Help Elizabeth Beat Cancer

All of us at Apus Peru were simply devastated to learn this year that one of our top guides, Elizabeth Alvarez Palomino, has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. Join us in raising funds to help her obtain a bone marrow transplant and other life-saving treatment, and to help support her family while she is unable to work.

ABOUT ELIZABETH ALVAREZ PALOMINO

Elizabeth has only been working regularly with Apus Peru since 2016, but she’s been a guide since 2006. She loves working as a guide and the adventure that comes with taking a new group out on the trail. Her favourite trek is a classic – the famous Inca Trail.

She also has one or two things hidden up her sleeve – like the fact that she speaks a whopping 5 languages! Friendly and outgoing but also patient and caring, she’s a treasure to have on our team.

I’ve been a guide since: 2006
Hometown: Cusco
Certifications: Guiding, languages
Specialties/Activities: Hiking, flora and fauna
Languages spoken: English, Japanese, French, Spanish, Quechua
Best thing about being a guide: The adventure
Favourite Routes: Inca Trail
When not guiding, I like to: Study

WHAT WE ARE RAISING FUNDS FOR

Having just given birth to a baby boy in December, Elizabeth was enjoying a few months of maternity leave and dreaming about the time when she would be able to get back into the mountains. After two years of pandemic hiatus, Elizabeth – like many guides around Cusco – was eager to get back to doing the work she loves.

At Apus Peru, emails enquiring about hiking in Peru in 2022 seemed to pick up overnight. After months of barely a trickle of interest, by the end of January we were inundated with new calls from people eager to explore the Peruvian Andes.

As the bookings started rolling in, we began booking our guides. Being one of our best guides, Elizabeth was naturally at the top of our list for new opportunities post-maternity leave.

All of that hope and expectation was snuffed out in May when Elizabeth received her diagnosis: multiple myeloma of the spine, a rare form of cancer that weakens the bones of the spine.

Our guide Elizabeth is an absolute treasure! She brings extensive knowledge, true compassion and a wonderful depth of history and anecdotes to the trail. She even carried my daughter's backpack on Day 2 when my daughter was struggling. - Billie M

For several weeks, she had been feeling tired, her arms and legs uncharacteristically weak. She thought it was just related to the recent birth of her son, the effects of looking after a newborn. But when things just didn’t seem right, she sought the counsel of a doctor, and learned the stunning news. Things would never be the same.

All of us at Apus Peru are simply devastated. Elizbeth is one of the family. Her dedication to her profession is unparalleled, her charm irresistible. Elizabeth is one of those people who can light up a room with her bubbly personality, but she doesn’t shy away from hard work. Always the first to volunteer, always going the extra mile – whether in the office, or on the trail.

Our guide, Elizabeth, was one of the most experienced and knowledgeable guides I have ever had. - Zack W, USA

What lies ahead for Elizabeth is not at all the year she had planned. Newly married last year, a 6-month-old brother to her 8-year-old daughter, and finally the prospect of a return to a new normal in tourism, Elizabeth had so much to be thankful for, and so much to look forward to. Now, she faces endless doctor’s appointments and expensive treatments. Her best bet is a bone marrow transplant, but getting to the top of that list takes money she simply doesn’t have.

That’s why we’re raising money for an emergency relief fund for our friend, our family, Elizabeth Alvarez. 100% of whatever we raise will go directly to her.

Our modest goal of $5000 USD won’t bring Elizabeth back into the field this year, but we hope it will provide some short-term financial relief – to help her get the medical attention she needs, and help support her family while she is unable to work.

Our guide Elizabeth was absolutely amazing! She was so kind to us and taught us so much. On the Inca Trail she really helped me keep going even when I wanted to quit. - Jenny R.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Naturally, Apus Peru is supporting Elizabeth every way we can – financially, emotionally, physically – both as a company and as a collection of individual team members.

But – we need YOUR help.

YOU can help ensure that Elizabeth receives the best quality medical treatment available, to help ease her pain and help her fight this diagnosis;

That her husband has the support he needs to help care for his infant son and a young daughter;

That her entire family can get by this year, while she faces a third year in a row being unable to work.

It may not seem like it, but even $10 will go a long way towards helping us meet our goal and every contribution counts.

Help us help Elizabeth. Guides like her are what make your trekking experience in Peru an unforgettable one. Let’s not forget her, too.

Elizabeth has a wonderful personality! She is a great storyteller and gave us so much cultural education. Very lovely and wonderful to be with. I wish she could guide me everywhere! - Nichole M.

WHY IS APUS PERU SUPPORTING ELIZABETH?

Founded in 2005, Apus Peru was born out of our love for Peru and a passion for adventure and the outdoors. It was also one of our driving purposes to put an end to the exploitation that was rampant in the Cusco tourism industry, and bring some of the benefits of tourism to local communities.

All around us, what we saw in the trekking industry in Cusco was the effects of over-tourism, a lack of regulation and mistreatment of those working as porters and muleteers

We have always believed that we need to do more than simply operate responsibly. Since Day 1, we’ve been committed to providing fair work to the people whose communities we trek through, and to return some of the benefits of tourism to those same communities through donations and charitable work.

Read more about everything we do as a responsible trekking company.