4-Day Salkantay Trek

Two weeks ago, I had the privilege to travel with my partner and family on an adventure that was perhaps to most difficult, beautiful outdoor experience in my life. And this was the 4 day,3 night 42 km Hike on the Inca Trail in Peru. The scenery and mountain/ruin views are Stunning! But don’t let the photos fool you, as this was in no-way an easy trek. What made this adventure even more AMAZING was our Sam Travel guide, MIGUEL. He was our leader, our "family" guide, who made sure that we all had what we needed during our tenuous hike. Of course, we have to give thanks to our Master Chef, Timoteo. The food was OUT OF THIS WORLD!!! Timoteo is a culinary magician making wonderful food appear out of the thin air we breathe. Chef Timoteo even made a full blown anniversary cake for my brother and his wife. Just OUTSTANDING!!! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ And last, we give the BIGGEST thanks to our wonderful porters who made light-speed jumps across time and space to bring and set up all of our gear/needs. How do they do it?

A group of 11 friends, six of them being mother and son pairs, just completed an amazing journey with the most professional, caring and knowledgeable guides! Ray and Maribel will forever be in my heart. They made sure our group felt safe and cared for the entire time. Ray and Maribel were always ready with any missing item one of us might have forgotten. Our second day of hiking was extremely challenging yet rewarding. However my left knee was really bothering me. Ray quickly helped me do a beautiful job with bandaging around the knee for support. It made a huge difference for the rest of the day. Ray was smart, funny and showed so much pride in sharing his Inca ancestral knowledge with us. Maribel was just a sweet heart! Her energy was so positive and contagious! She also shared so much knowledge about her ancestors, and the gorgeous flowers and plants around us. Maribel is one of those humble souls. You won’t know how smart and strong she is until you spend fours day interacting with her. On a different but import note, the meals that were prepared for us by chef Julio César were AMAZING!!!!! We all wanted to take him home with us. Not only were they delicious but the presentation of the meals was beyond what a five star restaurant in the USA would do. Food presented in shapes of flowers or animals. On the last dinner, he baked a cake!!!! No oven! Just baked it over a stone fire !!! I could go on about how wonderful this team was. I highly recommend SAM travel!!!

Para empezar, la empresa siempre respondió rápidamente a las consultas para armar el viaje.  Para resaltar, la capacidad resolutiva de Jean Pierre, nuestro guía, ya que tuvimos varios imprevistos por la situación social que vive Perú, y él coordinó todo para que el viaje sea excelente. Muy responsable, divertido y en todos los detalles. Por último, destacar el trabajo de los porteadores, siempre bien predispuestos y al llegar a cada campamento, ellos ya tenían todo armado para que uno esté cómodo. Al igual que Edison, el cocinero, armando unos platos riquísimos y variados.  Sólo palabras de agradecimiento para todos estos grandes profesionales.