High tea in the Andes Mountains? That sounds highly unlikely! Unlikely, yes, but not impossible. One fine Thursday, we visited La Mirage Garden Hotel & Spa in Cotacachi for their weekly tea. La Mirage is a 5-star hotel on the grounds of a 200-year-old Andean hacienda. Their website is worth perusing, so you can see the photos of their beautiful offerings.
Afternoon tea takes place in the Pandora Lounge. It is decorated with carved furniture, Victorian paintings, art nouveau lamps, knick-knacks and even a carousel horse. Servers bring course after course of fine tea, coffee, crustless sandwiches, and one dessert after another. Gary and I were amazed every time another course was delivered on a silver platter. We spent several hours lounging, eating, then walking the lawns to watch the many peacocks strolling and displaying their feathers. All this cost us $20 – a pittance in the US, but a fortune in Ecuador.