RETIRED FROM THE SEAS TO ECUADOR
Jackie Ross, 72 years, accidentally ended up living in Ecuador after 15 years on the seas and 40 years in the tropics. Before retiring, she sailed on ships and yachts all across the world, mostly in the South Pacific. Now, Jackie lives in the small coastal town of San Clemente, where she is actively involved with local people. She also learned Spanish from zero at the age of 65 (so, be careful when you say “I’m too old to learn new languages”!). Here’s a woman out of the box!
Jackie is full of stories from the seas and it’s a privilege to get to listen her. Here are some of them for you to enjoy!
How I met Jackie?
When staying in Quito before heading to the coast, I stayed with a wonderful lady called Inico. More than 15 years ago, she was the exchange mother of one of my friends in Finland who spent one year in Ecuador. Through Inico, I met Jackie who came happened to be in Quito on the same dates as me. She told me that if I ever passed by San Clemente, I was invited to stay in her house. So, 1,5 months later, I showed up at her doorstep with no previous warning – and with my flatmate from Finland with me (I had tried to send SMSs and emails, but they never arrived). Jackie welcomed us in with open arms and we ended up staying at her place for three nights. From there, we continued to Inico’s coast house in San Jacinto.
P.S. I hope one day I can make a better version of the interview with images from the house and the town, which I couldn’t do now as I’m still at the mercy of the editing program on my phone…
