when you trek with apus peru 5% of your trek price is donated to Threads of Peru.

we support responsible, sustainable & ethical tourism...

"Every person must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or the darkness of destructive selfishness. This is the judgment. Life's most persistent and urgent question is, What are you doing for others?"
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Apus Peru does not simply have a section on our website devoted to ‘porter welfare’, we have a whole section on our website which addresses our community projects. 5% of your trek price is devoted to these community projects.

Our community projects operate in the same communities as the porters are from. For more information , please refer to our sister website, Threads Of Peru.

For us, ‘porter welfare’ is synonymous with our work in the communities. When we began to operate the Inca Trail, it was automatic to us that we go to the communities where we already worked, to look for porters.

We have over 45 porters signed up from the communities of Chaullacocha and Chupani, with a ‘porter chief’ elected from each village. Both these head porters are well respected in their own communities, and hold other posts, like President of the Parents Association for the school.

Simply by offering fair, reasonably paid employment we are changing the opporuntities for these men who live 4-5 hours walk from the major centres and can’t afford to travel to the ‘Valley’ on the off chance of work (leaving their families and responsibility behind). As we work on a rotational basis, we call ahead by radio so they porters know when they have work.

We ensure that porters have adequate clothing and shelter for work on the Inca Trail.

We abide by the porters law and send the correct amount of porters for the weights/ amount of clients in the group.

We respect their cultural norms and if they wish to work on the Inca Trail using ‘hojotas’ (their tyre sandals) and we will not make them wear shoes.

Many visitors to Peru, who hike on the Inca Trail, express a desire to eat and spend time with their porters. Quechua people are extremely shy, and apart from logistics (ie the cook and porters need to be preparing, cooking and serving dinner when you are eating) the majority of the porters would prefer to eat, joke and chat in their own group, and in their own language. Even the more outgoing are extremely shy and sitting down with a group of foreigners is not particularly comfortable for them.

Projects and capacitacion planned for porters

• Hygiene and cleanliness
• Personal presentation
• Parenting (for fathers)
• Scholarship annually for one porter to study a cooking course in Cusco. This scholarship includes accommodation and bus fares for the duration of the course.

APUS PERU Adventure Travel Specialists - we support sustainable, responsible and ethical tourism...

366 Cuichipunco, Centro Historico, Cusco, Peru - Email: apusperu@westnet.com.au

© A.Svenson 2005 - 2009. The design, content and photographs (except where noted) are 100% original. The majority of our treks were designed by Apus Peru.