A typical summary of the 4 Day / 3 Night Trek also known as the Qeros expedition goes more or less like this:

• Day One: On the way to visit the Qeros community, swim in waterfalls!
• Day Two: Trek to the native community of Qeros crossing streams, pastures and thick forest. Experience traditional storytelling, ancient skills like mating fire with sticks and trying bamboo cooked meals.
• Day Three: Walk into the forest and learn about the Qeros medicinal plants and later try your hand at traditional rainforest archery.
• Day four: Rafting on balsa wood rafts and visit to the Queros Sacred Rock

The Qeros Expedition (4 Day / 3 Night Trek) by Nick Webber:

The volunteers and I recently went on a 4 day expedition to visit the Qeros native community. Along the way we stayed at a Lodge near Atalaya, swam in a waterfall and were entertained by the resident howler monkeys. We also saw the ‘cock of the rock’; the bright red national bird of Peru.
On day two we went on a 2 hour trek through the forest to the Qeros village guided by Freddie, a member of the Qeros community. It was a hot day and we crossed streams, pastures and thick forest. As soon as we arrived at the Qeros village we went for a swim in the river then ate a lunch of yucca and chicken cooked in bamboo.

After Lunch a village elder sung a traditional story while the children acted out the tale in the form of a dance. One of the boys dressed as a Jaguar and the others pretended to spear him and then carry him back to the village as a trophy. It was quite entertaining, if only because the boys giggled throughout.

As the performance came to a close some of the ladies of the village came and sat on the grass with us and showed us how to make handicrafts in the Qeros fashion. We first made fertility necklaces out of red, grey and black seed-pods and watched a demonstration of how to make small woven baskets. The village elder who had earlier sung, changed out of his traditional clothes (a dress made from the fibres of a local vine) and appeared in a baseball cap, jeans and a T shirt to show us how to make arrows. He carved a dark hard wood with his knife, and Phil, one of the volunteers, sat beside him and became a willing initiate.

After that we enjoyed a game of football; Qeros versus Volunteers, with the Qeros barefoot and us in hiking boots. It was a long game which ended in darkness with an 8 all draw. The Qeros were ahead until the last minute when Dionisio, our guide, scored a goal from 20 yards out. Exhausted, we went back to our hut to shower and get ready for dinner, which was again Yucca and chicken.

In the evening Freddie showed us how to make fire with two sticks. It took about 10 minutes of hard work first to see smoke and then to ignite a ball of dried grass, though once that was lit the fire did not take long to get going. Within a few minutes we were all sitting round the bonfire and over the course of the evening we listened to songs and stories told by different members of the community.
The following morning we were up at 7 to go on a forest walk to learn about medicinal plants used by the Qeros, including a yellow plant one can chew for toothache, a tree sap that is ingested to clear stomach parasites and another tree sap that helps wounds to heal quickly. Before entering the forest Freddie painted everyone’s faces with red dye to ward off evil forest spirits.

A Breakfast of Yucca and Chicken followed the tour and after that we took part in an archery contest using a traditional bow. We fired at a target around 30 yards away which I thought would be easy to hit. However, I was wrong; The bow was large and unwieldy and I managed to hit the target just once. Jesse, one of the volunteers won with a near bullseye. It is safe to say that if any of the Qeros had taken part in the competition I am sure they would have been much better at it..

As it was our last day we packed our bags and went down to the river to take part in the rafting trip which was to be our last activity. We boarded two balsa-wood rafts, crouching for stability while two Qeros men stood at either end with long poles and pushed their way through the rapids. At halfway the boats stopped and we headed in to the forest to see a sacred rock which has been used by the Qeros for generations as a meeting place between different native communities and also as a place to ask forest spirits for protection. We arrived in a clearing where we found a large volcanic rock covered in white symbols and patterns. Freddie instructed us to remove our shoes so that we could climb on top to look at the symbols. Unfortunately he was unable to tell us the significance of each symbol as he told us over the past century many church missionaries ‘re educated’ the local communities, causing them to forget much of their old beliefs and heritage.

Before I left I spoke with ‘Arturo’, another Qeros member, who said despite the fact that tourism is new to the Qeros he believes it is a positive thing as it gives them a means of surviving in a more or less traditional manner, and helps them stick together as a community too: Before they had begun admitting tourists Arturo told me many Qeros had left the village to find work in towns and cities. Freddie, our guide, had himself left though he has now returned and is back living in the reserve with his family. Arturo hopes that through tourism they can keep living in the forest for generations to come.

The end of our visit with the Qeros came that afternoon with the balsa-wood rafts moored on the river bank. We ate our lunch of Yucca and Chicken out of Banana leaves, said our goodbyes and walked back across the bridge. The last I remember is Freddie, Arturo and others laying on the river bank in the sun, smiling and sucking on Chicken bones.

Enhance your Programme with some exciting activities: