SAFETY ON THE TRAIL
The safety and comfort of both guests and the Alpaca Expeditions team is our priority on the trail.
We pride ourselves on the level of precautions we take on treks through Andes. Our team receives annual safety and first aid training, and we are always mindful of weather and trail conditions.
Explore our safety practices and standards to better understand the proactive role we take in your experience on the trail with us!
Alpaca Expeditions Guests: We are committed to the safety of our staff, guests and the communities where we travel.
Guides have the job of making sure their entire team of trekkers is safe at all times, as well as our Alpaca “Green Machine” team. We equip our guides with knowledge and tools that are refreshed every year. Our guides go through extensive training in first aid every February, where they learn how to rescue and evacuate people in case of emergency, as well as how to treat major and minor problems.
Three years ago, we created a partnership with Clinic 02 and Medical Cusco to give us direct access to medical professionals at all times. A doctor on the team leads the training in February and they are our partners throughout the year to make sure our guides are up to date with the most recent protocols.
Part of the allure of hiking to Machu Picchu is disconnecting from the world and immersing yourself in nature. But it’s important to have a lifeline in case anything happens. Alpaca Expeditions was the first company to introduce satellite phones and we are the only company to include them on every trek we go on. This allows us to get in touch with our team back in Cusco for extra help or connect a client to their family back in their home country. It also connects us directly to a medical professional on staff or at our partner clinics, where the guide can talk directly to a doctor if needed.
While we need to be prepared for the most serious difficulties, these are extremely uncommon. Most people suffer more from complications due to the altitude or minor scrapes, blisters or belly aches. All our guides carry a full kit of first aid with supplies to deal with pain, swelling, cuts, scrapes and blisters. It also includes some medication like ibprofen and cipro. They always have full canisters of oxygen and larger groups with a second guide will have a second tank. They also carry thermometers, oximeters, blood pressure cuffs (tensiometers).
Explore our safety practices and standards to better understand the proactive role we take in your experience on the trail with us!
SATELLITE PHONES
One of the best parts of hiking through the Andes is the remoteness. Being on top of the mountain with just your fellow trekkers and team can help connect you to the world in a way you have never experienced before. It’s amazing to be disconnected from work and the daily grind you left back home.
With this remoteness, however, comes limited access to emergency resources. This is why Alpaca Expeditions has invested in satellite phones to have on all treks.
While our team is trained in many things, having direct access to a doctor at all times greatly increases our rapid medical response rate to help get you off the mountain and to safety in the event of an emergency.
Your safety is our priority, and our company has invested in reliable satellite phones as they are one of the most important tools to have for any operator running treks through the Andes. This means that every guide going out on one of our treks will be equipped with a fully charged satellite phone, as well as radios. And while these are really for emergencies, we allow our clients to use them at any time.
We ask that you only cover what we are charged, which is $5.00 per minute. This can be paid in cash in our office or through PayPal when you are done with the hike.
Annual Training for Trek Teams
To be a guide with Alpaca Expeditions, you must have graduated from University with a degree in Tourism.
Course study includes history, archeology, language, sociology and other courses relevant to being able to showcase our history. But the most important course for all guides is safety.
Knowing how to rescue and evacuate people in case of emergency, as well as how to treat major and minor problems, is a practice that is revisited every single year during our annual training event every February: we hire a medical doctor to retrain and re-evaluate all guides.
{Medical First Aid} & Procedures on the Trail
Oximeter
Every Alpaca Expeditions guide has an oximeter and will monitor your condition as you get higher and higher in elevation: this tool lets us know your oxygen percentage level. Everyone has a different reaction the altitude, and our guides will keep you informed and let you know if you need to take a bit of oxygen from the portable oxygen tank our guides carry with them, too.
Tensiometer
We will make sure your heartbeat and blood pressure is in healthy ranges while in the mountains.
First Aid & O2 Kit
Our guides will carry the oxygen tank and a first aid kit full of medicine and other equipment needed for health care and safety on the trail. We also strongly encourage our guests to prepare their own medical kit that includes personal medication, or preferences for your own care—for example, vegan supplements.
Emergency Horse for alternative treks
Our alternative treks (like the Salkantay Trek or Lares Trek) will always have one emergency horse to use in case you are out of breath or tired; we also provide helmets when you are riding. Please ask your guide.
Drinking water for our tourist and porters
It is always important to know what type of water one drinks on the treks; it’s glacier water which is collected from the river or stream. It’s filtered and boiled and cooled down, and then it’s provided as drinking water for everyone. Purification pills are not needed to take for these hikes.
AE has a partnership with Clinic 02 and Medical Cusco. This partnership allows us to have direct access to medical professionals at all times, including via satellite phones while on the trail.
Among the topics we cover in training is how to handle the following issues:
- How to recognize and what to do in case you get altitude sickness
- Mountain accurate sickness
- Cardiopulmonary resuscitation CPR
- Pulmonary edema and brain edema
- Heart attack
- Asthma
- Animal Bites could be mosquitoes, spider, snakes or whatever bites you can get along the way
- Broken bone or toe, How to evacuate in case this would be the situation
- Burns
- Cuts and wounds
- Diarrhea, sometimes people’s stomach react to the food and water of Peru.
- Dizziness
- Fever in Adult and child, this may be the case when one gets infection
- Food poisoning
- Heart palpitations
- Hypothermia
- Insect bites and stings
- Vertigo
- Sunburn
- Allergy
- Whatever pain you may experience
We carry equipment to help us tend to all injuries and illnesses.
You should feel comfortable knowing that you are choosing a company that takes your safety as well as our own teams very seriously!
WHAT OUR CLIENTS SAY
In Tripadvisor
We had a wonderful time with Juan visiting the Inca sites in Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu. Juan is very knowledgeable about the history and prehistory of the Inca civilization. He also knew all the best spots for pictures! We really appreciated his expertise.
In general: What an experience! Great guides, chefs, and porters. Alpaca Expeditions is a green company that pays close attention to their carbon footprint, sources their food locally, and has various programs that give back to their community. Bonus: they have a portable toilet that is well maintained and stocked with TP at all times. My personal experience: This is long, but hopefully helpful if you have any reservations about whether you can accomplish this trek! I arrived in Cuzco to acclimate 3 days early…however, I unfortunately succumbed to the altitude on day one of the actual hike and got worse on day 2 and 3. It is not lost on me that I was ONLY able to complete the trek because of the Alpaca team. The chef team, led by Cecilio, were very accommodating to my needs and prepared different teas to try to help me. Our groups guides, Alvin and Yojhan, were beyond encouraging and made sure I was safe the whole time. One of them was always with me even though I took twice as long as the rest of the group. >_< I can’t stress enough how important it is to have the right team supporting you in any situation. Their company’s back bone is stellar, but their actions during the hike showed me their heart is unbeatable.
I recently completed the 4-day Inca Trail with Alpaca Expeditions alongside my teenage daughters, and it exceeded every expectation. The weather was perfect all four days, which made the stunning views even better. Our guides, Yojhan and Alvin, were true experts, sharing deep insights into Incan history, the wildlife, and the flora and fauna of the area. They were incredibly patient and answered every question we had about Peru and more. From the start, they encouraged us to keep smiles on our faces and told us we’d become a “super family” by the end—and that is exactly what happened. The “super porters” worked tirelessly, and our chef Cecilio and his assistant cooked incredible meals for us along the way. Everything went perfectly to plan, and we finished the expedition with celebratory toasts and a shared album for photos with our new friends. I cannot recommend this team highly enough!
Muy buena experiencia con Alvin y Yojhan haciendo el camino Inka clásico. La comida que nos hizo Cecilio y Angelito estaba impresionante. Repetiría seguro!
The 4 day Inca trip was the best trip i have had in my lifetime. Beyond the scenic scenery everything has been well planned through. Alvin and Yohan were there for any possible inquries and shared a lot of nice insights along the inca trail. The food was better than any regular meal you can grab in town and was served three times a day by the amazing chef Cecilo and his crew. If you don’t do this trip you miss out.
What an adventure! InterPeru!
It was a wonderful experience!! I would Definetly recommend it to everyone who loves a bit of a challenge and who enjoys nature and its beauty. At every campsite there was fluffy friends who treated you (from chicken to cat and dog.) The team was great! Everyone was always nice and if you had a problem, you could just ask them for help and they came. AND: Definetly bring enough toilet paper, it’s crucial!
The best 4 days, thank you!
The Inca trail was incredible, which is partly a testament to the Incas and their incredible architecture, buildings and mountains.
But, what made it truly special was Ivan our guide, who was an absolute legend and his love for the trek and mountains was so awesome! Exceeded my expectations!
And the team of porters were awesome, redefined hard work and humility! The food, friendliness and haste meant that the trip felt more like glamping than a 4 day hike!
One in a lifetime experience
We had an incredible time on the 4-day Inca Trail with Alpaca Expeditions! Javi and Benjamin were fantastic guide, friendly, funny, knowledgeable, and always making sure everyone was doing well. They shared so much about the history and culture, kept the group motivated, and made the whole experience even more enjoyable.
Everything was so well organized, the food was amazing, and we felt looked after from start to finish. We couldn’t have asked for a better experience. Thank you, Javi, Benjamin, and the whole Alpaca Expeditions team!
Once in a lifetime experience!
Wow, so grateful for the opportunity to complete the Lares Trek with such an amazing group of people. Juan Carlos Zuloaga was the most amazing guide we could’ve asked for–he shared so much knowledge, history and culture of the region with us throughout our trek. He answered all of our groups endless questions about the flora/fauna as well. He made us feel extremely safe of the trek and warned us of possible dangers. He paced the trekking super well and gave us breaks as we needed. His tribute to Pachamama at the Condor Pass will stay with me always–Juan Carlos made us feely truly connected with the land throughout our journey.
The food was absolutely incredible, I had no idea we would be eating such fantastic and delicious meals throughout out trek, all made possible by our amazing chef Octavio!! He even made my best friend a birthday cake on our last day!! Truly, the food was an experience all on its own–we got to connect with the culture through the food we ate on another level. (you will NOT be hungry!)
Big shout out to our porters and team members as well–from setting up tents at night to ferrying our duffels to giving us warm water/warm packs at night, truly made the experience that much more enjoyable.
The trek itself is very reasonable, don’t underestimate the altitude or the varying temperatures as was emphasized very clearly prior to setting out. We got so lucky with weather, not a drop of rain! This trek will have you at altitude for about 36 hours, but the difficulty of the walking and hiking is very reasonable. Practically speaking, there is a lot of coordination with driving and trains to get to Machu Picchu at the end–just be prepared to be patient!
Machu Picchu itself was amazing and we added on the Waynapicchu hike as well–pretty steep incline up and down, but also very doable! Highly recommend for the best views of Machu Picchu from above!!
Would definitely go back for one of the other treks, but only if we can go with Juan Carlos!!
Fantastic
I loved the tour it was really good and I loved it.The people in my group were excellent and my tour guides were awesome. Loved the place and view😄👍🏞️. I recommend the place!