All roads lead to ….. Zuleta is worth your visit if you want to explore a beautiful & authentic rural Andean area. Zuleta is located in the middle of the Triangle Otavalo – Cayambe – Ibarra.
However, if you choose to visit Zuleta directly from our hotel Doña Esther in Otavalo there’s an alternative route. Taking the road from the San Pablo lake & town directly to Zuleta. A beautiful area in itself.
All in all, a region ideal for hikers, bikers & horse riders. Or also just to tour around or have yourself a picnic.
Visit to Zuleta: in pictures
Instead of writing it all down for you, I’ll fill this post mostly with photo impressions. Pictures taken by my daughter Lisa during a recent visit to Zuleta.
That said, every time we visit the Zuleta area we get new impressions & views. In other words, your own experience depends on what you wanna do there & what you’re looking for. The objective of this photo-file is mainly to give you an idea of the area’s beauty.
Enjoy!
![Ayora, starting point for your visit to Zuleta.](https://travelartway.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_29a2-684x1024.jpg)
![Picture taken between Ayora and Olmedo, on our way to visit Zuleta, Imbabura](https://travelartway.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_29b0-1-1024x683.jpg)
![Andean area around Zuleta, Imbabura](https://travelartway.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_29b7-1024x683.jpg)
![Visit to Olmedo, Pichincha, Ecuador](https://travelartway.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_29c5-1024x683.jpg)
![](https://travelartway.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/DSC_0591.jpg)
![](https://travelartway.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/fullsizeoutput_1988-472x1024.jpeg)
![](https://travelartway.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/fullsizeoutput_197e-604x1024.jpeg)
![](https://travelartway.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/fullsizeoutput_197f.jpeg)
![Area near Zuleta, Imbabura, worth a visit](https://travelartway.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_29eb-683x1024.jpg)
After Olmedo, Pichincha you cross over to the northern province of Imbabura. The first place you encounter is the beautiful village of Zuleta.
![Visit to Zuleta, Imbabura, Ecuador](https://travelartway.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/MBo824gsSrGgsHbuBNqSQ_thumb_29f4-1024x747.jpg)
![](https://travelartway.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/DhamI3erQLqBholBkCWgFQ_thumb_2a33-715x1024.jpg)
![](https://travelartway.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_29f8-683x1024.jpg)
![](https://travelartway.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ajBTshnITMank7EUaqoRQ_thumb_29fe-660x1024.jpg)
![](https://travelartway.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/ItXkF5veTVm8uZ8TyJU0lg_thumb_2a0c-1024x599.jpg)
![](https://travelartway.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/KaBwsramT1eSMD9kQZtywg_thumb_2a03-622x1024.jpg)
Hacienda Zuleta
Central in the area you’ll find the Hacienda Zuleta. A hacienda with its own long history, but one of the few that’s still operative until this day. Not as a hacienda, but as a working farm which produces cheese, honey, marmalades & other products. Besides being a luxury hotel & restaurant.
![Hacienda Zuleta, Imbabura](https://travelartway.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/o29MPdiCQ7KTtEtOlOoMA_thumb_2a08.jpg)
- You can only visit the Hacienda de Zuleta with a reservation.
- At the entrance though there’s a cafeteria/shop & terrace which serves coffee, cake, ice cream & some tasty lunch plates (The shop opens Wednesdays – Sundays, the cafeteria so far only on Saturdays & Sundays).
- If the cafeteria is closed, you can try one of the restaurants along the route Ayora – Ibarra. Almost all of them specialise in lamb chops from the grill – so-called “borrego” – but most serve other plates as well.
- Besides having a bite, you’ll find several small handicraft shops along the way with local products, like embroidery, wood works, honey and other products.
And on to Angochagua, Imbabura
Continuing on, you can make a detour to the little village of Angochagua. Actually the head village of the parish of the same name, of which Zuleta is a part.
![Sun calendar, Angochagua, Imbabura, Ecuador](https://travelartway.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_2a11-683x1024.jpg)
![Church of Angochagua, Imbabura, Ecuador](https://travelartway.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/KR63IerSRKegHb4LY3q2w_thumb_2a1d.jpg)
![](https://travelartway.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/6NRvCUaTHyuMKALmx5vYg_thumb_2a26-1024x558.jpg)
![Angochagua, Imbabura](https://travelartway.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/3blA89agQ2eUkL7QHSJruA_thumb_2a28-1024x714.jpg)
![Church of San José, above San Pablo, Imbabura](https://travelartway.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/B9NvvIPoQ82lbytxxyZCaA_thumb_2a41-1024x616.jpg)
![View of the San Pablo lake, Imbabura](https://travelartway.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Bie6eGfXQYewaWdhb02VTw_thumb_2a39-1024x426.jpg)
*****
How to get to Zuleta?
There are no buses to the area, so if you don’t have your own (rented) car, the only option is to hire a taxi.
If you arrange a taxi & tour on your own, I’d like to recommend you to:
- Negotiate a price beforehand & pay at the end of the tour.
- And secondly, be sure he/she knows how to drive. (Hard to know beforehand, but I’d say hire a somewhat older driver & if you don’t like the way he/she drives soon enough, look for another one).
Alternatively, we – at Hotel Doña Esther/Restaurante Árbol de Montalvo – can arrange a taxi for you. For a good price & driven by a friendly, trustworthy & professional driver.
- IMPORTANT: We can only provide this service to guests of our hotel.
Combining a visit to Zuleta with other attractions
- Although it’s easy to spend half-a-day exploring the area in & around Zuleta, it’s possible to combine it with other attractions around Otavalo. Making it a day-trip, including the Condor Park and/or Peguche Waterfall near Otavalo. Or else, the Mitad del Mundo monument near Cayambe or a visit to the Colonial city center of Imbabura’s capital Ibarra.
* If you like we can prepare a take-away box lunch ($6.00 each) for you at the hotel.
Contact us:
Just write to us with your questions & wishes, and we’ll help you out:
.
- For all the latest news on Ecuador, join my Visit Ecuador Facebook Group.
.
For other Things to do in & around Otavalo, go to: Otavalo Attractions
For an overview of all travel posts of my blog, go to: the Home Page.
- Final message, for fellow travel writers & bloggers: TravelPayOuts is a global integrated affiliate program focused exclusively on travel offers. If it works for me, it will probably work for you too: TravelPayOuts.
![TravelArtWay logo](https://travelartway.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/UNADJUSTEDNONRAW_thumb_25fb.jpg)
2 thoughts on “Visit to the Authentic Rural area around Zuleta, Imbabura.”
Comments are closed.