Paramo walk in Llangahua

Accompanied by local people in traditional dress, we will set out on a guided walk around the community of Calshi. We will visit the Virgin de Peña, an image of the Virgin Mary that was painted on a cliff after her presence was revealed in a dream to a Calshi resident in the 1930s. We’ll stop to converse with shepherd women in bright shawls, their faces bronzed and lined by the sun, who spin wool as they watch their flocks. Those feeling brave will have the chance to try their hand at milking a cow and drinking the warm frothy milk. Stopping at the reservoir, we’ll marvel at the feat of engineering that allows the community to automatically irrigate its crops with water from the Carihuairazo volcano, before visiting the carrot washing and packing plant where their main crop is prepared for sale.

We will participate in the pachamanca, a traditional way of preparing food for special occasions in a subterranean oven. After lining the oven with leaves and fire-heated stones, we will fill it with layers of meat, vegetables and hot stones, before covering it with earth. Accompanying the meal will be sumfo, a tea made with a paramo plant.

A visit to a group of women artisans dedicated to making garments with alpaca fleece, from rearing and shearing the animals, to spinning the wool and turning it into gloves, sweaters, ponchos and scarves. The field of alpacas is an idyllic sight, surrounded by rolling hills, with Chimborazo providing a spectacular backdrop. The women will demonstrate the wool making process, sing some traditional Andean songs, and show us the pampamesa, an Andean way of eating where food is shared on a long strip of fabric on the ground.