The acclimatization period is very important for our travelers to enjoy the experience. We suggest a minimum of 3 or 4 days of the previous stay in Cusco city, the Sacred Valley of the Incas or Machu Picchu. We recommend you check the acclimation programs we have prepared for you on our website.

Our first lodge, Chilca Tambo, is located at 4,368 meters above sea level, the lowest altitude in our trail, ideal to start the journey and acclimatize. Machuracay Tambo, our second lodge, is probably the highest in the world, located at 4,815 meters above sea level, It’s nearest to the Apu Ausangate. Anantapata Tambo welcomes you with its impressive landscapes at 4,750 meters above sea level. Huampococha Tambo, our last lodge, is at an altitude of 4,800 meters above sea level. In addition, the highest point of our routes is reached on the third day at the Palomani Pass, at 5,150 meters above sea level.

From 3,000 meters above sea level, the symptoms of “altitude sickness” vary according to each person, and may even not occur. However, among the most common are a headache, dizziness, nausea, loss of appetite and insomnia. Therefore, upon arriving in the city of Cusco, located at 3,400 meters above sea level, we recommend our travelers to take a good rest, drink plenty of water, eat light meals and take slower walking. Also, it is necessary to avoid alcoholic beverages and cigarettes. The symptoms can be alleviated with high mountain medicines such as DIAMOX or similar products, but we suggest you consult with your doctor before the trip.

In this route, constant changes in the altitude can be a challenge to face. In addition, the weather is an important factor, because the rains that occur unexpectedly can increase the difficulty of the walk. Dehydration is also an element to consider. In the same way, it is very important to have the right equipment to make your experience comfortable and safe. You can check our suggested packing list.

While on the trail, hikers will need to carry a daypack (camera equipment, water bottle, extra layers, rain gear, and other accessories you might need on the trail.) Horses and llamas will carry your duffle bag to the next lodge.

The company makes the greatest efforts to provide a safe and unforgettable experience, for this reason, the lodge’s staff, and trekking guides are constantly communicated with the central office through satellite phones, ensuring the welfare of each passenger. Our guides are trained in rescue techniques and first aid in emergency outdoor, these courses are developed annually and have the standards of the wilderness first respond. At all times we have oxygen and first aid equipment, in the lodges and on the route, as well as a mountain Hyperbaric chamber in the second lodge. In case of any eventuality a medical director will answer our questions 24 hours a day. In addition to the animals who carry the luggage we have horses to help walkers tired or eager to ride. We recommend getting a travel insurance WorldNomads.com.

The distances on this very specific trail vary from around 6 to 11 miles per day. First day from the start point until the first lodge we will walk around 2.05 miles.

Long before the Incas, the routes around Ausangate and the Cordillera Vilcanota were traveled by the natives of the region. However, in this part of the cordillera they did not construct “roads” similar to the famous trail leading, for example, to Machu Picchu. In any scenario, the Camino del Apu Ausangate is not one of the trekkings notoriously overloaded with tourists, so the experience of travelers becomes even more special.

There are only two seasons in this latitude, a dry one and a wet one with plenty of rain (and snow at high altitude) that last approximately from November to March. We normally only operate from March to last October’s days, when there are good chances for excellent weather. Occasional rain-showers can occur at any time of the year.

Around the year temperatures in the Andes vary very little during the daytime, but there can be considerable changes between day and night. The temperature in the dry-season (our wintertime) often drop below freezing during the nights. Although, it can be quiet warm and pleasant during the daytime, between 12 and 20 centigrades grades. Nights are very long and cold at this latitude, but your pleasant stay in our comfortable lodges guarantee you a placid rest.

Inside the corporate policies, one of the main values we defend is the respect for the environment, we guarantee the preservation of the natural resources and ecosystems of the high Andean area. To develop the tourist activity we use ecological alternatives such as Biodegradable detergents in bathrooms and kitchens; the organic waste is processed in biodigesters (resulting in excellent fertilizers). These biodigesters are anaerobic tanks that will eventually produce methane gas. The inorganic waste is transported back to a recycling plant in the city of Cusco. Using the llamas as transport animals of the team we are guaranteeing the continuity of an ancestral activity that was losing utility and validity, in this way we promote the preservation of biodiversity and generate new sources of work.

From our origins, Andean lodges have been conceived as a company that integrates the high Andean communities of the Apu Ausangate area within a high mountain tourism project. Andean lodges constantly train the residents of the communities of Chillca and Osefina, peasant and pastoral communities that are protagonists in the operation and development of this tourist route. Through the valuation of their land, their labor contribution and direct investments, the communities are shareholders of this project with a percentage of the board of directors, which makes them participate in business decisions. In this way, andean lodges is a pioneer in developing this concept that integrates communities with companies, helping them to develop their potential and promoting the maintenance of traditions and customs that are being lost with the passage of time and new technologies.