Evolution Treks Peru — Local services in Distrito de Cusco

Overall we recommend Evolution treks because of the ethics of the company. The porters at other companies seemed to be loaded up with the most ridiculous size bags, surely many times over the legal limit. We also heard that other porters are not fed enough and don't get anywhere to sleep. While our porters worked very hard and still had big bags, they looked like they were within the limit, they seemed to get lots of food etc which they need for all their work! I think ours was also the only company which had some female porters (doing the whole trek in traditional dress no less) which was nice.

Our porters were all amazing and deserve 5 stars: thank you to Higidia Laucana, Benedicto Huama, Ricardo Yucra, Domingo Quispe, Cristobal Quispe and Benedicto Fuentes - we truly appreciate you all. And to the chef Fernando Machaca - we were in awe of the food from start to finish!

However we do have some pointers you may wish to know/check with the company before you book: The organisation in advance is a bit mixed. We had to go to a random place a bit out of town to pay around $2k in cash, and didn't get a receipt. I think for that much they should collect from the hotel. We paid for the luxury option which meant we got sleeping pad, pillows, and poles. These were great and I recommend. We booked a private trip and there was another group - a family of four - leaving the same day. So the trip was mostly private, seperate meals etc - but did overlap a lot on the way. You may want to check this if you want it truly private. We were disappointed with our tents. When we arrived at the first camp there were three big nice tents set up and we assumed one was for us and the other two were for the family. But apparently they were all for the family (the third was their eating tent) and we had a very small old tent which my tall partner couldn't really fit in and it had very little height/porch space for all our stuff. They may have booked an upgraded tent but this wasn't an option on the website or communicated separately to us - so I would check what tent you are getting as we were disappointed. We also had a smaller eating tent so while they had a proper table and camp chairs, we sat on the ground so did feel a bit cheated.

The main thing for you to know is that on the third night you do not camp in the campsite that the guidebooks suggest you do. The third day is much shorter and you camp where lots of other groups seems to have lunch. It is a beautiful spot but the facilities are more limited (one female hole in the floor toilet for the whole camp with no sink/water) and it means that you are much further from Macchu Picchu for the fourth day. We didn't realise this so wanted to get there for sunrise - but there was a miscommunication. Despite setting off at 5am and practically running the difficult down path in the dark, we only reached the next camp (where we could have stayed) by sunrise. When we eventually did reach the sun gate (we did it in 3 hours but I think for most people it would take closer to 5) it did mean we had it to ourselves and we had enough time at Macchu Picchu, but if you aren't very fast the day would be a rush.

The company are very pushy on tips. While we were very happy to tip we were surprised how much it was brought up/suggested for the company that prides itself on paying its porters fairly. They were also very pushy about us reviewing including for the porter's individually - asking several times for us to do it while we were at lunch after Macchu Picchu - and again while we are happy to commend their great work (see above!) we were tired from the trip and trying to enjoy our lunch so didn't appreciate how pushy it was.

So overall recommend for their ethics but hope the above pointers are helpful for future travellers to make...

Summary: Evolution Treks is a great company run by amazing people and your choice of you want to hike the Inka Trail in a sustainable way.

Let me break that down a little bit.

We booked our hike to Machu Picchu via the Inka Trail with Evolution Treks. Our main reason for this was that we support the company’s mission to make the tourism industry more sustainable by including women and creating better working conditions for porters. If you consider walking the Inca Trail, this is one thing to consider, unfortunately. More about this later.

First, about our experience. The communication with Evolution Treks was professional and friendly. Miguel, one of the owners usually responded the same day to all our questions and helped customizing the tour. He visited us in our hotel in Cusco days prior to the start, to brief us about the hike.

Another couple had just cancelled, which meant that the two of us would be the only ones hiking, together with tourguide Rudi (Miguels brother) and the crew of porters and cooks.

We found Rudi an amazing person with a strong passion for nature and Andean culture. We experienced him as one of the better, if not the best tourguide we have experienced during our travels. From the start, he brought a great energy and a ton of knowledge about the flora & fauna, the various ecosystems and of course Inka History where he is very knowledgeable about.

During the hike, he turned out an amazing storyteller and every time we stopped at a site, he had something interesting to share. Not just textbook knowledge you can look up on Wikipedia, but deep, well-researched knowledge. On the last night, he took us to Wiñay Wayna (the major site before Machu Picchu) to give us an impression of what the Inca’s saw at night from these sights. He used our headlamps to light up certain niches in the stone structures to ‘awaken’ the place.

The views where gorgeous and we often stopped to enjoy the beautiful landscapes. But what surprised me was the diversity of flora on the trail itself. Again, Rudi turned out to be our teacher and we learned a lot about poisonous and medicinal plants.

The hike itself can be challenging at times, but Rudi always encouraged us to take it very slow, which we did. The rest of the crew went out of their way to make our experience the best one possible. The food was excellent: always a nice, fresh soup followed by multiple healthy dishes. Most of them did not speak English, so for us non-Spanish speakers it was a bit of a challenge sometimes to have a conversation with them. But some did so we where able to engage a bit more. (Note to self: work on your Spanish)

There was always a good vibe around camp and it was lovely to hear the crew laughing, playing local music and having a good time themselves. Even when they had to get up at 3-4am to prepare our breakfast.

So now I would like to come back to working conditions on the Inka Trail.

With our own eyes, we have seen porters of other companies carrying loads of 35-40kg (far more than the legal 20kg that is permitted by law), with ill-fitted equipment (worn-out canvas sneakers, nylon training suits etc.). Porters where spotted that slept in the toilet building for lack of a proper tent.

We had quite some conversations with Miguel and Rudi about this and they are passionate to change this. Their philosophy translates in the fares, as they are certainly not the cheapest company to work with. Hiking the Inca Trail is fairly expensive, at least for us. But it was also an incredible experience that will stay in our heart forever and doing it this way hopefully contributes a little to better world.

I hope this review will be helpful to you and that you will help Evolution Treks with their mission, while having a blast on the Inca...

I chose Evolution Treks because I firmly believe in providing opportunities for women. My daughter and I completed the four-day Inca Trail Trek with Evolution accompanied by a wonderful female guide, female cook, and two female porters. We also had three male porters who were an absolute delight as well. Honestly one of the most wonderful things about working with Evolution was the happiness and laughter of the team. Unlike other trek operators, the Evolution team makes sure that the team has quality backpacking backpacks (properly packed with strictly controlled weight limits for both males and females), and proper tents and sleep pads (the exact same as ours as the clients). This was not true of other teams and the stress, discomfort and lack of joy of other teams was readily apparent. The Evolution team was absolute delight from beginning to end. Communication throughout the months and weeks leading up to travel to Peru was excellent. Ebelyn was very helpful in helping to plan and coordinate travel out of Peru, COVID testing, confirming diet restrictions and equipment needed for the trek. Monica, out trek leader, met with us the evening prior to departure to answer all of our questions, evaluate our readiness and to make certain we had all equipment needed for a successful trek. Monica’s passion for Inca history, flora, fauna, landscape and her love and respect for her team was always apparent. Not only did we enjoy amazing scenery, beautiful plants and flowers, but we learned so much from Monica about Peruvian culture, past and present (including a wonderful tour of Machu Picchu once reached). Each day of the trek was clearly explained and completed on schedule. Monica was completely tuned into my pace and adjusted to keep us moving through the climbs and descents at a steady and comfortable pace. Because she respected my slower but steady pace, we consistently reached our campsites in excellent time, with plenty of time to rest and relax each day. I have many dietary restrictions and our cook Cenobia respected every request (both my daughter and I are vegetarian). I have never eaten more tasty and nutritious food. We have fabulous soups at every lunch and dinner and each soup was different, squash, potato, spinach, corn. We experience the local Peruvian food such as Tarwi beams, local corns both puffed and in cakes, different potatoes and yucca, even pizza on the trail. I can’t praise the food enough; it was absolutely delicious and I am so appreciate of how Evolution attended to and respected my dietary needs. Finally, the Evolution team came through in heroic measure to help my daughter make her flight out of Cusco the night that the trek concluded at Machu Picchu. We boarded the train out of Agua Calientes on time on a rainy afternoon, but our train was stopped mid-journey by a landslide. Monica promptly communicated with the Evolution driver, and he quickly came to our location. Monica took us off the train and we all sat in awe at the local knowledge and navigation of Jorge, who cleverly navigated local towns to return us to Cusco in record time. We were so incredibly grateful. Finally, three of us were supposed to trek, but my sister experienced a knee injury that prevented completion of the entire trek. Evolution worked with her to complete the one trek Inca Trail Trek into Machu Picchu. They worked with us to coordinate a midday meeting on day 3 and then meeting again the morning of the final day to complete our tour of Machu Picchu together. Their willingness to work with us to develop an alternative plan and coordinate a schedule that still allowed a shared experience was so...