Last Updated on February 19, 2018 by Audrey Scott
“All the best stories are but one story in reality – the story of escape. It is the only thing which interests us all and at all times, how to escape.” — A. C. Benson
It had never occurred to us to ask, “Where do conspiracy theorists go for early retirement?”
Then we visited Vilcabamba, a little town in southern Ecuador.
Across the developed world, there’s a rich business in convincing prospective retirees to up stakes and retire overseas. The concepts of lifestyle arbitrage and starting over are compelling to many: a retirement savings account might buy a better lifestyle abroad than it could back home while the economic hatch provides an escape into a new life.
Throughout our travels in Asia and Europe, we've met many people doing just this. Then in Latin America, the deluge: from sun-baked houseboat retirees in Rio Dulce, Guatemala to middle-aged real estate flippers on Isla de Ometepe, Nicaragua, retirement south of the border is de rigeur.
On the surface, Vilcabamba seemed to fit the same retirement-ideal profile. Its aesthetic recalled the desert southwest: red rocks, blue skies, dry air. Its moniker, The Valley of Longevity, suggested it might just be a good place to grow old. And the whole package – we’re told — is relatively low cost.
But there was something different about Vilcabamba. Something – let’s say a la Roswell, New Mexico.
We couldn’t sit down for a meal without being cornered by a stranger hoping to inform our understanding of the world with an unsolicited dump of the world’s latest conspiracy theories. In a few days, our education included everything from the illuminati and their plans to cull the human race by propagating tainted H1N1 flu vaccines to a 1950s U.S. government cover-up of the orgone accumulator.
We even learned about the fascism of the pelvis.
Add to this the widely circulated 9//11 and UFO theories, and you’ve got yourself a night on the town.
“It’s all true. You can look it up on the internet,” we were told repeatedly.
Oh, the irony of selective skepticism.
The whole experience fired our curiosity. Why might those prone to conspiracy theorizing seek utopia in this far off land? To find out, we buttonholed one of Vilcabamba’s foreigners as he was making plans to set down roots in the area and we asked him a few questions.
Note: The internet is a tiny place. Names have been changed to protect both the guilty and the innocent.
Uncornered Market (UCM): In our travels so far in South America, Vilcabamba appears to be home to a very high concentration of recently arrived expatriates.
Pat X: In fact, the ex-pat community amounts to less than 300–maybe less than 250.
UCM: Out of a local population of 4000, that sounds like a lot.
UCM: What is it that attracts so many foreigners to Vilcabamba? How do people hear of Vilcabamba in the first place?
Pat X: A rumor's going around that Mandango, the sandstone formation above the village, contains a crackpot magnet. If that's not provable, then you'd have to look to International Living and other real-estate promotions, equally over-romanticized personal blogs, and word of mouth among the disaffected types that seek refuge in remote places presumed capable of supplying real and abstract amenities.
UCM: How did you find out about Vilcabamba and why did you choose it?
Pat X: I wandered through and was appalled. In fact, I'd never consider living on this ship of fools.
UCM: In the short time we stayed in Vilcabamba, we met a variety of characters. How would you characterize the expats who have chosen to live there?
Pat X: Exactly as you have: as characters–many of whom seem paranoid, or xenophobic, or deluded, or unprepared for foreign life, or on the run from personal inadequacies that they blame on something or somewhere else. Mix and match as you care to. A few exceptions exist: some learn Spanish, integrate into the outlying communities, and, usually, avoid the village whenever they can.
UCM: At a local restaurant, we noticed a sign in English asking people to stop gossiping about each other. We thought that was a rather adult way to diffuse a situation. What is the story there?
Pat X: To call it “adult” would be to idealize the population it was addressing. The notice came and went–the gossip stayed.
Think of it as a permutation of “nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live here”: the Ecuadorian locals are left out, for the most part–they're deprived of land because it's either sold or too expensive to buy, and except for those in tourist-related niches, they're out of the rich life. In fact, they generally can't even graze their cattle on unused land because the foreign buyers won't go for it. So, if you put aside the few foreigners who have managed to join the community (and by that, I mean participate in and even properly benefit it), then what's left is the sort of person who chooses to live permanently in a place that's really meant to be temporary.
UCM: Are there different “camps” of expatriates?
Pat X: Of course. Most are divided by the conspiracy theories they espouse; and these groups, if advanced, may have subdivided into sects. For example, there are divisions among the UFO believers, and those espousing miracle solutions (e.g., to medical or energy problems), and those believing in separate agencies that are planning the conquest/destruction of–again, feel free to mix and match–humankind, good people (i.e., themselves), the poor, the rich, the whatever.
UCM: What are the top conspiracy theories circulating in Vilcabamba these days?
Pat X: “They” are conspiring to keep “Them” from giving us X or to deprive/hurt/kill “Them” with Y. “They” are any group to which power may be assigned (including aliens and other-dimensionals; and “Them” are everyone championed by whoever's espousing the theory. “X” might be free clean energy, miracle cures and whatever other utopian benefit the theorists believe in but don't in fact work to create or even know much about. “Y” is any substance or system deemed deleterious.
For example, the World Health Organization is using airliners (alleged by some to be only the white ones–though when sunlit at a height of seven miles, all look white) to spray humans with (poisons, mutagens, nanobots, additives, etc.), and that this explains the contrails that planes emit. And let's not forget world-wide fascism, economic collapse, anarchy, and various other doomsday scenarios, from all of which their evangelists think Vilcabamba will provide refuge.
Recently it was averred that Michael Jackson was murdered because he was going to denounce the H1N1 vaccine–but if, as some allege, he was an extraterrestrial, how could that be?
There are definitely some interesting cats in Vilcabamba, but that’s what made the place interesting for me (well, that and the hiking). I think that like minded people attract each other…as soon as there were a couple, word spread and people started flocking.
Wow, this is pretty wild. My notion of expats has always been a lot more of a higher-level expectation that they move into these places to more assimilate with the cultures and gain some sort of benefit they didn’t feel they had when they were in their own countries – and then there’s this town.
The mystery still stands though – why did all of these paranoid expats all choose *this* same tiny community?! I am fascinated, simply fascinated.
Fascinating! As I read along, my question was, “Why are these types of folks attracted to Vilcabamba?? Poof! The interview appeared. I play with interviews on my site as well, and quite love them. Could be because focusing on someone else is the lure, but mainly it’s about gaining insight into that person or a place. To answer your question about Uncornered Market guides, I wouldn’t change a thing. Many other sites offer basic tips, etc. What yours does is offer a holistic view of a destination, wrapped up in stunning photos and tips that reconfigure how we travel. Keep it up!
We stayed a couple of nights in Vilcabamba and definitely noticed there were a lot of strange ex-pats living there. We tried to enjoy the hiking, but it had been so rainy that the mud was inches deep and literally sucked off my shoes. We did get a bit of sun though and had some great views…and managed to find a few locals. Also the bus station in Loja had these excellent fried pastries that were very reminiscent of malasadas. Mmmm. I enjoyed the interview. Funny stuff.
Shannon: From our experiences living in Prague for five years and then meeting all sorts of expats on the road, we’ve seen that they do run the spectrum, from the fully funded corporate expat to the entrepreneur expat who wants to experience something new to retirees and lifestyle arbitrage expats. There’s probably a whole book waiting to be written on it!
As for how so many ended up in this tiny community, it probably started with a few moving there and telling their friends. Then publications/newsletters like Escape from America and International Living started to publicize it as a pleasant, inexpensive place to retire – we met a few people who ended up in Vilcabamba through these newsletters. It’s still fascinating though.
@Kyle: Each time we went out in Vilcabamba was like a new adventure because of the people we met. Everyone was really eager to share his/her story and views on life (i.e., conspiracy theories). The setting there is also beautiful – we thought we’d stay three days and stayed a week.
@Nomadic Chick: What better way to share a story than ask a person who knows it better than you? We’re going to have a few more interviews in the next few weeks with people/experts we’ve met on the road. Thanks for the feedback on the Uncornered Market guides – glad our photos and info help inspire travel and are useful practically!
@Theresa: We were fortunately with the weather during most of our visit and tried to do some biking around. But, we ended up not doing as much hiking around because the terrace of RendezVous guest house with a view of the red rocks around was one of the best places in the world to write. We’d return for a writing retreat 🙂
Sounds like a great place to visit. I can get my fill of all the conspiracy theories of the world in one place. I am a little behind lately. I used to work with a cameraman that was up on all the theories and he would tell me all about them. As I take them with a grain of salt, I still love hearing the stories and ideas and seeing the passion in their beliefs. Love the Michael Jackson theory at the end. HN1N Crusador and Alien combined. I didn’t know he was so busy:-)
@Dave and Deb: Some of the conspiracy theories we’ve come across truly fall into the category of “truth is stranger than fiction.” If you decide you want to get updated on all the conspiracy theories at once, stop by Vilcabamba on your journey!
I’ve enjoyed reading your blog for ages now, although this is the first time I’ve been moved to leave a comment.
I’m on a long-term (2-yr?) journey through Latin America, and got stuck in Vilcabamba for 2 1/2 months.. after only planning on being there for a few days! The scenery is superb, the hiking and horseback riding are wonderful, the living is cheap and easy.. but mostly it was the cast of characters you mention that drew me in. They’re fascinating folks.. some crackpots, some not, but approached from an anthropological point of view, they’re all worth getting to know. Some of the most fascinating conversations of my entire trip thus far were with these cats.
I wrote some long blog posts about my experiences, including an in-depth analysis of the various conspiracy theories I heard discussed, on my travel blog.
Buen viaje!
@Josh: Great to see you here and glad that you are enjoying our site. Vilcabamba is definitely an attractive place, a point we probably don’t sufficiently elaborate on in this post. After all, it’s the beauty and atmosphere that attract so many short- and long-term visitors. We too spent more time there than we had expected. Glad you are enjoying your time and conversations there. It’s easy to do.
I gotta say-I spent some time in Vilcabamba and fell in love with it. Although, I did not meet any weird ex-pats or conspiracy theorists. Perhaps if I had, I would not have such glowing reviews of it 😉 At any rate, when I left, I was convinced that I wanted to spend my honeymoon there (and I wasn’t even engaged OR dating anyone for that matter!)
@Claire: I suppose we should have begun this piece by mentioning that we spent a week in Vilcabamba (more time than expected) and really enjoyed ourselves, in particular in the company of the folks who run Le Rendez-Vous. (I believe we mention that in another piece or somewhere else on our site). We would recommend a visit to Vilcabamba, independent of the likelihood of meeting a conspiracy theorist.
But we tend to talk to a lot of people wherever we go and those conversations expose the nature and character of the places we visit. People say a lot about a place — and Vilcabamba is no exception. Although this piece may not capture the entirety of what Vilcabamba is (it’s not intended to), it accurately represents our experience. And it’s apparently resonant, at least based on a number of follow-on conversations we’ve had with others about the town.
isn’t it funny how people’s experiences can vary so differently in the same location? good post-going to send the link to the friends who were also on that trip. while i can chuckle at some of the weird theories you encountered, the saddest part is that the Ecuadorian locals appear to be barred from enjoying the same types of lives as ex-pats in their own village, their own country, and their own land. We did see several amazing houses while we were there and wondered just who they belonged to.
PS-we stayed at Hosteria Izhcayluma. did you run into it while you were there? awesome spot.
@Claire: So true: it’s possible to walk the same path and experience an entirely different world. About the Ecuadorian locals, that’s the bit in this piece that I hoped more people might respond to, so I’m glad that you did. There’s nothing wrong with moving around and into various communities, but as our interviewee Pat X points out rather accurately: some people do it rather heavy-handedly. This not only does a disservice to locals, but also rather ironically to the expats themselves.
Regarding the place we stayed, we took a glowing recommendation from a Sicilian couple that we met at the fish market cafeteria in Puerto Lopez. And we ended up staying a few days longer in Vilcabamba than we had planned.
This is a great article about Vilcabamba.. I first went there in 2004 and have been back only to see more and more expats.. Not the greatest but glad that the spirit of those who came before is still there. Loved the part about the sign in the restaurant asking people to stop gossiping about each other..
@jon: Thanks. Vilcabamba was certainly unique. The sign struck us as a sort of barometer of the relationship between locals and expats.
Another one of my favorite spots in Ecuador.. great interview.. catches the spirit of the city!
Sorry to hear about the “Conspiracy Theories” in Vilcabamba. We have enough of that in our politics. I have been looking for a place to spend my “Retirement Years”. I am sixty-eight and plan to find ” my place” by my Dec 8th 2012, my birthday. I have traveled to Costa Rica five times and Ecuador is next on my list. Thank all of you for your comments
@Oscar: Conspiracy theories in politics only seem to be getting worse everywhere. Vilcabamba is a really beautiful place, but as the population is so small it would be hard to stay away from town/people politics if that’s what you’d like (as I would). If you like cities, Cuenca is a really nice town not too far away from Vilcabamba. Otherwise, just travel around Ecuador until you find someplace you really enjoy – it’s a beautiful country. Good luck finding your place!
Audrey, thanks for the responce. There is no substitute for gathering info like visiting a place. I will be in touch. Thanks again !
I am surprised by this, but this article was a very interesting read. I thought older expats were people from the US who did want to arbitrage their lifestyle for a better one somewhere else; but they also wanted to mingle as well with the local population.
But I find it believable that there would be a lot of crazy conspiracy theorists among them. Is there something in the soil in Villacamba or is this a universal phenomenon to be found in other expat communities as well?
@Sutapa: I think there might be a difference between what you think you want to do before you move and what happens when you are in your new location. I don’t think it’s a conscious decision not to mingle with the local population. Many people get afraid of learning a new language and when the surroundings are new and different, people look for familiarity in community.
Vilcabamba is unique in that it is very concentrated into a small community (town is 4,000 people) so you see the conspiracy theories a lot. However, we’ve also come across this in pockets of expats in Nicaragua, Thailand and other popular places.
@Sutapa: Vilcabamba has been known locally as the Valley of Longevity for a long time because people usually live to a late age there. Whether this has to do with the minerals in the water or something special in the mountains, no one knows exactly.
Audrey, why do you call this a Valley of Longevity? Are older people living longer in Vilcabamba? Or is there an influx of older, healthier Americans?
refreshing to see that there are some level-headed people passing through Gringobamba. You only missed the group of very newly arrived Gringos who complain that town is too full of Gringos and whom are looking for land near but outside of the town because they want to get away from (as in live on a mountain close to) the gringos 😉
@Jennifer: That is fabulously rich, and a sidesplittingly funny description to boot. Sounds like you have the making of a skit. Actually, I sort of always thought Vilcabamba would be ripe for shooting a movie, on location. Reality TV, even. Reality Vilcabamba TV.
OK, now I’m getting ahead of myself.
Thank you for your comment, reaffirming what we thought we saw and heard and for giving us a good laugh!
This is cute, but actually the spraying of toxins is real and is called Operation Cloverleaf. It is primarily a CIA/Pentagon-run program, begun in the late
90s, funded by the banking Cartel. I don’t believe the WHO or UN is involved on any pragmatic level.
@10hawks: Thanks for the information. For this post, we just shared what we heard, in the way of various theories, on the ground in Vilcabamba.
Yeah come on I mean we have to be the only intelligent life out of billions and billions of solar systems that our highly intelligent population does not have technology to explore.
The quote at the begining of the article says it all, referencing escape and escapism. In my experience with ex-pats in Thailand (not all of the American), most seemed to be escaping from something back home. And all too often, it was something inside them.
Anyway, while I enjoyed the article, I want to criticise it for relying on just one source “Pat X”. It would have been a much stronger article had there been more than one person interviewed.
We will visit Ecuador in March, and are considering Vilcabamba as one of many stops. As they say, there’s no substitute for direct experience!
Astute observation, rohbear. That squares with our experience in general, and in particular in escapist communities such as the one profiled here. To your point, the thing that needs escaping is almost always inside the escapee.
Thanks for the constructive criticism. We met and “interviewed” others, but they didn’t seem keen on having anything about them published. So if I seem cagey, that’s why. For example, the “fascism of the pelvis” reference came by way of another expatriate we’d spoken to in town. I think we spoke to (or were spoken to by) about a half dozen people, but figured a single voice might better communicate both the circumstances and their irony.
Enjoy your travels and your experience in Ecuador and Vilcabamba.
I live in vilcabamba. most people here are having a somewhat spiritual orientation. with that are various levels of awakening to whats happening within and outside of you. the focus on conspiracies and “us against them” is part of that initial awakening. and preaching it to others too. its by far not the end, its the beginning. at one point even that will drop. but its a process like everything else. you see this focus on conspiracies and “alternative” world views everywhere there is a larger group of people gathered with these spiritual impulses going through them towards waking up to reality. before 2012 vilcabamba was harboring a lot of people that moved here because of fear based decisions. doomsday etc. This has kind of faded away now after the 2012 didn’t happen. I see more people coming here now just for the nature and chill spiritual energies. this is not a place to live for most people. its too quiet. and too intimate. everybody knows everybody. and your shit starts coming up as you cant hide here as you can in big cities. good luck buying some eggs without having to deal with tons of questions and entanglements. many cannot handle this. its confronting. plus the valley itself is intense and high frequency. so with nothing to distract you its few who would even consider living here. but as with everywhere else in the world we got low energy people. ignorance. Ego tripping etc. full on. Just because your on a spiritual path does not mean your a better person than those who are not. most often its opposite actually. your stuff comes up and your are less nice. its how things work when cleaning out your stuff. this town is going to reflect your own inner reality. this is why some leave after 3 days with lots of negative experiences. others wish to stay forever. but I haven met many who say its a walk in the park being here. this place is NOT a safe heaven in case of WW3 or something. Gringos will be the first on the list to be chopped down with machetes if something went wrong globally. your better off amongst same nationality. you can learn the language. live like Ecuadorians. but true integration is a illusion. you will always be a gringo.
I have accepted this and love it here. its a very very beautiful place. out of time.
J: Thank you for a remarkable and enlightening comment. Your observation about the 2012 inflection point probably explains a lot of what we’d seen in Vilcabamba, and elsewhere in Central and South American enclaves of escapist expatriates. And your observation regarding the occasional judgment and self-righteousness of those who consider themselves on their spiritual path is spot on. And it’s true that all the cultural evolution that you speak of and that we see in our travels is a process.
yes and its very interesting to see that so many people can have such a polar opposite experience in such a little town.
Its clear to me I get what I expect every time I go to town for those darn eggs 😉
Pat X is entertaining and well spoken. I looked up Vilcabamba, because a character I like to follow (Matt Monarch and wife of Raw Food World) lives there. Yet it has never looked like paradise in their videos—just jungle-y pasture. I wondered what moved them to buy their land sight unseen. I noticed that houses and land were priced like suburban U.S. houses and land. Thanks for your great site. ‘Looking forward to reading more.
Good question and observation, Carol. Who knows what motivates and draws people wherever they are drawn. In the case of Vilcabamba, it’s plenty pleasant enough, but not to draw suburban U.S. prices in my opinion. Fascinating world we live in. In any event, glad to see you here and looking forward to hearing more from you.
I have recently been researching the idea that some of the belief in conspiracies that pervades the Vilcabamba valley is due to an extremely strong batch of the mescaline-containing San Pedro cactus which was brewed up some time during 2010 by an American PhD. student who was studying indigenous shamanism. A series of bizarre synchronicities led this gentleman to meet another group of travellers who somehow exacerbated the energy already present in the area from the original inhabitants of the valley who experimented with the psychoactive Vilca seeds, which contain DMT, 5-MeO-DMT and Bufotenin. They found calcinated snail shells which had turned white from exposure to the sun and ground them up to a fine powder, before mixing them with the toasted seeds from the Vilca tree. After snorting the compound they were transported to an alternate dimension, whereupon they were given information which led them to believe that the world in which we live is controlled by a malevolent force just outside the bounds of our perception, therefore effectively being undetectable. Somehow the works of the author Carlos Arana Castaneda are connected with this.
Fascinating on many levels. Thank you for taking time to share this, Elisa.