Lucho and Hacienda Sigsipamba

It happened like this:


We ordered car parts in Ibarra and set out to explore northern Ecuador while they were shipped via FedEx, when we ran out of LP gas for the stove in the van.

We asked around in Ibarra but were told, ‘Aqui no hay’, literally, here there is no. We were directed to Quito for the nearest place to refill our tank. Early the next morning, off to Quito we went (a two hour drive).

After hunting around for the address in Quito we discovered this location was not the plant but rather a tank distribution center, and again we were told, ‘Aqui no hay’. We were directed to Guayaquil, a big port city at the southern end of the country. We were not going to Guayaquil, not for gas nor anything else.

Mikegyver had an idea: perhaps if he had the right adaptor he could rig the stove up to a gas canister we have for the Coleman lantern. This didn’t sound like a great idea to me, but he is Mikegyver after all and he certainly has had plenty of experience with gas piping. So of we set off looking for an adapter. A couple of ferreterias (hardware stores) later we were still empty handed, ‘Aqui no hay’.

Hmmmm…perhaps if we went back to the tank distribution center they’d have an adapter they could sell us. Found the place the second time easy enough, but, alas, ‘Aqui no hay’.

Fate intervened at this moment and a different guy told us there was an actual gas plant in Pifo, about an hour away.

So, with a hand-drawn map, off to Pifo we drove. Mike thought it might be yet another wild goose chase but I knew Pifo was on the road to Papallacta, an area known for hot springs, so I knew our efforts would not go unrewarded.

Unbelievably, we found the gas plant, just outside of Pifo. More unbelievably they told us they could fill the tank, but that we’d have to wait a half hour. No problem. We waited. More like an hour and a half. And then a guy came out and told us, ‘Aqui no hay’.


Our hearts sank until fate stepped in again and another man, perhaps el jefe, came out and said yes, it was possible. He told us to wait for a truck that had just been filled to come out of the plant and ask them to fill our tank. Super. We waited some more.

Indeed a truck came out and indeed he was able to fill our tank. Mission accomplished!

However, by now it was 5pm and starting to get dark and we were in an area well off the tourist trail. We headed back into Pifo proper, scouting for places to stay but didn’t come up with much.

We asked at a crummy hostal and were told we could stay there, but we’d have to rent a room and Chettie would have to stay in the van. We kept looking.


We asked at a vivero (plant nursery) but the guy there was not the owner and he wasn’t comfortable allowing us to park there overnight. He directed us to another road and said there was a place we could camp, but we didn’t quite understand the whole conversation (our Spanish/his manner of speech). Eventually we drove up the road to see what we might find.


We spied an old hacienda with lots of land and plenty of level ground for us to park on. Not the place the nursery man had sent us to and not in any way a lodging establishment, but a cool looking place. Given the hour I headed down the long drive to ask if we could park there for the night.

The long drive into to Hacienda Sigsipamba

As I walked towards the main building I began to hear Banana Pancakes by Jack Johnson. Hmmm, this had promise. I explained to the guy at the end of the drive that we needed a place to park for the night. Didn’t need anything else. He said, ‘Ask Lucho.’

With that, the incredibly gregarious Lucho sticks his head out from the engine of a very, very large Mann vehicle and says ‘Si, claro!’ with a big grin. Yes, sure.


We parked the van and exhaled. We were tucked in for the night in what felt like a great place. We could not have guessed what role this place would play in our time in Ecuador.

Because of a classic ‘snafu’ in the shipping process it took nearly three weeks for us to retrieve the auto parts, though they were in Quito within a few days of ordering. We spent our time exploring the greater Quito area (including several trips to the hot springs at Papallacta) and northern Ecuador, returning to Lucho’s several times using it as a headquarters of sorts. Mike eventually did the auto mechanics there.

Hacienda Sigsipamba is a sprawling old hacienda. Though it needs a ton of work it exudes cool. Fabulous views of the valleys below and of Volcan Cotopaxi. One does not have to work hard to imagine the place in its former glory. Lucho was just as smitten with our van as we are, ‘Que hermoso carro’ and though we tried to trade the van for the hacienda, Lucho didn’t go for it.

Bird's eye view of Hacienda Sigsipamba

Volcan Cotopaxi from Hacienda Sigsipamba

Each time we returned we were greeted like favorite cousins not seen in a long time. We were the only gringos at Todo Terreno, a 4-wheel drive, motorcycle and bicycle competition held on the property while we were there. We met Lucho’s sister and little brother. We met his friends and his girlfriend. We met his dogs. Hey, we even met Superman.

Lucho serving up burgers at Todo Terrano

Lucho's dogs

Mike and Zeus

You know who this is...

Lucho defines joie de vivre. Had we not run out of LP gas, had we not returned to the gas plant to ask for an adaptor, had the nursery man said yes, and had a million other twists of fate not intervened we would not have landed at Hacienda Sigsipamba nor met our friend, Lucho.

Trish and Lucho

And as we said our last good-bye’s Mike said ‘He could have been a rock-star’.