WHO WE ARE?
since 2009
Our History
Southern Peru Explorers was born from a deep love of history and culture from our own backyard. Here in Peru we have epic scenery that provides a variety of adventures and incredibly rare wildlife to appreciate. With our 10+ years of experience in the tourism industry, we will connect you to these experiences and share some of our incredibly rich history.
We’re extremely proud of our culture and our beautiful land; due to this, we offer a diverse selection of experiences, that have both a positive impact on the local population and our planet.
We are dedicated to being responsible guides on our trails. We hire the best native Peruvian guides because we want you to have the best experience with us on your grand adventure!
By choosing the Southern Peru Explorers, you support sustainable tourism here in Peru; and will embark on a unique experience of a lifetime. We are stewards of the environment, committed to the community; all while giving you that highly sought after ‘off the beaten path’ experience. If you want an authentic experience with professional, friendly, experienced guides, we’re the company for you!
Joel Cardenas
FOUNDER
For Joel, Southern Peru Explorers combines three things that he values most: showing others the astounding natural beauty of Peru, honoring the rich Incan culture of the Cusco region, and uniting people from all over the world for mutual learning and fun.
Joel, who is fluent in Spanish, Quechua, and English, is a graduate of the Universidad San Antonio ABAD in Cusco, with a degree in tourism. Immediately after graduation, he founded Southern Peru Explorers to provide visitors with a unique travel experience, drawing upon his travels throughout Europe and South America. “When participants on our treks are surrounded by such beauty, it makes them forget about the stress of everyday life and enjoy each moment.” As a photographer who studied at Lima Imagen, Joel showcases his unique aesthetic skills in the company’s videos and vibrant visual images.
While no picture can completely capture the awe inspiring beauty participants will encompass with Southern Peru Explorers’ tours, Joel’s photos certainly give you a glimpse into the captivating beauty you will experience on one of these incredible treks.
Our Porters Team
An excellent guide can make all the difference in providing you with an unforgettable experience. That’s why Southern Peru Explorers invests in recruiting some of the best native guides in the region. We ensure that each of our guides is backed by years of experience, proper licensing, updated certifications, and excellent client reviews; all of which are available on our TripAdvisor page. Expertise, enthusiasm, interpersonal skills, language proficiency, empathy, integrity, and a sense of humor are the basis upon which we have built an outstanding and diverse team of guides; who consistently provide top-quality service.
We believe that language proficiency is crucial to the quality of our service; and so, we have staff that are fluent in English, Spanish, French, Italian and German to accommodate your communication needs. If your language is not within our scope of experience, we are happy to provide a translator.
Our chefs come from all walks of life: most are farmers who grow our food. However, all are in-house trained to our exceptionally high standards. Not only this but they carry all the equipment they will need to produce your restaurant-quality food, while you’re adventuring in the mountains. We think they are super heroes!
Meet Our Experienced Tour Guides
We have guides that specialize in bird watching, flora & fauna, archaeology, history, architecture, anthropology, and spirituality. These amazing guides also run our speialized treks, giving you a rich overlay of thematic expertise above and beyond any typical trekking experience you may have.
Finally, and most importantly, all of our guides are trained in Advanced First Aid & Rescue to ensure your utmost safety on the trails. Our team is regularly updated through international seminars and courses in their respective fields.
We have guides that specialize in bird watching, flora & fauna, archaeology, history, architecture, anthropology, and spirituality. These amazing guides also run our speialized treks, giving you a rich overlay of thematic expertise above and beyond any typical trekking experience you may have.
Finally, and most importantly, all of our guides are trained in Advanced First Aid & Rescue to ensure your utmost safety on the trails. Our team is regularly updated through international seminars and courses in their respective fields.
Our Lincense
We have our certificate from DIRCETUR (Dirección Regional de Comercio Exterior y Turismo del Cusco), and we are also certified by PROMPERU (Comisión de Promoción del Perú para la Exportación y el Turismo), which is 2 of the government agencies in charge of travel and exports. We also registered with SUNAT, the agency in charge of taxation.
Our Values
MISSION
We are a company oriented around excellence service, offering quality solutions with the best alternatives for the needs of our travelers. We, unlike others, handpick products, promote, and truly provide a quality personalized service. We always try to exceed our customers expectations. We seek to maintain a lasting relationship with our customers through after-sales attention and personalized follow-up care, to promote loyalty and ensure total satisfaction. We are centered around your needs, and communication is key. Our fundamental mission and responsibility is to spread and instill respect for our planet, promoting environmental sustainability, and social inclusion.
VISION
Our Vision is to be recognized as an agent of change, developing sustainable tourism as the only viable form of tourism. To work to generate and promote cultural experiences as a sustainable model between society and nature. We are continuously expanding our services as a travel agency & tour operator across all of Peru; maintaining high quality standards with a personalized touch, distinguishing us apart from other companies. We will constantly be working to be innovative and achieve higher every day. We will always value: Loyalty, Honesty, Truthfulness, Respect, Dignity, Development, Collaboration, Efficiency and Moral Responsibility regardless of where our journey may take us.
PHYLOSOPHY
We are a company oriented around excellent service; offering quality solutions, with the best alternatives for the needs of our travelers. We unlike others handpick, package, promote and truly provide a quality personalized service, always trying to exceed our customers expectations.We seek to maintain a lasting relationship with our customers with after-sales attention and personalized follow-up care to promote loyalty and ensure total satisfaction
We center around you and communication is key. Our fundamental mission and responsibility is to spread and instill respect for our planet, promoting environmental sustainability and social inclusion.
