Pepe Lopez founder and CEO of Apumayo Expedicion share some information from the first trip to the Inca Trail in January 2021, the first trip since the Pandemic and the lockdown starts.
As many of you might already know, the classic 4-day Inca Trail to Machu Picchu is still closed to tourists since the pandemic reached our country and we still do not have a reopening date yet.
I would like to tell all our clients and customers that I was part of the first trip along the trek, organized by the private sector, with the support and participation of the main authorities that rule the National Sanctuary of Machu Picchu.
As this trek went through some local communities located in the “Cultural Area” during the first and part of the second day, we found out that there is still hard work to do and actions to be taken before the reopening, and we are looking forward to them, because these populations would be endangered by our field staff and porters in case we neglected them.
Our main proposal is to work using “social bubbles” as a guiding principle, but the interaction between all the bubbles would have to be structured under fixed bio protocols, which means to change the way how we have been working in this particular area in the past.
For this reason, and foreseeing that our main tourist season is about to start and also being optimistic, we believe that this trekking circuit should be open from May on. Although we are trying to rush to start operations by April, there are still many factors that escape our control so, as your Peruvian ground operator, our proposal is to offer alternative treks ending with the short Inca trail to Machu Picchu. I mean, for the bookings that have already been reserved up to now, including the 4-day Inca Trail by March, April, and later on, our proposal is to be able to confirm the bookings with a plan “B”, which is an alternative 3-day trek, plus the short Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, arriving in the Lost City of the Incas using the same original path.
If by the time to reconfirm the bookings and the dates of the Inka Trail the trail were already open, we would be able to carry out our operations without any changes and under the new regulations, but if it were still closed you would have to let them know that there is an alternative option so they could keep with their traveling plans ahead to get to Machu Picchu all the same.
We have all been working to avoid cancellations and the reimbursement of the down payments to our clients and customers, and since the start of the pandemic everyone has been working to reschedule the 2020 trips, so I believe it is now time to think about the first bookings of the 2021 season and duly share this information about the Inka Trail with all our clients and customers.
Actually, travel restrictions have many limitations strict and demanding quarantine however, it will change in the next few days so, travel plans will have to be decided under the future political border policies and the overall pandemic situation in Peru and the Region in the following weeks.
We will be paying attention to your comments and to any inquiries you may have. Please do not hesitate to share your thoughts and feelings with us.
May you stay well and safe, best regards to you all. Our positive thinking from the Peruvian Andes!
Ofrecemos los mejores tours de aventura y lujo en Perú. Apumayo, como lo llamamos, explora el Perú desde 1994. Disfrutamos viajar, explorar y aprender de nuestro patrimonio cultural. Apumayo tiene que ver con experiencias de viaje únicas y personalizadas.
