Chocolate Getaway

9:00 am / Pick up in Guayaquil.
10:00 am / Welcome to Hacienda La Danesa.
Your host will greet you and give you a warm welcome to the farm and tell you about Hacienda La Danesa's rich history. You will have time at leisure to explore the gardens and property, enjoy refreshing cold-infused drinks and a traditional snack.

10:30 am / Cacao & Chocolate Experience
Upon check in, we will visit the plantations to learn the history and process of the cacao in Ecuador surrounded by cacao trees. Youwill continue to visit the fermentation and drying process up until the final stage where the cacao beans are stored and ready to be sold. We will then continue to the workshop where our local chocolatier will show you how artisan chocolate is produced. We will cover the tempering and crystallization process up until the packaging. You will have the opportunity to make your own chocolate bar to take home!
1:00 pm / From Farm to Table Three Course Lunch.
Hacienda La Danesa offers a truly unique gastronomic experience inspired in a Farm-to-Table ethos. It grows and produces most of the ingredients at the farm, while buying the rest from the neighboring communities. The chef will offer a three-course meal with a few options for the main course for you to choose from. Vegan/vegetarian options are available upon request.

2:30 pm / Milking in the Gardens
Hacienda La Danesa produces around 1,200 liters of milk every day and had won for 20 years in a row the best dairy cattle in coastal Ecuador. One of our beloved cows will visit us in the gardens and share some of her milk with us. If you want a Café au Lait you will have to take the espresso straight to the cow's udder for fresh warm milk! 3:00 pm Lazy River Tubing / Biking / Horseback Riding / In-Room Spa
At this time you may explore the property by bike, float down the lazy rivers surrounded by trees and birds, go horse riding or just sit back and relax with your favorite Ecuadorean wine or gin tonic.
6:00 pm / Drinks at the Teak Terrace
8:00 pm / Three Course Dinner

8:00 am / Farm Breakfast in the Gardens.
9:00 am / Half Day Excursion: Hike in the Cloud-forest and Waterfalls or Buffaloes Close Encounter.
Option 1. Hike in the Cloud-Forest.
The La Esperanza Cloud Forest Reserve will astound visitors with its beauty, bounty and great amount biodiversity. Wind-sculpted elfin woodlands give way to rainforests where tall trees (Guayacán, Matapalos, Laurel, Balsa, Vegetable Ivory (Tagua) and others – festooned with orchids, bromeliads, ferns, vines and mosses – rise high into the sky. The variable climate and large altitudinal gradienthave helped to produce an amazingly heterogeneous set of creatures that live here. Some of these include the jaguar, ocelot, Baird’s tapir, three-wattled bellbird, bare-necked umbrellabird, and the famously elusive resplendent Cock of the Rock.
Guests will depart Hacienda La Danesa at 9:00 am (or early if bird watching) and arrive to Bucay at 9:30 am. From here you will start driving up the mountain for 40 minutes until you arrive to the starting point of the hike. In this one hour hike you will visit three different waterfalls of different heights where you may jump in for an uplifting experience and feel the power of water. For guests interested in canyoning down the waterfall, your instructor will provide with all security equipment. After visiting the three waterfalls, guests will visit a local farmer to learn about the artisan sugar cane juice and liquor production where you will have a hands on experience and make your own Sugar Cane and Lime juice. You will return to Hacienda La Danesa just on time for lunch.


Option 2. Close Encounter with Water Buffaloes
Guests will visit Hacienda La Victoria, a 15-minute drive from Hacienda La Danesa. Hacienda La Victoria is known for their excellence in Brahman and Water Buffaloes farming. Upon arriving you will be greeted by a family member for a traditional Ecuadorian coffee and snack with fresh buffalo mozzarella. Here you will receive a brief of the areas you will visit and learn about their operations. Before riding their horses or mules, you will try your luck fishing your lunch. Once you have fish your lunch, the cook with kindly prepared it for you upon your return to the hacienda house. The horse riding experience will be about an hour where you will get up close to the water buffalos. Guests will get so close to the buffaloes that will feel their breath in their bodies. You will also see over 20 different types of birds so this experience is great for birdwatchers as well.
Upon you arrival back to the hacienda house, you will be greeted with fresh lemonade and a beautiful lunch (fished by you hopefully!) accompanied by the house favorite wine next to the lake. When days are clear you will see the beautiful highlands in the horizon.
3:00 pm / Welcome Back to Hacienda La Danesa
3:30 pm / At Leisure
This time is a great opportunity for guests to just relax or go for a walk, or perhaps have a relaxing in-room spa.
6:00 pm / Drinks at the Teak Terrace
8:00 pm / Three Course Dinner

 

8:00 am / Farm Breakfast in the Gardens
11:00 am / Transfer to Guayaquil