Peru Community Trip

Flight to Lima. Upon arrival at the airport, transfer by coach for installation at your Lima hotel.

Get up to enjoy a nice breakfast and take a city tour of Lima. Capital of Peru, Lima has long been known as the Pearl of the Pacific. It is located on the seaside, which has favored the exploitation of agriculture and fishing. Lima is a city with more than 10 million inhabitants, mostly from the countryside. Explore its colonial neighborhoods in the city center, passing through Plaza San Martin and Plaza Armas, the true core of the city and the place where it was founded. Take time to have lunch and relax before continuing your visit. Discover the San Isidro district and its El Olivar olive grove, the Miaflores district with its Huaca Pucllana pyramid, and the Barranco district for its charming colonial architecture. Meals included: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Prepare your luggage and depart to the airport to board a flight to Cusco. Upon arrival, take a tour of the city, once the capital of the Inca Empire and an important crossroads for the Incas and the surrounding tribes. Many treasures are hidden there, including monuments, original Inca walls and buildings erected by the conquistadors. In the afternoon, discover the Qosqo Maki association, which provides support for working children and adolescents in street situations, in the exercise of their rights. Take part in a carpentry workshop in a training center for young people of the dormitory. With the support of professionals, they make all types of furniture, as well as educational and recreational equipment. Then continue to the bakery workshop, which supplies breads and pastries to several surrounding hotels. The “panadería” is also a business training center for young people. Finally, take a short walk through the city center to the Qosqo Maki association offices. Meet the team working on site, visit the accommodation facilities and see the library. Share a snack with them (production of the bakery workshop) and do activities together. Night in a hotel in Cusco. Meals included: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

After breakfast, pack your luggage and leave for the small community of Patambamba, in the Sacred Valley, where you will stay with your family for the next 6 nights. Stop en route at the Awana Kancha Llamas Farm to view different types of camels, llamas, alpacas and vicuñas. The goal of the Awana Kancha community is to protect and disseminate the Andean cultural heritage thanks to the originality, variety and richness of Peruvian artisan traditions, as well as ancestral techniques for spinning, dyeing and fiber management. Have lunch in a restaurant before continuing to the Pisac site. Cross the valley to join the community where you will be welcomed by the families of this Andean people. Check in with families in Patabamba and take advantage of the evening to chat with them. Meals included: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Eat breakfast with your assigned family, just like every morning you stay with them. In the morning, you will go for a short hike of around 1.5 hours to a viewpoint, offering a magnificent view of the landscape and from where it is sometimes possible to see the King of the Andes, the majestic condor! Upon your return, attend a presentation of the medicinal plants of the region. Have lunch in the community and in the early afternoon, do your part and help families by collecting plastic bottles and other polluting waste in the community. You will then be rewarded with a game of volleyball or soccer with the young inhabitants. Dine with your family and spend the evening with them to share more about life in your respective countries. Why not take advantage of it and learn a few Spanish words with them! Meals included: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

In the morning, help the community of Patabamba by improving the orchard of the educational center, before having a meal with them. In the afternoon, participate in the elaboration of adobe, compressed and sun-dried clay brick. You will begin with an offering ceremony to the “Pachamama”, the Earth-mother in Quechua. Then, the students will mix earth, water and straw and practice the traditional technique of elaboration, consisting of trampling everything. Students will benefit from a traditional foot massage with the typical plants of the mountains! After dinner with your family, take part in a Quechua language workshop, one of Peru’s official languages. It is used by more than 15 million people in South America, including about 4 million in Peru. Meals included: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Continue your discovery of the Patabamba community. In the morning, discover the art of Andean weaving. Have lunch, always with them, before helping out again by helping the community improve the facades of their homes. Spend the evening with your assigned family. Meals included: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

This morning, take part in the farming activities of the families and give them a hand. Share a meal with the community, and by the afternoon you will complete what you have started in helping to conserve the environment in the community. Spend another evening with your family. Meals included: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Still helping the community, use the morning to do other work. Before the community lunch, do another Quechua language workshop and deepen your knowledge. Then enjoy a free afternoon in the village to help further. Share one last supper with your assigned family and take part in a little celebration with them. Say goodbye to hosts and other new acquaintances around a campfire, with traditional music and dancing. Meals included: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Have breakfast with your family for the last time of your stay. Then, participate in a review workshop on the work done during your stay with the community coordinator. At the end of the morning, you can give small gifts from your country to your family (school materials, small emblematic souvenirs, etc.). Then take the bus to Ollantaytambo. The village of Ollantaytambo is called “the last living Inca village” because its inhabitants maintain very old customs and traditions. You can stroll through its cobbled streets after visiting the fortress. Then transfer to the train station to take a ride to Aguas Calientes, starting point for Machu Picchu! Check into your accommodation. Meals included: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Take the shuttle this morning that will bring you to the entrance to the Machu Picchu archaeological site, one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. This ancient Inca city, dating from the 15th century, began to reveal its secrets in 1911 when it was presented to the world by an archaeologist. Abandoned during the collapse of the Inca Empire and forgotten for centuries, the sacred city of the Incas is considered a masterpiece of the architecture of this civilization. The students will be amazed! Return to the village for lunch and take the return train to Ollantaytambo. Then embark by coach for Cusco, to spend your last day in the capital of this region. Meals included: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

After preparing your luggage, spend half a day exploring the historic center of the Inca capital. Discover the Place of arms, the heart of the city and its historic center, since it was once a major ceremonial, social and agricultural center. The four main roads started from this central point to reach the four main provinces of the Inca Empire. Admire the flowerbed there today and the fountain surmounted by the statue of the Inca Pachacutec, the founder of the Inca Empire. Also discover the 12-angle stone, an important example of the Incas’ mastery of stone and their perfectionism in architecture. Take a stroll through the alleys and small squares of the San Blas district, where artists and craftsmen flourish. Now is the perfect time to browse the boutiques for souvenirs or explore the art galleries. After lunch on your own in Cusco, transfer to the airport to fly to Lima. Enjoy a last night in Lima. Meals included: breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Breakfast at your accommodation and transfer to the airport for your return flight home.