Sustainable trekking

We work to build strong communities

At Inti Sun Trek, we take pride in our connection to the local communities surrounding Cusco. Jesus Villafuerte, the founder of Inti Sun Trek, was born in one of these communities and reailzes the importance that the tourism industry has on these places. We employ many people from these small mountain villages to work as porters, cooks, wranglers, and hosts for our tourists. Inti Sun Trek also employs villagers to create paths through the mountains for our specially disigned tours. The money that is brought in by tourism helps to make sure that the children of our workers have access to a good education, school supplies, and clothing in their ancestral home villages.

While hiking on one of our tours, you are likely to interact with the local villagers and have a chance to observe them going about their daily lives. The people in these villages live simple, peaceful and quiet lives and are very friendly to the tourists that visit them. If you wish, you can bring along small gifts to give them, such as notebooks, pens, warm clothes, and candies for the children. When you visit these villages, you will be taken with the charm and tranquility of these small mountain towns. When you book a tour with Inti Sun Trek, you can be sure that you are contributing to the sustainabily of these traditional villages and the people who call them home.

We work to protect our environment

At Inti Sun Trek, we understand the importance of protecting the natural beauty around us. Pachamama, or “Mother Earth” was an important deity to the Incas and we like to honnor our ancestor’s respect for the natural world. In our effort to help preserve the environment, we have taken many steps to make our treks environmentally sustainable. We provide biodegradable soap for our tourists to wash up and for our cooks to clean dishes. We also make sure to dispose of all our waste responsibly, leaving nothing behind. We even provide our tourists with plastic bags to place their waste in and a portible toilet to use on our treks. We are aware that when it comes to sustaining the environment, every small step has a large impact. That is why we are working with our staff to create a culture of sustainabilty on all of our treks.

Since starting Inti Sun Trek, we have made an effort to create new treks and tours to places not often visited by tourists. On these off the beaten path tours, we interact with and support the local people and communities who benefit from the interaction with tourists.