Peru – Archaeology Volunteering in Sacred Valley of the Inca

The most satisfactory part was visiting and working on various archeological sites. Wonderful feeling to know that though small I did have an impact. Also staying and interacting with our host family gave me a glimpse of the culture and the people.

Participating in archaeology was very informative and amazing. I had no idea how involved Incan and pre-Incan infrastructure was still a part of modern Peruvian life. Being a part of something that predates even America was amazing!

I was excited when I read that I could expect to do 4-6 hours of archaeology Monday- Friday. And all the different tasks it would entail, such as excavation, artefact classification, etc. There was a warning about weeding, but I didn't expect to do it 10 days out of 12. Furthermore, the 'archaeology' was only for 2 hours a day. On one occasion it was only one hour. The people I stayed with were lovely and it's not their fault, it's the bureaucracy in Peru which you aren't warned about until you're already there! Basically because you're not qualified, you can only weed. There was no consistency, nearly everyday was somewhere different so there was no measure of progress. The only benefit was getting to see archaeological sites off the beaten track that tours don't cover. But every afternoon I was having to be creative to find something to do because I had 5 hours free time. There is only so much you can do in the middle of nowhere. This project was wildly missold and needs to be reevaluated.