Facing the Andes

Price

From: $ 4,000.00

Duration

30 days

Max People

Tour Type

Experiential

Attractions

Activities

Min Age

Overview

The Andes, one of the most hostile geographies on earth, will teach you to live from nature and at the same time show you the amazing landscapes and mysteries that the Inkas knew very well through the coexistence with a community in the Peruvian Andes.

Re-discover your self

The purpose of IntiTravel.Org is to give you a real experience in 30 days, where you will participate in all the activities that have been carried out since immemorial times,

unlike the participatory tourism program in this program you will participate in the activities as one of the members of the community (that is the idea) leaving the bubble of the experience, in this way you will expose your human capacity to the edge of the limit.

In the community they speak Runasimi (Inka language, commonly called Quechua) and although they speak Spanish they communicate mostly in Runasimi, if you don’t speak Spanish or if your knowledge of Spanish is less than basic,

we offer you one of those experiences that you will only find in books or movies when explorers encounter other cultures and their only form of communication is the creative ability to explain with gestures and mimics (imagine how fun it is going to be).

With the theme of participating in the daily life of the Andes and the limited verbal communication it will give you the opportunity to learn more because you will not have the ability to narrow down anything from your perspective which will make you talk to yourself in your mind about how you could improve something that you think is backwards

and fortunately after a couple of weeks the mental conversation will be about other more important topics in your life, not to mention how real expererience it will be.

Facing the Andes

Our theme is unique, dare to do something out of the ordinary to get all the benefits that contemporary humanity has been exploring to complete happiness, physical activity is highly recommended and in the field is stronger than in a gym,

the ancient sciences of breathing is a trend in the world and the altitude of the Andes will teach you from a physiological perspective, and the goal of participating in daily activities like the commoners will increase the neurons of happiness if you complete the goal.

In addition, you will be able to live an experience as it was done long before the monetary system came on the scene, all labour that can be hired is under the terms of reciprocity and the Inkas named it Ayni.

This option of participatory tourism is for a greater cause, to learn to live from nature and with nature in the simplest way that exists, going back to the origin of humanity.

Dare to do something unique and different, replacing the voluntary work traditional giving value to your trip and unique life.

The star product is the potato, since ancient times after harvesting the potato the land was made to rest for 7 years, luckily here this Inka wisdom is still preserved, one year before sowing the land is ploughed with pure human strength, during this time the guano (cattle manure) is gathered, when it is time to sow the guano and the seed is taken to the field on donkeys, During its growth, care and attention is given to it to guarantee production. Between the months of May and June is when it is harvested and it is celebrated by cooking the produce in earthen ovens made at that time to eat the most awaited dish of the year: watia. The labour required is not remunerated monetarily but rather is established in terms of reciprocity of work. There are many other activities that take place during the year around potato production.

If life revolves around agriculture, livestock makes life revolve around it. It is a daily job when you have sheep because the llamas go off by themselves and come back alone, it is a full day activity and requires a lot of attention so that the fox does not take any sheep, although the dogs are the number one guardians, the fox is a fox and has its tricks.

This activity goes hand in hand with the livestock, from shearing the wool from the animals to the most elaborate textiles it takes a lot of time and patience which you will have the opportunity to participate in: shearing, washing the wool, spinning, dyeing the wool, weaving jumpers or similar, weaving textiles which is the most laborious part of this activity and weaving ropes. Many of these activities are done throughout the day while doing some activities that leave the hands free.

From rebuilding a wall to building a new house, we don’t know which one you will attend but in the camp there is always something to be done in the same person’s house, in a neighbour’s house or for the good of the community, and when the work is done for others it is done on the basis of reciprocity. All construction activities generally start from the basics, such as collecting the materials for construction.

It is not only about washing dishes or clothes, because here the kitchen leaves ash every day and it has to be removed to another place for storage for agricultural purposes, check the deposits, on the other hand the stable (canchón) is at the side of the house and the guano every so often has to be cornered for storage and drying for the next planting. In short, there is always something to do in the countryside.

Is an activity for all ages, from children to the elderly, it is done as a daytime activity or as a daytime activity, culturally it is done while the animals are grazing, gathering the dry branches and carrying them on your shoulder or back while you return with the animals. Nowadays there are many eucalyptus trees and you can cut down a tree like a lumberjack.

This is to participate in the preparation of the food and learn about the products of the area, storage, the basic and simple diet that predominates in the Andes. The highlight of this activity is the simplicity of the kitchens in which the food is prepared, without the variety of flavours that has kept alive a culture that was repressed to the brink of extinction.