Step by Step

THE PERUVIAN ANDES ARE a land of layers— mountains, valleys, and jungles crossed by rivers and shadowed by low-hanging clouds. Archaeological layers date back as far as 1,000 B.C. They tell the rich, puzzling, tragic tales of civilizations that rose and fell, waves of victors and oppressed, empires revered and reviled, the sudden surge of the Spanish conquest, and Peru’s eventual independence. In some cases, those layers are as literal as conquistadors razing Inca structures to the foundations and building new churches over them. Peru’s mountain towns and trails are home to layers of language, too, from Quechua to Spanish to English to the countless languages spoken by the tourists who come from around the world.

These altogether constant and evolving layers are perhaps most visible on the Inca Trail, which tens of thousands of people hike every year, most famously between Cusco and Machu Picchu. In Peru, where dance clubs might share a wall with a colonial church or an ancient city barricade, it’s hard to miss the contrast and sometimes conflict between native and foreign; old and new; known and unknown. It’s clear

the country is changing; what isn’t clear is what traditions will survive and what will be left behind.

The Inca Trail was constructed roughly 600 years ago during the Inca Empire. Back then, the network of trails was primarily used by messengers, priests, and armies on the move. Between the fall of the Inca Empire nearly 500 years ago and today, the trails continued to be used by locals but, over time, fell into disuse and disrepair. As such, the more recent history of trekking in Peru is a story of an ongoing tourism boom.

While the gender divide for travelers on the Inca Trail is nearly equal at 49% female and 51% male, the local presence on the trail—that is, those working in the tourism industry—is almost 100% male. In 2017, 98% of guides and 99.8% of porters were male, meaning 2% of guides and a mere 0.02% of porters were female.

“Women are considered inferior and weak,” says Amelia Ruth Huaraya Palomino, human resources manager at Evolution Treks Peru, a trekking co-op based in Cusco. “And by law, female porters and minors can only carry up to 15 kilograms of weight, whereas male porters can carry up to 20 kilograms. So from the point of view of the tourism companies, it’s easier and more convenient to hire men because they can carry more for the same cost. Fundamentally, women do not generate money for companies.”

New priorities

EVOLUTION TREKS PERU WAS founded in November 2016 by Cusco locals who realized that in order to create a healthy, sustainable future for the area’s tourism industry, something had to change.

They set two main tenets for their employeeowned business: they would empower, train, and employ women who wanted to work as guides and porters (something no other trekking company in the area had ever done), and they would provide all porters with good working conditions and fair wages. Today, a whopping 40% of Evolution Treks Peru’s employees are women.

Shandira Arque Lucana, 30, is one of their guides. Born and raised in Cusco, Lucana is the third of three children. Her grandparents lived in the mountains, and she recalls spending time there as a young girl. “What I like most is to be in contact with nature,” Lucana says, “and in contact with people who keep my culture alive. It keeps me alive. I am intrigued by the mysteries

of nature, the parts I can discover while walking outside, including discovering myself.”

At college in Cusco, Lucana studied tourism and administration and learned a little about guiding. She went on to work with local hotels and travel companies. In 2016, she began a job as an assistant guide with an agency and, in the process, learned more about working in the mountains. At first, Lucana says her family didn’t know what to make of her unconventional career choice.

“In the beginning, they were very surprised,” she says. “When I explained it to them, they considered that it would be very hard for me—hiking in the mountains, exposing my life to many difficulties.” With time, though, Lucana’s family came around. “They understand that I finally was happy,” she says, “that it was changing my life. They understand that I was able to do it, that I am able to do it.”

In 2017, Lucana learned about Evolution Treks Peru through a friend. Today, she works there as a lead guide. “For me, to stay in touch with the outdoors is to stay in touch with my original home,” she says. “I want to truthfully share knowledge about my country and origins. I want to teach people to protect the world, to protect nature, our cultures, and to be passionate with our activities.”

Like Lucana, Nelly Hancco Tucta, 23, met the team at Evolution Treks Peru through a friend. Born and raised in Ccorccor—a pueblo roughly two hours from Cusco—Tucta is studying tourism and works with Evolution Treks Peru as a porter on the Huchuy Qosqo trek.

Tucta says the mountains have always been a part of her life. “When I was a little girl, we would always go there [to the Huchuy Qosqo trek],” she says. “At times, we would go to collect the droppings of the llamas to use as fuel. Now, the walk with tourists is more fun because you laugh, try to talk, and learn from each other.”

In addition to her studies and work as a porter, Tucta leads a collective of women ages 16 to 60 in Ccorccor. Their goal is to bring tourists to their hometown—to introduce them to the local culture, to hike the Huchuy Qosqo trek, and to support the local economy.

Tucta, one of seven children, says that only her father works. Her mother makes fabrics but needed help working with tourists to sell them. That’s where Tucta came in. Once she started helping her mother, she expanded her work to help other women in the community because, as she says, “I want them to realize that they can also earn money just like men.”

As part of her work with the collective, Tucta is encouraging more women from Ccorccor to work as porters with Evolution Treks Peru and other trekking companies. She wants to inspire her neighbors and show them that they can have a different life.

Of her first time trekking with the other women porters, she says, “It was a bit difficult, but we managed to do it. The good thing was that they all [the women] were happy to have worked and to have earned a little money on their own.”

Overcoming doubt

FOR MOST, WORKING AS a woman in the male-dominated trekking industry is a twofold challenge. The trails they’re traversing are not for the faint-hearted or thin-skinned. It’s hard work and a tough crowd.

“People think that it could be a hard job for girls,” Lucana says, “but we are not being forced to be guides. We decided to be guides. We decided to do this because we like it and because we are able to do it. Many of the girls that I know, they are very, very fit girls who also have the attitude to do this.”

In Cusco, Evolution Treks Peru recently took a group of 16 women to a local training for porters. There are more than 6,000 porters registered to work on the Inca Trail. Miguel Angel Gongora, director at Evolution Treks Peru, says it was the first time women attended the event.

“There were 140 porters, and then there was us,” he says. “Just imagine the looks that they were getting. We were seeing these sarcastic smiles, belittling them. But we are here to prove them wrong. It’s going to be a history-changing situation.”

Tucta says the presence of women on the trail is welcomed by some and mocked by others. She recalls finishing a trek in Lamay and causing a stir among the other porters. “They looked at us with much interest,” she says. “Some came to see us and greet us. Others wanted to know how much we were carrying and lifted our bags to know the weight. They then realized we were carrying a lot. Some asked if we would only be porters on the Huchuy Qosqo trek or if we would also go to the Inca Trail. Some laughed and said we could not do it. Some said we could and that women could also work as porters. There are different opinions. I think it’s because of the culture: women are always in the house, and men are always porters.”

Both Lucana and Tucta also mentor girls and women who wish to become guides and porters. Tucta says, “I just tell them to think about their future. Some girls are afraid of not being able to do this work, but then they look at us carrying these bags and it motivates them.”

Thoughtful tourism

WHILE THE PUSH TO create a more inclusive, equal, and fair tourism industry in Peru must come from the men, women, and companies based there, it is, of course, also influenced by where tourists choose to spend their money.

“My belief is that tourists are like bees, they’re like pollinators,” Gongora says. “They travel all over the world. They’re absorbing cultures and ideas, and it’s a privilege. And if they receive the right pollen, the right ideas, the right concepts, then they have the potential for change there.”

With the local tourism industry increasing every year, work opportunities, especially for guides, increase as well. Lucana says, “When we include women in this type of work, we give them the opportunity to access better information regarding the important role of women in

families and to know the capacity they have to perform different jobs—beyond staying at home. With an income, they also have access to a better education, either for themselves or their children, or to stay active as entrepreneurs.”

Everyone, locals and tourists alike, must play a role in creating an industry where upholding equal rights for men and women is of value. “The positive side is that, despite a lot of those people who put up obstacles, there are some who want to work and support us,” Tucta says. “So we continue with the work because we cannot turn back.”

Always forward

IN THE FUTURE, GONGORA says, “I want to change the way the travel industry works. I would love that other people copy our business model—not only here, but everywhere. I want to see a world where we treat our planet, people, and workers fairly. We can’t compromise that. We have to keep moving forward and improving ourselves every day.”

Tucta dreams of transitioning from being a porter to being a lead guide. She also wants to continue working with the women of Ccorccor, encouraging them to pursue their goals, whatever those may be.

Lucana doesn’t see herself working as a guide beyond the next few years, but no matter where the future finds her, she remains committed to helping women step onto the trails, whether it be for the first or the hundredth time.

This is only the latest layer of complexity for the Inca Trail, and though the area has transformed radically with the influx of adventure travelers, there is a growing cadre of people working to ensure that change happens on their terms.

By EMILY HOPCIAN