DAY 1

Arrival — Welcome to Peru

Fly into Jauja Airport (JAU), nestled high in the Andes at 3,400m. 3 Bricks staff will be waiting to greet you. We drive to homebase in Villa Rica — 180km from Jauja through dramatic mountain and jungle landscapes — with a stop along the way for your first taste of local food.

On arrival at our homebase hotel in Villa Rica, settle in, meet the group, and enjoy your first traditional Peruvian dinner together.

DAY 2

Cultural Orientation — The Beginning of a Relationship

Our first full day begins with a program orientation co-led by a Yanesha community leader from our project site. This is not a briefing, it is the beginning of a relationship.

We spend the afternoon exploring Villa Rica town: the central market, the plaza, and the surrounding coffee farms that define this region. In the evening, our first guided reflection activity introduces the frameworks of global citizenship and ethical engagement that will run through the whole program.

Service, cultural excursions, and leadership activities alternate across twelve days. Excursion days are deliberately placed to give students mental and physical recovery between intensive service periods.

DAY 3

Service Begins

Service begins. Working on projects planned directly with Yanesha leaders — which may include water infrastructure, community centre construction, medical brigades, native plant nurseries, or cultural documentation work.

Our first day of service introduces the community and the work ahead. In the evening, students reflect on what they have observed and what assumptions they arrived with.

DAY 4

Service — Deep Work

A full day of service. We push into the heart of the project — whatever form that takes — working alongside community members under the guidance of Yanesha leaders.

Evening reflection explores the economics of international development: who funds what, who decides what gets built, and what communities actually need versus what outside organisations assume they need.

DAY 5

Coffee Economy — Lago Ocunal

A cultural and learning excursion day. In the morning we take a guided tour of the local coffee economy — visiting a working farm, learning the process from plant to export, and participating in a tasting led by local producers.

In the afternoon we take a boat ride across the stunning Lago Ocunal, surrounded by cloudforest and mountains. The evening reflection connects what we've seen to global supply chains, fair trade, and economic justice — grounding the day's experience in the broader themes of the program.

DAY 6

Service — Community Day

Back to service. With energy renewed from yesterday's excursion, we focus on meaningful progress. Extended lunch in the community today — a local youth leader demonstrates natural dye techniques the community has been developing to maintain traditional cultural practices. A conversation about what cultural preservation really means, and who it's for.

DAY 7

Oxapampa — A Lesson in Colonisation

Today we drive to nearby Oxapampa, founded in the 19th century by Tyrolean and Prussian settlers. The Tyrolean-style architecture set deep in the Peruvian jungle is disorienting in the best possible way.

We visit a local trout farm, an aguardiente distillery, a cave, a yogurt factory, and a waterfall. We also watch a presentation of the distinctive traditional dance of the region.

The evening reflection asks: what does it mean when one culture's architecture becomes another place's 'heritage'? A conversation that carries particular resonance for First Nations Australian students.

DAY 8

Service — Project Push

A full service day with the energy and perspective of the week behind us. We work with focus and purpose, knowing we have passed the midpoint of our time in Villa Rica.

Evening: documentary screening on the history of land rights in the Amazon, followed by open discussion.

DAY 9

Service — Monitoring & Micro-Consultancy

Service continues. Today's work includes an element of project monitoring — reviewing what has been built, what remains, and what sustainable handover looks like. Community members take the lead on assessment.

In the afternoon, students begin developing their micro-consultancy proposals for local foundations and community organisations — applying everything learned so far to a real challenge identified by the Yanesha community.

DAY 10

Leadership Projects — Community Presentations

Students present their micro-consultancy proposals to local community representatives and 3 Bricks facilitators. Real audience, real feedback, real stakes.

This is the leadership challenge at the heart of the program — applying knowledge, empathy, and critical thinking to a genuine community need. Proposals are discussed, refined, and in some cases, adopted.

Evening: celebration dinner with community members.

DAY 11

Service — Final Push

Our penultimate service day. We give everything we have to completing project tasks. It will be exhausting. It will be worth it.

DAY 12

Service — Final Day & Closing Ceremony

For our final service day we wrap up remaining tasks, complete monitoring and evaluation documentation, and discuss community follow-up plans with Yanesha leaders.

In the afternoon, a closing ceremony with community members. Yanesha leaders share traditional dance and music. Students share reflections. A moment that tends to stay with people for a long time.

DAY 13

Farewell & Final Evening in Villa Rica

A slower day. Time to rest, process the experience, write, talk, and say personal goodbyes to the community and the place.

An evening reflection session prepares students for the transition from immersive community work to the historical and cultural landscape of Cusco. What do we carry with us? What do we leave behind?

Final group dinner in Villa Rica. Students share one thing they will take home and one thing they want to change.

Jauja → Cusco — Into the Mountains

An early start as we return to Jauja for our flight to Cusco. The drive back through the Andes is extraordinary — hydroelectric dams, ancient potato and quinoa terraces carved into hillsides, pre-Incan ruins visible from the road, and if we're lucky, Vicuñas grazing in the highland grasslands.

Arriving in Cusco (3,400m), we travel to our hotel in the historic centre. Here we meet our jungle trek guide for a briefing on the days ahead. Then relax, hydrate, and explore the city at your own pace as we adjust to the altitude.

Acclimatise and foot tour of Cusco. We visit the Cusco Cathedral, the San Pedro Market (last chance for gifts), and then climb above the city to the Inca ruins of the Moon Temple and Sacsayhuamán, where the stones of a dismantled Inca empire form the foundation of a colonial church below — a landscape that says everything about conquest without saying a word.

DAY 16

Jungle Trek — Sacred Valley

Hot coca tea for breakfast, then a visit to the San Pedro market to stock up on snacks and last-minute hiking supplies.

We travel through the Sacred Valley by minivan, stopping for lunch with views over the valley, then begin our hike into the cloudforest to 'Monkey House' — a small homestay set amongst a coffee farm overlooking the Andean valley. One of the most memorable nights of the trip.

DAY 17

Inca Trail — The Most Challenging Day

After breakfast overlooking the valley we begin our hike along the remarkable paths and steep stairs of the Inca Trail — one of the great walks in the world.

After lunch we continue to the natural outdoor hot springs of Santa Teresa, where we relax and watch the sunset over the mountains before checking into our accommodation for the night.

DAY 18

Ziplining → Aguas Calientes

We begin with an adrenaline-pumping zipline adventure across deep Andean valleys — cables almost 1km in length, views that go on forever.

From here we hike to Aguas Calientes — 'Machu Picchu Town' — with a stop for lunch along the way. The evening is spent exploring the local markets, buying last-minute gifts, and getting an early night ahead of the sunrise start tomorrow.

DAY 19

Machu Picchu — Earned, Not Visited

Wake before dawn for the hike to the entrance gate — arriving in time to watch the sunrise illuminate one of the world's most extraordinary sites.

We explore Machu Picchu not as tourists, but as learners who have spent two weeks working alongside Andean communities and earned a deeper understanding of what we are looking at. Our local guide contextualises the site within the broader narrative of Inca civilisation, Spanish conquest, and the enduring strength of Quechua culture.

After lunch in Aguas Calientes, we board the panoramic viewing train back through the Sacred Valley to Cusco. An early night — we have earned it.

DAY 20

Cusco Tour — History, Power & Resilience

After a well-earned post-trek rest, a private guided tour of Cusco's most significant historical sites with Jhonn Casani, our long-time Quechua expert and guide. We’ll have a chilled day of celebration and souvenir shopping.

Final group dinner together in Cusco. A celebration of what we have done, and a recognition of what we carry forward.

DAY 21

Departure

Breakfast at the hotel. Then it is time to go.

For early departures: we travel together to Cusco Airport (CUZ). For later departures: one last morning in Cusco — a final sunrise, a final walk through the streets, a final coffee looking out over the city that watched an empire fall and kept standing.

The program ends at Cusco Airport (CUZ). We can assist with onward flight coordination — please let us know your arrangements.