Evolution Treks Peru’s Women’s Empowerment Project on the Inca Trail

Empowering women, changing trekking.

Evolution Treks Peru was founded on a simple but transformative idea: trekking to Machu Picchu should uplift the people who make it possible. From the beginning, this meant improving working conditions for porters and breaking one of the Inca Trail’s long‑standing barriers — opening porter, chef, and guide positions to women for the first time in its modern history.

Why women porters on the Inca Trail?

For decades, porter work on the Inca Trail was reserved for men, even though Andean women were often the economic anchors of their families. Many women with the will and strength to work in tourism were limited to selling snacks or souvenirs along the roadside — jobs with unstable income and little recognition.

When Evolution Treks Peru began in 2015, our mission focused on three goals:

• End abusive porter conditions such as overloading, poor food, and inadequate housing.
• Build a fair, worker‑centered tourism model where staff share in the benefits of trekking.
• Create real opportunities for Quechua women to work as porters, chefs, and guides.

By 2016, our first women began training as porters, and in June 2017, they officially joined our team on the regulated Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. It was a historic moment — the first time women carried loads as official porters on this world‑famous route.

What women do in our team

Most of our women porters come from rural, Quechua‑speaking communities in the Cusco region. Many are mothers and young women for whom this work offers stability, independence, and pride. Within our operations, they serve as:

• Porters, carrying shared gear and guest luggage along high‑altitude trails.
• Chefs and kitchen assistants, preparing hearty meals in challenging mountain conditions.
• Assistant and lead guides, after language and guiding training.

Our goal is to create clear paths of growth — from porter to chef, to assistant guide, and ultimately lead guide — depending on each person’s aspirations.

Fair work for everyone

Empowerment only lasts when built on fairness for all. At Evolution Treks Peru, we follow — and go beyond — Peru’s porter regulations:

• Legal load limits: We fully respect maximum load weights (20 kg for men, 15 kg for women). Instead of excluding women, we hire more staff to share the work equitably.
• Proper equipment and shelter: Porters receive adequate clothing, warm sleeping bags, sturdy footwear, and clean tents — never floor space beside toilets or kitchens.
• Good food and rest: Our staff eat the same nutritious meals as our guests.
• Fair pay and transparency: We pay above‑standard wages and foster a cooperative model where everyone has a stake in the company’s success.

Equality means improving conditions for both women and men — raising the baseline for all workers on the Inca Trail.

Breaking stereotypes, building role models

For many of our women porters, the biggest challenge isn’t the altitude — it’s breaking cultural stereotypes. Some communities and male colleagues doubted they could handle the trail’s demands. But every time they climb Dead Woman’s Pass, they prove that strength and endurance have no gender.

Hiking beside these women has become one of the most powerful parts of our guests’ experiences. Travelers often speak of how inspiring it is to see women leading treks, managing camps, and guiding groups at sacred sites. For our team, the impact is equally profound:

• Greater financial independence and family stability.
• Confidence as recognized professionals in outdoor tourism.
• Ambitions to become guides, trainers, or entrepreneurs.

As one of our team members told international media: “Being a porter shows people that women can do any job, even those once said to belong only to men.”

Women‑only expeditions and global recognition

We’ve also launched women‑only Inca Trail treks, where nearly every person — porters, chefs, guides, and travelers — is a woman. These journeys are both symbolic and practical, celebrating how inclusion reshapes adventure travel.

Our work has been featured internationally:

• BBC Travel highlighted our women porters “making history on Peru’s Inca Trail.”
• Lonely Planet cited our treks as examples of responsible tourism that treats porters fairly and hires women.
• National Geographic profiled Peru’s first women porters, crediting our role in opening these opportunities.

Today, our story is referenced worldwide as a model for ethical trekking and gender inclusion in the Andes.

The path ahead

In the upcoming trekking season, more than 80% of our guides will be women — an unprecedented milestone for Peru’s trekking industry. This evolution invites conversations about what true sustainability and inclusion mean across the tourism sector.

The discussion extends beyond gender, touching issues like tokenism, sexual harassment, discrimination, and racism — all of which shape women’s experiences in Peru’s tourism industry. Through this process, our goal is to cultivate a new generation of women tour leaders who shape the future of adventure travel in the Andes.

How your trek supports women’s empowerment

When you hike with Evolution Treks Peru, you directly support this movement:

• You sustain fair pay and dignified conditions for both women and men.
• You create new tourism jobs for Quechua women.
• You show the industry that travelers value ethical, inclusive tour operators.

Each booking helps expand opportunities for women and raises standards across the sector. Step by step, together, we continue transforming high‑altitude trekking in Peru into something fairer, safer, and more inclusive for everyone.