Horseback Riding Adventure Through The Ecuador Andes

 45 km 4.7 km/h total of 9.3 hours (7 hours of riding)

Last night we spent the night at the Posada de Ingapirca. The guide Gustovo Loyola comes with us.  We left Ingapirca  at 9:30 am and went upto the Cubilan hill. Then down towards Huirapungo y crossed 2 dried lakes (called Cocha, Huma) Ideal to make canals and “totora” islands for turism.

The  rainy days are gone, a sunny and blue sky accompany us.  Later in teh day we were at 3,700 mts and stopped for lunch. For hours, we enjoyed spectacular views of  Caniar, Azuay and the valleys of Cuenca, Paute, Chordelec, Sigsag, Guachapala and Nudo de Portete where the east Andes chain ends.

In the paramo we could see huge areas planted with pine, specially near Paute and Mazar where they are building a new damn to generate electricity.  Later we did a darastic downhill at 2600 mts of altitude and through a narrow trail we arrived to a town called AZUL. When we arrived there it was already night.  The horses graze in an old apple orchard and we are going to  Jorge Paez’s Hacienda. He is a Paso horse breeder, he has dairy cattle and dogs.

It is 8 pm at this moment, and we are waiting for our supply vehicle that brings the  grain for our horses so we can feed them and let them rest and be ready for tomorrow.

Ignacio’s proposal was great. Animals and beasts (us) were requiring treatment, care and some rest. We bathe the horses, give IV and buta to a couple of them. Faraon, the Arab stallion has tendonitis. Ines Zea is our hostess at her  Inn (Posada de Inganan). We slept and rest like we haven’t in a long time. We read the comments in her guest book.  Some of them from Hacienda La Alegria guests, including the creator of Hacienda La Alegria’s website James Harris and his riding companion Roberto Marcel who traveled in 2005.

We washed some clothes, jackets and chaps, plus we removed a couple of kilos of mud from the stirups. We met some interesting people and saw a house for sale that looks from the beginning of the 20th century.

We bought some grass for the horses and and also tend our horses at 3,400 mts of altitude and a broiling sun. These were the rewards for loosing a day.

Jose Ruiz (the teacher) took me to his house to show me some acheological pieces)

Very cold dawn and cloudy. We can see huge extensions of paramo similar to Cotopaxi, but more dry. We get closer to the only desert of high altitude. This area was taken by the IERAC and the government more than 20 years ago.

Hacienda Tortorillas used have a train station to load cereals and later distribution to the country. A few kilometers later another train station in Palmira. We are traveling towards higher altitudes with on areas with poor agriculture. Later, at 3,400 km  the paramo becomes colder but the soil is more rich and the area more productive. We rode across the mountainuntil 3,800 mts. We are told that there dairy cattle are still important in this area all teh way to Ozogoche. In Mocancha the price is 22-25 cents. In Cobshe a bit lower altitude and  mostly Brown swiss cattle with a price no hiher taht 22 cents.

We are going down to lower altitudes, 2,800, through zigzag trails that takes us to the village. The road is blocked by rocks that fell from the sides. By phone calls we get a guide to help us cross through a different road, but it is already 7 pm. A local person mentions that the road has been blocked for 3 years already.

Hundreads of light bugs keeps us happy and then we see at 3 km from us the village of Achupallas like light bulbs embeded in the mountain. We can hear the river, see the fog and our horses just waiting patiently for the next order.

A terrible trail for a few kms. dark,  we had to walk and pull our horses with only the  stars light in a muddy trail. We had 2 bad incidents. Martin (Igancio’s horse set his leg on a ditch  and later Carlos realized that his mare (candelaria) was not in the group anymore.

Our guide (Luis) and Ricardo (our helper) rescued the mare. She was captured and kept next to the San Antonio church. At that time we could also hear the “churo” (a giant shell that has been used for centuries) you can hear this  noise from  mountain to mountain.

I fell with my horse today. We both fell a couple of meters. Thanks to the mud we had no bad injuries. I ended up underneath my horse but he saved me since he didn’t move an inch. All this “tragedies” in only 3 km of terrible terrain.

We stopped, had dinner (a delicious soup and rissotto), rested for a few minutes and continued towards Ingapirca to finish the day (night for the last hours) 

Palmira

Palmira Train Station

Paramo and agriculture

San Carlos 3,650 mts

 After a day of rest and spending some time with the family that came to see us in Riobamba, we continued with our ride. We’ve been riding through areas that I have never been or known before. I am very impressed with the Chimborazo province, beautiful and great agriculture production.

We left at 10 am and arrived at 6 pm. 52 Km (6.2 km/hr). We rode through more eroded lands compared to other days. Poor soil for agriculture. Bad irrigation systems and many abandoned canals. A few sections of nice alfalfa and a lot of hecatares of incredibly low yields of corn and barley. Cows tied up along the Chambo river shore. 22-28 cents the liter of milk ( a lot lower to the 35cent fixed by the government)

Beautiful route along the Chambo River and its beginning at Guamote River. We arrived to what it once was Hacienda Tortorillas. Agriculture production stopped since times of the Agriculture Reform. The farm house has been restored by the Guamote council for tourism but is mostly used for local activities. It has an impressive design, columns and stone walls. The old machinery is still stored under shelter but it has become a bunch of scrap metal.  The land has been eroded by monocrops, zero tecnology and low production that leads into migration of the rural areas.

Passed Guamote (4 pm)

3 days next to El Chambo

Puente de Los Andes (old road Guamote-Cuenca)

Next to Lidito

unused water canal

Hacienda Basan (chambo)

Pungala next to Licto

Resting and shopping for supplies in Riobamba.

Patate Valley, beautiful valley next to the Volcano. A mix of sceneries of sugar cane, flowers, beans, avocados, tangarines, strawberries, babaco, fruit tomatoes, greenhouses, tomatoes.

Guazazo

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.