The visit to the Makana Museum was very touching and we learned a lot about this ancient tradition. After that, in Chordeleg we had a great time seeing (and buying!) beautiful silver jewelry. Very nice trip!

This tour offers the opportunity to see a bit more of the countryside and towns near Cuenca, as well as the traditional crafts of the area. Learning about the process of making the macana, the traditional Ecuadorian shawl, was fascinating. My tour was led by Sebastian, who is full of interesting information about practically anything you might want to know about Ecuador, both in the present and past! Thank you so much for the lovely day!

Our guide, Sebastian, was very knowledgeable about the local craftsmen in the surrounding Cuenca area. We had an enjoyable trip to Chordeleg to visit a local silversmith and see the hat weavers. We stopped at the mercado in Gualaceo and visited the orchid farm. My wife is a weaver and enjoyed seeing the craftsmen at La Casa Museo de la Makana. It was a very enjoyable day.

Our guide, Sebastian, was very knowledgeable about the local craftsmen in the area surrounding Cuenca. We had an enjoyable trip to Chordeleg to visit a local silversmith and see the hat weavers. We stopped at the mercado in Gualaceo and visited the orchid farm. My wife is a weaver and enjoyed seeing the craftsmen at La Casa Museo de la Makana (picture included). It was a very enjoyable day.

We had a great time on this tour. Sebastian was a wonderful guide and he has a wealth of knowledge, not only about the villages, about Cuenca, and about Ecuador in general. He was very patient in answering our many questions. Definitely the check out the orchid farm. There was an extra charge for that but it was the highlight of the trip, along with seeing the weaving. I wish we had actually been able to see the jewelry makers in action, but the finished products are beautifully crafted. A really nice half day trip.

Another fantastic tour led by Adrian. Great insights and abundant knowledge. A truly wonderful experience.

We thoroughly enjoyed this half day trip. Andreas was an amazing guide and we learned a lot from him. He took us to a local market and an orchid farm. Andreas was very professional and so well informed about the entire area. I’d highly recommend this tour.

My husband and I had a great day with Sebastian our guide. Very professional with unique knowledge of Cuenca and all the local towns we visited. Local history, culture and geography. Having a private driver with attention to Covid-19 safety protocols made our trip safe and very relaxing. A great break.

We booked the Gualaceo & Chordeleg craft town tour and it was fantastic! Our tour guide Klever was absolutely wonderful. He was entertaining, engaging and had an incredible knowledge of the area. Highly recommend!

Herman was an excellent tour guide. His knowledge of local history and geography was fantastic - he’s a great story teller and kept us interested the whole time. He spoke great English and had a good rapport with the local artisans. He was also very accommodating and personable. All in all it was a great day and we would highly recommend this tour!

We had a great private tour to San Bartolome, Gualaceo and Chordeleg with Sebastian. We enjoyed our time with him as he is extremely knowledgeable about the area and easy to talk to. We learned a lot about Ecuador, the culture, people etc during the day. When he found out we liked orchids, he took us to a great orchid farm and research center. We also enjoyed wandering the local markets with him and seeing and trying the local food. We highly recommend him and this tour.

This was an extremely worthwhile and satisfying use of our time and money. Our first stop was in San Bartolomé, famed for its guitars and the craftsmen who create them. We were able to visit one of the family tallers workshops and learn the process of creating a guitar as well as other stringed instruments e.g., the traditional mandolin. It is amazing to see how the craftsman cuts the tiny pieces of wood used to in the inlayed designs on the playing surface of the guitar. My partner was able to try one of the guitars, as he plays. While the visit to Chordeleg was interesting, it seemed mainly an opportunity to visit jewelry stores selling the traditionally worked jewelry in silver, in both old and modern designs. The museum showcasing the crafts of the area is small, but interesting. The visit to Gualaceo was definitely a highlight. We were taken through the whole process of creating makanas shawls and the art of creating designs through the ikat knot-tieing technique, from the different plants used and techniques to make the dyes. We were able to observe both the tying of knots, the weaving as well as tying knots to create intricate designs in a piece. In both this workshop and in San Bartolomé, our guide Pedro of CGT seems to have a warm relationship with the Cañari craftspeople. He, too, was able to provide us with background and knowledge about the villages and the peoples.