Hacienda Zuleta

Hacienda Zuleta is a centuries-old working farm estate in the Angochagua valley of Imbabura Province in the northern Ecuadorian highlands, approximately 90 kilometers north of Quito and an hour's drive beyond the textile market town of Otavalo. The hacienda occupies a highland plateau at around 2,800 meters altitude, flanked by the rolling páramo grasslands and cloud-forest slopes of the northern Andes. The surrounding landscape encompasses the extinct volcano Imbabura to the east, Cotacachi to the west, and Laguna Cuicocha — a volcanic crater lake ringed by a trekking circuit — accessible as a half-day excursion.

The estate's origins trace to the 17th century when the Jesuits established the farm. It subsequently came into the possession of the family of Galo Plaza Lasso, who served as President of Ecuador from 1948 to 1952 and later as Secretary-General of the Organization of American States. The hacienda remains family-managed by successive generations, who have maintained both the active agricultural operation and the hospitality offering. The working farm encompasses extensive pasture and cropland, a dairy operation producing artisan cheeses, trout ponds fed by highland streams, an organic vegetable garden, and the Proyecto Cóndor Huasi — a condor rehabilitation and reintroduction program housing Andean condors being prepared for release into the wild ecosystem.

Guest accommodations occupy the historic manor house, with rooms and suites arranged around interior courtyards built in the classic Ecuadorian hacienda style. Whitewashed adobe walls, hand-carved wooden furniture, colonial oil paintings from the Quito School tradition, antique maps of early Ecuador, and working fireplaces — essential for the cold mountain evenings at altitude — characterize the interior. Rates are fully inclusive and cover all meals: breakfast features hacienda-produced fresh cheeses, house-made jams, and eggs from the estate's own flock, served in a dining room with mountain views. Dinner is served in a candlelit communal setting with South American wine pairings, drawing together the small guest community around a single long table.

Activities at Hacienda Zuleta revolve entirely around the estate's natural and agricultural assets. Guided horseback rides of varying difficulty and duration traverse the highland valley, ascending to páramo moorland, passing indigenous Kichwa communities, and descending to colonial chapels scattered across the surrounding farmland. The condor rehabilitation project offers guided close-range viewing of captive Andean condors at the aviary. Cheese-making and bread-baking demonstrations draw on the dairy and kitchen operations. Fly-fishing on the stocked trout ponds is available with equipment provided. Nature walks through the property's cloud-forest fragments provide excellent bird-watching including hummingbird species endemic to the northern Ecuadorian Andes.