Trekking, Haciendas North Ecuador Tour

DAY 1: ARRIVAL TO QUITO, ECUADOR

Arrival in Quito and transfer to Hotel Café Cultura.

DAY 2: QUITO – HACIENDA CUSIN: LA RINCONADA

Today, your guide will pick you up from your hotel to depart for the north of Quito until you arrive in Otavalo. On route, you can enjoy the exotic fruits of Guayllabamba valley like the delicious chirimoyas and tangerines. Then you will continue your trip to the north, arriving at Hacienda Cusín.

Here you will begin with your unforgettable adventure; you will walk to La Rinconada valley, this is one of the most popular walks that follows the road to the left out of the compounds' gates through the flower plantations and along the side of the valley up into La Rinconada toward the ancient, collapsed caldera of Cerro Cusín. On this hike, you can see the life of the countryside of this zone, you can learn how people take care of the animals like cows, goats, sheep, hogs, etc, all sharing the cobblestoned road.

There are fields at the end of the road, and along the fields, you can find small waterfalls. This walk takes you about 1 or 2 hours. Then you will return to Hacienda Cusín, where a delicious lunch will be waiting for you. In the afternoon, our guide will drive you to the Otavalo market or the Ponchos market, which is considered the most important indigenous market of South America; here you can find different and colorful handicrafts like rugs, tapestries, clothes, jewelry, etc.

Late in the afternoon, you will return to Hacienda Cusín, where you will dine and overnight.

DAY 3: CUSIN – HACIENDA ZULETA

Early in the morning, after breakfast, you will walk to the Gualavi valley. From Cusin's front gate, you will take the right road. After El Monasterio, you will continue to a Quebrada (ravine) that is usually dry, you will arrive at a cement bridge, climb out, and go to the right.

Then you will take the higher road along the valley, or you can take another route to go to the bottom of this fertile valley, where it is possible to find the crops of different products that are used in Hacienda Cusin and that you will try in your meals.

You will return to the hacienda and you will start your trek to Zuleta, crossing through eucalyptus trees and plantations of typical vegetables and fruits of our highlands, such as potatoes, corn, beans, and others. In this route, you will have the opportunity to admire the incredible Taita Imbabura and the San Pablo Lake. Box lunch on route and arrival to the beautiful Zuleta valley, famous for its beautiful borderies and the production of cheese, dinner,r and overnight.

DAY 4: HACIENDA ZULETA & ITS SURROUNDINGS

Early in the morning, after breakfast, you will walk around the hacienda, first, you can admire the wonderful organic garden where you can learn about permaculture and discover the origin of your lunch ingredients. Within three hectares, they grow seventeen different kinds of vegetables, five different kinds of fruit, several herbs, spices, and medical plants.

Then you will continue to a local indigenous town located a few kilometers from the hacienda, on the way you can admire the wonderful landscape and the crops of the hacienda that look like a huge and colorful rug.

Upon your arrival in this town, our driver will be waiting for you to take the route to return to the hacienda while you visit some of the small towns of the area. When you arrive, you will begin the hike to Condor Huasi, the condor rehabilitation project, located about 5 km from the house in a valley surrounded by native forest.

At Condor Huasi, the only reproduction and liberation site licensed by the governmental condor protection agency in Ecuador, you will be able to observe the eight condors that are in captivity, and with some luck, you might see wild condors flying above you or even landing on the aviary.

On route, you will have the opportunity to see the largest and best preserved archeological sites of the ancient Caranqui culture. There are 132 small earth mounds dating as far back as 700 A.D. and five large square truncated pyramids from 1200 A.D located in this property. Then you will return to the hacienda, where a delicious lunch will be waiting for you.

In the afternoon, you can visit the different projects of this hacienda, a as the embroidery workshop, the cheese production, the milk shed, the worm farm, and others. Time to rest, dinner, and overnight.

DAY 5: FROM HACIENDA ZULETA TO OTAVALO / IBARRA

After breakfast, you will depart from Hacienda Zuleta to Pinsaquí, which is located close to Otavalo. The route traverses the undulating pastoral Zuleta Valley to arrive at San Pablo Lake, The road is full of eucalyptus trees and bordered by fields of potato, corn, alfalfa, and wheat, where local farmers might be working with a traditional oxen-pulled plow.

Box lunch on route, and late afternoon you will arrive to Otavalo. This is the longest hike that you will have during this trip, it takes about 6 to 7 hours. Dinner and overnight in a local hacienda in Otavalo or close to Ibarra city.

DAY 6: HIKING AROUND THE SACRED CUICOCHA LAKE

After breakfast, you will visit Cuicocha Lake, which is part of Cotacachi Cayapas Ecological Reserve at an altitude of 3,064 m. This lake lies inside the crater of an active volcano, surrounded by native vegetation. The crater lake is three km, 1.9 miles wide and some 200m deep.

The water is alkaline and supports very little life. The islands in the middle are lava domes, which rise above the water surface. They are well covered with vegetation and support some wildlife. The hike around the lake will take us between 3.5 and 5 hours, depending on your general level of fitness. After that you will go to Cotacachi where you will enjoy of a delicious lunch in a local restaurant.

In the afternoon, you will have time to visit this town known for its famous leather handicrafts; here maybe you can visit one of the leather factories where you can learn the leather process that they use to get their products like purses, shoes, boats, wallets, hats, jackets, pants, etc.

Finally, our guide will drive you to Iluman, a village famous for its traditional healers who drive away sickness using ancient rituals and their vast knowledge of local herbs and plants, some of which are now used in Western medicine. Return to your hacienda for dinner and overnight.

DAY 7: PEGUCHE WATERFALL – QUITO

After breakfast, our guide will be waiting for you to visit Peguche, which is an indigenous village well-known for its skilled weavers and its traditional music. The Peguche Waterfall is approximately 20 meters high and located within forty hectares of forest declared "Watershed Protected Forest and Vegetation."

For several communities, this waterfall is the main source of natural power and strength, and as such is frequented by the yachackuna (shamans) as part of their healing practice.

You will hike from the village, and it takes about 20 minutes. After this visit you will return to Quito, on route you will stop at Quitsató project located close to Cayambe, it is the truly middle of the world where you will have the opportunity to be in two hemispheres at the same time, lunch in Hacienda Guachala one of the oldest haciendas in Ecuador and then you will depart to Quito, overnight.

DAY 8: QUITO- GALAPAGOS EXTENSION OR INTERNATIONAL FLIGHT

After an unforgettable experience in Ecuador, you will be transferred to the airport to catch your extension to the Galapagos Islands or an international flight home.

END OF THE SERVICES

A NOTE ON THE ORDER OF THE ITINERARY:

Itinerary subject to change based on local conditions. It could be flexible according to the client’s interests.

PRICES INCLUDE: Private transportation, bilingual naturalist guide, accommodation based on double room in all the hotels and haciendas detailed in the itinerary (single supplement under request); meals as described on the itinerary, entrance fees to: condor Huasi project, Cuicocha lake (Cotacachi – Cayapas ecological reserve), Peguche waterfall, Quitsato.

NOT INCLUDED: Meals not specified, alcoholic drinks, tips, and personal expenses.