One of the world’s great hiking trails deserves one of the world’s best tour leaders.
In Edwind Colque, winner of the Exodus Adventure Travels Leader of the Year Award 2023, the Inca Trail has one.
Here’s his journey… from trail porter to prize winner.
Born in Iquitos, a port city in the Loreto region of Peru, Edwind moved to the cosmopolitan city of Cuzco, where he secured a job as a porter on the Inca Trail.
As he trekked towards Machu Picchu for the very first time, through dense cloud forest, over Dead Woman’s Pass, and through the iconic Sun Gate, all he wanted to do was to become a fully qualified tour guide.
“I knew it wouldn’t be easy,” he said. “It’s a big responsibility to be accountable for human lives, but I saw first-hand how rewarding it was and the great experiences the tour guides had.
“On my second trek around the Inca Trail as a porter, one of the tour guides took me under her wing and showed me key parts of the job and I said to her that one day I’ll be trekking alongside her as a guide – I’m so glad life took me in this direction.”
His commitment, organisation and humour impressed our local operator in Peru, Fernando Rodriguez, who said: “Edwind began working with us as a trekking guide back in 2011. His strong sense of responsibility and unrelenting passion for his work meant that he swiftly climbed the ranks to tour leader.
“If I were to describe him, some of the first words that come to mind are humble and hard-working. Edwind always pushes himself to excel in everything he does.
“He’s also a great ambassador of the Andean culture, as he speaks fluent Quechua, which by the way is his mother tongue.”
Edwind even ran the first-ever Quechua-language guided tour in Machu Picchu for the porters, as part of Exodus’ Inca Trail Porter Project, which aims to take groups of Peruvian porters to see Machu Picchu for the very first time – undoubtedly a pivotal and poignant moment in his career.
Many Exodus travellers have commended Edwind for his attentiveness, unwavering enthusiasm and extensive local knowledge of his country’s history, folklore and unique customs.
Azra Ghani explained: “It was my first trip with Exodus. I have previously travelled extensively, so I had fairly minimal expectations of what a team leader would provide – assuming they would primarily be there to simply guide us through the walk, but I could not have been more wrong!
“The first thing that struck me was Edwind’s broad knowledge about his environment – ranging from history through to the environment, local politics and, of course, everything related to the trip itself.
“I learnt far more than I had expected, and Edwind did it all without feeling at any point that we were having a ‘lesson’.
Azra added: “He was friendly, unassuming and reassuring. To be so naturally sociable but not overbearing is quite a skill and something that Edwind has clearly mastered – and he did it all in his third language!”
Edwind’s excellent organisational skills are another cornerstone of his guiding style that travellers continuously comment on.
Azra explained: “It became clear that he was also managing a much larger operation. This involved ensuring that we were picked up and dropped off at the airport, managing facilities at the hotels, and, the most demanding, organising the team of porters and chefs during the trail.
“This is really complex and the fact that it all worked so smoothly is a testament to his management skills… Edwind made our trip a real pleasure and one that we will never forget.”
Another Exodus traveller, Rannveig Snorradottir, said: “He may be the best tour leader I’ve had in all my travels.
“Edwind was attentive, funny, and informative and continuously demonstrated tremendous care for his group members. He is the only reason I managed to conquer Dead Woman’s Pass – I could never have done it without him.”
Although many have praised Edwind for his sense of humour, great rapport and team spirit, he always maintains his responsibility for everyone in his group is the most important thing to him – and it stays at the forefront of his mind at all times.
No one knows this better than Exodus traveller, Deborah Orsini, as she saw him spring into action when her sister-in-law suddenly fell ill on their trip.
“He was the epitome of courage and leadership. His skill in negotiating the trail in the dark, while also leading his team who were all exhausted after having already hiked 10 hours that day certainly saved my sister-in-law’s life. We are forever grateful to Edwind.” So, there you have it. Edwind’s effortless combination of strong leadership skills, caring nature and incredible examples of courage in the face of adversity when trekking through the Andean mountains are all key reasons why he stands out as an expert leader and we’re extremely proud to have named him the winner of the Exodus Adventure Travels Leader of the Year Award 2023.
Edwind said: “I am so grateful to Exodus for this award because it’s an acknowledgement of my dedication to the job, my professionalism and my depth of local knowledge that I share with every traveller.
“It really is an honour for me. With the prize money, I’m going to book a trip to the UK this year, walk across Tower Bridge and hopefully see a castle in real life – that’s been a dream of mine for a long time!”
If this has inspired you to join our winner, Edwind, on a once-in-a-lifetime Inca Trail trek, he runs selected departures on our Inca Trail, Titicaca & Nazca and the Inca Trail and the Amazon Rainforest adventure.
