Our Travel Philosophy

There are many ways to travel. We’ve been in the business of traveling for a while now and feel like we do it just right. There are four cornerstones to our travel philosophy: avoiding large-group travel, traveling safely, having a positive impact on the environment and the cultures we visit, and making a constant and concerted effort to give back to the local communities.

On a Southern Crossings trip, you will not feel like an anonymous tourist being piled onto the bus and herded relentlessly from destination to destination. Our tours are for individuals, friends, families and small groups, and we take pride in providing a personal and unique experience. This means we often have dinner with our clients, help you out with any particular interests, hobbies or shopping items you’d like while you’re here, and we have a 24-hour local phone number for any questions you might have.

There are several ways we try to make your trip as safe as possible. On all of our tours, our guides are bilingual, have degrees in tourism and have all lived and traveled extensively in the regions in which they work. And we utilize the most experienced and reputable crews for all of our adventure activities. Our adventure sport teams have a combined 30 years of experience and excellent safety records. Finally, we only use bus companies and airlines that have exceptional safety records and are reliable, even when other companies are considerably cheaper.

What’s positive-impact tourism? A lot of things, both big and small, like using a trekking staff that packs out all of its garbage, or encouraging our passengers not to hand out money or candy to the kids we encounter along the way (we encourage postcards from home, school supplies, toothbrushes or Polaroid pictures instead). We recognize that any form of tourism has an impact on its destination, but we try to make ours as positive as possible.

Finally, we truly believe in giving back to the communities we visit, and we do it in a unique way that we think you’ll really like. Many tour companies pledge to give a certain amount of sales to certain organizations, but you as customers never actually see this happening. On a Southern Crossings trip, you do! As a matter of fact, you can give it yourself. One percent of our trip price goes to a children’s charity which you can visit on your trip. (If you don’t have time to stop by, we still give the money…) So if your trip costs $2000, we’ll give $20 of that to the charity when we visit. This way, you’re not just passing through, you’re actually making a difference!

The Southern Crossings Team

• Doug Newton
  

  Doug Newton, a native of St. Petersburg, USA, first traveled to Latin America in the early nineties, living in Guatemala and teaching English. He has been going back ever since, traveling extensively throughout Central and South America and leading backpacking and adventure tours. Along the way, he also earned a bachelor’s degree in South American [...]

• Kris Murphy
  

  Kris Murphy was born and raised in the U.S. state of Vermont. In his free time he enjoys hiking, swimming, mountain biking, snowboarding and practicing general aviation.  He has traveled extensively through Latin America and now lives in Cuzco, Peru.   Kris is the Cuzco office manager and at times works as a tour leader. You’re [...]

• Yanina Quispe Vara
  

  Yanina was born and raised in Cuzco, Peru. She has a bachelor’s degree in Tourism. Yanina is the operations manager and overseas all in-country reservations here at Southern Crossings.  She is always looking for the best hotels, guides and routes for our tours. Yanina participated in an exchange program in Lake Placid, New York where [...]

• Andreas Beckwith
  

  Andreas was born in Hemel Hempstead, just outside London in the UK.  After graduating from Queen Mary University in London he travelled around the world, visiting several places in Asia and Latin America.  He also lived in Spain for a while; where he learnt Spanish while teaching English.  In his spare time he enjoys keeping [...]

• Shannon Hughes
  

  Shannon was born near Boston, in the United States, and lived in Montana for eight years prior to arriving in Cuzco.  She is always looking for a new place to visit and/or live with bigger mountains and wilder landscapes. Mountain biking, skiing, art, and good food are the cornerstones around which all else revolves in [...]

• Rich Anchante
  

  Rich Anchante was born in Lima, Peru.  He spent eight years living in the US state of Virginia, speaks excellent English and is a BIG fan of the Philadelphia Eagles.  Rich now lives in Cuzco, Peru and will most likely be the person picking you up from the airport upon arrival.  In his spare time, [...]

• Rene Sarayasi
  

  Rene Sarayasi was born in a small village outside the city of Cuzco in southern Peru. He grew up wandering the old Inca paths and absorbing knowledge about the flora and fauna of the region. He went to college in Lima, earning a bachelor’s degree in philosophy, but was drawn back to the Andes, where [...]

• Alcira Moreano
  

  Alcira studied tourism in the Instituto Supeno Tecnologico de Tupac Amaru. She did her internship at the Museo Historico Regional and has guided tours throughout Cuzco including Inca Trail treks. Whether it’s a city tour of Cuzco or hiking in the Andes mountains Alcira is one of our most experienced guides.

• Nilo Gamarra
  

  Nilo Gamarra grew up in the small village of Pocourhuay, outside of the city of Cuzco.  His first language was Quechua, and he didn’t begin learning Spanish until he came to school in Cuzco.  Of course now he is fluent in both languages, as well as English.  At an early age, Nilo decided he wanted [...]

• Wagner das Chagas
  

  Wagner das Chagas lives in Rio de Janeiro and guides all over Brazil. He studied tourism and received his license to guide through Embratur, The Federal Tourism Authority. When not guiding clients, Wagner is also a municipal policeman in the city of Rio de Janeiro.  Wagner always goes the extra mile for our clients and [...]

• Enrique Palacios
  

  When you arrive into Lima, Peru, it will be Enrique’s face that greets you, or that of his son Luis. Look for the big smile! Enrique is our “always there, always dependable” driver and transfer guy in Lima. As our operations manager has put it, “I started sleeping at night when we started working with [...]

• Sandra Melendez Garcia
  

  Sandra was born in Rodriguez de Mendoza, Amazonas Peru. She studied to be a secretary and speaks English and Italian. Both languages have proven very helpful in her job as a tour conductor and transfer specialist. Sandra has always had an interest in tourism and worked as a Sales and Administration Manager for 10 years. [...]

• Liset Argon
  

  Liset was born and raised in Aguas Calientes, the town just below Machu Picchu. She comes from a small family and moved to Cuzco at the age of eighteen to fulfil her dream of becoming a tour guide.  She studied English and tourism in Cuzco, and put her English to the test while working in [...]

• Ivan Nuñez
  

  Ivan Nuñez was born and raised in Puno near Titicaca Lake. He has a degree in tourism and has been working as a guide for almost 6 years. He works alot with the communities around the lake and inside the islands to develop sustainable tourism. He loves downhill biking and travelling, especially in sunny places. [...]