Volunteering your time to an organization and dedicating some of your time to a cause is one of the most noble and meaningful things a person can do. Whether assisting the poor, taking care of abandoned children or helping communities grow, the simple and generous act of participation is a rewarding experience to both the volunteer and the people they help.

Being that our own volunteer program is only months away we thought it a good idea to highlight why volunteering in Peru is such a special and rewarding experience. Right now there are thousands of volunteers preparing to travel to Peru for the Summer and hundreds of organizations taking applications. Whether volunteering in a coastal city, a small Andean village or in the jungle, the same reasons hold true for all who decide to journey to Peru and help make a difference. [Continue Reading...]

The quiet streets of Aguas Calientes and the empty hotel rooms in Cuzco are a grim reality to what many people had feared to ask themselves; what would it be like without Machu Picchu? The heavy rains, which continue in Cusco, have destroyed access to the famous citadel. Its closure has meant unemployment to thousands and homelessness to many more left standing in the wake of the recent flooding.

At a time when cultural tourism is most in need to preserve the livelihoods of thousands of Cusqeños, the world has all but turned its back on them and shuddered at the thought of voluntourism without Machu Picchu. Sure tourism will return, in 2 weeks Machu Picchu will again be accessible by the Machu Picchu by Car circuit. After all Machu Picchu is timeless, built to last forever by the Incas, a testament to our creativity, of things we can do when we work together; of our endurance. It is this endurance passed on to them by their ancestors that will inevitably sustain the people of Cuzco until the tourists return. Because without Machu Picchu, the old Mountain, there is no reward at the end of a hard days hike. There is no grand finale to an adventure that crossed the many lands of Peru. No spirits to warm you on a spiritual quest of a lifetime and most importantly no place to get away from it all. How wrong we all are. [Continue Reading...]

Often I go back to the date of September 13th, 2007 as the birth of the Karikuy Organization, that’s when the original website launched under our previous name of Manchakuy. Since then I have been blogging annually about the organization and the progress we’ve been making with our programs. So you guessed it! this is one of those posts and below you can read about each one of our programs and where they are at right now. You will also read about some new programs and how you can help in achieving our most important goals. So Happy New Year from Karikuy, we see a bright future ahead for the organization, we hope you can join us for the ride! [Continue reading...]

If you were thinking about traveling to Peru this year or next you probably were planning on making the trip during the summer months of May through September. This is when generally the whole world descends upon Peru, the high season of Tourism in the country. This can mean inflated prices, crowded sites such as Machu Picchu and overbooked hotels. What you may not know is that for the majority of the country those are the winter months. November through March, the so-called low season, is most widely known as summer in Peru, and you can take advantage of the gorgeous coastal weather, low prices and festivities that occur during this time. Here is the Karikuy Top 10 Reasons to Visit Peru this Winter (November – March):
10. Freedom – During [Continue reading...]