Ecuador
Location: Chugchilán
Black Sheep Inn is an inexpensive eco-friendly hotel high in the Andes Mountains of Ecuador. Perched on a hillside just outside of the rural village of Chugchilán, Cotopaxi; the Black Sheep Inn provides a great base for day hiking, horseback riding, mountain biking and exploring indigenous markets.
Accommodation
The eco-lodge and facilities are in harmony with the land, contributing to its biodiversity and sustainability. The property has 10 adobe buildings, with 8 private rooms, 1 common bunkhouse, lodge and restaurant.
This rural eco-lodge is the perfect place to discover centuries-old culture and diverse ecosystems. Black Sheep Inn is a comfortable eco-hotel offering affordable accommodation and all the comforts of home while exploring the real Andes of Ecuador. The Inn features gourmet vegetarian food made from home-grown organic produce.
Eco Policies
Eco-design – Every aspect of the Black Sheep Inn has been designed using a Permaculture philosophy. Buildings and facilities are interconnected to increase efficiency and are built from local traditional materials such as straw, adobe, eucalyptus beams and clay tiles.
Energy – All lights on the property are compact fluorescents and light switches are labelled advising guests to conserve energy. The Inn has a program for reducing energy consumption and is making preparations for a hybrid solar/wind system. This will enable the Inn to go off the grid completely and showcase alternative energy.
Black Sheep Inn currently uses solar power to pump water - when it is sunny the pump pushes pond water over 200-feet up the hill to a reserve tank for irrigation of the organic gardens.
Additionally the eco lodge plans to add solar hot water heaters and/or bio-gas digesters to offset propane consumption.
Conservation – This eco-friendly accommodation has planted over 1000 native trees in terraced swales, reforesting what was once an overgrazed property.
Ecological sustainability - The toilets at the Black Sheep Inn are dry ecological composters which are attractive, educational and productive. All toilets take advantage of a spectacular view across the canyon. Inside the rooms are flower/vegetable gardens fertilized with finished compost from the toilet - the finished “humanure” is used to plant trees, bushes or shrubs and is even used in the organic vegetable garden. Roofs are made from a transparent material providing natural light for the bathroom and gardens. Roofs also funnel rainwater to small tanks, which are used for hand washing. Biodegradable hand soap is used and wastewater from the sink irrigates the interior gardens.
To reduce impact on the environment, Black Sheep Inn buys in bulk and avoids non-recyclable packaging. Paper, cardboard, glass bottles, large plastic containers, kitchen scraps, water and human waste are re-used onsite; for example, wine and liquor bottles are used in building decorative ‘bottle walls’, newspapers are used as mulch in the garden and food scraps are composted or fed to the animals. Trash is separated into 3 receptacles in all rooms – the Inn produces less than one ounce of non-recyclable trash daily per person! Waste that cannot be reused or recycled onsite is taken to a new recycling centre in Chugchilán which the Black Sheep Inn built and sponsors.
Community – Your hosts at Black Sheep Inn have been living in Chugchilán for over 10 years and are a part of the local community. Michelle teaches English and Computers in the local high school and Andres has been elected the President of the village water system and King of Garbage.
The Inn has donated computers, phone lines and a copy machine to the local school, health clinic and police station. With the help of generous donations from guests, they have subsidized school textbooks since 2002.
One of the most successful projects has been establishing a local Library/Learning Centre stocked with over 1000 Spanish language books and 8 computers. Black Sheep Inn has also sponsored several workshops with tech assistance from US Peace Corps Volunteers: family planning, guiding skills in native flora and fauna, guiding ethics, first-aid, nutrition and women’s health and knitting. Locally knit crafts are displayed and sold in the lodge and proceeds go directly to the artisans.
Community members are encouraged to participate in the growing local tourism market. For example, the Inn has provided an interest-free loan to a neighbour enabling him to start a horseback riding business, has organized a tourist transportation cooperative with local vehicle owners and uses native guides to take tourists hiking. The Inn also has a musical instrument lending library to help bring traditional Andean Folkloric Music back into the area.
Facilities
- Home-baked chocolate brownies, banana bread and oatmeal cookies
- Free tea and coffee is always available.
- Family-style vegetarian dinners
- Organic salads from the gardens
- Hot showers - 24 hours a day
- Satellite internet service
- Sauna - Sweat Lodge
- Paintings and crafts for sale - all proceeds go directly to the local artists
- Full bar - with Chilean wines
- Hiking maps and guides
- Friendly animals (llamas, sheep, dogs, cats, ducks)
- Sunday pancakes and Jazz
- Extensive lending library including up-to-date guidebooks
- Great music - something for everyone
- Book exchange
- Treehouse - built between two big eucalyptus
- Zip-Line / Cable Swing / Flying Fox
- Volleyball
- Frisbee golf
- Solar Powered Waterslide
Things To See And Do
Many declare that the best way to wake up at the Black Sheep Inn is with a ride on the 100-meter zip line, a cable swing that launches off the tree house.
Relax your tired body before going to bed in the Sauna - Sweat Lodge. Black Sheep Inn sauna is an eclectic combination of a traditional Finnish Sauna and a Native American Indian Sweat Lodge.
Try the highest solar powered waterslide and the highest frisbee golf course in the world.
The 10-acre farm is growing: with dogs, cats, ducks, geese, pigs, chickens, guinea pigs, llamas and of course a flock of black sheep! All animals are friendly and love attention.
Black Sheep Inn is a Day Hikers Paradise: Altitudes range from 8,000 to 12,500 feet (2,500 to 3,800 meters) making it easy to acclimatize and train for Ecuador's higher peaks.
Because of the Black Sheep Inn’s unique location, you can enjoy several days of walking right from the Inn. Walks range from a half hour to a full day and incorporate several micro-climates. Visit Laguna Quilotoa, an emerald volcanic Crater Lake at 12,500 feet in elevation, hike to the depths of the Rio Toachi Canyon, climb to the top of the world in the high grasslands of the paramó and get lost in the mysterious mist of the Cloud Forest of the Iliniza Ecological Reserve.
Other hikes or horseback rides take you to a cooperatively owned Swiss style cheese factory or a fine furniture woodworking shop. There are several Indigenous Markets that show how people have been trading for hundreds of years. Experience the real Ecuador in this safe and rural location.
Room Description
The hotel is intimate, with eight private rooms, each with two double beds (some rooms have more beds) and one bunkhouse. All private rooms have wood-stove fireplaces.
There are 5 private rooms with private bathrooms. Each room has a double bed and 3 of the rooms have 1 or 2 additional single beds.
There are also 3 private rooms with shared bathrooms. 1 room has 2 double beds, 1 room has 1 double and 2 single beds and 1 room has 2 double and 2 single beds.
The three-storey A-frame bunkhouse has 3 double beds and 7 single beds.
Prices & Booking Policies
Currency: US dollar ($)
Prices and inclusions: Prices are person and include a gourmet vegetarian dinner, farm fresh breakfast, free tea and coffee all day long, purified drinking water, hiking maps, hot showers and taxes.
A bed in the shared bunkhouse with shared bathroom costs US$25 (approx £13) per night.
Double with shared bath - US$40 (approx £20) per person per night
Triple with shared bath - US$35 (approx £18) per person per night
Quadruple with shared bath - US$30 (approx £15) per person per night
Single with shared bath - US$55 (approx £28) per person per night
Double with private bath - US$50 (approx £25) per person per night
Triple with private bath - US$45 (approx £23) per person per night
Quadruple with private bath - US$40 (approx £20) per person per night
Single with private bath - US$70 (approx £35) per person per night
Child prices: Children aged 0-3 go free. Children aged 4-9 years old receive a 50% reduction on the adult price and children aged 10-17 years old receive a 10% discount.
Special offers: There is a 15% discount for stays of 4 nights or more.
Check-in / Check-out times: Check-in 3pm / Check-out 10:30am
Opening dates: Black Sheep Inn is open all year round, please enquire. Bookings are currently being taken until 31st December 2008.
Restrictions: 2 nights minimum, more recommended.
Deposit: A 50% deposit is required at least 30 days prior to your arrival date in order to secure your booking. This can be paid by cheque, bank transfer or PayPal with 5% surcharge – once your room availability is confirmed you will be in contact with Black Sheep Inn to arrange the option best for you. Your booking will not be full confirmed until this payment has been received.
Cancellation policy: Bookings cancelled 15 days or more prior to arrival will receive a refund of 60% of the deposit, bookings cancelled 5-14 days prior to arrival will receive no refund, but the deposit will be transferable for 1 year (transferred reservations must be made with at least 30 days advance notice and depend upon availability). For cancellations 4 or less days prior to arrival there will be no refund of the deposit and no transfer.
Payment methods: For payments on site Black Sheep Inn accepts Traveler’s checks, cash, prepaid bank deposits or PayPal (5% surcharge). Bills are settled prior to departure.
Getting There And Around
To travel from Quito to Black Sheep Inn there are a number of possibilities.
For a small price (just a few dollars) you could take the bus to Chugchilán - a 6-7 hour ride shared with friendly campesinos, chickens, pigs and sheep. Dirt and cobbled roads through gorgeous scenery make for a breathtaking ride!
If you’d prefer, Black Sheep Inn can help you find transport in a private jeep from Quito for US$100 - it is a 4 to 5 hour drive on rough roads through spectacular scenery.
From Latacunga there are 2 buses per day to Chugchilán or Black Sheep Inn can help you find a taxi for around US$60 - a 3-4 hour drive.
Another option is to rent a car in Quito and brave driving the Andean roads yourself. Black Sheep Inn can give you advice on good companies to use.
