A Word about Travelling with a Crew

Do you need the support?

In making this trip, you used to have to decide whether to go it alone or travel with an outfitter. I understand that now as part of the effort to control use of the trail, you MUST travel with an organized group. (And if this is not yet a requirement, I expect that it will be soon.) So, while travelling alone may no longer be an option, I can offer some comments on the advantages of travelling with an experienced outfitter.

First of all, there is the obvious advantage of convenience. The porters do an awesome job - They set up camp, serve us, break camp, carry most of the stuff, beat us to the next stop and set up again. And can I tell you that at every turn it makes the trip much more enjoyable. Hot coffee and tea brought to your tent first thing in the morning, a mess tent set up to give you a place to get out of the rain, water boiled for your drinking bottles, water heated to wash up in... you get the idea.

Secondly, I can't imagine the difference it would make to not have an accomplished guide on a trip like this. Sure, you would see the same ruins and the same landscape, but without any of the the context. In our case, it seemed to me that at each place we came across, our guide Mauro gave us additional information about the Inca culture, society, religious beliefs, government and lifestyle so that by the time we got to Machu Picchu we had a pretty well rounded understanding. (I don't know that Mauro purposely structures his lectures to accomplish this over the course of the trip, but it seemed that way to me.) In addition, he knew a lot about the botany and biology of the area so he was able to answer most any question (that I had anyway): what is this plant; is this is an orchid; what's the significance of this; what's the difference between a llama and an alpaca? You can understand that this adds a great deal to the trip.

Lastly, support the local economy directly: the wages the porters make (plus whatever you tip them) is contributing your dollars directly at a level where it counts.

Bottom line is, do your homework - find out about the size of the group (important!), the experience level and training of the guides - and get the support of a good outfitter.

About the Crew

In our case there were (for 8 people): 10 porters, 1 cook, a guide and an assistant. In this crew the oldest was 49 (so there was at least ONE person in the group older than me!) and his son was also on the crew. The youngest guy was 19. One guy dressed in traditional garb which I guess they all used to do.

On the last night on the trail (Day Three) we gathered the porters together to say goodbye. This is from my journal: "After dinner, around 8:30PM we brought the porters in to say goodbye and present them a tip. This turned out to be quite a little ceremony with each of us saying something appreciative (like a toast almost) and Mauro translating (into Spanish or Quechua). Then the cook (who is like a supervisor among the porters as well) sang us a song in Quechua. One of the porters said a thank you and Mauro introduced each one and told what they did. Afterwards we stood outside and took pictures.

Sidebar about the cook - he was a young guy who they all called Piranha (or the Quechua equivalent) because he had a dental plate that I guess when he took it out he just had sharp teeth on both sides of his mouth... AND maybe because of how much he was able to eat as well... I don’t know."

The picture at the top of the page is five of the group (JB, Branca, Yugi, Susan and Josh) with the crew of porters.

Non-Commercial Endorsement...

I booked my trip through GORP who in turn contracts with GAP for the Inca Trail trip. The folks at both places liked this site and when they asked if they could link to my site I offered to reciprocate... I was certainly treated well by both outfits and wouldn't hesitate to recommend them.