The Communities We Walk With
Every journey begins with people.
For us, communities are not destinations.
They are relationships built
over years of trust,
friendship and shared experiences.
The people you'll meet are not part of a programme created for visitors. They are the reason Sumaq Ñawi exists.
Built on Relationships
Sumaq Ñawi has grown through years of spending time with families, artisans, elders, teachers and community leaders across Peru.
Rather than creating experiences first and looking for communities later, our journeys have grown naturally from these relationships.
Every collaboration is based on trust, mutual respect and the desire to create meaningful cultural exchange.
Chupani
Life in the High Andes
Hidden deep within the Sacred Valley, Chupani is a remote Quechua community reached only by a three-hour walk through the mountains.
Here, life continues to follow the rhythm of the land. Families live in traditional stone houses, speak Quechua as their first language and preserve customs that have been passed from generation to generation.
Time in Chupani is not about observing from the outside, but about sharing everyday life—cooking together, walking the fields, caring for animals and discovering what it means to belong to a place where community remains at the centre of life.
Maras
Agriculture, Food
& Everyday Traditions
In the community of Maras, we are welcomed into family life through food, farming and the traditions that shape everyday living.
Together we'll prepare traditional recipes, learn about native maize varieties, discover the importance of the chacra and experience the warmth of a home where the kitchen continues to be the heart of family life.
Pachanta
Life Beneath Ausangate
Set beneath the snow-capped peaks of Ausangate, Pachanta offers a window into the deep relationship between Andean communities, their alpacas and the sacred mountains that surround them.
Here, life follows the rhythm of nature, where herding, weaving and community remain inseparable from the landscape itself.
Mama Chaya Community – Q'ero Nation
Ancestral Knowledge & Medicinal Plants
Our relationship with the Japo community is centred around learning.
Together with Don Vicente Quispe and his family, we explore the living traditions of the Q'ero people through medicinal plants, botanical workshops and the Andean understanding of the relationship between people, nature and the mountains.
More than a place to visit, Japo is a place to slow down, listen and learn from a family who continues to preserve and share this knowledge with extraordinary generosity.
What Sets Us Apart
HUMAN CONNECTION
Every experience begins with relationships. We believe the most meaningful way to discover a place is through the people who live there—their stories, their generosity and the time we share together.
LIVING TRADITIONS
The knowledge, crafts and ways of life you'll encounter are not performances created for visitors. They are living traditions that continue to be practised and passed from one generation to the next.
Every journey is built on mutual respect, long-term collaboration and the understanding that meaningful travel should create value for everyone involved. We believe cultural exchange is strongest when it is based on trust, listening and shared learning