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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 Peruvian guides, providing a direct input into the economy. For any meals we provide 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. Rubbish is carried out. In our UK office we offset our carbon emissions, working together with Rainforest Concern, that protect forested areas in the high Andean countries. We use recyclable and recycled materials when possible. We recycle what we can and attempt to keep waste to an absolute minimum. We promote paper saving by using email as much as possible and by keeping unwanted mail to a minimum. We use low-energy light bulbs, fair-trade and biodegradable products where possible.
A proportion of our profit each year goes directly to one of several local community projects in the Cusco area. We support the Tourism Concern Porters Policy, Ninos childrens health care project in Cusco and our own porters families. We also support a newly established community project in the marginalised neighbourhood of Humano Hermanos Ayar, on the outskirts of Cusco. Here volunteer social workers and teachers 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 children and families so the children can 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 happy to distribute donations of warm clothes, shoes and educational material to these organizations - please contact us for details of volunteer work and how you can help.
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.
Listen to the podcast below:
We invite every traveler who books a vacation via us to send in a review. Because we don't run the vacations they're completely independent and unedited... remember to read between the lines though, as two people on the same vacation can have different views!
