Alpaca Therapy – Experiential Tourism

This day you will visit one of the communities of Lamay, where you will get to know its life, traditions, and contribute to the sustainable development of the community.

The community will welcome you and teach you its traditions and customs. Visitors are greeted with beautiful flower necklaces and complimentary mate de muña or coca. After that, you will be accommodated for a local breakfast. Following breakfast, you will participate in the preparation of a pachamanca (an earth oven cooking method using Andean products such as potatoes, alpaca meat, beans, corn, and Andean tubers). Then, you will learn about the llamas and alpacas and the difference between them (approximately 10 minutes), before embarking on a llama and alpaca trek until our pachamanca is cooked.

The llama trek begins with the group accompanied by local weavers, musicians, llamas, and alpacas. The walk takes place through agricultural land, with additional information provided about customs and the animals. You will reach a viewpoint where visitors can rest and enjoy a view of the Carmen River.

Next, we will have our picnic prepared with 100% organic products, surrounded by the tranquility of the mountains. We will have set up a tent, blankets, and seats, and the table will be filled with fruits, corn with cheese, herbal teas, coffee, bread, sugar, and boiled water in a thermos. Visitors can take photos overlooking the Poques Valley and, if desired, dress in traditional attire for photos while local women sing a song. The return journey takes a different route, accompanied by weavers and the llamas back to the community (approximately 2 hours including the trek and picnic).

To conclude the trek, we return to the house to appreciate the pachamanca cooking, where we will dig it out of the ground to enjoy a delicious lunch of local gastronomy. Following that, there will be an interpretation of Andean products, agriculture tools, and textiles. You will participate in a spontaneous agricultural task and recognize the different varieties of local crops and plants, learning about their tools and traditional agricultural techniques. After the activity, the women will share with us the art and process of weaving, crucial in their family dynamics, and you will have the opportunity to converse with them about their customs and role in the community. After this interactive day, we will return to Lamay and your hotel, or your next destination.