Porter Welfare

Porter Welfare

Porter welfare on the Inca Trail

Chaska Tours is a licensed operator of the Inca Trail and specialized in hikes in the Cusco region.
We follow guidelines of The Inka Nan Porter Project in terms of fair payment and treatment of porters.

We practice the following policies regarding porter welfare:

• provide abundant food, rich on carbohydrates (as much as they want)during the treks
• provide adequate shelter (tents with waterproof floors), rain poncho's and sleeping mats
• we provide down jackets for all our porters during the treks, especially made for them
• we provide down sleeping bags for all our porters during the treks, especially made for them, fit to their size.
• have specially designed backpacks to carry equipment and food
• medical assistance during treks whenever needed
• pay their life insurance
• make sure carried weight doe not exceed 20kg (excluding porters personal equipment)
• pay adequate salaries
• Helping to raise their self-esteem is our long-term concern and we aim to do this by encouraging them to preserve their Quechua traditions in medicine and farming and giving them the confidence to share this knowledge with visiting tourists.

The Inka Porter Project has four main aims, which are:

• Access to safe equipment and shelter for all porters
• A high standard of social and environmental awareness and practice among porters
• To increase awareness amongst tourists and companies of environmental and porter safety issues
• To provide a platform for discussion of porter and environmental issues in tourism in Peru

Visit the Inka Nan website for more information on their project: www.peruweb.org/porters

Note: As of 27 July 2005, the Inka Porter Project (Porteadores Inka Ñan) is no
longer operational but much of the information on the website such as the
environmental guidelines for trekkers and porter and animal driver welfare guidelines remains relevant.