"I wish you a very bad trip Mr ***** and a very bad experience, we will do all what we can with the (q'eros) community so that it be so.
Worst regards"
-Antoine George of Transhumancias
It is important to be vigilant and be careful of those you work with. Ensure the tour guide is experienced, and is not exploiting the communities or you. Check for reviews.
Be aware of tour guides, like the one below, who will insult indigenous tour guides and say their services are not safe just because they are giving a better/reasonable rate.
I contacted 'Transhumancias', for which there were '0' reviews, and asked for his pricing. He said for two days I could reach Q'eros. Every other suggests at least 3-7 nights are required. This is an example of why it is necessary to contact other honest tour guides. You should always cross-check info with other guides to ensure tour guides are telling you the truth and giving you the best itinerary.
Below is an example of tour guides out there that 1. Don't have much respect for tourists, 2. Will try to humiliate other tour guides to get your business and 3. Put you down if you try to question their reliability.
You have the right to be treated with dignity.
You have the right to explore other options.
You have the right, and should in fact, ask as many questions as possible to verify their reliability.
Lucky for you, there are bloggers and travellers like me who will warn you and post reviews.
He has given me permission (as you will see in his email) to post his emails. I'll allow you to draw your own conclusions about him from his emails. Feel free to comment.
ps I never told him my sex, or my travel experience, intentions or which country I am from.
I've bolded his interesting comments for those who don't have the patience to read everything.
Enjoy!
His email:
This people are considered as the "last incas" and their shamans are considered as the best of the Andes. They almost never receive tourist, or very seldomly and very few.
The cost for this small trip on your own including 4x4 vehicle for 2 days, intercultural/translator guide for 2 days, night in the community with food, shaman and ceremony is USD 689 (this is the minimum price). The price doesn't include any insurance and you go there at your own risk, Transhumancias cannot be considered liable for any health problem that can occur to you during the program.
NB: I don't give any information on this communities in order not to risk people to contract other operators who don't know them as I do and who usually exploit this communities. I have been working for 12 years with them on a sustainable tourism project so that they can avoid exploitation and I am the only one who have explored their whole territory. You can understand I cannot take any risk, sorry. (except he discloses everything minutes later in an email reply)
My response:
You don't want to exploit the communities. That is nice. Aside from the car rental and your service, how much of that $689 is going to the community to support them?
Thanks
Antoine George's response:
Sorry this is a confidential information between our agency and Q'ero community. usually apart from payments to local community guide (we are the only agency to train and hire them on a fair fee basis) and payments to families for food and accomodation calculated and agreed upon with the community (once again we are the only agency to work this way with these communities as other prefer to camp) we dedicate a percentage as donation to community authorities for collective use. The percentage depends on our profit margin which varies depending on the number of participants. When there is only one participant this percentage is higher.
What costs most on your trip is vehicle and translator / guide.
My response:
Gracias
I got an offer for $475 two nights Q'eros
but I was interested in something closer but it looks like that is not your specialty.
Thank you for your help.
His response:
The service I proposed you was with a private 4x4 and a private guide. At the price they offer you can be sure the guide is exploited, I really don't know which transportation you will have but it doesn't seem very safe to me and I am 100% sure there is no contribution to the community. I really wonder why you asked me about contribution to the community when your main preocupation is the price. My struggle has been against this kinf of toruism practice and I really hope I can stop it. I will call my friend in the community so that they can be aware that once again they want to exploit them. Any way hope you have a good trip Mr ******.
My response:
You are very impressive. I didn't mention anything about the vehicle and you already know that it is not safe. The vehicle is only to the base, the rest is hiking.
If he can offer $475 for two nights, it means that people who charge $700 for 1 night are really making money off the community of Q'eros. The more you charge than what is needed, the more money you make.
You do not know what is in the hearts of people, and you do not know whether a person is going to Q'eros for fun, or to learn or to research so it is not wise to say a person is engaging in bad tourism or does not care.
As you know there are many guides going there for many years and have a very close relationship with Q'eros, and I don't think its very professional or respectful that you are saying they are exploiting them. You don't know the people, you should not say mean things about them.
I'm sorry I dont want to do business with you.
His response:
I don't want either Mr *****. This what we would have paid for your trip, compare with what they offer you and ask how much they contribute to the community.
Private 4X4 on a return trip costs USD 300, which includes one night and food for the driver there.
We pay our guide the established official price USD 80 / day
We pay local Q'ero spanish speaking guide USD 40 / day
We make a donation of USD 50 to the community to contribute to their development fund.
We pay for accomodation and food USD 50 for one night for you and the guide.
The rest : USD 89 for the agency (communication, taxes, organisation, ...)
I don't see how more transparent I could be with you and I cannot see how it can be less than this without paying less for transportation, less for the guide,
less for the Q'ero and for 2 nights. Let me laugh Mr ******!!!
Q'ero people to struggle against this kind of tour operator who cheap trips exploiting them and they will be informed of your arrival. I don't tell you this to convince you Mr ****** as I am not either interested to work with people like you who are not really interested in culture but in a kind of curiosity with only "female guides". Once again Mr ***** let me laugh !!
You don't know what is in the heart of this indigenous people and you might learn it in a not very agreable way.
I wish you a very bad trip Mr ***** and a very bad experience, we will do all what we can with the community so that it be so.
Worst regards
(Note he turned from 'Best regards' to 'Worst regards'. Note that he said the information was confidential and cared so much about the community so as not to disclose their name, but allowed his ego to get in the way and disclosed the name of community more than three times and the breakdown of costs. Also note that he behaved in the beginning like Q'eros is an isolated community not really known by tourists. Yet, google Q'eros, you will see how many websites and tourist blogs are about them.)We pay our guide the established official price USD 80 / day
We pay local Q'ero spanish speaking guide USD 40 / day
We make a donation of USD 50 to the community to contribute to their development fund.
We pay for accomodation and food USD 50 for one night for you and the guide.
The rest : USD 89 for the agency (communication, taxes, organisation, ...)
I don't see how more transparent I could be with you and I cannot see how it can be less than this without paying less for transportation, less for the guide,
less for the Q'ero and for 2 nights. Let me laugh Mr ******!!!
Q'ero people to struggle against this kind of tour operator who cheap trips exploiting them and they will be informed of your arrival. I don't tell you this to convince you Mr ****** as I am not either interested to work with people like you who are not really interested in culture but in a kind of curiosity with only "female guides". Once again Mr ***** let me laugh !!
You don't know what is in the heart of this indigenous people and you might learn it in a not very agreable way.
I wish you a very bad trip Mr ***** and a very bad experience, we will do all what we can with the community so that it be so.
Worst regards
My response:
You assumed I'm a male. I'm a female, that's why I preferred to trek with a female.
I will leave a review for you. You should be careful of your words.
It is not very good to wish people to have bad experiences. That is a very black heart.
His response:
Black heart is who don't care about ethics when going to communities and thinking only about the money they pay and not what is done with this money. I fight black hearts with the black part of my heart because against westerners evil like you who stay in their same evil mentality there is no way. My struggle for 12 years is to protect Q'ero people from people like you and I don't see why I should be nice to evil people. So sorry if I don't care my words, make your review as you wish, write everything you can on me and my agency I don't care.
Don Quichotte: "dogs are barking Sancho, means that we are progressing"
So to end it I just want to say to you the last not nice words: FUCK YOU YOU AND YOUR FAT ASS.
My response:
Thats not very nice at all.
You're offended because I asked how much goes to the community.
What makes you think I come from the West? By the way, Peru is Western.
His response:
I don't care where you come from, you have a real westerner mentality, only thinking of paying the lowest price not thinking of what it implies, the same mentality that make people buy low price products made by children in Asia for exemple and not caring about it. Why should I be nice to you. I know the reality of Q'ero better than many who exploit them...
I will not let anybody tell me what you told me and if I can fight against black hearts I will do with all my strength and by all means.
Peru is western ? Why then do you want to go to these "westerner" communities that are so traditionnal, you don't even know what you say yourself.
This a good experience this kind of exchange with you, makes me not forgetting against what evil and who I have decided to fight in my life and for what and who I do so.
Don't worry we will take care that your journey be as pleasant as possible hahahahahahaha !!!!!
My response:
Its because of mentality like yours, where people view a whole nation of others as evil, is where there is so much war, instead of creating understanding and respect.
You want ethical tourism, you should be happy I asked how much goes to the community. And I know enough about Q'eros that you can't get very far in 2 days, 1 night.
You are not being honest.
His response:
let me laugh ! Who is not being honest ? Don't transfer to me your consciousness problems and go fucking yourself. Go wherever you want, anyway what you do is your problem and you will have to suffer the consequence yourself.
It's because of people with your kind of mentality that there is war and that some other people have to fight against you. Do you think you will achieve peace with the way you only selfishly think about yourself and your little money and your pocket not thinking about the consequence of your acts on other people that might be exploited thanks to you ? Finally you don't care your only preocupation is to keep a good image of yourself justifying yourself for all what you do. You are soooo good !!!!
My response:
Yes, you achieve peace by meeting people you don't know and learn from them. Not judge them.
END
