Humantay Lake 1-daagse tour

I am giving this tour five stars because of our tour guide, Hayme (may have spelled his name wrong). However, I think there needs to be serious disclaimers on this tour because I was not prepared for what I experienced. First of all, the car ride is very long, it was almost 4 hours each way! We were in a private vehicle which was the right move. The last hour in a half is through the mountains and basically off roading. Noting this for people who get car sick. Once we arrived, it was over 30 minutes just to walk to the beginning of the trek. And this is a trek. I believe the description said “easy hike” to the lake. I think this is an inaccurate description and I hope it gets updated. There was also nothing in the description about what you should bring. Thankfully my husband and I were prepared i.e. wearing hiking boots, sun hat, sunscreen, rain coat, water and snacks because you are in the jungle in the middle of the Andes mountains. This is for all the Americans out there that will appreciate this! Haha We were at 12k feet where we parked. I was immediately feeling the effects of the altitude and shame on me for not taking pills beforehand. If you’re wondering if you should, you should! We are from New York and it hit me hard, I couldn’t catch my breath and I am a physically fit woman in my 30s. Because I was just struggling to make it to the trek or trailhead, I was concerned and considering taking a horse for 80 sol. When we arrived where the horses were, it was complete chaos. No one really spoke English except our guide, who was excellent by the way and this is definitely not his fault. The right expectations just need to be set. I personally did not feel comfortable getting on this poor horse. I immediately felt heart broken for the horses. I know horses are strong but they are using them to literally drag people up this mountain and then run them down…all day long. I saw one of the men hit a horse with the wooden walking stick, I am not exaggerating. So I immediately let Hayme know that this was not an option for me and I am going to try the hike. Now, this is a mountain to a glacier lake. It is a full ascent up to 14k feet. If you are not prepared with how you are dressed, feel, and acclimated to the altitude, you will struggle. My husband had went ahead because he thought I was getting on a horse so at this point I was just with Hayme and we started up the trail. Looking up was daunting because I am not exaggerating, the trail was to the top of the mountain! Hayme was very encouraging and told me it was ok but I would walk five steps and have to stop to catch my breath. I still cannot believe this happened to me but it did. I was light headed, dizzy, and nauseous. I would have did my health a disservice if I attempted to finish the hike. It was disappointing but I didn’t want to ruin the rest of my vacation so I threw in the towel and handed over my walking sticks to Hayme. Hayme went to catch up with my husband and I stayed at the beginning of the trek which is in a beautiful valley and people watched. I saw very few Americans but let me tell you that 95% of the people that were hiking this had no idea what they were getting themselves into! I saw so many people wearing sneakers, jeans, older folks, I saw one woman wearing a skirt and heeled boots! And guess what, they were all struggling, gasping for air. Some people turned around, some people went for it. It was a personal decision that I had to make for myself. My husband is a physically fit 33 year old man and he struggled but he made it. It was a beautiful glacier lake and he was very proud of himself but it was hard for him to keep his heart rate down and to breathe. This is not a bad review against this tour, it is definitely an experience we will never forget. I just think the right expectations need to be set and the description needs to be clearer. I also think that someone should recognize the treatment of those horses!

Excellent tour, we went to Humantay as a family and we enjoyed it very much, Willy, our guide was excellent, he explained everything to us in detail, he takes great care of us, he had a lot of knowledge of history and added his personal touch as he was from the Andes as well, so the tour was much more than we expected.