Inca Trail walking tour, Peru

Planet

Our local operator in Cusco believes (as we do!) that we share the responsibility to keep Peru pristine and beautiful for all the future generations to come. On all our treks we do everything we can to ensure we have as little impact as possible. We educate all our tourists to be respectful of the Inca sites we visit and to always bring their rubbish with them off the trek. As far as we can we use recyclable and reusable products as well as environmentally friendly products and solar lamps. To keep our carbon footprint as low as possible and support the local economy, the materials we use are Peruvian made.

As you can imagine with hundreds of tourists trekking to Machu Picchu every day the Inca Trail and Alternative routes can end up pretty dirty over the course of the year. Although we do our part of taking all our rubbish with us not every operator is as aware as us, so we take the extra step of organising clean up treks during the off-season. With an army of porters at our disposal it doesn't take long to collect bags of plastic bottles and other rubbish and return the trekking routes to the condition you expect them to be in.

People

By trekking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu with us you providing employment for local people and are supporting continued improvement in working and general living conditions for porters. To protect the Inca stonework on the trail, pack animals are not permitted on the Inca Trail, so local people are employed to carry food and camping equipment for trekkers. Regulations are in place to protect their rights, however all too often irresponsible operators still give porters too much weight to carry and provide inadequate food and camping equipment.

Our Porters are provided with good equipment, uniforms, insurance and good pay but that's the least they should expect, and it's the extras our local operator provides that really make the difference. Our porters are part of the family and are treated as such; they are provided with clean and comfortable accommodation in Cusco (many of them live several hours from the city) with an area where they can relax before treks. Regular events are held such as parties to celebrate the beginning/end of the season as well as weekly football matches.

The Porters House - In 2012 our local operator began a project to make the lives of our porters even better by building them a new accommodation block with all the mod cons plus a community centre and library to promote education and social mobility in a village just outside of Cusco. Please ask us if you would like to visit the house and community centre before or after your trek.