Hacienda La Danesa

We are a traditional family farm and seek authentic experiences to share with you. Founded in 1870, La Danesa is located near one of the oldest railway stations in the Ecuador coastal region one hour drive from Guayaquil, in the warm embrace of the wonderful Andes. Helge Olsen Friss, was of Danish origin who acquired the property to develop his passion for farming and the countryside, and he managed to turn it into a traditional working farm of 500 hectares that is currently owned by the Olsen Peet family. For 20 consecutive years, Niels Olsen Pons, has been recognized as the best dairy farmer of the Ecuadorian coast with his Brown Swiss cattle. With the passing of years, the work of Niels, and the careful little details added by Sonia, have all transformed La Danesa into a magical home where Kristel, Niels (JR) and Erik had been brought up. They had the opportunity to enjoy a life surrounded by animals and nature, away from traffic and pollution of the city. Inspired by sharing their love for nature and the comfort of food, they open the doors of La Danesa as a sustainable tourist destination that seeks to rescue and celebrate life in the Ecuadorian countryside. There are bikes, horses, rivers, organic garden, free range chicken and kayaking inside the property and it currently hosts the passengers of Tren Crucero and visitors who seek to enjoy the countryside of Ecuador.

My name is Niels, I am 27 years old and started the tourism operations a year ago after graduating from a M. Sc in Sustainable Tourism in Australia. I really enjoy traveling and having people over. I have been a couchsurfer in the past and really enjoyed it and I am pretty excited to have volunteers contributing to my social enterprise. We have around 16 employees that are exclusively involved in the tourism operations (chef, sous chef, waiters, operation, gardener, etc.) and they are all from the neighbouring communities as we have a strict policy of only employing our neighbours in order to inject money to the local economy. They barely speak english but you would have a lot of fun getting to know them. Be sure you will be treated as a local and as part of the family.