Horseback Riding Adventure Through The Ecuador Andes

We are closer to Riobamba. Arrived to Cahuaji. 44 km today in 10 hours 4.6km/h

And we made it! we crossed the llanganates by horse! What a challange! There was no certainty that we will be able to cross or that we will have for sure some guides to come with us. Until late last night, when Fabricio secured us that we would have 2 groups of guides. Two guides  to arrive to  the big Zanja (ditch, water shed) and two other guides to arrive to Hacienda La Suiza. Finally we started our day at 10 am with our guides Bricenio & Mario, 4,200 mts of altitude, stong drizzle, and the coldest day.

Cross the Huagrahuasi & Quimbana paramos and countless lakes. We crossed the big zanja and through the fog we heard the voice of the paramo, the same voice (howl) that is used at the rodeos to signal the cattle approaching. This voice traspasses the mountains. Amazing! … After numerous howls we gather as a group, we were 10, 4 guides, the cattle chagra of the area and us. 

We had a little bite to eat and said goodbye to Briceno & Mario and continue to the small Zanja (ditch). In every step we saw achupallas plants eaten by the bears, and an amazing number of evidence that tells us that the bears are in the area.
Hard core ride, Manuel’s horse couldn’t handle it anymore, we fed the horse and remove the tack and pull him for the rest of the ride.  We continued through the curvy and muddy trail. At 4 pm we had to decide between a La Suiza at 4 hours of distance or Poatug at 2.5 hours. We took the shorter option eventhough this could mean a loss of a day. The sky opened and  we finished our chalenged trail. The a relaxed downhill and an exciting surprise when we saw the  Poatug village,  all the people of the village came out to welcome us. Joaquin Darquea came and picked us up and took us to the Hacienda of the Timpe family. Dinner and listening the Tungurahua Volcano roaring until we fell asleep. At 6 am we woke up because the house windows were loud because of the Mama Tunguragua roaring.

Quilindana to  Chalupas & Langoa until 2pm. With us Ruben Alvarez & in Langoa Patricio, a young Chagra that took us to Anteojos through fabolous swamps where Luis Landazuri took a bath. We spent the night at a barn and didn’t meet with the Huagrahuasi Chagras. We are with Ramiro Tamayo guide of the Llanganates. 

Today there was no shower and last night there was no dinner.. the logistics didn’t work and we didn’t meet with our chofer, he got lost and by the time we saw him he was with a neighbor that was guiding him back to one of the Galopon communities for 30$ and a bottle of hard liquor (agua ardiente). When he got out of our truck we couldn’t walk.
There is nothing like not having the need to take roads and just cut across through the paramos and highlands, even with the fog and drizzle.  We arrived to Pisayambo at 3pm and no one was around. We were going to have something to eat when Ricardo Cobo aproached driving a truck, dairy farmer of the area that was asked by Fabricio Vaca to come and coordinate our crossing and to show us some maps.  Ramiro (the guide)  decided  we should keep going towards the control at Pisayambo. We arrived there at dusk, fed the horses and went to eat at 9 pm a delicious potato soup (Locro) at the Hacienda La Victoria (Eduardo Chiriboga), shower and rest.
 

 So we disapeared for a few days… we had no towers for cell phone signal.  We are doing  fine, somewhat tired since this section is tougher and involves a lot of camping. Luis has fever so he has not  been with us this past 3 days, we miss him but we have Santiago, Igancio’s grandchild with us. A lot of rain, We had to buy Rubber boots beacause of the humidity and rain.   

Today we started at 10 am with drizzle and with a lot of energy. Fabricio Vaca and Ricardo Cobo  gave us 2 “guides”  that know the area (Bricenio y Mario) they took us  towards a cliff where we met with another guide (from Sucre) he will guide us tomorrow. We rode by the station of Pisayambo, and we are riding towards Banos. We are trying to  make it to Hacienda La Suiza tomorrow and then Hacienda La Victoria for dinner and overnight (Eduardo Chiriboga’s farm).  

The control gate at the National Park Anteojos is a great example. Mr. Acuna gave us all the atentions  and recomendations for the trip. Thank you. Also this adventure wouldn’t be possible without the support of friends and people we know along the ride. They cheer for us an give support without any interest. Thank you. Here we come Fearsome LLanganates!! the protectors of our ancestors’ treasures. Its known that many have go in for the Valverde tresure, but no one knows if they came out or if they found something. 

It is really cold today, 4C and high winds, we are at 4,250 mts above sea level. The visibility is 5 km and nobody knows if there will be access or not.  We passed the Huagraguasi paramo and entered Quimbana. We promised Miguel Ubidia the manager of Llanaganates park and Sangay we will give talks to the indegenous villages after the trip. 

Thank you for following our steps we really appreciate your support, your comments, email and phone calls to check on us. Today we are resting and tomorrow we will continue this great adventure that is openning more and more our eyes about the great potential Ecuador has for Ecoturism as well as the need to protect our Natural Resources.

To answer you questions, yes we do have a car (SUV) that “follow us” meets us in certain points every 1 or 2 days, it has our sponsors stickers in the windows. This has our equipment, including food and water and we are going to pull a trailer with some bales and feed for the horses. We pull an extra horse per rider so we rarely ride the same horse 2 days on a row. We ride each horse every other day so the other one can “rest” .  We are getting a bit more used to  riding and pulling a horse at the same time but it is not the best way of riding. We wish we had a truck to drive the extra horse to the next stop but it would be to expensive.

40 km 5.5km/h

A 7 hour day ride, started at 8:30 am in company of Fausto Corella and the Chagra Revelo of 72 yrs riding a mule (offspring of a pure bred mare). We rode through the Hacienda Ubillius, EL Prado, Patichbamba, Huagrahuasi, Laso, Pedregal, by the old road that was used decades ago  to transport cattle from the Machachi Valle to the Antisana paramos. We crossed the Pita River through a crossing that is near to disapear. Continue by Loreto el Pedregal y finished at El Provenir. We left there our horses in good pastures to rest and gain some energies.

On this 7 th day at 7 pm by horse Spartacus  a 5 year old english/arab mix  with white star buck 4  times as sign of happiness. This demonstrates that he had plenty of energy  left after 7 days of hard core riding. For this 1 section I rode him and Manchas, a 8 year old criollo chestnut with white face. I will take again Manchas and will take also Fandango a 12 year old moro criollo, very skilled, energetic and decisive horse, great for bad trails. he is a bit thin but he has a lot of energy, 4 days ago he finished a 9 day ride through the Volcano avenue.

37 km (4.3 km/h). We left at 10 am and arrived by 7 pm. Very intense 9 hours through the spectacular paramos. We cross from Papallacta to Pintag. We passed Paluguillo, lots of big rocks in the scenery. A very narrow crossing. Lots of sheep. Itulcachi. View of the Sangolqui valley. Pass through EL Inga. We had lunch  in the beautiful paramo  surrounded by healthy and stocky young bulls. Passed Muertopungo lake next to the lava ( we hope this lava doesn’t become target for minery). Arrived to Hacienda EL Quinto ( Fausto Corella).

Friday to Pedregal through the Sincholagua Mountain. Saturday, rest day. Sunday we will continue to Banos through the Llanganates.

It is 9:30 pm and rainning. Very cold night.

Inga

Flower plantations at the distance (Floricola Santiago)

Itulcachi

45 km today at  6.45 km/h Left at 10 am and arrived at 5 to Papallacta Hot springs.

We have ridden 250km by now… We arrived to Papallacta tired but Happy!

We should arrive to Provenir in Pedregal  by Friday, we finish the first section there and Sunday we start riding towards Cotopaxi. We should arrive Cotopaxi by Wednesday.

This morning we were in the Oyacachi village. Beautiful area, dedicated to dairy. The town produces around 2000 liters. There are 3 cheese factories as well.

Thanks to the letters and requests we were able to to cross the Oyacahi reserve, otherwise we were prohibited the entrance.

The water is a priority in the higher altitude area, what it used to be Hacienda El Pradp and Moraspungo. They produce onion and some milk. They sell the  bundle of onions for 28 cents and in the market the price is a dollar.

 49.9 km at 5.4km/h.

After a suculent breakfast we started our ride towards the Cayambe volcano. Our problems started trying to go trhough Oyacahi reserve. We believ reserves and national parks should be protected and well taken care of but they should be enjoyed by everyone.

Hacienda La Compania

Plantaciones de flores a la distancia.