Our Cooks & Porters

For Inca Land Adventures, every person plays an important role during the trek. The porters and cooks, who live in the nearby communities of Willoq, Patacancha and Ocongate, are not an exception. We believe our porters (The Green Team) do a huge percentage of the work on the Inca Trail and deserve to be treated well. All our porters are trained and equipped with proper bags to carry the equipment, back supports, t-shirts for the day, body warmers for the cold nights, ponchos for the rain, drinks, snacks and plenty of food. We also provide full insurance for each of them. As a responsible and ethical tour operator our staff are well paid and a balanced, protein rich diet is provided for each staff member. The result is that they are happy to go that extra step to keep clients feeling their best. 

Our guide will introduce you the porters formally, please tell them a little bit about yourselves. If a porter gets sick our guide will take care of him

Tips for porters should be handed out during the last night when all the trekkers and porters join together for a celebratory goodbye dinner. Tips for guides and other crew members are normally treated separately. 

Here we would like to include some suggestions for your interaction with the porters:

• Spend time with your porters. They have some amazing stories to tell. Try and learn a few words of Quechua – see glossary below.
• Offer them your coca leaves and snacks. If you’re finding day two of the Inca Trail hard, think how tough they’re finding it with up to 25 kg on their backs.
• Don’t overload your porter. Do not give your pack to a porter who already has a load. If he carries more than 25 kg, not only is it bad for his health but he and the agency will receive a substantial fine.
• Tip your porter. Most groups collect for dinner on the last night of the trail when they give tips to the porters. Remember to take adequate small change in order to tip porters individually. Please let your group know that 70 soles per porter is a recommended minimum and it's best to deal separately with porters that carry individuals' bags. Tip porters directly. Some tourists feel that this "ceremony" is degrading for the porters but they themselves feel that it shows appreciation of their work.

IT’S GOOD TO TALK!

Amaze your porter with your knowledge of Quechua! Here’s the Inka Porter Project’s beginner’s guide to greetings and goodbyes as well as basic courtesies.

Hello - Rimaykullaykil

Hi - Napaykullayki

Good day - Allin p’unchay

Goodbye - Tupananchis-kama

Bye - Ratukama

Yes - Arí

No - Mana

Please - Allichu

Thank you - Sulpayki

You’re welcome - Imamanta

Excuse me - Dispinsayuway

Sorry - Pampachayuway

Social and Environmental Responsability

Inca Land Adventures is committed to travelling in a way that is respectful of local people, their culture, local economies and the environment. With your participation we can help conserve the area we visit and bring positive benefits to our host communities.

What you need to know on how to be a responsible traveler:

• The natural environment is also very important. If, when trekking, we need to make our human waste, be sure it is buried away from waterways. Burying or carrying out used toilet paper is a must. Tampons and sanitary pads must also be taken out of the area and disposed of appropriately. Minimize use of soap or shampoos in rivers and lakes - your local guide will let you know when using soap is unsuitable.

• When trekking, many travelers take an extra plastic bag to pick up any rubbish that they see to improve the area and for their own rubbish. Rubbish may have to be carried until a suitable disposal opportunity in the next town.

• Please try and minimize the waste of plastic water bottles. Consider packing a water filter, water purification tablets or iodine to purify drinking water. At some of our hotels there are large water 'bubbler' dispensers where you can refill your bottle with purified water for free or for a small fee. Try to take reusable bottles like Nalgene or Camblebacks.