I now feel more confident in the person I am and am proud of myself for having made this journey. The memories and experiences I have gained on this journey will stay with me for a lifetime.
Stefanie traveled with us to magical Peru and experienced one adventure after another. In Peru, she first took a language course and then supported the teaching project. This allowed her not only to experience Peru's incredible nature, but also to immerse herself in Peruvian culture. Stefanie climbed mountains, hiked to lagoons and got to know herself in a completely new way. These experiences not only enriched her trip, but also helped her to understand herself better and grow internally.
I actually only started the booking process two months before my departure. That means I contacted WanderWorld Travel for the first time at the beginning of August and my flight left at the beginning of October. Nevertheless, I felt very well prepared by WWT and I could contact them at any time via WhatsApp or schedule a video call. The general preparations were a bit stressful, such as taking out insurance, finding a good backpack, arranging vaccination appointments, applying for credit cards, etc.. But WWT also supports you with these things: they give you a checklist for packing, inform you about necessary and recommended vaccinations, direct you to affordable insurance companies and generally answer any questions you may have. Whether it's about the various projects, countries or travel preparations. That's why I didn't have to think so much and do so much research, but was able to check off all the preparations quickly.
As it was my first time traveling to Latin America, I found this very important and felt really well prepared when the trip started.
I first arrived in Lima, Peru and stayed there for two nights, as the introductory event was taking place there. After leaving the airport, it wasn't difficult to find a cab to the hostel and once I arrived at the hostel, I met three other participants. The next day, we were picked up by our contact person Carlos. He took us on a short tour of the city center, showed us the main square with the town hall, churches, etc. and let us visit the catacombs.
After the city center, we went to the Barrancos artists' quarter. There we looked at the murals and went out to eat. Finally, we went to a viewpoint by the sea and rounded off the day. It was a lovely day and we learned a lot about the food in Peru and the culture from Carlos. The next day, my flight left for Cusco, Peru, with two other participants. We also shared a cab to our accommodation. For example, I stayed in the same accommodation as one of the participants. So I was never really alone.
I spent the first two weeks in Cusco at a language school to brush up on my Spanish and I would really recommend it to anyone! You meet so many different people from different countries there and through activities (such as salsa lessons, soccer games, trivia night, movie night, etc.) offered by the language school, you also get to know each other. I never felt lonely and the teachers at the language school were always happy to help you if you had any questions.
I actually felt very safe right from the start and never left alone, as there were always people to talk to on site. But you should be careful with the food, especially at the beginning. I didn't feel very well in my first week and was sick until I got used to the food.
After the two-week language course, I arrived at my project in the village of Lamay, which is located in the Valle Sagrado. It's about an hour's drive from Cusco. My project didn't start until the afternoon, so I had the whole morning to myself. My daily routine usually looked like this:
8:00 am: Breakfast
13:00: Lunch
14:20: We make our way to the project on foot
15 - 18:00: Project
18:15: We take the mototaxi back
My project was a kind of afternoon care in a community center. The children came after school and we played with them, helped with their homework, did handicrafts and painting and offered workshops (soccer, roller skating, making Christmas decorations, yoga, etc.).
You could be very creative in the workshops, depending on where your skills or hobbies lie. One volunteer, for example, studied biology with a focus on mushrooms and therefore offered a workshop on mushrooms. The children really enjoyed it and they are very curious, so they like learning about new or unfamiliar things. Of course, there were general rules that we had to follow as supervisors, but we were very free in our decisions and bore a lot of responsibility. I also really liked the fact that we were trusted right from the start and were able to grow into our tasks. You never feel alone with the other volunteers because you live in the same accommodation and so we always did lots of things together. I also got on really well with everyone. There was always a meeting with the project manager on Monday and we talked about organizational matters, but also about ourselves, how we felt and what could perhaps be improved. I felt well looked after and safe.
I spent most of my free time with the other volunteers. We climbed mountains, hiked to lagoons and waterfalls or drove to the next bigger village, Pisac, to go to a nice café. We also attended an ecstatic dance once, went to kirtan several times and did cocoa or coca ceremonies. Before I came to Peru, I didn't know any of these things, so everything was new to me. But together with the other volunteers, I had a lot of fun with these new experiences! From Lamay (project location), you could also easily travel around the whole region by colectivos (small buses) at a very reasonable price and go to all the sights. For example, there are many other Inca ruins besides Machu Picchu. Up in the mountains there are beautiful lagoons and the small villages with their handicrafts are also well worth seeing. There are colorful markets and you can be in Cusco in just an hour.
The Inca ruin that I liked best, for example, was Huchuy Qosqo and it is directly opposite Lamay. So you could get there on foot.
My favorite part was an excursion to the three lagoons that lie above Pisac. These three lagoons are very close to each other and you can reach them all in one day. However, as they are at an altitude of over 4,000 m, the climb is quite strenuous. But it was definitely worth it! The view was beautiful and there were hardly any other tourists at the first lagoon, and none at all at the two others. If I ever go back there, I will visit this place again and camp.
One of my favorite moments was when I hiked to a lagoon with two other volunteers. We got up at 5:30 in the morning and took a colectivo up the mountain at 6 a.m. until we reached the Comunidad Poques. The view from the Comunidad alone is breathtaking. From there, we hiked up the mountain for another three hours until we reached a small plateau at the top of the mountain, where the Sapacto lagoon was located. The lagoon and the mountains surrounding it were beautiful. We spent a few hours there and just enjoyed our time. Apart from us, there was no one else at the lagoon, we just walked past a few small houses and saw llamas grazing. Supposedly you can also hike to other lagoons from this one, but as we didn't know our way around well enough, we didn't do that. The descent was much quicker and we were back at our accommodation by 3 pm. The weather there was completely different to up at the lagoon. 1,000 m difference in altitude is quite noticeable.
Another moment I will always remember was the Ecstatic Dance with the other volunteers. It was just fun to dance together and just feel and forget everything for a moment. Then getting up the next morning and having breakfast together and already making the next plans felt like finding a new family.
Volunteers are so important for my project because the afternoon care is mainly run by volunteers. The manager can't be there all the time. If there were no volunteers, the project would have to be discontinued.
It's also great for the children that the volunteers come from many different countries and have different backgrounds. This teaches them a lot about the world, what opportunities they have and inspires them. We also give the children a safe place where they can express themselves and don't have to live up to expectations. Many children's parents have to work until late at night, so we can at least give them a safe place to grow and develop, where they are loved for who they are. Our aim was always to show the children that they are valuable and loved.
I was particularly fascinated by the Valle Sagrado, where the Lamay project village was located. It is a valley in the middle of the Andes and it is not as overcrowded as Cusco. But if you did want to go to a larger town, you didn't have to travel far and you were there. You live in this valley in the middle of the mountains and are always surrounded by their beauty. Nature is never far away. In addition, the local culture mixes with foreign culture to create an interesting mix. Especially in Pisac, Urubamba, Lamay or Calca, there are mainly locals. So you can learn a lot from both sides and the people are also very open and friendly. In addition, this valley was already populated by the Incas. For this reason, Inca ruins can be found everywhere. That's where the name "Valle Sagrado" comes from, which means "Sacred Valley". I think you can also sense how much history has already happened in this place. There really is something sacred or magical about this valley.
My accommodation was in a retreat center. It was surrounded by mountains and flowers were blooming everywhere. It was simply beautiful. The volunteers had their own little house where they slept. At the beginning I was alone in the house, in the end there were six of us. We shared the dining room with the visitors and we could watch them doing yoga or ceremonies. It was quite interesting. When there were no retreat groups, we were allowed to use the retreat center's temples ourselves. I was able to learn a lot about the Andes, the Inca world and Peru in general.
I always felt very safe in Peru, even in Cusco it was safe in and around the center, even when it was dark.
In the project village, it was also possible to walk alone at night without worrying. Everyone in the village knows each other and the children still play outside when it's dark. You can also go on excursions alone during the day and use public transport without any worries. People will also be happy to help you if you have any questions. Of course, you should always follow general rules, such as looking after your bags in large crowds etc., but the same applies in Europe. The only thing that sometimes scared me were the street dogs. But they are harmless during the day, you just have to avoid them at night. But nothing ever happened to me with the dogs. But I never stroked any of them, you shouldn't do that with street dogs either, no matter how cute they are.
I've definitely become more self-confident and I've really realized what a luxury we live in in Germany and that you can be happy and lead a fulfilled life without this luxury. You don't really need much, it's just always sold to you like that.
I now have much clearer goals for the rest of my life and now know what is really important to me and what I don't want or need. I now feel more confident in the person I am and am proud of myself for having made this journey. The memories and experiences I have gained on this journey will stay with me for a lifetime. I am glad to have made this journey and met so many great people. They have really broadened my horizons and helped me to come to terms with the past. I now feel prepared for my future and can't wait to go on more trips.
Sophia, founder of Wanderworld Travel
Lisa, Coordinator & Participant Support
Amanda, Support and advice before departure
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