Amazing time in Cucso

I've been volunteering in Cusco in November 2018. It was my first time in Latin America and I'm glad I choose Peru and particularly Cusco. Cusco is a beautiful city with so much to discover around it! You have many things to do in the city itself: the main square is amazing with a beautiful cathedral, you can go to the chocolate museum and make your own chocolate, you can go to the planetarium, you can go to Cristo Blanco and have a wonderful view on Cusco, you can go to many markets and so on! There are so much to discover and you can feel safe there. The food is amazing and quite cheap! The only thing is that I had some strugle to get used to altitude, so make sure you take medicines with you :)

Many activities can be done around Cusco during your weekends : you can go to lake titicaca, to machupichu, to rainbow mountain, to salt mines, to humantay lake. The "American Inka trail" office is really great to plan these trips. I did all my excursions with them and was never disappointed (there are in the same building than the IVHQ-Maximo nivel staff in Cusco).

The orientation on the first day was fine and clear. You can meet some people there. The IVHQ Staff in Cusco (which is "Maximo Nivel") is very nice and helpful. Don't hesitate to ask them if you have any question/problem with your program. They are checking on you at your volunteer placement and always ask if everything is fine.

My homestay was really great and people there were so nice. It was at 30min/40min from the city center on foot but there were many bus available to go to the city center in 15min. The house was very confortable and shared with 2 other volunteer girls. Our "house mother" was really nice and cooked many peruvian dishes for us.

I was voluterring in the animal care project and enjoyed it too. I first went to the dog shelter which is a bit far from Cusco but the dogs are really cute. They really need your attention and love! And then, I went to the small rescue center and was able to take care of turtles, parrots, deers, lamas, etc. It was a really great experience and you feel like you can really help them in their day-to-day tasks!

I think that speaking spanish, at least a bit, is very helpful to make the most of your experience in your homestay and in your volunteer placement. You have very good spanish classes available with Maximo Nivel.

So don't hesitate to go to Cusco with IVHQ you won't regret it! :)