We’re a Cusco-based company, founded in 2006 in association with the people of the peasant communities of Chillca and Osefina. Our goal is to offer unique trekking and lodging experiences on the Apu Ausangate Route, with a focus on community-based rural tourism, and to promote the development of these communities. Additionally, we’re proud to count on an operations team composed of trained community members, including guides, kitchen personnel, housekeepers, security guards, and maintenance personnel. We also work with women weavers of the community, who are keepers of ancestral knowledge. Our team has over 30 years of experience in the tourism and Andean mountaineering market and is a pioneer in creating trekking and climbing routes in this amazing natural setting.read more
Early this morning, you'll leave Cusco and travel in a comfortable coach bus along the Vilcanota River to visit the temple of Checacupe, then through the upper valley of Pitumarca. At Japura, you'll trek a short distance to Chillca. Community members and local musicians will greet you at your first Andean Lodge and share their native Andean music as you sip coca tea. The lodge's 8 double rooms have hot showers and full bathrooms. It features tasty, healthy Andean cuisine such as alpaca steak, vegetarian dishes, other dining options.read more
After breakfast, you will trek along the glacier valley of Phinaya, seeing hundreds of alpacas and llamas. On the way to the glaciers at Mt. Santa Catalina, the trail climbs past the breathtaking Pjachaj waterfall. A picnic lunch awaits you above. Surrounded by moraine walls, glaciers and lakes, you will walk about 5 hours to Machuracay Lodge. Your bags will be carried by llama caravan. You will get the chance to meet the native family that manages the lodge.read more
Today you get to take on your first mountain pass (16,587 ft./ 5150 m.) and enjoy spectacular panoramic views. Descending alongside glaciers, you will hike to Ausangate Cocha Lake where you’ll have lunch. Here, the landscape shifts dramatically, with red sandstone formations where you’ll see vicuñas and occasional condors. After a great day of hiking, you will arrive at the third Andean Lodge to relax, take in splendid views, and enjoy a restful night.read more
After breakfast you will hike the trail up to the next mountain pass. Dropping down, you will hike past Lake Kayrawiri which is surrounded by rugged mountain peaks and the great valley below. Colorful bands of soil adorn the hillsides. Then, you will continue on to Laya Grande Hill via massive Glacier del Inca to encounter the amazing colors of soil strata at Mt. Vinicunca (the world-renowned “Rainbow Mountain”). You will have lunch there with time for photos and a rest stop in this spectacular landscape. On your way to our fourth Andean Lodge, you might see hundreds of Andean geese nesting in the cliffs of Anta. Hiking past the flatiron formations of Mt. Apu Labrayani, you will arrive at Huampococha Lodge, where you’ll spend the night in comfort.read more
Today your hike will give you an outstanding view of the mountains as you reach the top of the last pass. It’s an easy downhill from here. You will hike past the strange shapes of a Karst limestone rock forest and continue to the end of the trail at Trapiche. There, you will have lunch and return by bus to Cusco, reminiscing about the unforgettable experiences you've had in the Andes.
Join a likeminded community of curious and active explorers
Private departures, for just you and your friends or family
Flexible dates
$1600 / person