Day 1 :
Departure from North America
- Arrival in Peru:
Upon our arrival in Lima, we will take an internal flight to Cusco.
Camps International staff will be at Alejandro Velasco International Airport to greet you and assist with our transfer to Cusco.
Day 2 :
Cusco
- Beautiful Cusco:
Experience the storied capital of the Inca dynasty and gateway to the imperial city of Machu Picchu. Stately and historic, with stone streets and building foundations laid by the Incas more than 5 centuries ago, the town is remarkably dynamic. The modern citizens live among this blend of Inca and Conquistador architecture and have a spirit very uniquely their own. It is a city in which many travelers spend memorable days; eating well, absorbing the atmosphere, and preparing themselves for challenges beyond the city limits.
Depending on how the group is feeling upon arrival to this high-altitude locale, we will have the chance to wander the beautiful streets of Cusco.
- Moray (Kajllarakay) Community and Project Background:
Kajllarakay is in a remote area of the Sacred Valley of the Incas that has largely been forgotten in terms of funding or development. We are working with local schools to build and improve infrastructure to ensure children have access to quality education. We are also working closely with the local municipality to fulfill basic sanitation requirements in the community such as flushing toilets, sinks, and shower facilities.
Deforestation in South America is at a critical level and in this region around Cusco, deforestation rates are unprecedented. Communities rely on wood for survival, however, wood harvesting is far beyond sustainable levels. Our reforestation program aims to replenish this invaluable source by planting native trees back into the region.
- Daily Reflection and Group Discussion:
“We do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience” –John Dewey
Through each evening of the expedition, we will follow a structured sequence of group meetings following ideas based in Design Thinking. As a part of that, we will set time aside to update our Reflection Journal and share thoughts and impressions that have come to the fore in the course of the day. We establish this structure from the beginning to form good habits.
Day 3 :
Cusco - Camp Moray
- Travel to Camp Moray:
After breakfast we will board the bus and travel to Camp Moray, about a two hour journey. Camp Moray will be our base for the next three nights. The camp is made up of large dormitory tents with comfy beds and bedding. Bathroom facilities feature flushing toilets, warm bucket showers, and basins. The camp also has a large social/dining tent, camp fire, and volleyball court.
Camp Moray is situated on a beautiful high plateau (3,600m/11,800ft) close to the world famous Sacred Valley of the Incas. This unique wilderness camp gives you a true taste of what it is like to live in the Andes, which spectacular mountain views across the valley and a real feeling of space and remoteness, allowing you utter peace and a chance to get away from it all.
- Welcome to camp:
Arriving in camp, you will be greeted by representatives of the community and a hot drink. We will do a tour of the community and camp, and have a detailed briefing on the projects.
- Goal setting:
Following on from the project briefing, the group starts by thinking deeply about their goals for the week in a framed student-led discussion. In Camp Moray we are working on projects concerned both with education and nutrition, and those two areas are naturally linked. Those projects have been identified through dialogue with the community and the local authorities and are considered vital for the future of these remote mountain communities. Through an understanding of the process of dialogue, the development of ideas and the objectives that we have, the group can identify their own goals, plan for those and then work towards their own objectives.
- Note:
As the group are acclimatizing to the altitude, we make sure that we don't push things too hard and offer plenty of time to relax and absorb the special sense of being somewhere very new and different.
Day 4 :
Community Service Project
- Begin Project Work:
Today we start the hard work alongside members of the community. The mountain communities of Peru have a number of significant social issues. They are a proud people and maintain their traditions, but the pressures of modern life pull many of the men away to earn money in the cities. The ground and climate make agriculture difficult and the common diet of root vegetables and maize doesn’t offer a sufficiently broad nutritional value. We are working with the community in projects related to diet, helping to build greenhouses and helping in the education of the children in school in this subject so vital to their health.
- In the evening:
You will have a chance to get your dancing shoes on and try out some traditional dancing in the community.
- Group discussion:
A student-focused discussion of Leadership, its challenges, models, and objectives. The students will be asked to think about these issues particularly in the context of their current environment and activities. What has worked/what hasn’t? Are we on schedule for our own objectives? How could we do things differently?
Day 5 :
Continue Project Work
- Past, on-going, and future projects:
Other projects in the community include building toilets for household and helping to improve the health of families, the community as a whole and the surrounding area.
Unusual for this area, the community doesn’t have a communal building. Andean communities are strong and active and they often meet together to discuss common issues, make plans for their futures, elect leaders, and maintain a community wide social life. Having a communal house is vital for the long-term viability of the community and is something that we are working on with the community authorities.
- Post daily work:
The hard work on the projects is often rounded out with a game of soccer with the “maestros.” At this altitude, it pays to manage your game carefully, and stints in goal are a favorite way to have a rest and breathe a little bit!
- Evening activities and dinner:
Tonight’s supper is a Huatia, which is a traditional method of cooking potatoes and beans using hot stones in a pit in the ground.
For those who are still awake after dinner, some hot chocolate and roasting marshmallows on the campfire, under a spectacular roof of thousands of stars, is always a fun way to end the day in camp.
- Group discussion:
Camps has a series of interactive lectures that cover subjects such as Stakeholder
Engagement, Citizen Science, and Threats to Biodiversity. These sessions can be run following discussion with the school of the topics considered most appropriate to the group.
Day 6 :
Finalize Project Work and onto Sacred Valley
- Morning:
This morning the group has the opportunity to make sure that they have put any finishing touches to the service work. There will be a gathering whereby your group can handover the work you have done to the locals – a proud moment of reflection as you look at what you have achieved and the positive impact you have made.
- Journey onward:
After lunch we will take the bus a few hours down into the Sacred Valley. Machu Picchu is the most famous Inca attraction, but the Sacred Valley was, as the name suggests, enormously important to the Incas and is dotted with ruins and points of interest. It is, like Cusco, alive with modern life, and today’s residents tread in the footsteps of their brave and illustrious forefathers who forged their lives in this tough and inspiring environment.
- Ollantaytambo:
The journey ends for the day at Ollantaytambo, a small town with houses built on top of Inca walls and with a massive archaeological site right in its center. We will explore this site, climbing up on huge terraces and looking across the narrow valley at beautiful, and ingenious, ancient grain stores.
Supper and accommodation for the night are in the middle of Ollantaytambo.
- Group Discussion:
It is of great importance to reflect on what the students have achieved, and we ask the students to lead a discussion focused on that question looking specifically at the service-learning elements of the time in camp.
- UN Sustainable Development Goals:
Camps International pays close attention to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals in its work. In the placing of camps, identifying communities, the consideration of appropriate service work, and in program writing, we ensure that we are working toward objectives set out by the UN framework. Further information about the links to the SDGs in our work can be found at campsinternational.com/our-impact. At Camp Moray, we are predominately focusing on UN SDG 1: No Poverty; 3: Good Health and Wellbeing; 4: Quality Education; 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
Day 7 :
Machu Picchu
- Explore Machu Picchu:
No apologies for the early start today, we are off to Machu Picchu! We will catch the train from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes, the small town that sits in the shadow of the Machu Picchu citadel. Whilst at the site of Machu Picchu itself, students will participate in a guided tour and have the opportunity to climb to The Sun Gate for that million-dollar Machu Picchu photo.
- Afternoon:
In the afternoon we will return by train to Cusco. The train journey itself is wondrous and the carriages’ partially glass roof offers great views upwards to the cliffs that form the walls of the deep valleys.
The is a spectacular but long day, so enjoy the chance to relax, write a few notes in your Reflection Journals, and get some well-earned sleep.
Day 8 :
Cusco
- Cusco city tour:
Today the group has the chance to have a proper look at Cusco. Our local guide will explain how the Conquistadors built churches on top of Inca temples, and show you the hard evidence of that which still exists in the form of magnificent and complex stone walls. You will visit Qorikancha, the epicenter of the Inca Empire, home to some of the finest Inca stone-work and a place to learn about the social structures and ambitions of that once great empire.
There will also be a chance to buy some souvenirs in one of the many artisanal markets in the city.
- Evening:
Tonight we will enjoy dinner and a show at a local restaurant and the group will have the chance to show-off the skills they learned while dancing at Camp Moray.
- Final reflection and discussion session:
Day 9 :
Departure from Peru
- Optional Activities:
Depending on the group's departure flight, there may be a last opportunity for souvenir
shopping and sightseeing.
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