Afternoon Tea is Served at Inkaterra Hacienda Urubamba

An authentic Peruvian style afternoon tea is now being served at Inkaterra Hacienda Urubamba, Inkaterra’s latest property set in the Sacred Valley of the Incas.

Screen Shot 2015-06-24 at 12.54.53

The Sacred Valley is home to some of the finest Incan sites that are calling to be explored. After a long day of touring the picturesque villages and hiking in the mountains, guests can retreat back to the hacienda to hang up their hiking boots and relax with an afternoon tea.

IMG_0870

Tea is of course the focal point in the proceedings; mint and chamomile are just a few examples of the infusions on offer that are harvested from the property’s orchard. Some aromatic herbs are proposed to you on arrival to ensure the tea is exactly what you need.

at

Other types of organic tea, including black and green, derive from the sustainable farming  Organic Tea Plantation at the Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel, which offers a behind-the-scenes tour where you can witness the traditional tea making process. The tea is farmed using organic agricultural methods combined with ancient manual and carbon-free farming.

MP_Tea3

With the hacienda’s Earth to Plate concept in mind, the afternoon delicacies that go hand in hand with the organic tea offerings are baked using ingredients from the Inkaterra Hacienda Urubamba Farm. Cakes such as vanilla, orange and quinoa as well as carrot and coca biscuits are just a few of the selection.

Afternoon tea is served at all Inkaterra properties and is adapted to each individual area.

For more information on Inkaterra Hacienda Urubamba’s Earth to Plate concept, please click here.

26.6.15

Inkaterra Founder Jose Koechlin on 40 Years of Inkaterra

Inkaterra founder and owner José Koechlin  visited the UK last week to mark the start of the Inkaterra 40th Anniversary. Mr Koechlin shared his favourite moments, the making of Inkaterra and some teasers of what Inkaterra has in the pipeline. To ensure you don’t miss out, we’ve shared some of the highlights from Mr Koechlin’s remarkable life and a few snippets of his words of wisdom.

Jose Koechlin

José Koechlin has been a pioneer of eco and sustainable tourism, dedicating his life to conservation in Peru since 1975. Throughout these 40 years, Mr Koechlin has chaired numerous tourism and conservation boards including Chairman of the Sociedad Hoteles del Perú, and E-Meritus Board Member of Conservation International (Washington D.C.), adding huge value to their respective sectors in Peru.

Screen Shot 2015-06-23 at 09.21.12

Screen Shot 2015-05-19 at 11.32.43

Mr Koechlin sponsored major inventories of flora and fauna in the Amazon basin, resulting in Harvard Professor E.O. Wilson’s inventory finding more ant species at Inkaterra Reserva Amazonica than anywhere else in the world. He is responsible for the creation of the world’s largest collection of native species of orchids (372) in their natural habitat (according to the American Orchid Society) at Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel. As well as orchids, there are 18 unique species of hummingbird at Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel.

The Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel is also home to the Andean Bear Rescue Centre, one of Mr Koechlin’s concepts that recovers bears that have been negatively affected by human impact and reintroduces them into their natural habitat.

Screen Shot 2015-06-23 at 09.45.43

Orchid

Ocrhids

Mr Koechlin was the founder of ‘The Purification Inca Trail’ to Machu Picchu and also the original Hiram Bingham Trail – having trekked through thick forestation to find the hidden trail.

DSC02553

Inkaterra have been awarded numerous recognitions, notably Relais & Châteaux 2013 Environment Trophy, the 2012 Tourism for Tomorrow Award for Conservation (WTTC). This year Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel was named as one of National Geographic Traveller’s Unique Lodges of the World.

On his visit, Mr Koechlin partook in an interview about his life and works. When asked about the reasoning behind the concept of Inkaterra and his works in sustainability he answered:

‘At the age of 10, I went on a mission at school, who took us on trips to far away places with no electricity and no modernity. It is there that I realised my purpose was to do worthwhile things. Learn what nature has provided so that you may use that wealth to create wealth…’

23.6.15

Inkaterra Participates in World Environment Day

World Environment Day falls on the 5th June every year as an initiative by the United Nations to spread awareness of environmental issues. As strong supporters of the day, we at Inkaterra had a jam-packed itinerary on the day across our properties so we thought we would share a little bit of what we did at Inkaterra Hacienda UrubambaInkaterra Hacienda Concepción and Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel...

Inkaterra Hacienda Urubamba

inka 5

Untitled

At our newest property, we invited children of our employees to visit and partake in a day of reforestation activities. The children explored the hacienda’s grounds for a treasure hunt before sharing the World Environment Day activities that they learnt about in school. Each child then had the special opportunity of planting a eucalyptus tree on the grounds to commemorate the day and discuss how important protecting the planet is.

Inkaterra Hacienda Concepción

HC_Fitzcarrald001mail

Untitled 2

At Inkaterra Hacienda Concepcion, we placed more of an emphasis on recycling. Victor, our guide and a group of travellers set off on the trails leading from the hotel collecting littered plastic and brought it back to the hotel to recycle. As well as this, students from the Puerto Maldonado´s Guillermo Billinghurst primary school visited the hotel and were given a talk from guides, Alan and Fray on the importance of World Environment Day before heading down the Cocoa trail to learn more from the guides about reforestation at the hotel.

Inkaterra Machu Picchu Pueblo Hotel

imp

The day began at 9am, where all colleagues from house keeping to human resources  went down to the rio Alcamayo to clear the litter and return it to the hotel for recycling. In the afternoon, travellers who were following the Orchid Trail, were given a lecture and demonstration on what we do to preserve the environment on which we work and live.

Deforestation: the facts

In Peru, 715ha of forest is lost everyday from illegal logging and coca growing to name a few.

World Environment Day is very close to our hearts, our sustainability policy highlights our endeavours in saving the planet – Together, we can make a difference.

11.6.15

Traditional Peruvian Farming

With the Inca history being so deeply engrained in the local region, it is no surprise that our new Inkaterra Hacienda Urubamba in the Sacred Valley of the Incas takes inspiration from this ancient civilisation with 10 acres of farmland, the new hacienda uses some of the same methods that the Incas used centuries ago…

Crops such as Quinoa, Potato and Corn are resilient, ideal for the Peruvian climates thanks to how the Incas farmed them all those years ago.  At Inkaterra Hacienda Urubamba, we have recreated and solely use the traditional methods of the Incas to grow these crops ourselves.

Flickr image courtesy of net_efekt http://bit.ly/1Jq0WVn

Flickr image courtesy of net_efekt http://bit.ly/1Jq0WVn

We use tacllas, a foot plough, developed by traditional farmers to prepare the soil for planting by using human weight to turn up the ground.

Dsc_1589

Oxen and llamas are also used on the farm and we also only use traditional oxen carts, instead of modern farming such as machinery and tractors to transport our crops.

Buey

These farming methods have helped us develop our ‘Earth to Plate’ concept, giving guests a completely unique taste and food experience.

357A4601

You can experience this traditional farming at Inkaterra Hacienda Urubamba as part of your Inkaterra experience.

For more information, please click here.

4.6.15