The remote communities of the Q'eros are located at 4,400 meters above sea level. or 14,500 feet above sea level, in the snow-capped Cordillera Vilcanota, the highest mountain range in southeastern Peru. There are more than 2,000 people living in fourteen villages of the Q'eros nation, which are spread across many valleys and rivers.
The Q'eros are known as the guardians of the wisdom of the Andes. Regarded as "El último ayllu Inca", or the last Inca community of Peru, the Q'eros strive to preserve and promote their indigenous cultural and ethnic identity.
The Nation of the Q'eros has been designated as a "Living Cultural Heritage of the Nation" for the continuity of its ancient Andean traditions by the Ministry of Culture of Peru.
The Q'eros live a life of work and are one with nature: offerings are made to the Pacha Mama (Mother Earth), and to the Apus, (Mountain Spirits) in exchange for the welfare of their animals, crops and themselves.
The world concept worldview of Ayni (reciprocity), the importance of reciprocal exchange, and animu, the awareness of an animate essence in all things, shape their interactions with others and their environment.
Love, joy, perseverance, intrinsic integrity, and the ability to “just be” permeate your daily life with all that nature has to offer.