REPORTAJE CASA HACIENDA HUAYOCCARI- HACIENDA SARAPAMPA BEYOND THE INKAS - FINANCIAL TIMES

Recientemente uno de los diarios mas importantes en el mundo, Financial Times, publico una nota referida a las haciendas antiguas de Cusco, destacando las mas emblemáticas del Valle Sagrado, que a lo largo del tiempo se han mantenido  y que hoy se han constituido como parte de la oferta turistica de Cusco.

Familias Cusqueñas tradicionalmente asentadas por muchas décadas en este espacio emblemático de Cusco y propietarias de haciendas dedicadas a actividades agrícolas, hoy han convertido estos espacios en lugares maravillosos para el deleite de Turistas y personajes importantes del mundo.

Jose Ignacio Lambarry de Casa hacienda Huayoccari en Yucay y Yussef Sumar de la  Hacienda Sarapampa ubicado en Taray muy cerca a Pisac, pertenecen a esa generación emprendedora de jóvenes que con ingenio y creatividad han sido capaces de recuperar estos espacios y alternar la agricultura con la actividad del Turismo, promoviendo la gastronomia de nivel en el Valle del Urubamba cuyo valor agregado se sustenta en el uso de los insumos frescos y naturales que se producen en las mismas haciendas. Hoy también el nicho de mercado sofisticado que mueve la industria de viajes es el turismo de reuniones también conocido como MICE ha incorporado a estas haciendas para llevar a cabo eventos de gran envergadura y nivel. 

Compartimos algunos fragmentos publicados en este medio importante en Estados Unidos y El Reino Unido.

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Huayoccari Hacienda

Peru, beyond the Incas After 35 years of hunting Inca ruins, Hugh Thomson takes a new tour that focuses on the country’s often overlooked colonial heritage Hacienda owner José Ignacio Lambarri (centre) riding in the Valle Sagrado 

Driving down Peru’s Valle Sagrado, I watched cattle grazing on old Inca terraces. Smoke drifted from the fields where farmers were burning stubble; hummingbirds flitted around the groves of eucalyptus trees. 

The Valle Sagrado — the “Sacred Valley” that connects Cusco to Machu Picchu — has become a place I know well. I’ve seen it change from a sleepy rural backwater to a place dotted with smart hotels; since Peru achieved political stability, the number of tourists has rocketed, particularly those from the US. But it has kept its charm. 

The river Vilcanota was canalised here by the Incas, who built ingenious terraces in the most vertiginous of its slopes. The valley has always been a centre for agriculture. To either side of the road, I could see a patchwork of smallholdings growing the maize for which the valley remains famous. There’s a reason they’re all small holdings. In the 1970s, a series of agrarian reforms were passed that were some of the most radical in South America. A leftwing military government redistributed land right across Peru with a lasting legacy that is still bitterly resented by some.

But with Peru’s increased prosperity, some of the original owners have been able to restore these haciendas and promote the considerable attractions of the country’s colonial past to visitors, like me, who all too often previously have just come for the Inca ruins. 

I had breakfast with the owner José Ignacio Lambarri in his garden filled with roses, agapanthus and agave plants. The hacienda lay at just over 3,000 metres and had stunning views across the valley. José told me the story of what had happened to his family at the time of the agrarian reforms. Inside Hacienda Huayoccari His grandfather once had 180 hectares of cultivable land. After the redistribution, he was left with just 40. His grandfather would have lost the hacienda and the remaining land as well, had it not been for his reputation as a good hacendado, an estate owner who always looked after his workers. 

A hacienda is halfway between a farm and a country house. Even the grandest still have strong agricultural associations and most are built from adobe. Typically, they are centred around a large patio, often filled with orange trees and bougainvillea, and with a series of stone arches leading off to palatial reception rooms. At the end of Hacienda Huayoccari’s dining room was a large fireplace, as winters in the Andes come cold, with enough wrought iron in its club fender to fence a municipal park. A modest and engaging person, José Ignacio had never measured his dining room. We paced it out together at 90 feet. Not bad for a private house. I rode down the valley on a Peruvian Paso horse, another colonial legacy bred over generations so their smooth, rolling gait could make long journeys across this wildly mountainous country more comfortable. 

At Sarapampa, after a ride of some 15 miles, Yussef Sumar hosted me at his restored hacienda. His father had similarly lost almost all his land (some 500 hectares) but had later managed to divert the river Vilcanota to reclaim a little bit back. The large hacienda was set back from the river and we ate lunch out on the sunny terrace. 

The food prepared by Yussef’s wife Yasmin could have been on the poster for the new cocina andina that has been sweeping Lima, London and New York: peppers stuffed with both white and black quinoa, the Andean grain I had seen growing up and down the Sacred Valley; followed by alpaca tenderloin in a creole dressing and finishing with one of the great pleasures of any visits to Peru: ice cream flavoured with the exotic jungle fruits that have come from the Amazon, such as tree tomatoes or eggfruit. 

The farm here specialises in growing the large white corn for which the Cusco area is well known. Yussef showed us one of his antiques — a brutally laborious hand plough once used by the Quechua Indians before the Spaniards brought the welcome innovation of beasts of burden strong enough to pull a field plough; a reminder that they did not just bring destruction. Share this graphic For Peru still has an equivocal relationship to its colonial past. The Spanish occupation lasted for three centuries and its influence continued long after independence.