Uncovering Untouched Ecuador

Deep in the mountains, Harriet Compston finds Ecuadorian communities opening their doors to travellers and sharing their traditional ways of life.

Discovering The Ecuadorian Andes

‘Welcome to the Banana Republic, my friend,’ says my guide, Ivan. We are crammed in a small hut in the Ecuadorian Andes, watching husband and wife Milton and Normita prepare lunch. The couple are cooking using a traditional technique, with clay pots and steam. I watch a slab of chicken accompanied by potatoes, fava beans, corn on the cob, pineapple and, of course, banana (all from the garden) being carefully placed in the pot. Joyously earthy, with a sauce made of pumpkin seeds, it’s enough to feed a small family.

I started out in Ecuador’s exuberant capital Quito, a UNESCO World Heritage city, encircled by volcanoes and mountains. Sundays are when overflowing market stalls mix with curanderas (healers) and fourth-generation hat makers hawk their wares. Shoe shiners buff and polish outside the Basilica and Convent of San Francisco while white-and-blue clad poncheras, ‘punch bowlers’ – men selling a fruity foam drink – wait on the cobbles. There’s a lively culinary and nightlife scene. But I wasn’t staying, instead heading off in search of a more ancient way of life.

Cotopaxi, an active volcano, smoked ahead of us as we drove through mountain pastures. We passed Tabacundo, ‘the capital of roses’. According to Ivan, Beauty & the Beast’s rose was Ecuadorian. At first I was not convinced, but, admittedly, the roses here are blood-red and the largest blooms I have ever seen. Traditional adobe houses made of clay, sand and straw dot the road to the hut, lined by cypress, pine and polylepis trees. Fields shimmer purple with potato flowers. Potatoes are a major crop here, with Ecuador home to between 350 and 450 varieties. It’s no surprise then that Milton and Normita start our ancestral feast with a thick potato soup.

After lunch, we visit potter Transita and her son, Johnny. She talks me through the firing process. Kilns aren’t used here. Instead, the creations – sold in the market or swapped for food – are covered in ash and fired over an open flame. I pick up sticks for the fire with Transita before she leads me to a shed of pots and plates ready for the market. Each one is beautifully crafted, made with care and consideration.

Hacienda Pinsaqui, at the foot of the Imbabura volcano, is our base for the night. Built in 1790, the estate not only housed a textile workshop but was a regular haunt of General Simón Bolívar, remembered for leading revolutions against Spanish colonial rule in South America. Today, this white-washed mansion in well-kept gardens has been cleverly restored as a 16-bedroom hotel. However, it’s a time warp with sweeping arches, long corridors decorated with chandeliers and roaring fires in stone fireplaces. There’s even a neo-Gothic chapel.

As dawn breaks we wind our way to San Isidro Lodge, a charming family-run property in the cloud forest in Quijos Valley. Immersed in the jungle, the owners, the Bustamante family, have spent the last 40 years spearheading a large-scale conservation project. The result is a startling array of wildlife. There are 138 species of hummingbirds in Ecuador and this small lodge attracts the best of them: the Collared Inca, the Long-tailed Sylph and the Fawn-breasted Brilliant. They buzz around the feeders. I watch the wings flutter, in awe to be so close. Spectacled bears, night monkeys, pumas, jaguarundis and even giant anteaters also amble in harmony.

Communities welcome visitors to share in their craft, including the weaving of panama hats, which originated in Ecuador

Nature continues to shine at our next stop, Papallacta. The town is known for its hot springs, celebrated for their therapeutic properties (helping blood circulation, reducing stress, relieving aches and pains, healing skin conditions and aiding sleep). The resort sits in a 250-hectare protected area called Canyon Ranch, with 35 rooms in thatched wooden cabins set around thermal pools. My room leads out to three different pools of increasing temperatures. It is exquisitely serene, bobbing around, my face cooled by the mountain air.

The following morning, we head south to Cuenca, a laidback colonial city with an old-world charm, vibrant markets and cobblestone streets. We make our way down tree-lined boulevards along rivers to Warmikuna Kitchen Workshop, a café which celebrates (and teaches) indigenous cooking. ‘Roots are important,’ says founder Catalina Abad Rodas as I help her deep-fry plantain to accompany my excellent lunch of dorado with quimbolato (achira leaves) and coconut salsa.

We walk off our meal, wandering around Cuenca’s fascinating panama hat museum. It’s one of the world’s greatest misunderstandings, says Ivan, assuring me that the panama hat comes from Ecuador, not Panama. Rows of them are lined up, colourful and elegant like the houses here, including our hotel, Mansión Alcázar. Once belonging to the president’s son, this 19th century mansion has 19 regal rooms with lush gardens and an ornate courtyard. It also houses one of the city’s best restaurants where I enjoy refreshing, tangy ceviche.

TOP: The active volcano Cotopaxi is surrounded by mountain pastures

The next day we return to the hills. A hornado de chancho – a whole pig on a spit – twists on the roadside. It’s a typical dish, and a popular one, judging by the number we pass. We end up at Ingapirca, Ecuador’s best-preserved Inca ruins, developed by the Incas during the 15th century as a military stronghold. Now llamas have set up shop, but it’s still an impressive sprawling sight, particularly the imposing, semi-intact Temple of the Sun.

The expansive cornflower blue sky grins above as we continue to Parque Nacional Cajas, ‘the Switzerland of Ecuador’. The golden-grass moorland is breathtaking, glacial lakes sparkle, and there are giant hummingbirds, alpacas and swooping Andean condors. It’s a spectacular end to my trip. A thought-provoking journey, I found an expected lesson in the power of community and that, despite the draw of modern-day trappings, there’s strength in holding tight to your own culture.

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