About Carter – El Gringo

I’m Sean Carter, known to many as Carter – El Gringo. I was born in Florida, but Ecuador has been my home for more than 23 years.

I spent my first 10 years in Quito, where I owned several businesses and founded Bungalow 6, which became one of Ecuador’s most famous discos at the time. Those years gave me plenty of stories—and a few I’m saving for my book.

Eventually, I wanted a warmer climate and a healthier pace of life, so I moved to Bahía de Caráquez. Trading the mountain air for sunshine and salt air felt like the right move. Bahía has been my home ever since.

Here, I’ve continued building businesses, including CoCo Bongo Hostel. Working in hospitality has meant meeting people from all over the world, hearing their stories, and sharing what I love about Ecuador.

This website brings together the different parts of my life: business, travel, everyday experiences, and a curiosity about the country I call home. You’ll find stories about Manabí, interesting people and places, and my own thoughts along the way.

Carter El Gringo Profile Picture

Why I Speak Up

I love living in Bahía, but loving a place doesn’t mean pretending everything is perfect. When the water stops running or another business closes, it’s hard to stay quiet. These things affect our homes, our work, and the people we know. I talk about them because I live here, too.

Running businesses has taught me to look for possibilities as well as problems. Sometimes a conversation with a business owner gives me an idea. Sometimes I visit a place and wonder why more people haven’t heard about it. And sometimes I see something that makes me shake my head and reach for my phone. If you follow my social media, you’ve probably noticed that last part.

I don’t have every answer, and I’m willing to hear a different point of view. But I do like asking questions: What happened? What would it take to fix it? Is there someone doing this well who we could learn from? I’d rather have that conversation than keep complaining about the same thing year after year.

More Than Headlines

There’s much more to Manabí than the problems that make the news. There are small businesses worth supporting, beaches and communities worth visiting, good food, and people quietly doing interesting things. I want this website to make room for those stories, too.

Having lived here for so long and worked with visitors from around the world, I’m also interested in how people experience Ecuador. What makes someone come for a holiday and decide to stay? What makes it easier to settle here, start a business, or feel part of a community? Those are conversations I enjoy having with both Ecuadorians and fellow expats.

You’ll find a mix here: places I’ve been, people I’ve met, business ideas, local concerns, and the occasional story from my own life. Some will be serious. Others will come with a little sarcasm. There’s room for both.

Have a Story?

Know someone doing something worth sharing? Have a favorite place in Manabí, an idea for a local business, or a different take on something I’ve written? Get in touch. Some of the best stories start with someone saying, “You should come take a look at this.”