Suggested 7-day Guest Itinerary & Expeditions and recommended hotels & restaurants.

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sample itinerary | suggested expeditions | recommended hotels | Recommended Restaurants

Cusín Sample Itinerary (7 Days) – or, select from the following,

Maps and anti-dog device, in Reception. English–speaking Guides are available for walks & tours. Taxis : from $7 p.hr. Local buses, from a stop near Cusin, or from San Pablo’s main plaza, are frequent and inexpensive.

Day 1	A Self-Guided Tour1-2 hrs. & Cusin History is in Reception. Explore the art & antiques in sala Bolivar, bar, dining room & upstairs corridor & library (tea-all-day) & reading-room (log-fire available), several acres of gardens, squash court, games room & Casa Cusin craft store. El Monasterio de Cusin , towers, secret door, parapet views, sala Cotacatchi, dining room murals, games room, volleyball court, stables: horses, guineapigs, guineahens, turkeys, rabbits, geese, pigs. One of several walks : Rinconada, ( 1 hr. or over 2 hrs.. After Cusin's main gate, turn left & follow the road into a tranquil valley. OR see the area & visit Condor Park, Espejo, 20 minutes from Cusin. At 5 p.m. tea on the main garden patio in the sunset's often unusual glow, or a fireside cocktail. After a candlelight dinner by logfire, see the night sky or a video film with popcorn and logfire. Bienvenidos!
Chess, checkers, Scrabble, Monopoly, darts, ping-pong, pool, squash, basketball, volley-ball. In-room massage. Spanish language classes.
Day 2	Visit Otavalo's domestic market & shops, Mon-Fri, largest & busiest on Saturday: animal market, 7-8 a.m & immense market, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. . Lunch:, Las Palmeras Inn ($12), Casa Mojanda, Ali Shungu. From the market, visit Condor Park, Espejo, 20 minutes from Cusin. There are 2-3 antique stores in Otavalo & San Antonio de Ibarra.
Lunch:	Las Palmeras Inn ($8.50), Casa Mojanda, Ali Shungu are recommended.
Day 3	Gualavi valley , by horse & guide, mountain-bike or foot: from Cusin's front gate, right. After El Monasterio: right (walkers: follow the usually dry Quebrada to a cement bridge*, climb out & go right) at fork, go either right, onto the higher road to the valley rim walk or take the middle road to the valley floor. Picnic. Return via lanes & short cuts. OR , *continue in the Quebrada, toward Imbabura mountain. Later, climb onto the road, go left & return to Cusin via San Pablo . Request an in-room massage. OR , the 15,000' Imbabura climb, 8 hrs: with guide, Picnic . Wear sun-protection and sweaters for the summit.
Day 4	Request a taxi (& picnic) to Cuicocha crater lake, with prolific flora and panoramic views. Inside the park entrance, park right. A sometimes difficult, 5+ hour walk - it can be cold - a guide is important. A lake ( cocha ), boat trip to an island resembling a guinea-pig ( cui ). Return via Cotacachi's leather stores & fine town square.
Lunch:	La Mirage ($$$), or Mision de Flores ($), 18th cent. Hac. Pinsaqui ($$) OR take an a.m., rooftop train-trip from Ibarra to the Chota valley.

Day 5	From Cusin, beyond the rose plantation, is the mountain range of Mojanda and, to the right, is the ancient volcanic plug, Fuyafuya . 9 a.m. , warm clothes & picnic to Mojanda's lakes (taxi, 30 mins.). Then, a stiff uphill climb on a straight grass path toward Fuyafuya for spectacular views. Lunch: Casa Mojanda. Or 7:30 a.m , depart for Ibarra for an adventurous Andean train journey. Picnic. Then go north to the spectacular paramo of El Angel OR , Lunch: $$ Hac. Pinsaqui, or $ Las Palmeras or $$ Yaguacocha. OR ...visit the fine, partially excavated IXth century earth pyramids of Cochasqui , (35 mins 1-way). Museum, medicinal gardens & guinea- pig house. Spectacular views on a clear day. Spanish speaking guide. Request an in-room massage.
Lunch:	$$ Hacdas La Campania & rose plantation tour, La Molino,Cayambe.
	A spectacular walk to Zuleta valley (5.5 hrs). Picnic within sight of snowcapped Cayambe. Lunch, Hac Zuleta. an experience, $50 pp. Arrange return transportation with Cusin's Reception. Or horseback ride halfway & return to Cusin for lunch (3hrs). Or walk/climb to Cubilche, Imbabura. Picnic . Return to Cusin (6 hrs.). Or , on a clear day, by taxi for San. Marco lake, near snowcapped Cayambe. Picnic . (5 hrs.). Request an in-room massage.
Day 6	Walk to Mt Lechero (90 mins.): turn right after Cusin's main gate. Continue across the main road & into Sn Pablo's main plaza. Walk to the plaza’s far right corner & on for 2Km. Turn right before a modern church & left, right & up steep gravel road, then on to the top of the hill for a magnificent lake & area view. Lunch: $, Cabañas del Lago.
Day 7	Take a taxi, or bike to Agato (weaving workshop). Continue to Espejo and the Condor Park – 140 raptors & spectacuar views. After Espejo, turn left onto the PanAmerican Highway for tea, with magnificent mountain panarama from lakeside Puertolago, 15 mins. from Cusin. OR take an a.m. rooftop railway trip from Ibarra to the Choa valley.

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Suggested Overnight Expeditions

Casa Mojanda | Paramo El Angel | El Refugio lodge | Cotopaxi and Quito

Casa Mojanda and the Mojanda mountain range: 1 night / 2 days. For experienced riders. This 4.5hr ride, with groom/guide, begins at 9 am & proceeds from the lake valley of Cusin and climbs through magnificent rural countryside to approximately 10,500 feet. Picnic along the way. It is possible to spend the afternoon riding around Lake Mojanda or taking a stiff climb by foot up to the volcanic plug Fuyafuya for stunning views of the countryside. Dinner & overnight at Casa Mojanda or La Luna. After breakfast, return along different route for lunch at Cusin. Return to Quito or dinner and overnight at Hacienda Cusin. 1-4 guests, $175 per person. OR, a 5hr.. spectacular ride to Las Palmeras Inn, with groom/guide, via mountain-top Condor Park & picnic. Along tracks, across fields & farms to dinner, log-fires, hot-shower, hot-water bottle & night at mountainside Las Palmeras. Helmets must be worn.

Paramo El Angel: 1 night/2 days. ‘Jurassic Park without the dinosaurs’. This unique reserve at about12,000 feet, is 2 hrs north of Cusín & near the dry Chota valley. Tens of thousands of 8-foot high frailejones resemble a ‘cross between a giant chrysanthimum & a palm tree’. Take the boardwalk to an extinct volcanic crater-lake. Stay overnight at Hacienda San Francisco in nearby Salinas (double, from $75/night). 2-day 3-seat taxi, from $80.

Cloud Forest lodge, El Refugio: 2 nights / 3 days. 2 hours NW from Cusin, at 6,000 feet and home to prolific birds, animals & plants. Full accommodation, $75 per person per day, 3-seat taxi, 1-way, 2 hours on simple roads with magnificent scenery, from $70. Minimum 2 guests.

• Day 1: 9 am., depart Cusin. Travel via Cotacachi to 11,000 feet. Several ecosystems make this journey a destination in itself. Lunch on arrival. Explore this mountain retreat's forest. Dinner. Night walk. Guide, Oswaldo, cook, Lupe.
• Day 2: Exploration and bird-watching in the peaceful, misty forest.
• Day 3: Return to Cusin - lunch, dinner, double room, breakfast, $140+taxes.

Cotopaxi National Park & Quito: 3 hrs south from Cusín. 2 nights/3 days.

• Day 1: Drive 2 hours to Pasachoa Bird Reserve, or, direct to Cotopaxi National Park, $12 pp entrance fee. Park near Limpiopungo Lake; walk and explore its far side. Or, for spectacular views, drive up to the parking area. Hac. San Agustin de Callo, an Inca temple, 1497. Dinner, night, breakfast from $220/double, or Hacienda La Cienaga, from $65/double.
• Day 2: 8 a.m. On Thursdays, visit Saquasilli or, on Sunday, Pujili or Ambato markets. Return to your Quito Hotel-ask Cusin for special rates.
  OR, a long day-trip, with picnic, to the enormous Quilotoa Crater & its green lake & an overnight at famous Black Sheep Inn, $50+taxes.
  OR, return for dinner at Zazu or Mea Culpa & an overnight in Quito.
• Day 3: Exploration of finely conserved, Spanish-colonial Quito. Lunch. Museums and gift stores of modern Quito. Dinner and night in Quito.

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Recommended hotels, reservations: hacienda@cusin.com.ec

QUITO, modern section
Hotel Quito – excellent value. Swimming pool & gardens, from $70.
Swissotel & J. W. Marriott – great comfort in modern Quito , from $160.
La Pinta, in Hilton-Colon. New. Luxurious beds. From $350.

QUITO, Spanish-colonial,
Patio Andaluz - conserved 19th cent. houses. Colonial Quito, from $120.
Plaza Grande – MAGNIFICENT luxury hotel, doubles from $450.

COTAPAXI area,
San Agustin de Callo, unique, restored 15th cent Inca temple, from $220
Hacienda La Cienaga, from $70
Black Sheep Inn, a famous ecological retreat. From $55.

Recommended restaurants

Cusin, nearby
Las Palmeras Inn, 5 minutes taxi from Otavalo markets
Casa Mojanda, mountaintop views
Ali Shungu, near Otavalo market.
La Mirage, near Cotacachi leather-craft town
Hacienda Pinsaqui, toward San Antonio de Ibarra
Hacienda La Compañia (Sundays), Cayambe
Hacienda Molino (Sundays), Cayambe

Quito
Zazu–modern Quito
La Viña – modern Quito, near Swissotel
Theatrum - colonial Quito, near theatres
Mea Culpa - colonial Quito, Plaza Independencia

gift/antique stores Galeria Latina, Argentum, La Bodega, Calle Juan Leon Mera. Books Libri Mundi–next door Español has fine coffee.

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