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Throughout Peru, we work together with local people, paying them a fair price, and putting money into the local economy. On this trip we use local Peruvian teachers and stay with local families, providing a direct input into the economy. On our Inca Trail trek we buy fresh local produce. In preference we choose local over imported goods, encouraging the use of Andean products in our cooking. We minimize waste by using products with minimum packaging, leaving no litter and keeping all water sources clean, leaving camp-sites cleaner than we find them. Rubbish is carried out.
We are involved in the ongoing training of our trek staff. All our porters on the Inca Trail carry a maximum 20kg load, and are provided with tents and food. We pay and treat our staff fairly. We support the Tourism Concern Porters Policy. We support Ninos childrens health care project in Cusco. We are happy to distribute your donations of much needed warm clothes and shoes to Peruvian children through this organization - please contact us for details of how you can help.
The volunteer work we offer is in a newly established community project in the marginalised neighbourhood of Humano Hermanos Ayar, on the outskirts of Cusco. You will assist the volunteer social workers and teachers in various projects to provide much needed social and educational support to the children and families in this poor urban area. The long term aim of this project is to support chidren and families so the children can actually go to school and stay in the education system for as long as possible giving them employment opportunities in the future and keeping them away from the dangers they face if they end up working on the streets.
We are also now supporting the UK registered chairty Amantani. As this charity is very much in keeping with our ethos of small scale, targetted help which is educational & sustainabale. HuchuyYachaq is the other main Peruvian charity we support by paying a for a full time teacher. A % of all our income goes to support those projects.
The founder of this tour operator set up 14 years ago after working as a trek leader and writing guidebooks in South America. She decided to offer alternative trekking routes that no one else was doing, where you’re more likely to cross paths with local people. She maintains close personal relationships with her suppliers and is godmother to several of their children. Her small specialised team have really walked the walks and so know exactly what they’re talking about; they familiarise themselves with the hiking trails every year and believe the Andean way of life is well worth sharing.
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