NORTHERN ANDES AND OTAVALO MARKET / HACIENDAS
(2 Days, Your choice of days)
We take you to small Andean villages to see artisan family workshops and to bargain at the Otavalo indigenous market. We arrange stays at historic haciendas, country inns or with indigenous families.
Enjoy breakfast before we depart Quito early in the morning for this tour. Heading north to the town of Calderon, less than 20 minutes from the city, we will see how bread products, specifically dough figures, are made.
We will continue northboun
d on the Pan-American Highway, passing the town of Tabacundo, where we can catch a view of the beautiful rose plantations on both sides of the road. We will make a short stop at the scenic lookout point at Miralago to see the San Pablo Lake, which lies at the Imbabura Volcano’s foothills.
The tour will drive around San Pablo Lake to the town of Agato, where we will visit a weaver’s workshop to learn the whole process for making two sided tapestries. We will see the process from start to finish, beginning with carding the yarn to producing natural color dye and then preparing the indigenous backstrap loom, in the workshop of master craftsman Andrango.
Near 
midday we will arrive at the world-famous Otavalo artisan market. Here we will visit the textile market located at the “Plaza of Ponchos;” this is one of the most famous markets in South America. You will find all kinds of handcrafts including tapestries made on Spanish weaving looms as well as indigenous backstrap looms. You will enjoy some free time for bargaining and buying with the friendly Otavaleños.
In the early afternoon we will visit a colonial hacienda where lunch is optional, before moving on in order to dedicate the afternoon to discovering small artisan villages such as Cotacachi and fine leather workshops like Peguche. We will also see the making of musical instruments and weaveries in San Antonio de Ibarra as well as wood carving, or Ilumán, felt hat workshop and Shaman rituals.
We will return to Otavalo in the early evening, settle into our accommodations and enjoy an optional dinner or free evening.
Day 2, Otavalo – Quito:
Day two of this tour allows us to visit Cuicocha, a volcanic crater lake and its small surrounding indigenous villages. There will be time for an optional lunch before returning to Quito.
B
n North Highway. The first stop will be in Calderon, where the famous Masapan dolls are made. Then we will pass through the valleys of Guayllabamba and Cayambe, continuing to Otavalo’s world-famous indigenous market. Finally, we will visit the leather-making village of Cotacachi, where we will have dinner and settle in to the night’s accommodations at a country inn in the village of Ibarra.
d that goes through the northern highlands, passing sugar cane plantations, tunnels and bridges. It will be a lovely two hour ride with great scenery. Afterward we will visit the village of Mascarillas, in the Chota Valley, where Afro-Ecuadorian communities produce handicraft masks. In the afternoon we will return to Quito.