Colonial Haciendas

Day 1 (L,D)

You are met at Quito airport/Quito hotel (we recommend arriving a day or two in advance) by a bilingual guide and driven into the northern area of Ecuador. Visit the famous Otavalo market, a bustling craft market. There is also a food section where the locals - dressed in their very distinctive traditional costume - come down from their tiny farms in the mountains to sell their farm produce and buy their weekly supplies. From the market it is just a short drive to the Hacienda Pinsaqui. Members of the charming family (horse fanatics themselves!) that have owned the hacienda for several centuries greet you warmly. With its courtyards, ornate fountains, terraces and gardens graced with citrus, palm and monkey puzzle trees it is an ideal location to leisurely drift into the relaxing Andean surroundings.

After meeting your horse and trying it in an enclosed arena, take an introductory ride along the tracks and through the tiny fields on the slopes of the Imbabura Volcano. You often see the very friendly but dignified locals in their immaculate traditional dress working in the fields using hand tools or cattle to work the land. These tiny fields are surrounded by stone walls and earth banks topped with sisal plants and an array of wild flowers. Return to the hacienda for a welcome drink in the cozy bar accompanied by the music of an excellent Andean band and a delicious, traditional dinner.

Day 2 (B,L,D)

Leave this historic hacienda on horseback and ride on to another colonial hacienda built in 1602. You ride past tiny hamlets of adobe huts, through woodlands, cross rocky gorges and wind your way around the patchwork fields of quinoa, potatoes, maize and tree tomato orchards. As you ride across the slopes of the sacred Imbabura Volcano (extinct) - the focus of many Inca legends, there are magnificent views of the San Pablo lake and the jagged Mojanda summit. As well as seeing a great variety of exotic Andean fruits and other crops, you meet the locals in vibrant traditional dress going about their daily tasks, the children shepherding the unruly pigs and sheep - trying to keep them off the crops. Visit a family of local weavers, who produce exceptionally fine, unique rugs using the ancient pre-Inca backstrap loom that most weavers abandoned in favour of more modern looms. The wool is still dyed using plants and then hand spun as the family sticks rigidly to the traditional weaving processes. Continue on to Hacienda Cusin and enjoy a late afternoon walk through the beautiful flowering gardens, admiring the avocado trees, bromeliads, orchids and kitchen garden with passion fruit, tree tomato and a host of other interesting plants.

Day 3 (B,L,D)

A stunning ride into the beautiful pastoral Zuleta Valley. Travel along country lanes then through eucalyptus forests, before climbing out of San Pablo Valley enjoying wonderful views across the lake and of Imbabura volcano. Head on to the plains beyond for some fast-pace riding. Following sandy tracks, descend into the Zuleta valley with dramatic views across to the hanging valleys and rocky ridges above. With views of the ancient tumili and earth pyramids erected by the pre-Inca population ride on to a working farm in the middle of this tranquil valley seldom visited by tourists. A chance of seeing the mighty Andean Condor as well as other species such as hummingbirds and bright scarlet flycatchers. Andalucian horses, fighting bulls and a dairy herd are among the farm inhabitants.

From the Hacienda La Merced you can walk into the tiny village and see examples of the hand embroidery that has made the valley famous as well as explore the farm. Overnight at Hacienda La Merced.

Day 4 (B,L,D)

After breakfast ride out of the hacienda along tree-lined trails that take you between the fields and past traditional adobe and thatch cottages before climbing on to the open grasslands. Taking to the steep paths that follow the gorges you will climb high onto a ridge to enjoy spectacular views of the distant peaks and the valleys below, including some pre-Inca earthworks. You may well see llamas and fighting bulls. Continue through forests and across the Pesillo plains to the Cayambe Valley dominated by the snow-capped Cayambe Volcano, which straddles the Equator Line. Here you will leave the horses at a typical village square and then drive, crossing. the Equator Line, and bypassing Quito, to a comfortable hacienda complete with a steaming Jacuzzi. A chance to relax in the swimming pool, jacuzzi or sauna before enjoying a delicious dinner in this delightful hacienda. Overnight at Hacienda La Carriona.

Day 5 (B,L,D)

The day starts with a short drive south through the 'Avenue of Volcanoes'. The views are magnificent, with the verdant horseshoe shaped crater of Pasachoa, the twin Iliniza peaks sprinkled with snow and a host of other summits lining the central valley.

After meeting your new horse, ride south out of the Machachi valley and into the foothills of the Iliniza peaks - very different scenery to the previous days' rides. Your destination, on the Lasso plains, is a very ornate hacienda steeped in history. The wide sandy tracks and grassy paths are ideal for some fast-pace riding as you ride the length of a valley scraped out by glaciers at the end of the ice age. In places you will ride over layers of pumice stone - deposited by the volcanoes, and during the ride the horses expertly negotiate two steep gorges. You will pass local women wearing brightly coloured, pleated skirts and their traditional hats chasing errant donkeys. The original houses in this area are built of dried grass laid over a wooden frame and, from the back, look like haystacks rather than dwellings, nevertheless happy children come piling out to chase their llamas, pigs and sheep off to open pastureland.

Arriving by way of a very impressive avenue of eucalyptus trees, dismount at the portico of a magnificent hacienda that holds a very special place in history: the scene of several independence battles and used as a base by many explorers and scientists such as Condamine and Humboldt during their expeditions to the 'new world'. Overnight at Hacienda La Cienaga.

Day 6 (B,L,D)

A morning visit by vehicle to the nearby rural Saquisili Indian market. Having visited the animal market and purchased alfalfa (lucerne) and oats for the horses, guests can amble through the squares and streets buying local crafts or a traditional poncho or simply watching the locals trading at the market. Men sit behind old sewing machines putting the collars on new ponchos or behind stone wheels grinding knives for people, ladies pass through the market selling a multitude of wares. There is also a fascinating local food and fruit section. From the market drive on to a rose plantation for a visit, the mass of metre long stemmed roses growing in huge greenhouses are quite a sight. A little further along the road enjoy a very tasty, traditional lunch at an old hacienda before meeting the horses.

There is a chance for more fast riding as you ride towards the perfectly conical shape of Cotopaxi Volcano. Passing adobe huts with grass-thatch roofs, ride up into the gently undulating grasslands, across the Cotopaxi foothills and into the pine and eucalyptus forests. Chimborazo (Ecuador's highest peak) and the presently active Tunguragua Volcano are often among the volcanoes visible as you enjoy the incredible views of the surrounding peaks. Join the main Inca highway and ride to a hacienda built around a very important Inca structure. Complete Inca walls, incorporated skilfully into the hacienda, still stand and guests can marvel at the Inca workmanship as they walk around the second most important Inca site in Ecuador. Leave the horses at the national park entrance and head back for a second night at Hacienda La Cienaga, with its ornate facade and fountains, beautifully carved chapel doors and manicured gardens.

Day 7 (B,L)

A spectacular ride. Rejoin the horses and ride up into the National Park to canter across the wide, barren plain at the base of the Cotopaxi Volcano (the highest active volcano in the world). Several herds of wild horses inhabit the park and to ride along side these long-maned horses galloping freely across the rugged terrain is an exhilarating experience. The curiosity of the young stallions often overcomes their fear, and they leave their herds to take a closer look.

Part of this ride follows the main Inca highway which linked Quito with Cusco, Peru. Close by, there is a route running eastwards, along which the Incas went to the Amazon rain forest, in the distance you can see remnants of the Inca hilltop fortress that guarded this route. The ground is covered with tiny pumice stones and lichen on this arid plain created by lava and ash from the mighty Cotopaxi volcano. Passing a shallow lake on the high plains continue onto a small restaurant with a stunning view of Cotopaxi for a delicious lunch. After lunch ride across a very surprising 'luna landscape' - huge boulders and hard baked ocre-coloured mud and onto rolling grassy hills. Arriving at a hacienda just outside the national park for 'empanadas and canelazo' - two local delicacies, leave the horses and descend into the Machachi Valley by vehicle and drive back to Quito for a night in a very comfortable hotel.

Day 8 (B)

After breakfast transfer to the airport.