WHO OWNS ALPACA EXPEDITIONS?
Raul Ccolque Ccolque, the owner and director of Alpaca Expeditions, was born in one small village near sacred valley. He was raised speaking quechua – the local language. His parents still live on his family farm coming into the city once a week to sell their vegetables. He studied his elementary and high school in the same village and when he graduated he went to the army as he always dreamed of being a police officer. Along the way, a friend from his village invited him to be a porter on the Inca Trail and he immediately changed his focus, falling in love with the sounds of the tourists – their language, their habits. He immediately enrolled in the University studying tourism and English. Once he graduated from University, he worked in a local companies office for a bit and finally became a tour guide. Working in all these different capacities in tourism and for several companies, he always felt the companies were too focused on money and less on people. He created Alpaca Expeditions with the sole purpose of doing better. Providing a better life for all those who are associated with the company. Today he is lucky to work along his brother and sister, both work in the office of Alpaca. And along some of the hardest working men and women of Cusco region. We are also one of the first agencies to employ female guides including trekking guides…giving everyone the ability to make their lives better with these amazing jobs.
When Mr. Ccolque started Alpaca Expeditions in 2012, he wanted to be a leading travel tour operator with better ethics and customer service. He had the following goals:
- Be the first local operator competing with foreign companies
- Provide more respectable jobs for porters, guides, drivers, cooks, and other providers
- Help Andean children with their education and health
- Leave this earth in better condition focusing on being an ecofriendly company