Oct 9, 2024
Beautiful family run animal sanctuary doing a lot of good work! - Alberto is so passionate about the animals and it is evident from the way they all are hanging out around him and the way he speaks about animal rights and proper treatment. Most of the animals he has have been confiscated from illegal pet sales (black markets) or injured animals that are too domesticated to be released into the wild. It was beautiful to feed the alpacas and llamas, feed the parrots, see monkeys, the pumas and of course, the condors up close and flying. It is a family-run business and truly, everyone was kind and welcoming. They have a gift shop to support their work and upkeep of all the food, terrain and animals, so if you can support them with any purchase or leave any donations, they greatly appreciate it. Gracias Alberto por todo! Una gran experiencia, muy linda!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Oct 8, 2024
Beautiful experience - Not like a zoo, the animals are rescued and you can tell they are comfortable and happy. Felt grateful to get so close to them and was an appreciated experience. Tour guide was solid too!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jun 25, 2024
Amazing - definitely recommend - Wow! What an experience - we hired a taxi from our hotel and purchased our tickets once we arrived. A personal guide took us around and explained the purpose of the sanctuary and a bit of the history behind each of the animals. What a worthy cause - and most if not all of these animals would not have survived if not for this company's involvement.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
May 27, 2024
Worth the trip! - Lovely experience! Fantastic to see how they care for a variety of animals; lots of enrichment activities and plenty of space to keep them happy. Got to see a couple of condor flights from inside their enclosure (!); such impressive creatures! Definitely worth a visit - you can feel good about putting soles toward a beautiful cause. If you can do a tour, there’s a lot of interesting information about all the inhabitants, but it’s not necessary.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
May 24, 2024
Unique experience - up close with many native animals of Peru - The Cochahuasi Sanctuary is a wonderful place where abused and injured animals are taken in and cared for with the aim of releasing them back into the wild (if they want to - some have returned after being released). Absolutely worth seeing and supporting. As soon as I arrived I was given a knowledgeable guide who explained everything to me. The entrance fee was 25 soles, which helps to care for the animals. If you have the opportunity to stop there, do so and support this wonderful project!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Feb 10, 2024
Hidden treasure of a place. Fantastic way to see the wildlife of the Andes and Peru - This place is trully a must! It is easily accessible from Cusco and we visited on our way to Pisac. It's a place where rescued animals are taken care of, rehabilitated and with any luck released back into the wild. They had some incredibly rare animals there. There were andean bob cats, often referred to as the ghosts of the andes. Condors!! And even puma! It is really worth stopping by. The staff are incredible and highly motivated. Was a real highlight of our trip to Peru. They rely on donations and tickets so it's a win win to make this part of your trip! Remember the animals are wild animals and being rehabilitated for release. Amazing place.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Feb 6, 2024
Animal Sanctuary Worthy of a Visit! - This is an amazing place, that takes in animals that have been abused, trafficked, abandoned or treated poorly. For your entrance fee, you get a guide that will walk you through and explain all the situations, as well as the history of each animal, and what their current status is. There are some that can be released back to the wild upon completion of rehab and those that cannot, have a permanent home here. The keepers/guides are very passionate about their care of the animals and are thrilled to talk about them! If you take a cab or an Uber there, for a small fee, they will wait for you to take you back to your hotel or the city. It's about 30 minutes from Cusco, but so worth the visit! If you can donate extra, I know they will appreciate it!
Review provided by Viator
Sep 11, 2023
A once in a lifetime experience! - I expected this experience to be fantastic, based on past reviews, but it is so much more than that. Albert is extremely knowledgeable and passionate about his work and the animals, and we learned a huge amount from him. It is clear that he has a mutual trust and respect with the animals and birds in his care, and he is doing everything to provide them with the best lives possible.
We were given lots of time to spend close to the birds and animals, learning about them and taking pictures. We saw the beautiful pumas and wildcats being fed. I loved the spectacled bears, and my highlight was the condors flying so close above us that one even touched my head with his enormous wing, an Incan blessing Albert said. I can’t put into words how special it felt to go around seeing all the wonderful rescued animals and birds with Albert - you will just have to go and see for yourself. I’m sure you will take away many special memories with you too!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Dec 7, 2023
Guide was passionate however overall, a conflicting experience - Visited the sanctuary as reviews seemed good and saw a supposed actual release video on the Instagram page, however still left feeling a conflicted.
The guide was clearly passionate about the animals and told us release dates of some but did say some would never be released. He said most had been rescued from trafficking.
The Andean cat was pacing and meowing, it did not look in a healthy mental state. The cages are quite tiny as well. I can only hope the money spent does go towards releases
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Oct 2, 2024
Disturbing - My husband and I visited based on strong reviews from Google and Trip Advisor. Once there, I unfortunately realized that we were not at a real animal sanctuary. The enclosures were small and poorly maintained. The animals looked ill and unkempt. There were no vets or zoologists involved in the organization. The stories about releases into the back into wild were vague and implausible. I witnessed a beheaded alpaca being fed to a puma. I understand that pumas eat red meat, but these pumas do not seem to have any chance of going back to the wild (or even a larger cage), and the alpacas do not have free range before being slaughtered. The condors had no room to spread their beautiful wings. I believe it is a for profit scam. People need income, but not at the expense of these majestic beings. Please do not support.
Review provided by Tripadvisor