Live Well Ecuador

Live Well Ecuador - Works directly with clients; Develops custom itnieraries; Produces The Ecuador Chronicles weekly newsletter (Ray Almand, Mathieu Guillory - Principals)

Excelsior Tour - Makes travel arrangements; Manages tours in process (Mathieu Guillory - Principal)

Terra firma - Apartment Management (Mathieu Guillory - Principal)

Mathieu Charles Guillory - President and Founder - In His Quito Office

Our office is located on the lower level of Matt's Quito house - which he has lovingly restored.  But Matt is both a family man and a businessman - he and Amparo came to realize that the Quito home was no longer suitable for a family of five with three rambunctious children, even with its courtyard and weekend trips to the campo.  They needed an outside area - a yard - therefore the move to the village of Conocoto.  From the business perspective Matt also realized there was rental demand for a large house in Quito.  So now Matt commutes in daily to the office and rents out the Quito house.  We will have more on Conocoto and village life in a later Chronicle.

His move fits well with our business plan to cover all of Ecuador from a real estate and travel perspective.  I personally love Colonial Quito - but I know it is not for everyone; even Matt realized he needed something different at this stage in his life.  And many people are interested in smaller cities in the Sierra and the Pacific Coast - we plan to meet this demand; Ecuador offers a lot of options.

If you call our office or go by, chances are you will meet our administrative assistant, Gabriela (Gaby) Rodriquez.  If you take a custom trip with LWE, it is likely Gabriela who makes the arrangements with the hotels, airlines, guides, drivers, etc.  Both she and Matt have developed good relations with all of our suppliers - which is critical to our success.  Gaby is efficient in all that she does and she is learning English, which will allow more contact with our clients.

Gabriela Rodriquez - Adminstrative Assistant

Juan Cevallos is taking on more and more responsibility.  When you arrive at the Quito airport it may be Juan who meets you for the transfer to your hotel.  He is also handling check-ins to apartments.  And Juan is one of our drivers - he handles many day trips from Quito and longer journeys with our travelers.  Juan has also been kind enough to let The Ecuador Chronicles use his image as the humorous persona of Don Juan.  The Don Juan character has allowed the Chronicles to provide a relaxed local flavor to explanations about Ecuador - and in fact, many of these explanations do actually come from Juan.  Because of The Ecuador Chronicles, Juan has become somewhat a celebrity to LWE travelers - they recognize him when they arrive at the airport; he often gets a big hug from people he has never met!  This used to surprise him - he now takes his fame in stride.

Juan Cevallos (aka, Don Juan) - Critical to Our Operation in Ecuador

Jose and Narcissa Gaona are a husband and wife team important to the apartment management side of our business.  We manage apartments in Quito for rental to travelers, mainly for people who have purchased real estate through our company.  They want to get a return on investment when they are not using the apartment - or some may have purchased purely for investment.  Narcissa cleans the apartments, including washing and changeing sheets and towels.  Jose handles any maintenance problems.  He is an excellent Maestro - plumbing, electrical, painting, carpentry, tile work, etc.  For people who purchase property in Quito, he is a good choice for any renovation work that may be required.  Jose and Narcissa live right in my building with their three children.  Jose has done all of the renovation projects on our apartment - including a recent bathroom expansion.

Narcissa and Jose Gaona - Keeping Things Running Behind the Scenes

And finally, yours truly, Ray Almand - Principal of Live Well Ecuador.  I enjoy working personally with our travel clients to create just the trip they want.  I also produce The Ecuador Chronicles and maintain the LWE website.  My background is IT project management for the banking industry; I have also had training as a financial planner.  My wife, Dalynda, and I live part time in Ecuador, part time in the US.

Your Correspondent - Sunday Afternoon, Front Porch Office in Hampton, GA

The Hat is Most Definitely from Ecuador

(I Thought I was Holding my Stomach in....)

Would you like to visit the Live Well Ecuador Office In Person?