Information Sheet Last Updated: 2005

Imbabura

Population: 329,755. This frequently-visited province offers as hilights the internationally-famous Otavalo market, the weaving towns between Imbabura volcano and San Pablo del Lago, the austere white colonial town of Ibarra, lovely lake districts, and cloud forest, all easily reached from Quito.

Bus access from Quito: Buses every 20 min. to Otavalo and Ibarra from the Terminal Terrestre
Train access: autoferro Ibarra – Tuquizan “Primer Paso” (Mon & Fri, 7am, $13; Sat & Sun, 8am, $7.70)


Information given for:

OTAVALO

Hotels
Restaurants
Shopping
Tour Agencies
Spanish Schools

IBARRA
CHOTA VALLEY
LA ESPERANZA
Excursions:

VOLCAN IMBABURA
RESERVA ECOLOGICA COTACACHI-CAYAPAS
LAGUNA CUICOCHA
HOT SPRINGS
CLOUD FOREST (INTAG, LOS CEDROS)

OTAVALO

Hotels

Ali Shungu
Tel: (06) 920-750
Calle Quito y Miguel Egas
$30 (+22% tax) single with bath
$40 (+22% tax) doublewith bath
$96/night for 3 people
$108/night for 4 people
Discounts for bigger groups. No credit cards, pers. checks. Good rest. with folkloric music Fri. nights. Min. stay of Fri. & Sat. or Sat. & Sun. in high season

Aya Huma
Tel: (06) 922-663
In Peguche, 3km from Otavalo
$8 single, shared bath
$12 double, shared bath
$14 single, private bath
$20 double, private bath
Quiet, locals hang out & play music on weekends. Food good, service laid-back.

Cabañas El Rocío
Tel: (06) 920-584, 922-136
Morales 1170 y Miguel Egas
$5 single
$6 double

Casa Mojanda
Tel: (06) 731-737; fax (09)731-737
$45 (+22% tax) per person including 2 meals
$50 (+22% tax) per person includes 3 meals
*SAEC member discount: 10%

Doña Esther
Telefax 920-739
Juan Montalvo 4-44
$20.90 single
$28.60 double
$34.10 triple
Prices include tax.Hacienda Cusin
Tel: 918-013
Located on San Pablo del Lago
$75 (+22% tax) single with bath
$105 (+ 22% tax) double with bath
$120 (+22%) triple
$140 (+22%) vip
Horses and bikes available for rent.

Hacienda Pinsaqui
Tel: 920-387; fax 920-387
5km north of Otavalo
$71 (+22%)
Breakfast included. Beautiful, very upscale. Restaurant &bar.

Hostal Maria
Telefax 920-672
Jaramillo y Colón
$ 4 per person
Bath, hot shower included.

Hostal La Luna, Hostería de Campo
Telefax (09) 737-415
$3 per person in shared room (for 12)
$6 single, shared bath (one available)
$8 single, private bath (one available)
$1.50 for camping
Includes breakfast, cooking facilities. Rooms w/ fire.

Hotel Riviera Sucre
Tel: 920-241
García Moreno 380 y Roca
$5 + (12% serv) per person, shared bath
$8 + (12 % serv) per person, private bath

Jatun Pacha (Youth Hostel)
Tel: 922-223; fax 922-871
Av. 31 Octubre #19 y Panamericana
$7 per person with breakfast
Mountain bikes for rent.

Residencial El Rocío
(See Cabañas El Rocío)

Valle del Amanecer
Tel: 920-990
Roca y Quiroga
$5 per person shared bath
$7 per person private bath
Great atmosphere, cool courtyard with hammocks, and very comfortable beds. Mountain bikes for rent.

Restaurants

Ali Micuy
Jaramillo y Quiroga
(Plaza de Ponchos)
Good, set Ecuadorian meals.

Café Mundi
Tel: 921-729
Quirogo 608 y Jaramillo
(Plaza de Ponchos)

Cafetería Shenandoah Pie shop
Salinas y Jaramillo
(Plaza de Ponchos)
Great pie & ice cream. Book exchange, daily movies.

Oraibi Bar
Colón y Sucre
Vegetarian, nice atmosphere.

Plaza Café
Plaza de Ponchos
Good for breakfast and watching the market set up.

Shopping

The Book Market
5-03 Calle Salinas
Poncho Plaza
Used and new books; buy, sell, and trade.

Winter Sun
Morales y Sucre
Hand batiked clothing for sale.

Tour Agencies

Indy Aventura
Tel: (09)813-442
Roca 802 y Colón

Zulaytur
Tel: 921-176
Corner of Sucre y Colón, 2nd floor
Run by Rodrigo Mora.

Zulutur
A recent off-shoot of Zulaytur.

Spanish Schools

Instituto Superior de Español
Tel: 922-414, Fax 922-415
Tel. in Quito: 223-242
Sucre 11-10 y Morales, 2nd floor
E-mail: institut@superior.ecuanex.net.ec
$6 per hour with 20-hour minimum
$10 inscription fee
Family stays for $12 per day with 3 meals. Classes in Quichua also offered. The original school is in Quito.

Mundo Andino
Telefax 921-864
Calle Salinas 404 y Bolívar
E-mail: espanol@interactive.net.ec
$4.50 per hour
$5 inscription fee
*SAE member discount: 10%
Family stays for $10 per day including 3 meals.
Excursions on weekends.

IBARRA
Population 136,558. This quiet colonial city with lovely green parks and white houses offers a welcome respite from the bustle of Otavalo on market day. It is the province capital and has some fine churches.

Hotel Imbabura
Tel: (06) 950-155
Oviedo 9-33 y Narvaez
$4 per person (taxes not included)
Clean, big rooms, nice garden

Hotel El conquistador
Tel: (06) 640–780
$16 single ( taxes are included)
This hotel is localted at the Yahuarcocha lake.

Hotel Ajavi
Tel: (06) 955-221, 955-787
Av. Mariano Acosta 1638
$38 + 22% double

Bars

El Encuentro
Tel: 959-526
Olmedo 9-59
Best little bar in northern Ecuador. Full of cool, old junk. No bar stools, just saddles.

Spanish Classes

Blanca Vaca Rosero
Tel: (06) 641-408
José Domingo Albuja
Urb. El Recreo, Casa #5
Can be contacted through Hotel Imbabura.

CHOTA VALLEY
As in Esmeraldas, escaped African slaves settled in this area along the banks of the Chota river north of Ibarra. They combined their traditions with those of the highlands to create a distinctive culture that is worth a look. The principal town is El Juncal, which houses the Honka Monka museum from Afro-Ecuadorian culture.

In this valley there is a lot of hostelries that have pools, and entertainments with a nice weather.

Hosteria Tierra del Sol
Playas de Ambuqui, Panam. Norte Km 38
Tel: (06) 941-142
$6 per person

Hosteria Oasis
Valle del Chota, Panam. Norte Km 39
Tel: (06) 941-200, 941-142
$36 per person (includes three meals and taxes)

LA ESPERANZA
A 30 min bus ride from Ibarra, this small town is the access point to climb Imbabura volcano.

Hotel

Casa Aida
It is friendly, excellent vegetarian food. A good place to begin the hiking to Imbabura, and the walking in the surrounding area. They will lend you their dog, Rambo, as a guide.

Excursions

VOLCAN IMBABURA
This mountain is quite easily summited and works well as an acclimatization hike. It's a long day of walking from La Esperanza, so get a dawn start. Below the summit there is a knife-edged ridge that could be treacherous if conditions are wet and slippery. Proceed with caution and descend if lightning threatens. See Climbing & Hiking in Ecuador for directions.

RESERVA ECOLOGICA COTACACHI-CAYAPAS
Most of this extensive reserve is in Esmeraldas province, but a significant section, including the popular Laguna Cuicocha, corresponds to Imbabura

LAGUNA CUICOCHA
It takes about 5 hours to walk around this attractive crater lake, located in the southeastern extremity of Cotacachi-Cayapas reserve. (It is not necessary to pay the $5 entrance fee to visit the lake.) There is a moderately-priced restaurant, El Muelle, on the lake-shore and adjacent accomodation at El Mirador (above the restaurant and pier)

HOT SPRINGS

Chachimbiro
Great hot springs northwest of Ibarra. (Two hours by bus, one daily at 7am from Expreso Turismo in Ibarra.) There is a good restaurant at the springs, which is open only at weekends.

Hotels

Hosteria San Francisco
Good restaurant. Approx. 3km from hot springs

Hostal Chachimbiro
Clean, unreliable restaurant. Close to hot spring

Nangulví (near Apuela)
Developed springs near Apuela outside of Otavalo (three buses daily from Colón and 31 de Octubre in Otavalo). There are four hot pools and one cold. Accomodation available at the springs and in Apuela.

Restaurant

La Forastera in Apuela

CLOUD FOREST (near Otavalo)

Intag Reserve & Research Station
Carlos & Sandy Zorilla
Intag Cloud Forest Reserve
Casilla 18, Otavalo
Tel: 648-509, 923-392
E-mail: intagcz@uio.satnet.net

If you would like to visit Intag, reservations should be made well in advance (they only pick up mail from Otavalo once a week) and are limited to groups of no less than 6 people for 2 days or more. Primary, subtropical forest of 350-400 acres about an hour and a half west of Otavalo. Sandy and Carlos Zorilla own and run the reserve, in addition to working with local communities to raise awareness of environmental issues and to encourage more ecological farming methods. They have been actively and successfully involved in conservation projects throughout the province. Carlos and Sandy are two of the founders of DECOIN (Defensa y Conservación de Intag), and have also set up the Green Corps to help patrol protected forests. Donations are always welcome to help support this extremely worthy project.

Los Cedros Biological Reserve and Research Station (LCBR)
In Quito, contact: Tel: 540-346
Alemania y Eloy Alfaro, 4th floor OR Centro de Investigacion de los Bosques Tropicales
Casilla 17-7-8726
$30 per day including 3 meals
Prices negotiable for courses and seminars, also for long-term visits.

This is one of the projects of the CIBT (Centro de Investigacion de los Bosques Tropicales) Tropical Forest Research Center, a non-profit foundation dedicated. They have nearly 16,000 acres of primary forest. The station is set up for researchers only. All visitors should send their work proposal in advance or specify their reason for wanting to visit the reserve (for example, bird watching). Good variety of bird species over a range of elevations and habitats. They are in the process of building a canopy walkway and would welcome any volunteers with related experience