You’d think that a small city at high altitude in the valley of the Andes next to a rain forest would be the last place where you’d see drought conditions. But you’d be wrong.
For the past week, the city has been using rolling blackouts to conserve electricity, because the water levels are so low in the rivers that there isn’t enough for the plants to generate electricity for everyone. And so every day for a few hours a day, parts of the city have no power and no water.
It’s very hard for local businesses, as you can imagine. My dentist has lost a lot of money because she has to close the entire office for the duration. No water, no electricity = no dentistry.
I had no idea that drought and rolling blackouts were a regular thing here, and I hear that this year has been the absolute worst. The blackouts will continue until we get sufficient rain. But even three days wasn’t enough, though el Niño should get that fixed up in no time.
We are actually in Spring, with Summer coming on Dec. 21, so we are due some rain anyway.
The real problem is that Ecuador should have invested in new plants and energy sources 15 years ago to support their growing populations. But they didn’t.
Luckily for me, I rented an apartment in a building with a generator, so when the power goes out, the generator kicks on and it’s just a small blip in my day–which is extremely important when you work remotely.
I’ve seen so many posts the last week for people looking for reliable internet connections so they can work. As you can imagine, the Internet cafes fill up fast, so a lot of people have been left in a pickle. I’m very lucky I chose this place.
ECUADORIOUS 