Ecuador cattle drive tours, hacienda round up trips

Sample tours to see cattle drives

Once or twice a year the haciendas of the Andes round up their cattle for marking. It is a spectacular scene where the Andean cowboys known as Chagras display their skills at driving thousands of heads at a time. These massive events take place within an incredible landscape surrounded by snowcovered mountains and volcanoes. Below we list one of the two main haciendas allowing visitors to experience their impressive cattle drives.

Hacienda Yanahurco rodeos

Every year hacienda Yanahurco found at the border of Cotopaxi volcano and extending itself all the way into the Amazon basin holds two rodeos, considered to be the largest of the Andean highlands of Ecuador.

November rodeo

This is the cattle drive where animals are gathered for counting, marking and vaccination. Cowboys handle some 2000 heads during this event. It is a spectacular view to see thousands of cattle comming down from the mountains.

March rodeo

This is a wild horse rodeo, where 50 to 80 cowhands from the region come to assist our own chagras. It is a necessary action to safeguard the last herd of wildhorses in the world. We count, mark and give vaccination.

Our guests can participate by riding with our Andean cowboys during their long daily journeys or just enjoy as observers the abilities of our cowhands with lasso as they ride.