Inca Highlights, adventure tour

Environment

Local guides will lend their expertise to the journey, including the ecological, historical background and cultural significance of the places we visit. Our Inca Trail Porters policy protects the rights and conditions of porters and is strictly enforced.

We have developed a policy on porters in Peru, pledging that all porters hired on the Inca Trail will have the same meals as clients hiking the trail; they will have access to tents; should they fall sick while hiking they will be evacuated; all gear must be weighed prior to trekking to ensure it is not too heavy; and an enforced weight limit of 5kg for each passenger is set.

Additionally we encourage our travellers to tip porters that they feel have provided excellent service as a way of supplementing their income. When we are in Aguas Calientes after Machu Picchu there is time to wander the markets found there where we encourage buying local handicrafts and gifts supporting the community.

For other activities we choose only the best trained guides, who will help you to appreciate the importance of respecting the environment of these heritage sites and understand the conservation efforts being undertaken in various areas.

Your entrance fees will help to conserve and preserve heritage sites, such as ancient ruins, while entrance fees at national parks support the conservation efforts of forest and native animal and bird species.

Furthermore, all travellers are asked to adhere to responsible travel practises while on tour which includes ensuring all lights, electricity and air conditioning is switched off when leaving hotel rooms, requesting that towels are not changed everyday unless necessary and leaving behind no litter or other waste while on excursions.

Community

We will visit many local shopping districts and markets along the way, giving you plenty of opportunity to support local merchants. We would encourage you to purchase traditional handicrafts from local artisans rather than mass produced goods from chain stores, as you will learn more about the skill involved in the production, while also supporting the craft itself.

We visit the Witches Market in La Paz where passengers are able to purchase handmade handicrafts from the local women in traditional dress as well as trying out their Spanish skills when bartering! When we visit Lake Titicaca you can also support the local merchants by purchasing traditional gifts made by the Amantani cultures found there.