Throughout the highlands of Ecuador – both north to Otavalo and Ibarra, and to the south along the Avenue of the Volcanoes to Cotopaxi – you will find haciendas. Many of these properties are restored historical family homes and ranches. Each hacienda has its own unique flavor and atmosphere, with local influences and echoes of the family that once lived there.
Colorful colonnade (Liz Boeheim)
Hacienda Zuleta, located about an hour and half north of Quito, was built in the 1600’s and once belonged to the family of a former president of Ecuador. Now a hotel and working farm (and cheese producer!), the property has not lost any of its warmth as a residence and really feels like entering into your long-lost Ecuadorian grandmother’s home.
One of the many cozy corners around Zuleta (Liz Boeheim)
Family heirlooms, photos, and paintings adorn the halls, which are also lined with bright pink and red geraniums. Throughout the hacienda, there are a number of “living rooms,” perfect for gathering before dinner over a cheese plate and discussing your day. Or for borrowing a book and getting cozy near the always-stoked fireplaces.
Debriefing our day’s adventures around the Zuleta-made cheese plate (Liz Boeheim)
While there is more than enough to keep visitors occupied inside Zuleta’s buildings, you will certainly be rewarded by venturing outside. Upon arrival, you will have a representative from the hacienda assigned to be your activity and overall experience guide – a little like a personal concierge to help make your stay exactly what you want. They will explain the variety of activity options – from showing you the best hiking trails, horseback riding, mountain biking, cooking classes, touring the farm operation, visiting the condor rescue center, or even an embroidery lesson!
Me and my pony (Liz Boeheim)
Once you’ve decided how you want to spend your time, they will help make the arrangements with you. But, honestly, this is the perfect place to unwind from a jam-packed trip, so opting to just relax and explore at your leisure won’t mean sacrificing any experience.
Embroidery lessons on are just one of the many cultural experieces at Zuleta (Liz Boeheim)
What I loved most about visiting Zuleta and about the hacienda experience was getting a chance to see an entirely different side of Ecuador. Up to this point, so much of my time was focused on the wildlife of the Amazon and Galapagos, but here I got to learn more about the history and culture of the country. My last stop in Ecuador was fun, edifying, and restorative!
Excellent travel advice and service
This is my second experience working with Adventure Life. I’m sold. Jess Heuermann is an experienced traveler and provides a lot of useful information when planning a trip. These are the questions I like to ask at the outset - What’s it like to go here, there, what would you suggest, what do people report, can we add any additional side trips? Jess took the time to answer my questions and seek additional information to share with me. Petchie Colina is outstanding in helping with travel logistics and final preparations. Adventure Life has excellent guides and offers private guides and small group adventures. We enjoyed the opportunity to talk with the guides and drivers to learn more about their countries, cultures and histories. A highlight was having the guides pick local restaurants where we could share meals together. Highly recommend.
Claire Cordon
5 days ago
Our six-day tour in Iceland went smoothly with one exception. We had asked for two rooms each night. Somehow we were booked with one room with three beds. It could not be fixed at the first hotel in Reykjavik because the hotel was fully booked. Once informed of the problem, however, Adventure Life rebooked for two rooms for the remainder of the trip. As an 85-year-old traveler, I appreciated that one could participate at different physical levels at many of the stops. Iceland is a great place to visit but on the expensive side.
Mary Warren
6 days ago
Jess was very easy going and answered all our questions. It’s not easy dealing with 6 people at once but she did an outstanding job!
Diane Foster
1 week ago
Kassandra and the Adventure Life team have been incredible! Kassandra was very knowledgeable and attentive to our asks while making sure we kept within our budget. This was our first experience with a travel agent and we were blown away by the booking/initial exploration service. We will use Adventure Life again.