4 years ago
Just got back from a 4 day Inca trail hike with Ch...
Just got back from a 4 day Inca trail hike with Chaska Tours and I couldn't be happier with the service and the experience that I had with them. We had a group of 7 friends in the 46-50 age range with some hiking experience. Doris was our primary point of contact for booking the trip and with all details up to arrival in Peru. We spent 3 days in Cuzco acclimating to the altitude (do not underestimate how important this is). We met with our guide, Huber, who would act as not only our guide for the hike but for 2 days of day trip excursions in the Sacred Valley as well. He was extremely knowledgeable about seemingly everything from history to flora and fauna of the region. Not only was he knowledgeable, he was extremely patient (some of us are not fast), compassionate and downright funny. He was constantly checking on everyone in the group to make sure we were doing alright. The camp setups and meals were also fabulous with 3 course meals every night and for lunch as well. I never went to bed hungry for sure. Seeing some of the other tour operators in action on the hike really made me appreciate exactly the kind of service Chaska and Huber were providing. They are on top of their game and seem to treat their people right. The porters are an amazing group who lug your stuff up the mountains while you wheeze and almost collapse from the effort required to ascend the trail at a speed which allows them to have everything in camp or at lunch set up by the time you arrive. Everyone was pleasant and enthusiastic when we arrived at camp. The chef took note of two special requests from two members of our group, one involving cilantro and the other one egg. Not only did the chef manage to bake a delicious birthday cake on the trail, he had one section where he had put wax paper under the merengue, so our egg hater could simply lift the paper to remove the merengue. Attention to details like that are what makes these guys simply exceptional. I can't imagine having done this experience with any other tour group as there really was nothing I could suggest for improvements on their survey at the end of our trip. Long story short, if you're going on the trail or doing anything in the region, call Chaska and even better see if Huber is available.