Avenue of Volcanoes, Ecuador
Hacienda San Agustin de Callo
Formerly the home of one of Ecuador’s most prominent families (including two former presidents), and also once the base for explorer Alexander von Humbolt, this hacienda was built on the site of both an Inca palace and Augustinian monastery. To spend time in original Incan rooms, complete with metre-thick walls, is an unrivalled experience.
Formerly the home of one of Ecuador’s most prominent families (including two former presidents), and also once the base for explorer Alexander von Humbolt, this hacienda was built on the site of both an Inca palace and Augustinian monastery. To spend time in original Incan rooms, complete with metre-thick walls, is an unrivalled experience.
Formerly the home of one of Ecuador’s most prominent families (including two former presidents), and also once the base for explorer Alexander von Humbolt, this hacienda was built on the site of both an Inca palace and Augustinian monastery. To spend time in original Incan rooms, complete with metre-thick walls, is an unrivalled experience.
Formerly the home of one of Ecuador’s most prominent families (including two former presidents), and also once the base for explorer Alexander von Humbolt, this hacienda was built on the site of both an Inca palace and Augustinian monastery. To spend time in original Incan rooms, complete with metre-thick walls, is an unrivalled experience.
Location
90 minutes south of Quito, Hacienda San Agustin de Callo sits in the Andean highlands close to the entrance to Cotopaxi National Park. Perfect Cotopaxi volcano looms as a backdrop to this fantastic location.
Accommodation
Guest accommodation at the Hacienda is comprised of 10 rooms and suites spread between three buildings. All the rooms are cosy and comfortable, most with beautiful stone fireplaces. We love the exposed beams and the stencilled patterns on many of the walls and recommend that if you want a truly indulgent experience you request a room with a fireplace in the bathroom. The farmhouse also boasts a large drawing room, dining room, and courtyard. A delightful 17th-century Inca chapel remains within the grounds (complete with roaming alpacas); it is available for guests to get married in.
You will be fascinated by the impressive perfectly carved stone walls of the hacienda’s two Inca ceremonial rooms: the Inca Temple and the dining room. Lit by candles in the niches set among the massive stones, your dinner will be a mixture of delicious Ecuadorian and Mediterranean dishes. All ingredients are picked from the hacienda’s vegetable gardens or bought from the local market. A large breakfast in the dining room can be savoured at leisure with a view of magnificent Cotopaxi through the windows.
Experiences
This is an excellent base to explore the pretty towns, nature reserves and history against the spectacular backdrop of the Avenue of Volcanoes.
- Within the estate of the hacienda you can indulge in cooking lessons, painting lessons or take up fishing. Milking a cow is something else not to miss!
- There are countless routes for hiking, cycling and horse riding both locally and slightly further afield. Cycling across a former lava flow is quite an experience.
- You will love a visit to a local rose plantation where you can learn all about the cultivation of the most perfect of specimens on the world market.
- Of the many tours into the Cotopaxi National Park, we recommend visiting Limpiopungo Lake. The more adventurous may want to hike to a refuge at 4,800m.
- The six-hour hike around the rim of Quilotoa Crater will give you unforgettable views of its vivid blue lake.
Enjoy cascading hot water and lush vegetation at the Ilinizas hot springs.
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