About Valentin’s Pachamama Journeys

Valentin Baca Baños is a native Quechua speaker born on a farm in the Sacred Valley and raised with seven brothers and sisters.

His mom, Andrea, never attended school but worked very hard tending her farm and selling and bartering corn, guinea pigs, peaches, and eggs to support her family. She firmly believed in the importance of educating her children; however, buying uniforms and school supplies was costly.

Luckily, she had inherited two bulls from her mom, and every year she would sell one to raise money for Valentin and his siblings to go to school.

She would then trade the other bull in for two young bulls, who would grow during the course of the year and be ready to sell when school started the following year. This process was repeated every year until all of the children finished school.

Keeping it local

Valentin is forever grateful for his mom's hard work and, because of his childhood, is firmly committed to supporting children and families in the mountain villages of the Sacred Valley through social projects and by working with locally owned farms and businesses. 

Valentin started working as a porter on the Inca Trail at age 16. He then worked as a chef on the trail while attending the University of San Antonio in Cusco, pursuing a four-year degree program to become a certified guide, completing coursework in tourism, history, archaeology, flora, fauna, medicine, psychology, and English.

Guiding as a passion

Valentin has been working as a guide for the past 9 years and has led over 500 trips to Machu Picchu.

He has a passion for sharing the culture, history, and beauty of Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley in an energetic, friendly, fun, and spiritual manner. He is the company's owner and takes special care to ensure every customer has a fantastic experience in Peru. He speaks fluent Quechua, Spanish, and English.  

Valentin is proud to have served as a production assistant to Jason Burlage on the documentary Mi Chacra, about a farmer in the Sacred Valley who works as a porter on the Inca Trail.

Hernan was born to an agricultural family near Urubamba and raised in the Sacred Valley, and is a native Quechua speaker.

He completed a 5-year tourism course at the University of San Antonio in Cusco and has been a tour guide for the past 11 years.

You won't forget your day with Hernan; he is humble, intelligent, enthusiastic, and fun. He loves to share the local culture and Inca history with his groups.