Indigenous-led experiences
Welcome to Wari Adventures: an indigenous-led travel agency based in the Sacred Valley of Peru, nestled in between Cusco and Machupicchu, dedicated to facilitating profound travel experiences with a focus on connecting visitors to the deeply-rooted traditions, archaeological sites and indigenous inhabitants. The people behind Wari Adventures were born and raised in native highland communities and our love of/for our heritage is what drives our commitment to ensure that all visitors we receive get to know its true spirit. It is also what drives us to ensure that our interaction is a positive and enriching experience for both the visitors and the local people, with as little impact on the natural surroundings as possible. Well-being is what we seek for our visitors and staff alike, at all levels. This means our top priority is the well-being and safety of our visitors, but also the well-being and care of our staff and pack animals. We make sure to source locally, grown and mostly organic ingredients for the meals during the hikes, which will be cooked for you by one of our very well-trained indigenous chefs. Another way to increase the well-being of the children in the indigenous communities we are from is through our social projects in the communities of Markuray and Chillipahua, which include 1) providing children with warm jackets for the cold winter months, 2) contributing to the improvement of the school buildings, and 3) providing school supplies to the children attending the schools in these communities, which parents can’t always readily afford. Many of the hikes also include direct interaction with inhabitants from local communities, some of them, like the Walking with the Warmi Warriors trek, is specifically focused on empowering the women from the communities. We simply love the architectural, cultural and natural heritage of these lands, and we love sharing our passion for them with visitors. See you soon! ¡Hasta pronto! Tupananchiskama!About Us
Wari Adventures is an indigenous-led travel agency that has been offering and operating authentic tours and experiences in Cusco, the Sacred Valley, including the Inca citadel of Machupicchu since 2017. Our mission is to provide a smooth and professional sustainable tourism service with a focus on the authenticity of the cultural interactions and the well-being of both visitors and staff alike.Background
The founder and manager of Wari Adventures is Alfredo Huari, a soft-spoken but resolute young man who was born in the tiny Indigenous community of Chillipahua, far from the city of Cusco. His father, mule driver Ignacio Huari, was and continues to be a great example for him, both sharing a passion for preserving the local cultural and natural environment and creating beautiful experiences for visitors to the area. Alfredo studied tourism in the city of Cusco, mastered the English language and worked as a tour guide at several respected tourist agencies in Cusco. During the time he worked for other tour providers, he saw how the services could be more personalized and how much visitors wanted to get really close to the indigenous people and their culture, a desire that was often not met by the tours and experiences they were offered. This is what motivated him to set up Wari Adventures in 2018, and since then, feedback from clients confirms that we have been consistently meeting or exceeding visitors’ expectations. The name of the agency comes from Alfredo’s last name (Huari, which is pronounced just like Wari), but is also a nod to the Wari culture; a very influential pre-Inca culture that existed from approximately the 6th until the 10th century, and at its peak covered about 30% Peru’s modern-day territory. The name Wari therefore honors the connection to ancient traditions and knowledge.Future goals
Our vision statement reads: to connect visitors to indigenous people, culture and nature while contributing to their sustainable growth and empowerment. Openness and respect for all are two of the values that are present throughout our work.Meet the Team
At WARI, our people set us apart. Our team is composed of some of the most enthusiastic, responsible, efficient, and knowledgeable professionals, all passionate experts in their area, with a remarkable motivation for service and devotion to going the extra mile to make the most of your visit to Peru. Adding to this is an extensive network of highly trained guides plus expert ambassadors working together to connect WARI guests in innovative and meaningful ways with the unique people and places of Peru.Our Office Staff
Our office is in Urubamba - Cusco, Larespampa. Please feel at home when you visit us. Our office staff will be willing to provide you with all information and help you may need. We are the following: WARI Adventures Alfredo Huari-Reservations Manager& Travel Consultant Auria Atausinchi – Operations Manager Victor Huari A – Camping Equipment ManagerGeneral Management and Administration
ALFREDO HUARI – CEO & Founder, General Manager, Sales and Marketing Manager AURIA ATAUSINCHI – Accounting Manager/ AdministrationOur Guides
WARI relies on an extensive network of highly trained guides and expert ambassadors as a premise to guarantee excellence in our services. We are fully conscious that an excellent guide is key to making your trip a memorable experience, which is why we are extremely demanding when recruiting and regularly training our guides. Our team is composed of whom we consider to be the best guides in the region, all officially licensed and holding Tourism Degrees. The superiority of our team is backed both by excellent tourist reports, which are available at our office in Cusco and some online on this website, as well as by their expertise earned from several years of experience in leading a wide array of different guests and profiles. Knowledge, leadership, enthusiasm, availability and help, communication skills, language proficiency, empathy and interpersonal skills, friendliness and sense of humor, punctuality and an excellent treatment to our team of chefs, porters and wranglers are a must. Our guests evaluate their guide after each service and your constructive critiques help us to keep improving constantly. We have guides fluent in English, Spanish and Quechua, but also in other languages, the most commonly requested being French, Italian and German. We will always consider the language as an integral part of the quality of the guided service, so when the language is beyond the scope of our guides, we can offer a translator. Our team is also composed of specialized guides: bird watching, spiritualism, flora & fauna, archaeology, history, architecture, anthropology. These guides are not just available for specialized trips but have also been trained to run our treks and traditional programs, adding a wonderful value to their general knowledge and explanations. Finally, more than 80% of our guides have now already been internationally trained in Advanced First Aid & Rescue, making this one of our most significant advantages of our guided services. Our team is regularly updated through seminars and courses in their respective fields.Our Chefs
In all of our trekking trips, the chef ensures high-quality meals on time, and manages the team of porters. An adequate diet both in its quality and quantity is essential in high-energy trips such as the adventure programs we run. WARI has already become renowned for its outstanding menus and food quality. The secret lies in the careful selection of our team of chefs, whose top-quality restaurant background, creativity and passion for their jobs provide an unequalled touch to all of our meals. We do not have set menus since we wish to give our chefs the chance to create, innovate and surprise our clients through delicious dishes in every trip. For this, WARI provides general guidelines, guest information on dietary restrictions and preferences and, most especially, the tools for a constant updating of our cooks’ knowledge in Peruvian cuisine through specialization courses and training undergone during February, when most trekking operations cease due to the rains.Our Porters and Horsemen
Porters and horsemen are an essential element in any trekking organization. The porters carry all the collective equipment; some depart early before the group to make sure we get a good location at the campsite and to have everything ready and set up by the time you get to the lunch spot or campsite. Porters carry up to 20kg of load according to the Inca Trail regulation, which we fully respect by giving them a maximum of just 18kg each. In all treks other than the Inca Trail, wranglers are in charge of the horses or mules that carry the equipment. WARI has become renowned among agencies for treating our porters with care and respect. Our porters are not numbers; they are our friends. We provide our team with excellent meals along the route, convenient accommodation, equipment, life and medical insurance and, most importantly, with a never-delayed high wage that we believe they totally deserve. This is why you may be able to perceive the difference between our team and others: our people are happy, enthusiastic, extremely helpful and simply exceptional. They are self-confident and we extremely value and trust their criteria. They are proud of working for WARI and of their absolutely outstanding working performance. And we are also very proud of having them with us. Our porters are always welcome at our office and if you ever drop by you are sure to meet some of them visiting with us. By working with INDIGENOUS communities, we also help integrate their inhabitants into the tourism activity in a responsible way. The porters’ communities we work with are the following:- PATACANCHA- OLLANTAYTAMBO
- WILLOQ – OLLANTAYTAMBO
- PISAQ – CUSCO
- HUAYLLACOCHA – HUAROCONDO
- CHILLIPAHUA - HUAROCONDO
Our Transportation Service
All the buses, vans and cars used in our services are fully reliable and comply with Peruvian safety and insurance regulations. The transportation service assigned to each trip is adapted to the route and the group size. The vehicles used range from station wagons and 4WD, for short transfers and a maximum of 2 people in the group, to vans for middle-sized groups or buses for larger groups and longer routes.Why Choose Us?
Indigenous-led agency
All the staff at Wari Adventures are from indigenous communities located close to the city of Cusco, and several of the hikes and programs include visits to their and other communities. This means that if you choose to travel with us, you’ll be directly supporting people in the indigenous communities in the Cusco region and helping them to maintain their traditional lifestyle rather than abandoning their villages to go to the big city.Excellent reviews on Tripadvisor
Tripadvisor is one of our best allies, because we consistently get 5-star reviews from our clients. You can click on the link below to see the latest reviews:Locally sourced, organic food
We want to offer you the healthiest and most sustainable food possible during your treks and excursions so we make sure to work with local farms to make sure as many of the ingredients as possible are organic, and native to the area. Our chefs are also highly trained in whipping up amazingly tasty dishes, even if they’re cooking it for you at a remote campsite at an elevation of over 14,000 feet (4200 meters)! Learn about age-old herbal remedies from one of the local women; watch how a traditional pachamanca stone oven is made and try the delicious dish resulting from this ancient way of cooking; and learn about the history of the archaeological sites you’ll visit in and around the Sacred Valley and Cusco from the very people who grew up right beside them.High level of care for our staff
There are lot of people involved to make sure you get to your destination, especially if you’re on the traditional Inca Trail, since horses are not allowed on the trail, it’s necessary for local people known as porters to transport hikers’ belonging and camp site equipment on their backs. It’s a true win-win situation. The porters are usually men from indigenous communities who are grateful for this extra income, and many hikers wouldn’t even be able to complete the Inca Trail if they had to carry all of their belongings themselves; that’s how much of a difference it makes. Therefore, we have great respect for our porters and treat them accordingly, and of course this also goes for the chefs, drivers and all other staff involved.Protocols and top-quality equipment for travelers’ safety
As we know these mountains like the palm of our hands, we also know that to hike and explore the Andes mountains safely requires planning, attention to detail and following important protocols at all times. Of course, this now also includes COVID-19 protocols and camping equipment is always revised each time it is going to be used. In addition, we always carry a small oxygen tank in case hikers have an extreme reaction to the altitude.Wari Adventures’ commitment to social projects
We are acutely aware of the needs of the local indigenous communities; after all, these are our families and close friends who we grew up with. Andean communities are very close-knit and the mutual respect and support between families is something visitors from other regions and countries are always impressed by. We also play our part in this, and our regular contributions to the development of the communities of Markuray and Chillipahua consist of providing children with school supplies, contributing to the improvement of school infrastructures and giving the children warm jackets for the cold winter months. But many of the hikes also include direct interaction with inhabitants from the communities, some of them, like the Walking with the Warmi Warriors trek, specifically focused on empowering the women from the communities.Mission & Vision
our Mission
To provide visitors with a safe, enjoyable and profound experience whilst interacting with indigenous people, culture and nature.our Vision
To connect visitors to indigenous people, culture and nature while contributing to their sustainable growth and empowerment.Our Licenses
Wari Adventures is a 100% Peruvian indigenous tour operator based in Urubamba - Cusco - Peru. We are a family owned company focused on quality service and sustainability. We have a passion for social projects and have started a non-profit organization called "interaction with indigenous people" where we hope to help indigenous people. We are fully licensed, below is a copy of all relevant licenses. These are all obtained from the government and Peruvian tourism authorities. We comply with all Peruvian laws, including paying the relevant taxes and complying with all labor rights laws for all our staff. When you choose to travel with WARI you know you are in good hands. We will always go the extra mile to make sure this is your best vacation ever.- Operating License
- Tourism License
- Taxs License
- Inca Trail Operator License
- First aid Training Certification
Wari Adventures Recognitions
Turismo Emprende.
We are beneficiaries of the program Turismo Emprende organized by the Peruvian Government through the Ministry of Tourism, this program is to promote the revival, economic recovery and implementation of business improvements that allow you to adapt to current market needs. Aimed at formal micro-enterprises nationwide to promote tourism. Wari presented the innovative proposal to implement a route called Healthy Adventure in Indigenous Communities.