GTLT – 90 – HACIENDA ZULETA
ZULETA & OTAVALO ANDEAN ESCAPADES
Four Days / Three Nights – Private Services
Daily
DETAILED ITINERARY
DAY 1: QUITO / HACIENDA ZULETA
Today either from your hotel in Quito or the Mariscal Sucre Quito airport our guide will take you to the Hacienda Zuleta. You will leave Quito, heading to Otavalo, the town famous for its weekly artesian market. We will stop on the highway to admire the beautiful landscape and snow-capped mountains in the area. We continue on, making a short stop at San Pablo Lake before arriving in Otavalo. Arrive at Hacienda Zuleta for the dinner. Hacienda Zuleta dating from the late XVI century lies in the spectacular Andean mountain range of Ecuador at 9,600 feet (2,800 meters) above the sea level. Zuleta is a colonial working farm of 4,000 acres (2,000 hectares) that belongs to the family of Galo Plaza Lasso, a former president of Ecuador, for more than 100 years.
Hacienda Zuleta, offers a great variety of activities and places to visit to its guests. With horseback riding in Ecuador being their specialty, they also offer mountain bikes and a horse drawn carriage for trips on hacienda grounds to observe the milking, the agriculture, mountain views and the tranquil life of the community.
Meals: Dinner
Overnight accommodations Hacienda Zuleta
DAY 2: Otavalo Market
For hundreds of years, Otavalo has hosted one of the most important markets in the Andes, a weekly fiesta that celebrates the gods of commerce. Vendors hawk a dizzying array of handmade traditional crafts as well as an ever-increasing number of slyly disguised imports. The market tradition stretches back to pre-Incan times, when traders would emerge from the jungle on foot, ready to conduct business. The exquisite weavings and textile-making skills of Otavaleños (people of Otavalo) have been exploited by the Incas, the Spanish and, eventually Ecuadorians.
Otavalo is world famous for its craft fair, offering countless products created by the hands of skilled and experienced artisans. Otavalo has had since pre-Hispanic times a commercial vocation and important textile production. Established in a collection center and trade between different cultures in different regions of the country.
In this market, you can find a variety of textiles, woodcrafts, balsa, carved, key chains, jewelry, paintings, antiques and more. Here merchants also sell their products from neighboring countries like Peru, Chile, Colombia and Bolivia. The crafts fair takes place every day of the week, Saturday being the most important. Afterwards return to Hacienda Zuleta.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Overnight accommodations Hacienda Zuleta
DAY 3: Hacienda Zuleta
Full Day Hacienda Zuleta
Today you will have different activities inside the hacienda. You can enjoy working in hacienda activities, Zuleta encompasses 2,112 hectares of pastureland, forest and protected areas of native primary forest. With approximately 300 Holstein-Friesian cows, that support Zuleta’s milk production. Milking activities takes place at 3pm in the afternoon (or at 5am in the morning) and we invite you to come to the milking sheds to experience the process, feed a little calf, see giant bulls and talk to the vaqueros (local cowboys).
Zuleta has been internationally and nationally recognized for its work with the Andean condor of Ecuador. Guests could ride or hike to Condor Huasi, an Andean condor rehabilitation project, located about 5 km from the house in a valley surrounded by native forest.
Enjoy horseback riding of an exclusive stable where a Zuleteño horse gives you the opportunity to discover this magnificent landscape in true style! We have horses for every level and provide you with good quality helmets, half chaps, rain ponchos, and a saddle bag so you can feel like a proper caballero while exploring some of our glorious horse trails.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Overnight accommodations Hacienda Zuleta
DAY 4: Otavalo / Parque Condor / Quito
Today you will have the morning to relax and after lunch we will depart towards the city of Quito.
Before leaving passengers can also visit the Condor Andes rehabilitation program “Condor Huasi Project” that works for the rehabilitation of the majestic Andean Condor.
Meals: Breakfast, lunch
