Cultural Immersion Retreat
Cultural Immersion Retreat
- Duration: 7 days/6 nights
The Cultural Immersion Retreat offers you and your team the opportunity to integrate yourselves into a Peruvian community and experience the authentic culture of this country. You will stay with local families in the Sacred Valley of the Incas and participate in a local volunteer project involving agriculture and ceramics.
** NOTE:. This program is for groups only.
Program Description:
Day 1 – ARRIVAL IN CUSCO
Upon arrival, you will be picked up at the Cusco airport and transported to a village in the Sacred Valley outside of the city. Here you will be placed with host families where you will live and work with them. You will have a chance to meet your family and be given an orientation to your hosts as well as the village where you will be staying. You will be able to take part in local celebrations within your host family as well as the community. Also, the family will cook your meals, which will be traditional local dishes of the Andean Mountains.
**NOTE:. Arrival flight must be before 11:00am
Night at host family at the community
Meals: lunch and dinner with host family
Day 2 – VOLUNTEER WORK AT COMMUNITY
When you volunteer, you will have the opportunity to work directly with the family, helping them with the planting, maintenance, and harvesting of crops depending on the time of year it is. In addition, you can help to tend the livestock including cattle, sheep, pigs, and other animals.
Night at host family at the community
Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner with host family
Day 3 – VOLUNTEER WORK AT COMMUNITY
Volunteer work will continue during the morning or afternoon.
The other half of volunteer’s time, they will have the opportunity to explore the surrounding and relax in the peaceful Sacred Valley of the Incas
Night at host family at the community
Meals: breakfast, lunch and dinner with host family
Day 4 – DEPARTURE FROM COMMUNITY TO URUBAMBA
Breakfast with the family, and textile demonstration, here you will be able to learn the art of textiles, weaving, and ceramics. These methods are used by the locals to create crafts that they later sell in the market to support their families. You will learn the art of their craft and use your creativity to help support the family.
After lunch, we will be picked up and takes to the city of Urubamba, about 1 hour from the community.
We will have the rest of the day free to rest and use the Hotels installation of swimming pool and massages!
Night at Hotel 3*
Meals: breakfast and lunch at community – dinner at hotel
Day 5 – MORNING:. MARAS & MORAY TREK
08:00am – We begin this trek at the “Tarabamba” Bus stop, since where we have to walk down to the direction to the “Vilcanota” river and cross it using a suspended local bridge to visit the indigenant village of “Pichingoto” and a uncommon caves home system that was prepared by their ancestors, before the Inka period.
After this visit, we need to climb the mountain following a narrow path, until arrive to a marvelous Salt mines of Maras, where we expect to visit and see directly how is the work to process the salt since a salty water until to get a salt crystal to sale in the traditional local markets.
Walking time: 3 Hours Aprox.
At lunch we will experience an Inca dish called Pachamanca
Pachamanca is a traditional Peruvian dish based on the baking, with the aid of hot stones, of lamb, mutton, alpaca, pork, chicken or guinea pig, marinated in spices
In the afternoon, we will participate in one of the most important Incan ceremony, the “Pago a la Tierra”. This practice is an act of reciprocity in which the peasant communities symbolically return to the land everything they have taken from it with an offering. The ritual is of ancestral origin that are part of a system of reciprocity between the material world and the spiritual world.
It is a ritual whose purpose is to give back to Mother Earth what she has given you and what we can aspire to our deepest desires about life, what we want to achieve in our life and what we want for our loved ones.
Night at Hotel 3*
Meals: breakfast lunch and dinner at hotel
Day 6 – Inka Religious Complex of “Ñaupa Church
08:00am – We begin this trek in the Ranch (Paucarbamba bridge), along this ancestral path, will be possible to see many wite corn lands, food storage buildings of the Inkas “Qolqas”, Inca Thombs, we will visit the picturesque vilage of “Pachar”, their actual life system, climb the mountains and visit the marvelous religious complex of “Ñaupa Iglesia”, back to the ranch.
Walking time: 3 Hours Aprox.
Lunch at the hotel including delicious Andean gastronomy.
The afternoon will be to relax at the hotel or to explore the surrounding
Night at Hotel 3*
Meals: breakfast lunch and dinner at hotel
Day 7 – DEPARTURE FROM URUBAMBA
At appropriate time, we will be transfer back to the city of Cusco.
We can take you to the airport or accommodation in Cusco.
End of our service!
**All retreats are fully customizable based on the needs and goals of your company.
- Pickup from airport in Cusco
- Private transfer to community in the Sacred Valley
- Community Project for 3 days
- 3 nights at host family
- Private transfer from Community to Urubamba
- Pachamanca
- Pago a la Tierra ceremony
- Maras & Moray hike
- Inka Religious Complex hike
- Accommodation for 3 nights at hotel 3* in Urubamba
- 3 meals a day everyday
- Airport pick up and drop off
- 24/7 support before and during your time in Peru
Meals and accommodations are included.
Accommodation:
While staying in a homestay Volunteers will to share a room with either other volunteers. When staying with your family you will be able to learn the Peruvian way of life, meet local people, eat typical food, speak the language (Spanish or Quechua) and engage in local customs and traditions.
During staying at the hotel, Volunteers will to share a room with either other volunteers. And will stay in double or triple room. Please contact us for single room.
Food & Beverages:
Volunteers can expect to experience a variety of flavors and meals during their experience as Peruvian food is diverse. We will be glad to let the family know if you have special eating needs. Please let us know ahead of time so that we can make arrangements for you.
Spanish classes will not be available during your stay in the Sacred Valley but we will be happy to set up classes for you for before or after your project. Please note additional fees may be applied for housing and/or classes.
Spanish language courses are available for all volunteers regardless of their ability. PEVolunteer strongly recommends these for all volunteers unless they are extremely fluent.
– The minimum age for the program is 18 years old unless traveling with co-workers.
** IMPORTANT NOTE:. This program is for groups only.
– No previous volunteer experience or other qualifications are necessary as all skills are useful in our projects.
– We do require volunteers to be aware that they will encounter cultural differences in Peru, which they must be prepared to respect.
– Our volunteers must be willing to engage in their project and be open-minded towards the dissimilarities they may encounter.
– Please contact us. Make sure to add info@pevolunteer.org to your email safe list to ensure receipt of our response.
– A no-refundable, no-transferable payment of US$250.00 per person must be paid at time of booking.
– After reserving your place please book your flight and send us your flight information so we can schedule your airport pick-up. Also, visit your doctor for any vaccinations you may require and do not hesitate to ask us any questions that you may have.
– Upon receipt of your details you will be sent our in-depth pre-departure brochure full of indispensable tips regarding preparation and packing, your destination and its customs, your accommodations, travel requirements and suggestion.
– The remaining total is due 10 days before the start of your program.
– Join us Helping and Traveling in Peru!
