Through the Eyes of an Alpaca Trekker

We don’t normally publish reviews written about us on TripAdvisor on this blog, but I thought our recent trekker’s review included so many good details that could help with anyone planning a trek through the Andes and also give you an idea of the type of service Alpaca provides to our customers.  When I contacted our client to make sure it was ok to list her review here, she mentioned two more things that would be helpful to everyone – wet wipes and facial wipes.  After a few days of not showering and hiking, you will be thankful to have something that smells so good.

“Look no further – Salkantay trek with Alpaca Expeditions”
Reviewed July 1, 2013 NEW

The number of trekking and tour companies in the Cusco region is mind boggling and the process of booking a trek is stressful. Here’s our argument for Alpaca Expeditions and the Salkantay trek!

First and foremost, Alpaca is owned and operated by Raul and Bonnie, two people who’ve worked on and experienced the Inca Trail. As I understand, Raul started as a porter on the trail and worked himself up to guide. While this in itself is a nice story and will likely appeal to people who want to support locally owned business on their travels, what’s more important is that Alpaca’s local ownership and experience results in a superior experience for trekkers.

Before you even book your trek, Bonnie patiently answers all your e-mails. After booking, I probably sent her another 20 e-mails, each of which she answered with patience and cheer! Some of the e-mails weren’t even relevant to the trek, but were just questions about planning our trip — so helpful! Also let me credit Bonnie for helping to coordinate our whole experience so seamlessly. We were so impressed that Alpaca picked us up from one hotel in Cusco, kept our bags in their office, and seamlessly got us and our bags settled in (5 days later) to another hotel in the Sacred Valley – all without complaint or extra charges!

My hypothesis is that Raul’s own experience leads him to hire great people. It is SO IMPORTANT to have a good guide, cook, and porter for an experience like this because you will be spending lots of time with them. We are independent travelers and normally hate booking any kind of guided tour. Our guide, Erlin, was one of the best guides we ever had. He was the perfect coach, friend, guide, etc. for our experience. Always a smile, always enthusiastic about Andean culture, nature, etc.; always willing to help; always looking out for us —I could go on and on but simply put Erlin was our trip and he made it WONDERFUL.

Of course, the trek is more than a guide. Cooks Fernando and Lorenzo always had a smile and were equally hard working and enthusiastic. We especially loved the delicious soups they prepared.

Alpaca also seems to have a distinct advantage in terms of local knowledge and the best ways to organize a trek. Our guide explained that most groups structure their tours differently and miss what we thought was the best campsite of the trip, a beautiful hilltop that looks across to the snowcapped peaks & Machu Picchu. The night we were there, we were the only ones. Also, we noticed that our guide, Erlin, seemed to know everyone on the trail – therefore he was great at modifying our trip as needed, whether it was eliminating part of our walk on Day 2 (and helping us hitch a ride on a truck); helping us buy coffee from a local grower, etc.

Alpaca is really so passionate about offering the best to the customer. Sadly we did have some stomach issues a couple of times during the trek. Erlin, Fernando, and Lorenzo made sure that we got easier food to eat and prepared us herbal teas so we could heal and keep going. Bonnie reached out to us the day we ended our trek and even called our hotel to make sure we were okay! Before we had even finished the last day, she had even responded to our feedback survey (which was 80% positive but did share the hiccups regarding our stomach issues & an issue with our tent). I can’t think of another experience where a company has been so keen to improve.

Assuming you’ve read this far, hopefully you’re clicking on the Alpaca Expeditions link and making your booking. One more note, if you have a question about treks to book; we suggest the Salkantay, especially for busy season. We were so happy that we did the Salkantay trek rather than the Inca Trail. We saw maybe 20 other people in 4 days; I understand that things are quite different on the Inca Trail in a busy season like June when we went. Having the beautiful views to ourselves, the personal attention of a guide (thanks to Alpaca we had our own private tour at a great price), and being able to use mostly horses rather than porters to help carry our items were all reasons we loved the trek we picked. Also, we had the distinct advantage of reaching Machu Picchu early in the morning before many people who were on the Inca Trail, since we just took the bus up from Aguas Calientes rather than hiking in (which depending on your campsite location could take a while).

Visited June 2013

 

Hiking Huaynapicchu: Logistics

As amazing as visiting Machu Picchu is, the beauty of the ruins is best appreciated from above.  While all you Inca Trail hikers will get to see this before you even get to “Lost City of the Incas” from the Sun Gate, all other travellers will need to do a little walking, or hiking, to get this perspective.  And while the views from the Sun Gate are amazing, there is nothing that beats the view from Huaynapicchu.

Because of Huaynapicchu’s popularity, and because the climb up is a bit challenging and narrow, the government has decided to limit the amount of hikers each day to 400 people.  These 400 tickets are split into two windows of time to visit – and you must begin your hike within your allotted window: either between 7-8AM or 10-11AM.  During the busiest time of year, tickets for this hike sell out about a month in advance, so book early.

The hike begins from within the Machu Picchu citadel.  You typically hike this on your own, but an Alpaca guide (or anyone within the complex) will direct you to where to begin this hike.

So here is my advice for those who want to hike Huaynapicchu:

** I will say this often, but book this hike early.  You must also have an entrance ticket to Machu Picchu to hike Huaynapicchu so it makes the hike a bit expensive for Inca Trail hikers, who access Machu Picchu through the Sun Gate rather than the entrance gate and do not need an actual Mapi ticket.  To climb Huaynapicchu is $65 for all Inca Trail hikers and $15 for all other travellers who already are visiting Machu Picchu (this includes all alternative trek hikers).

** Most of our guests book the 10-11AM time slot for this hike since they will be on their tour of Machu Picchu until then, if you prefer the earlier slot, please let us know.

** The hike is challenging.  Even if you have completed a long trek, Huaynapicchu will not be a breeze, be patient with yourself and with your fellow hikers.

** Bring your camera.  The views from Huaynapicchu are absolutely incredible, so please make sure you have battery life and a good camere – you will want these photos forever.

** Most importantly – have fun.  How often do you get to be in the Andes staring at one of the 7 Wonders of the World.  It’s amazing.