We also know an amazingly affordable local builder who can build homes for you at a fixed cost that's surprisingly low.
• An amazing octagon-shaped covered Pagoda that's 24 feet in diameter gives you the perfect place for exercise, meetings, yoga, parties or gatherings, or anything else you want to do there. This is built with bamboo flooring, river rock stone walls, a two-tiered roof with tile, polished wood beams on the inside roof, a large mirror on one wall, and window netting to keep out the bugs at night.
• The neighbors at HSJ are mostly into natural living, gardening and food production. There are neighbors from all over the world who are living together at Hacienda San Joaquin, bringing a strong collection of complementary ideas and cultures.
• In addition to its year-round well, the property has its own gravity-fed irrigation canal that brings water 365 days a year from the river! This is FREE water (as is the well water) to use for gardening, irrigation, orchards... anything. There are four bamboo walking bridges that cross our canal at different points.
• Our property is one of the rare pieces of land near Vilcabamba that has its own private bamboo forest. Two of them, in fact. Here, the bamboo grows so rapidly that it's like growing your own lumber! We use bamboo to make stairways, bookshelves, bridges and other items. It's a renewable, ecological and LOCAL source of building materials.
• Internet Capability: The property comes with two fully-functioning internet access solutions. First, we have a high-speed radio with a local service provider. This gives us high speeds for transferring videos. I've run NaturalNews for well over a year (including uploading videos) over this bandwidth. As a backup, we have a full satellite system, which comes with a large dish (already aimed at the satellite), the satellite modem, router, etc. Service fees start at roughly $50 a month for the local service, or $110 per month for the satellite service.
• THE PLANTS: This 20-acre property features a huge assortment of trees, both wild and cultivated. The wild trees and plants include cherimoya, tobacco, coffee, purslaine (rich in omega-3s!) and many others. The fruit and nut trees we've planted include avocados, figs, cidro, macadamia, banana, citrus, mandarin, mango, jungle almond, jungle apple, noni and more. We have a steady supply of fresh figs, avocados, noni fruit, aloe vera, papayas, amaranth and much more from our orchards and gardens. We've also planted Jatropha, which produces seeds that can be pressed to make biodiesel. Finally, we've planted many kenaf plants, too, which have a very strong fiber that can be used to make rope, clothing or other textile materials.
• FREE-RANGE CHICKENS live in our bamboo forest. It's the perfect environment for chickens, and they produce 5-6 eggs per day. These are fresh, free-range eggs with huge yolks! Our chickens eat insects, weeds and food scraps, plus some supplemental nutrition we provide them. We have 7 hens and 1 rooster. The rooster is fairly quiet, but he does crow sometimes in the early morning hours (it's never stopped me from sleeping).
Questions and Answers about coming to Ecuador
How can I get permanent residency in Ecuador?
Simply purchasing this property provides residency qualification. It's a relatively straightforward process, too: You simply fill out the paperwork, gather the requested documents in your current country, then work with a local immigration attorney to file the paperwork for you. I can recommend a local attorney who is very experienced and knows the ropes. His fees are very reasonable and he's the one who achieved residency for most of the foreigners living here.
Do I need to learn to speak Spanish to live in Ecuador?
Speaking Spanish is a huge advantage for anyone living in Ecuador. I would strongly recommend that you be able to speak at least basic Spanish before moving here. I came with rudimentary Spanish and have since advanced to conversational Spanish just from living here and talking to people. For learning Spanish, I highly recommend both Rosetta Stone and Pimsleur courses (I used them both, and they really work!).
What are the monthly maintenance and tax costs of living there?
If you're used to the costs of living in the USA, Canada, UK or Australia, you'll find it is ridiculously inexpensive to live in Ecuador. Once you purchase your property, the actual monthly costs are so low that you'll laugh. Food is so low cost you'll be astonished (20 cents for an organic avocado at the Sunday market, for example). Labor costs are very, very low, even when you're paying above-average wages like I have always done. Property taxes are a fraction of what you're probably paying in any first-world country. If you earn additional income in Ecuador, then of course you must pay local income taxes.
Is Internet access available?
Absolutely! I've been running NaturalNews.com for two years from Ecuador, using the same internet access you'll have. Access starts at $50 per month for basic speeds (like 500kbps) and goes up from there. I currently use 1mbps speeds, which gives me plenty of bandwidth to upload videos, too.
What is the Ecuadorian culture really like?
The Ecuadorian people are typically quite gentle, warm and friendly. They are extremely good at working with basic materials, making them highly adaptable in almost any situation. They're very strong and they have widespread knowledge of gardening and plants (it's common in almost every family). Ecuadorians love to celebrate things, and they hold many celebrations quite regularly. Some of them get pretty wild. Most of the country adheres to the Catholic religion, but they openly welcome people from different religions, too, as I've discovered.
As an example of what the Ecuadorian culture is really like, my wife and I had been holding free Sunday healing clinics at our house, and local families would bring their sick to come see us for some healing. We would offer nutritional supplements, acupuncture, medicinal herbs and other items for them. They were extremely thankful and would bring large baskets of oranges and other foods like humitas (made with corn). At the end of each session, they would always politely ask, "How much do we owe you?" Of course, we always said, "Nothing. It's gratis." (Free)
Living here, I've made lots of local friends, including the Ecuadorians who own the local horse tour companies. For two years, I've actually let their horses graze on my property, and I've come to know the horse owners quite well. They are extremely friendly, and we've chatted at length about many things over the years. This is part of the reason I can now speak more Spanish.
How do I fly to Ecuador?
If you're in the USA, there are direct flights to Quito from Houston (Continental Airlines) and Miami (LAN Airlines). Once you're in Quito, you'll take the local airline called TAME ("tah-may") to the Loja airport on a 45-minute flight. From there, a taxi brings you to the Hacienda San Joaquin ranch near Vilcabamba. The taxi ride takes about 90 minutes. We can recommend experienced, local taxi drivers who are also extremely nice people.
How safe is Ecuador?
There is some crime in Ecuador, but there's crime in every country. Most of the crime in Ecuador is limited to theft of personal items (pickpockets, stealing your laptop at the airport, etc). When you travel, don't flash expensive items like cameras and laptops. Keep your bags near you. I have a neighbor from the UK who says "Crime in the UK is far worse than here." I've also heard lots of stories of pickpockets and scammers operating in France and Italy. I have personally never been the victim of any thefts whatsoever. Your safety is further assured by living in a gated community like Hacienda San Joaquin where there's only one road in and out, and that road is protected by a gate house (like in any gated community in the USA). My property has an additional large front gate on the driveway with a secure lock to prevent any vehicles from entering.
Is Ecuador appropriate for children?
I've always thought the Valley of Longevity was the perfect environment to raise children away from the influences of the USA (television, public schools, fast food, etc.). The opportunities for children to explore nature are astounding. They can learn real skills here like caring for plants, raising garden vegetables, caring for horses, etc. There are two local schools for children, and there is a growing movement of home schoolers in the valley, too.
What else is included
The property comes with:
• Two beds with sheets and pillows, ready for sleeping
• Vita-Mix blender in the kitchen, plus kitchen knives, dishes and flatware
• Clothes washer and dryer, refrigerator
• 2.5 KW Gasoline generator
• Kitchen dining table and living room table
• Four wooden chairs (crafted in the valley)
• Three folding chairs
• Satellite dish, modem, router and power cords
• Point-to-point bandwidth radio, router and cords
• 4 gallons of Dr. Bronner's Soap
• Natural laundry detergents
• Various tools for gardening, pruning, irrigation, etc.
• A documentation video that shows you how to operate everything
• Many other smaller items such as garden sprayers, household tools, flashlights, etc.
| Contact: | Mike Adams |
| Email: | vilcaland@gmail.com |
