Last Updated on August 2, 2024
It’s always so gratifying when you get to a place and want to acclimate. You have a day or an afternoon free on a “throw-away day” and book a tour for a few hours, just so you’ll be seeing something. We did that and were astounded by our short tour in Gualaceo, Ecuador.
Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
By Jim Ferri
Flying into Cuenca, Ecuador is quite dramatic. It’s not only due to the mountains and valleys all about you, but because the pilot has to shoehorn the plane down a single narrow runway between houses that are less than 100 feet off your wingtips. Welcome to the Andes.
We had traveled to Cuenca because I had heard a lot of good things about this little jewel of a city that’s set 7,000+ feet up in the Andes.
And it was because of that altitude – we live at sea level in the US – we thought it best to spend the first of our three days here taking a car tour outside the city through the surrounding Gualaceo Valley to get acclimated.
We were met at the airport by Cecelia, our guide from Metropolitan Touring, and we immediately set out for Gualaceo. In the countryside we wanted to see how the local people weave the shawls that are so popular in the area. We drove on a road that paralleled the Pan-American Highway, getting a taste of local life.
Along the way we passed indigenous people, many in colorful clothes and wearing the customary fedoras, either walking or waiting at bus stops. We also passed several roadside stands where large pigs on spits were being carved for the motorists that stopped by for a quick bite to eat.
Meeting the Weavers of Gualaceo
It wasn’t long before we got to our first destination, an old farmhouse in Gualaceo. Along the side of the road, it was obvious the family had a good side business going, demonstrating local weaving techniques to the tourists brought in by tour guides.
That wasn’t a put-off for us, even when a busload of tourists wandered in, because the demonstration was so interesting and the woman and her family so engaging.
She took us out back and showed us how they made their dyes from a little insect and other materials, and how they created the yarn from plant fibers.
We climbed the rickety stairs on the exterior of the little wooden building and watched her teenage son making a shawl on an old loom. He proudly told me that his mother knew all of the intricate knots by heart. It was all surprisingly interesting.
We got on our way as the other tourists who had come to Gualaceo wandered into the little room where shawls were piled on the table. We left not only because neither my wife or I had any need for one, but because Cecilia also wanted to show us the orchid farm that was further on. The farm also turned out to be much more interesting than we had ever expected.
An Incredibly Interesting Orchid Farm
It was a non-descript from the outside, the kind of place I likely would never have stopped at if I was just driving by touring Gualaceo. I guess I had been thinking there would be flower fields, but the entire complex was contained in a series of small greenhouses.
In the first greenhouse we entered we found 15,000 bottles lying on their sides (oddly enough, all recycled whiskey bottles), each with 50-70 miniscule plants being cultivated and nurtured inside.
Our guide, a local man with a fedora, explained the entire process as he led us through different greenhouses. The “farm” turned out to be a place that developed new orchid varieties for sale to growers who came to Gualaceo from all over the world. Anyone can visit here; the cost of the tour is $5.
Orchids, as we soon realized, are big business. I remember back in the mid-1970s being told by an orchid expert that there were then 3,000 or so varieities of the plant in the world at that time. Today there are more than 30,000 species and the farm was working with 14,700 of them.
It was a fascinating afternoon in Gualaceo for us since we visited two places we likely never would have considered. In addition, we also experienced a slice of local life we never would have found otherwise.
You may also enjoy: Top Places To See in Ecuador / Things to Do in Cuenca, the Magical City in the Andes / Ecuador’s Fake Equator
Jimmy,
We are thoroughly enjoying your South American articles since we were in Peru and Ecuador in February — also ate guinea pig!!!
You ate guinea pig? Well, all I can say is……..Bon appetite!
I am also enjoying your South American stories also. It was fun to hear about the close-knit family in the weaving business and how proud they are of their techniques of weaving. Also I was intrigued that there are so many kinds of orchids. Thanks for sharing the beautiful experiences you had with us! I once visited an orchid farm and so the whole family involved on the Big Island of Hawaii and could only imagine also your joy at seeing all this beauty.
Thanks Carla. Yes the weavers and the orchid farm were fascinating. Experiencing things such as this shows the importance of telling any company you’re booking with the types of things you’d like to see. Have them make an itinerary that suites your interests.