CRAFT-MAKING & ORCHID VILLAGES (Gualaceo & Chordeleg)

Cuenca is surrounded by villages where skilled artisans work wonders. Among these are Gualaceo, with its markets that are especially crowded on Fridays & Sundays, where you can observe hand-woven shawls, ponchos and lots of fruits and vegetables on sale. We also visit Bulcay for Ikat weaving and Chordeleg “chorro de oro” (waterfall of gold), a village specialized in jewelry - mainly gold and silver - with fine filigree work; hand made ceramic pottery and the chance to observe people weaving Panama hats and other items made of toquilla straw. One of the highlights on this trip is the visit to Ecuagenera, the most important orchid growing laboratory in Ecuador, which aim is to study and preserve the different species existent through time. Among their achievements, they have discovered 12 new species and 1 gender. During the visit we could observe hundreds of species and learn a bit about these amazing and beautiful plants. Lunch is included in a countryside hacienda.