Huilloc is a rural community, located in the district of Ollantaytambo, province of Urubamba, 78 km (48.50 miles) from Cusco and at 3,540 m.a.s.l. (11,614 ft). Huilloc is part of the Patacancha valley basin, whose clean and pure water resources are essential for the life of the Andean people, as well as for the subsistence agriculture practiced in the rural area and the surrounding wildlife. The area’s climate is humid and cold; temperatures range between 7°C and 13°C on average, reaching freezing temperatures (May, June, and July), where locals take advantage of the freezing temperatures to make chuño and moraya (dehydrated potatoes).

ANDINA AMAZÓNICA, is honored to be part of the economic reactivation of the inhabitants of the Patacancha Valley to which the community of Huilloc belongs, extends from 2,763 m.a.s.l. to the Puna region at 4,500 m.a.s.l. In December, the men and women of the community begin the annual reforestation of native trees such as the Queuña; an activity that generates reforested forests of more than 680 hectares.

This Andean community still keeps alive the customs, traditions, ways of life, dating from ancient times and are the pride of its people; Huilloc offers each visitor a different, intense and unforgettable life experience. Its representatives, proud of their legacy left by their ancestors, are delighted to share their experiences, joys and sorrows with you. ANDINA AMAZÓNICA invites you to join this unique experience in the heart of the Andes, with the last descendants of our glorious ancestors “the Inca”, learn with them about the true meaning of “quality of life”, understand the relationship and inseparable connection between man and nature, where one cannot survive without the other.

In Huilloc, one will find the direct linear relationship of the ethnic groups that still survive with the ancestral, a way of how they still maintain their culture in force is through their textiles, with ancestral techniques, designs and colors unique to the area, easy to recognize throughout Cusco.

ANDINA AMAZÓNICA offers you to experience some of these activities in the community of Huilloc:

Hiking (Chaskiq); around the community, observing nature and learning about the traditional and natural medicine of the area.

Herding camelids; such as llamas and alpacas, walking along the different pre-Hispanic paths and learning more about these noble animals.

Collective work called “Minka” Yanapanakuy); where we all put our grain of sand, helping our friends in the community with work for the benefit of the community, such as: making adobe bricks, cleaning the village, maintaining the roofs of the houses, cleaning river channels, work in the school, etc.

Agricultural work in the chakra (kusiruna); or in the plots such as: sowing, turning the soil, harvesting, irrigating crops, weeding the fields, etc.,

Process of making garments or textiles (Allin Pachakuy); where you will observe and learn the processes of working with camelid or sheep fiber from the beginning, such as: 1- learning to shear the animal’s wool without causing any kind of damage. 2- learning to use natural plants and herbs that contain saponin to make natural detergent and at the same time that water is used to repel parasites and insects that affect crops, thus helping to be friendly with nature. 3- observe and learn to dye the fibers with pigments that nature offers us, pigments that will remain durable over the years without wearing out or losing the colors. 4- observe and learn to spin the dyed fiber, using the “pushka” or distaff to make the ball or skein. 5- you will learn to make your own garment using the ancestral instruments and techniques that are the most precious legacy of our weavers in the Andes.

Ancestral Ritual Practices (Willac Uma); Andean spirituality, the connection with Mother Nature and the ceremonies in honor of the Apus (sacred mountains) and Pacha Mama (mother earth) have always been and will always be the basis of society; that is why, in the activity of offering to Mother Earth, you will learn to understand how important is the life of the Andean man with his religiosity and beliefs. You will learn the meaning of each element that is part of the ritual, at the ceremonial table, how and why the spirits of the mountains are summoned or called and what response we get from them.

Share the educational process in the community school (Yachay Wasi); in this activity, we will visit the little school of the community, where we will be able to observe the courses that the children learn, the materials they use, how they develop, what needs and lacks they have, as well as the advantages that are used by them. In this class, you can interact with the children, teaching them something new, learning from them, playing and participating with them in a day at school.

Huilloc, considered one of the ancestral communities that maintain the essence, characteristics, organization and modus vivendus since pre-Hispanic times, awaits you and ANDINA AMAZÓNICA, offers you much more than a tour, invites you to live experiences and sensations that will remain in you and change the way you think about life.