Ecuador and the Galapagos – Day 18 can be found here.
Busy day ahead of us today – my wife and daughter are going on an extended horseback ride to the top of the nearby mountain of Cubilche, while my son and I will be mountain biking down that very same mountain. Thankfully our paths are not expected to overlap.
But first – breakfast:
The kids had the waffles:
While I had the French toast:
And my wife had eggs, English muffins, and avocado:
My wife and daughter headed off for their ride immediately, while my son and I had a bit more time to relax before we set off mountain biking.
We met up with our host, Santiago, at 10 am. He’d already gotten out mountain bikes and helmets in a range of sizes. We found ones that were a good fit, and then Santiago and the driver loaded them into the back of the pickup truck and we were off.
There was a stunning view of the nearby volcano, Cayambe – the third highest mountain in Ecuador:
We climbed high into the hillside, up to a point where Zuleta rents the land to companies that grow fir trees for timber:
Santiago has actually climbed Cayambe – he said that the way to do it was to ensure that the weather was good, and to wear a helmet. I expect it’s more involved than that, but I won’t be finding out anytime soon.
I had been concerned about the safety aspect of mountain biking, but Santiago reassured me that he would be leading us and we’d have the truck behind us acting as a safety vehicle. This should also prevent other vehicles from passing too close, though the trip was mostly on a secondary fire route – so other traffic should be minimal.
And with that, we were off:
The dirty-road portion was a lot of fun – though a bit rough and jostling to want to do it immediately afterward. The asphalt portion, however, was true bliss.
After, we biked through the village of Zuleta itself, driving past kids’ soccer camps and local shops and restaurants before ending up back at the farm.
We had time enough for another rest and a shower before my wife and daughter returned from their ride. They had gone even higher than us – up to 3,850 metres (12,500 feet) – and had taken in some truly stunning views:
Eventually, they reached Laguna Cabilche – a lagoon at the top of Cabilche:
(For comparison, 5,000 metres is considered extreme altitude where many people will experience unconsciousness if not acclimatized, and 8,000 metres is the ‘death zone’.)
Unsurprisingly, we’d worked up an appetite from all this.
We started with the quinoa soup:
The kids had the steak:
While my wife and I both had the trout:
Nap time followed, and then we joined Santiago for a tour of Zuleta:
The first recorded date of finished construction of Zuleta was from 1691. It first started out as a granary, and as a textile manufacturing location. It was founded by the Zuleta family from the Basque region of Spain.
The plaza was used to keep sheep, and also as a centralized location from which the Spanish controlled the local indigenous population.
Many Spanish traditions were adapted to include local influences – for example, the local St. John the Baptist event now includes elements of indigenous solstice celebrations.
The original granary is now used as storage, but there are plans to remake it as a museum.
There was an economic crisis in 1898, at which point it was sold to the Lazzo family. It has remained with the family for six generations since.
Leonides Plaza was the president of Ecuador from 1901 to 1905 and again from 1912 to 1916, while his son Galo Plaza was the president from 1948 to 1952. There is a wide range of history and memorabilia in the area, including a letter from President Truman:
The living room area used to house the cheese factory, but was remodelled in 1974 to provide additional living space for the family. Hacienda Zuleta wasn’t opened to the public until 1995 – but it really has been transformed into a fabulous resort, and perhaps the finest hacienda in all of Ecuador:
With some truly stunning gardens:
This is one of the original paddocks, which was previously used for dressage exhibitions. Nowadays they still use it on occasion when training young riders:
The on-site chapel was used until the 1990s, when the village chapel was built. It is still used for a year-end ceremony and for family weddings.
There is a large mass held on December 31st in which the Virgin Mary – dressed in Ecuadorian fashion – changes her clothes for the year.
Fernando – the grandson of Galo Plaza and the general manager – has the house by the chapel. This used to be the cowkeeper’s house. Our rooms are located in the remodeled stables.
Zuleta employs between 120 to 140 people, including the farm and the hotel. There’s a small milking operation on site with 40 cows, while the farm has over 1,200 cows in total.
The farm produces 10,000 litres of milk a day, 25% of which is used for cheese production.
Also, it has adorable baby cows:
Back to our rooms for a bit more downtime, followed by another round of cheese and reading in the living room.
Then off to dinner. Carrot soup again to start, and then my wife and I had lasagna:
While the kids had pasta Bolognese, and more fruit and cream for dessert.
Again, we passed on s’mores – my wife and daughter have a busy morning planned, rounding up the herd. Assuming they can still move after 4 hours of horseback riding. If not, I’ll be the one trying to round up the herd. And that would be amusing, because I have no idea how to do that.
Who will it be? Tune in tomorrow to find out…
Continue reading Ecuador and the Galapagos – Day 20.