Authentic Andean Experience

A day in a high-Andean community

This experience spends a full day in a farming community near Cusco, with the families who host it. There is no stage set: you join in whatever the community is doing that day depending on the season, prepare a pachamanca in the ground and eat with them. It is the most direct way to understand how people live in the Andes today, with reciprocity, ayni, as the rule, and the money goes entirely to the host families.

What the day is like

Pickup at 7:30 and an hour’s drive to the community. The welcome is with coca leaves and an offering to the apus, the mountains that protect the place. Then the farm work of the season: sowing or harvesting native potatoes with the chaquitaclla, the Inca foot plough, or herding and shearing when it is time. At midday the pachamanca is prepared: hot stones, meat, potatoes, broad beans and herbs buried and cooked for an hour, while the families explain how they understand the land, time and reciprocity. In the afternoon, music on traditional instruments and goodbyes. Back in Cusco around four.

Practical details

What you will do by season

• September to November: sowing native potatoes with the chaquitaclla.
• April to June: the harvest.
• The rest of the year: herding and shearing alpacas.
• All year: the pachamanca, the offering to the apus and the farewell music.

Who it suits

Travellers who want a day without monuments and with people, families with children, who usually end up playing with the community’s kids, and anyone looking for an experience that changes with the season. Respect for local customs and a willingness to get your hands dirty are asked. Spend a day in Cusco first because of the altitude.

If textiles are your main interest, see the Chinchero cultural experience, centred on the loom. And to combine it with the great sites of the valley, the Sacred Valley tours.

Community tourism, in private

The families decide what they share, receive the full payment and the group is yours alone, and small. That is what lets you take part rather than watch: there is time to ask questions, try the chaquitaclla and sit down to eat with them without large-group timetables.

What to bring

Comfortable clothes that can get dirty, closed shoes, a warm layer, sunscreen and cash in case you want to buy crafts. The pachamanca, activities and materials are included. If you have dietary restrictions, let us know when booking.