Inca Projects Volunteer Stories, Peru

Inca Project in Peru - Ike Crews My name is Ike Crews and for three months I had the opportunity to live and work in Peru.  I graduated high school in 2008 and then took a gap year before attending Davidson College.  I have always had a passion for history which comes alive when I am able to put the history I have learned with a building or a place.  Because of this, I knew I wanted to do some archaeological work during my gap year.

Inca Project in Peru - Amy Martin My first impression of Peru upon touchdown was ‘’wow, look at those mountains!’’. Stepping off the plane, I could immediately feel the difference in altitude between here and Lima, where we had flown from. Luckily, I never got altitude sickness like some people did. I travelled with another girl from England, who was doing the teaching project in Urubamba. I was to stay with her and her host family for one night before heading off to the Inca Project. We met Projects Abroad staff member Yessica at the airport, who was friendly and helpful, and we took a taxi with her.

Inca Projects in Peru - Eleanor Fry When I reached Cusco after my flight from Lima, one of the staff from the Projects Abroad office came and picked me up. Then, after a brief visit to the office, I got to meet my family: my 'mum & dad', Mabel & Justo, and my brothers, Keny & Jose, and my sister Geraldine. I lived with the family and my other English housemate Simon, in Pisac, a town in the Sacred Valley.

Inca Projects in Peru - Duncan Hewitt The great thing about the project was the fact that you got to visit ruins and countryside that is off the tourist trail, and you realise how much there is to see and understand about the country and the people.

Inca Projects in Peru - Dave Rogers I'll tell you a little about Zurite where we live. All the houses are blessed with those curved Spanish-style tiles. There are plenty of animals too. In the morning you can watch the residents taking their little herds of cattle and donkeys to the hills to graze, and it's been commented that there are more dogs than people in the town...

Inca Projects in Peru - Jasper Oshun The memories of my time abroad grow more wonderful and fantastic each day I spend away from Zurite. Of course I enjoyed every moment I spent climbing the terraces, eating dinner with the volunteers, chatting with my family and the weekly cosmopolitan excursions into Cusco; yet each day that I spend in Providence, Rhode Island, my experiences seem more unbelievable, more otherworldly and are therefore more treasured.