Empowering Women in Peru
Alpaca Expeditions promotes gender equality by creating real job opportunities for Peruvian women in tourism, helping them gain confidence, independence, and a stronger voice in society.
Equality Matters
at Alpaca Expeditions
Our Purpose
Empowering Women
Alpaca Expeditions aims to promote gender equality and empower women, hiring first Peru Women as Porters opening the door to equality!
Opening Opportunities in Tourism
Since hiring their first female guides in 2017 and female porters in 2018, women now work in many roles including guides, porters, chefs, managers, sales, and accounting.
Supporting Women and Their Families
The company not only provides fair salaries and respectful treatment, but also supports women with healthcare and childcare assistance while they work.
Leading a New Era of Equality
Many women join Alpaca Expeditions to support their families, follow their passion for the Andes, or continue family traditions. Today, they are helping transform the tourism industry in Peru with strength and determination.
Alpaca Expeditions’ First Women-Only Trek
Embark on an empowering journey to Machu Picchu with Alpaca Expeditions, the trailblazers of women-only travel. As featured in Travel & Leisure, prepare to unleash your adventurous spirit and be captivated by Peru’s mesmerizing landscapes, rich history, and awe-inspiring ruins. Led by confident and charismatic female guides and porters, this unique experience offers an opportunity to form lifelong bonds with fellow like-minded travelers. Discover hidden treasures and redefine your perception of adventure as women come together to conquer new heights. Join us and let Alpaca Expeditions redefine your journey with a perfect blend of camaraderie, exploration, and empowerment.
Women in Tuorims
Empowering Peru Women and Opening the Door to Women in Tourism
We understand the importance of extra safety measures to make sure our Peru Women Guides and Porters are comfortable at all times. Sexual harassment is real in all industries, but with women and men sleeping so close together, we needed to be clear on proper behavior. We decided to hire an outside coach to review with everyone on our team the Do’s and Don’ts. He helped to reinforce the rules we have at Alpaca Expeditions, like no drinking on the job (this leads to poor choices), no touching, careful language, be respectful to everyone. And a reminder that we are a team and we need to stick up for each other and ourselves. Speak up if someone makes you uncomfortable…let management know. Take care of your fellow employee as they are your little brother or sister. Make sure that nobody else is bothering them – from other companies or even clients. This is how to empower women and men to have their best experience as co-workers and fellow humans.
Women in Tourims
Our Peru Women Porters Visit Sacred Valley & Machu Picchu as Tourists
When one starts talking about visiting Machu Picchu, they quickly learn it’s full of history and culture. Machu Picchu is an amazing place to visit, but not always an easy place to get to for all. For most locals, the expense to just get to Machu Picchu is too much for them.
At Alpaca Expeditions, we try to open these amazing ruins up for all our team – inviting them on a weekend vacation as a tourist. For an entire weekend, our employees become clients…and their eyes and hearts open to their own history, seeing their traditions come alive.
Alpaca Expeditions employs at least 350 male porters and about 20 female porters. 150 of our male porters have visited Machu Picchu with us so far. We include everything – logistics, entrance tickets, guides, food and lodging – all paid by the company.
1
A Special Trip
16-17, 2019
Alpaca Expeditions took our first group of female porters on this trip. These women are ground breaking in this male dominated industry and they have led the way for other women to find employment in all jobs of tourism. These women have conquered all of our treks working the Inca Trail, Lares, and Salkantay. This is not an easy job, but they do it with so much pride and happiness – you notice their smiles right away. This is just a small step for us to acknowledge how amazing they are: our super ladies and thank them for being such an inspiration and important part of our team.
2
First TIme As Tourists
We first invited Peru women onto our team of porters in January 2018. We assumed it was too hard of a job, only men can do the job. We were so wrong. Of course having female porters introduces new challenges for us as a company. While they are learning this new trade from us, we are learning so much from them and trying to make Alpaca Expeditions a home for them. We hope to grow the number of women in the company and look forward to a day where we are truly 50/50. A few have started training to be a chef and later this year we hope to have a few female trekking chefs in our groups.
3
We Take Care Of Everything
We started Alpaca Expeditions not only to do a better job for clients, but even more so for the local people here in Cusco. Our team is as important as our clients. We provide every single one of them with all of their uniform, including jackets and boots, for free. Each gets a down sleeping bag and sleeping pad for treks. All equipment they need is given for free as well as food.
4
Empowerment & Inclusion
All of our porters – men and women – come from Andean villages where life is more difficult. We go directly to their villages with goods for their families including medical equipment, food, even sports equipment for their children. They are such an important part of our company and we try to show them our gratitude every single day.
As a company, we are so excited that we made their childhood dreams come true to visit the most important place in our history, Machu Picchu.
Watching these Peru women walk inside Machu Picchu for the first time was incredible. They have a different energy and emotion and it’s very clear how impressed they were immediately. They were not only so overwhelmed by being inside Machu Picchu citadel, they also were so proud for people to see them and ask them about being a female porter.
FAQ's
Alpaca Expeditions Equipment
+15 women
visited Machu Picchu as tourists
We could not be the company we are today without our porters. It is not possible to offer the level of service we offer without the help of these men and women. They work SO hard, doing every set up, cooking every meal, carrying everything necessary, just to let a foreigner visit their homeland. We don’t think it’s only for visitors – it’s for us. Alpaca Expeditions owner and many of our guides started as porters in this business and know exactly what these individuals give to us to do the job…and what they leave behind at home.
Recognition & Excellence
TRIPADVISOR RECOGNITIONS
Our goal at Alpaca Expeditions is to create the best experience for all of our clients. We create journeys that are to be remembered for a lifetime. Journeys you can be proud of and can share with everybody around you.
#1
Tour Operator
in Peru
31,896+
5-Star Reviews
