Machu Picchu - Lake
Titicaca
(11
days/10 nights)
Machu Picchu - Lake
Titicaca
(12 days/11 nights)
Machu Picchu - Lake
Titicaca
(14 days/13 nights)
Colca Canyon - Machu
Picchu
Lake Titicaca
(16 days/15 nights)
Archaeological & Ecological
Treasures
Galapagos - Machu Picchu
Lake Titicaca (or Amazon)
(18 days/17
nights)
Colca Canyon - Amazon
Machu Picchu - Lake Titicaca
(22 days/21 nights)
Machu Picchu
(10
days/9 nights)
Machu Picchu
(13 days/12 nights)
Machu Picchu - Galapagos
(15 days/14 nights)
Galapagos - Machu Picchu
(18 days/17 nights)
Manu National Park
(8 days/7 nights)
Enchanted Isles of the Galapagos
Galapagos
(11
days/10 nights)
Galapagos & the Kingdom of Quito
Galapagos - Andes
(16 days/15 nights)
Galapagos - Amazon
(16 days/15 nights)
Historic Haciendas of the Andes
Cotopaxi - Antisana
- Otavalo
(7 days/6 nights)
© 2008
Inka's Empire Corporation.
All rights reserved.
A Luxury Hacienda Tour in Ecuador
Quilotoa Crater Lake - Cotopaxi Volcano
Courtyard of the Hacienda San Agustín de Callo, Ecuador.
Photo: Hacienda San Agustín de Callo.
Sleep in an Inca palace!
Land Price (4 days/3 nights)
Royal US$ 1,730 Imperial US$ 1,555
The land price includes escorted transfers, private excursions with a professional guide and driver, entrance fees, indicated category of accommodations, all meals except beverages, all transportation, and travel insurance for guests through the age of 59 years. Over that age, there is a supplementary fee. Horseback riding is available at additional cost. All prices are per person based on two people sharing a guest room. For a detailed description of our services, see About Our Tours.
Galapagos Cruises
What You Could Add in Ecuador
Frederic Edwin Church, Cotopaxi, 1855, oil on canvas, 28 x 42 inches.
Photo: Smithsonian American Art Museum.
Upon arrival in Quito, you'll be escorted to the two-century-old Hacienda La Carriona, whose stone courtyard and garden hint of the exuberant Spanish colonial lifestyle. In the following days, you'll explore the Quilotoa Crater Lake and Cotopaxi, the highest active volcano on earth. These memorable landscapes are complemented by the enchantment of a stay in the Hacienda San Agustín de Callo, an Inca palace and colonial monastery.
Around 1440 AD, the Inca emperor Tupac Yupanqui commanded the construction of a palace, and later his son, Huayna Capac, concluded the work. In turn, his son Atahualpa, the last of the Inca emperors and the king of Quito, occupied the palace on his travels to Quito and Cajamarca, before he was captured by the Spanish conquerors and executed in 1533. The hacienda was written about by the Spanish chronicler Cieza de Leon in 1553, and is one of only two major Inca sites in Ecuador. In 1590, the King of Spain granted large extensions of land to the religious orders in the different regions of Ecuador, with the purpose of consolidating the conquest and catholicizing the Indians. The Augustinian Order established their monastery in the region of Mulalo at this site, and with time constructed the colonial part of the house, blending the Spanish architectural style with the older Inca building to create the Hacienda San Agustín de Callo.
Frederic Edwin Church, Cotopaxi, 1862, oil on canvas, 48 x 85 inches.
Photo: The Detroit Institute of Arts.
Highlights
Hacienda La Carriona
Day 1: Quito, Ecuador - Hacienda La Carriona. Transfer to the Hacienda La Carriona, a monument to Ecuador's colonial history. Dinner and overnight in the Hacienda La Carriona -- Suite.
Hacienda San Agustín de Callo
Day 2: Hacienda La Carriona - Quilotoa Crater Lake - Tigua - Hacienda San Agustín de Callo. Departure south to the extinct Quilotoa Volcano, where we'll look down into the Quilotoa Crater Lake and try to imagine its unfathomable depth. In this region, indigenous populations maintain crops at an elevation of over 4,000 m. (13,120 ft.). Others, the artists of Tigua, are the creators of Ecuador's most famous naïve paintings. Lunch at a family hacienda that maintains its Andean traditions before returning on the Avenue of the Volcanoes to the Hacienda San Agustín de Callo, a 15th century Inca palace and 16th century colonial monastery. Dinner and overnight in the Hacienda San Agustín de Callo -- Mulalo Suite, Inca Tambo Suite or Las Gordas Room, all in the Inca palace.
Quito
Day 3: Hacienda San Agustín de Callo - Cotopaxi National Park - Hacienda La Cienega - Quito. Morning departure to Cotopaxi, the highest active volcano on earth. Surrounding it, you will find the moorland ecosystem of the National Park. Hike the trails, including one to the Inca ruins of El Salitre. Lunch at the historic Hacienda La Cienega. Continue north to Quito at sunset, admiring the majestic landscapes of the volcanoes. Arrive at the Villa Colonna. Guided evening walk to the Plaza de San Francisco for dinner at the Café Tianquez. Overnight in the Villa Colonna.
Your next destination
Day 4: Quito - Your next destination. Continue on a cruise of the Galapagos Islands or an expedition to Ecuador's Amazon Rainforest.
Entrance to the Hacienda La Carriona, Ecuador.
Photo: Hacienda La Carriona.
Its stone courtyard and garden hint of the exuberant Spanish Colonial lifestyle...
Day 1: Quito, Ecuador - Hacienda La Carriona
Transfer to the Hacienda La Carriona, located in the beautiful Valley of Los Chillos, a brief drive south from Quito. Constructed more than two centuries ago, "La Carriona" stands as a monument to Ecuador's colonial history. Its stone courtyard and garden hint of the exuberant Spanish Colonial lifestyle, while its name reminds us that it once belonged to the renowned Carrión family. La Carriona's thick adobe walls have witnessed significant events in Ecuador's history. In the mid-1800s, the house belonged to the distinguished family, Fernández Salvador. In 1830, the patriarch of this family, Don José Fernández Salvador, was appointed president of the first Constitutional Assembly, which laid the foundation for both the Ecuadorian constitution and the nation. Today, the hacienda accommodates guests amidst tranquil surroundings. Dinner and overnight in the Hacienda La Carriona -- Suite.
Quilotoa Crater Lake, Ecuador.
Photo: Nathou & Nono.
Day 2: Hacienda La Carriona - Quilotoa Crater Lake - Tigua - Hacienda San Agustín de Callo
Breakfast. Early morning departure south in private car with your guide and driver to Manchachi, where you will have a healthy and typical country breakfast, on the way to the extinct Quilotoa Volcano, in a remote area of the high Andes on the western side of the Cotopaxi province. After a drive up a dirt road and a hike to the rim, we'll look down into the dark green Quilotoa Crater Lake and try to imagine its unfathomable depth. At this majestic site, at the level of the clouds, we'll contemplate an extraordinary and rarely-seen landscape, not only into the volcano but out to the volcanoes surrounding Quilotoa.
In this region, indigenous populations maintain crops at an elevation of over 4,000 m. (13,120 ft.). Others, the artists of Tigua, whom we'll visit, are the creators of Ecuador's most famous naïve paintings.
"The Native American artists of Tigua, Ecuador have a short artistic history, but a very deep and rich cultural history. They are direct descendents of the Incan and pre-Incan populations who've inhabited this high Andean region for centuries...
The subject matter of these paintings usually reflects the immediately-surrounding Andean landscape and the traditional and ritualistic lifestyle of the native population. These scenes are rendered in a charming naif, folk style using bright, colorful enamel paints..."
-- Gordon Polatnick
Lunch at Hacienda Posada de Tigua, a family hacienda that maintains its Andean traditions, before returning on the Avenue of the Volcanoes to Salcedo and the Hacienda San Agustín de Callo, a 15th century Inca palace and 16th century colonial monastery. The view of Cotopaxi will make you feel you've entered one of Frederic Edwin Church's paintings. Indeed, the hancienda is depicted in the artist's Cotopoxi, of 1855.
Inca Tambo Suite of the Hacienda San Agustín de Callo, Ecuador.
Photo: Hacienda San Agustín de Callo.
Continue to the ancient Hacienda San Agustín de Callo. Around 1440 AD, the Inca emperor Tupac Yupanqui commanded the construction of a palace, and later his son, Huayna Capac, concluded the work. In turn, his son Atahualpa, the last of the Inca emperors and the king of Quito, occupied the palace on his travels to Quito and Cajamarca, before he was captured by the Spanish conquerors and executed in 1533.
The hacienda was written about by the Spanish chronicler Cieza de Leon in 1553, and is one of only two major Inca sites in Ecuador (the other is Ingapirca, near Cuenca). To this day, the remaining rooms prevail as a magnificent example of the unique style of Inca construction. The site is currently being investigated by Dr. David Brown of the University of Texas, with funding by the National Geographic Society. Previously unknown portions of Inca walls and foundations have been discovered throughout the restoration process of the house.
Las Gordas Room of the Hacienda San Agustín de Callo, Ecuador.
Photo: Hacienda San Agustín de Callo.
In 1590, the King of Spain granted large extensions of land to the religious orders in the different regions of Ecuador, with the purpose of consolidating the conquest and catholicizing the Indians. The Augustinian Order established their monastery in the region of Mulalo at this site, and with time constructed the colonial part of the house, blending the Spanish architectural style with the older Inca building.
In the 18th century, there was significant debate in the scientific community as to whether the circumference of the earth was greater around the equator or around the poles. To answer that question, Louis XV, the King of France, and the French Academy of Sciences sent the French Geodesic Mission to Ecuador (1736-44) for the purpose of measuring the roundness of the planet and the length of a degree of longitude at the equator. San Agustín de Callo housed the expedition's scientists, who witnessed two eruptions of Cotopaxi, in 1743 and 1744. In 1921, the hacienda was purchased by General Leonidas Plaza Gutierrez, president of Ecuador in 1901 and in 1912. The hacienda remains in the family and is currently owned by the general's granddaughter Mignon Plaza. Dinner and overnight in the Hacienda San Agustín de Callo.
Cotopaxi Volcano, Ecuador.
Photo: Ecuador 365.
Day 3: Hacienda San Agustín de Callo - Cotopaxi National Park - Hacienda La Cienega - Quito
Breakfast. Morning departure to Cotopaxi. The white-coned summit of the perfectly symmetrical volcano takes pride of place along the Avenue of the Volcanoes. The glaciated summit is 5,907 meters, or 19,400 feet, above sea level, making it the highest active volcano on earth. Surrounding the "King of the Andes", you will find the moorland ecosystem of the National Park, a vast wilderness of sweeping plains. Its 85,000 acres protect Andean condors, llamas, spectacled bears and many other species of highland fauna and flora. Exquisite landscapes are revealed as you hike the trails, including one to the ruins of El Salitre, whose rounded walls are rare in Inca architecture and indicate a temple of the Sun.
Lunch at the historic Hacienda La Cienega. La Cienega is one of the country's most prestigious haciendas. In colonial times, it hosted illustrious guests like the French astronomer Charles Marie de la Condamine, who participated in the French Geodesic Mission. Another famous guest was Alexander Von Humboldt, the German naturalist, who studied Cotopaxi's volcanic activity and unique alpine flora in 1802. While here, he coined the phrase "Avenue of the Volcanoes". More recently, Ecuador's presidents have stayed in the hacienda on their travels through the country and it now is open to the public.
Continue north to Quito at sunset, admiring the majestic landscapes of the volcanoes. Arrive at the Villa Colonna, a charming colonial home in the historic district. Guided walk to the Plaza de San Francisco for a simple but delicious dinner at the Café Tianquez. Overnight in the Villa Colonna.
Traditional, horse-drawn carriage, Quito, Ecuador.
Photo: Hotel Plaza Grande.
Day 4: Quito - Your next destination
Breakfast. Continue on a cruise of the Galapagos Islands or an expedition to Ecuador's Amazon Rainforest.
Thank you for choosing Inka's Empire Tours.
© 2008 Inka's Empire Corporation, Luxury Peru Tours & Travel. All rights reserved.
