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Horse riding Ecuador’s Andes

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Spend a whole week roaming the rugged volcanic landscape of the northern Andes on horseback.

We can arrange a one-of-a-kind horse riding adventure, journeying from hacienda to hacienda with the freedom to explore little-travelled corners of an unspoilt and rustic land.

You’ll ride in a welcoming terrain of rolling hills and pastures framed by jagged peaks and snow-capped volcanoes. Each night you’ll enjoy the hospitality of a different hacienda or country inn, staying in the traditional manor houses of historic estates and experiencing an authentic taste of rural Ecuadorian life at working farms. Some have original features that bring to life diverse periods of the region’s history, from an Inca wall to an old Jesuit chapel.

The scenery is unfailingly picturesque, encompassing patchwork fields, volcanic foothills, woodlands filled with wildflowers and grassy valleys hemmed in by the stone walls of gorges. Enlivening the natural panorama are everyday scenes of highland life, from local ladies in traditional costume peering out of houses thatched with dried grass to a lone ‘chagra’ cowboy riding out to check the cattle.

Activity Rating: moderate

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  • Maggie
    Maggie Wilson - Travel Expert

    Maggie visited Latin America on her first backpacking trip when she was 19. Since then, she has taken every opportunity to travel, and has managed to explore a lot of the region in subsequent trips.

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    Rosie Kay - Travel Expert

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    Alex Walker - Travel Expert

    A globetrotter since her childhood, Alex spent a year studying abroad in Guadalajara and has returned to Latin America countless times since then.

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    Heloise Buxton - Travel Expert

    Heloise started her Latin American journey as an exchange student in Santiago, Chile. With extended summer holidays this was the perfect opportunity to backpack through Bolivia, Peru, Argentina and Brazil.

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    Hannah Waterhouse - Travel Expert

    Hannah had an early introduction to Latin America when her family moved to Ecuador and she returned to study in Buenos Aires for a year before backpacking across the continent.

  • Charlotte
    Charlotte Daubeney - Travel Expert

    Charlotte's fascination with Latin America began with a family holiday to Belize. She went on to study Spanish in school and at university before spending a year living in Santiago, Chile.

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