Ecuador: Hacienda Life at High Altitude

bbc.com reported that for the early Spanish colonizers of Latin America, land was easy to come by. Great swathes of the continent were granted to the conquering elites in return for services to the Spanish crown. And in Ecuador, land grants were largely in the sierra – the beautiful, mountainous highlands that are easily accessible from the capital Quito and blessed with rich volcanic soil for agriculture.

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Over time, these estates (haciendas) became self-sufficient communities and were built to a grand scale, borrowing architectural influences from Spain and adorned with the handiwork of local artisans. The end result: glorious historic homes in spectacular rural settings, basking in the gentle climes of the endless equatorial spring.

Some of Ecuador’s haciendas have remained in the same families for centuries; but since they no longer rely on the inequitable serfdom on which they were founded, many have opened their doors as elegant boutique hotels, redolent with the histories of generations that worked to create them. Read Article