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G Adventures bring the Inca Trail to the streets of Melbourne

KarryOn exclusively joined G Adventures as they brought the highlights of Peru to the streets of Melbourne by taking nine agents on an imaginative afternoon’s micro journey of fun and learning.

KarryOn exclusively joined G Adventures as they brought the highlights of Peru to the streets of Melbourne by taking nine agents on an imaginative afternoon’s micro journey of fun and learning.

“What exactly is a Micro Famil anyway?” I curiously asked – “You’re about to find out… Vamos!” came the answer with a beaming smile from Cesar, our Peruvian guide and countryman for this afternoon’s fantasy trip to Peru.

With one of the adventure travel and tour company’s key values being ‘embrace the bizarre’ G Adventures have always been known for taking a creatively different approach to everything they do.

And this Micro Famil idea is no exception as a G Nation creation, literally fizzing with agent goodness.

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The laneways of Melbourne become the colourful streets of Cusco

Blessed with warmth and bright sunshine on an untypically winters day in Melbourne, it wasn’t hard to spot the group of agents clutching G Adventure purple bags outside our Flinders Street Station meeting point with the G Adventures crew (Cesar, Tenille Hunt and Greg Schein – Global Purpose Specialists) decked out in multi coloured Peruvian colours.

A quick welcome and briefing later, we were off on a quick walk together through the cities laneways to a Peruvian restaurant Called ‘Pastuso’.

Designed to emulate the first night on a G Adventures tour where everyone gets together for a meal and a chance to meet each other, the conversation flowed thanks to their quirky ‘Q’ cards and Cesar’s jokes and contagious laugh.

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Tenille was disappointed to get her lunch. Not!

The Peruvian food was some of the finest I’ve ever tasted too and together we all chowed down on the famous Ceviche (a seafood dish made from fresh raw fish cured in citrus juices) followed by a traditional tasty clam and prawn rice dish with others choosing the delicious marinated beef skewers and spicy chimichurru sauce. Of course I had to try both.

A couple of cheeky glasses of Malbec went down the hatch too and already I was getting into the travelling mood and feeling the positive effects of the Peruvian altitude (if you get my jist) and the good vibes.

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Meanwhile Greg (R) pondered this special Peruvian moment…

Part destination lunch, part walking tour and demonstration come Peruvian re-creation and part presentation back at The G Outpost (head office) in Southbank, the Micro Famil blends entertainment and fun with education and plenty of laughs along the way for everyone.

The concept is essentially to re-create some of the key tour experiences travellers will get to enjoy in the destination, by way of interactively bringing them to life over a short four hour period. It’s an experience itself and is far more interesting and enjoyable than nodding your head through an hour long power point and a gazillion slides that’s for sure.

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Let’s face it. No Inca Trail is complete with out a group Selfie.

Stopping off along our walking route at key points, Caeser, Tenille and Greg explained in detail the varying wonders of Peru by using key Melbourne landmarks as illustrations of Peruvian icons, answering any questions the agents might have as well as offering plenty of selling tip wisdom.

From the Melbourne Arts Tower magically transforming into Machu Picchu and the Inca Trail whilst Federation Square swapped titles for the bustling Grand Plaza in Cusco, SkyPoint Observation Deck became an altitude sickness talking point and my favourite of all – the Yarra river pontoon transformed into a floating reed Island on Lake Titicaca. Was it the Malbec or was I really wobbling? All that was needed was your imagination.

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Welcome to Lake Titicaca!

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This is your Captain speaking… Checkout the Nazca lines below…. And was that a Condor I saw?

Sound different? It truly was and the agents loved it. Everyone in the group told me just how cool it was to do something different and would never look at Melbourne the same again.

“It was just so great to do something different for a change and get outside. The way they did it was so creative and memorable. A brilliant way to learn”

Sandra Brasier – Italktravel Mt Waverley

And the fun didn’t stop there with our micro famil ending up back at G Adventuress Head Office (Aka The Outpost) where we treated to Cesar blending up ice cold Pisco Sours for us all to guzzle whilst we heard from Greg and Tenille on new products news and an update on G Adventures numerous sustainable tourism projects they do so beautifully well in many of the destinations they visit.

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Pisco Sours baby… Oh yeah. Gracias Cesar.

It’s definitely one of the most fun famils I’ve ever done and certainly one of the most creative. It just goes to show that you don’t need to spend a fortune on making great ideas happen. All you need is some imagination and passion for what you do.

“Educational, creative and just damn good fun!”

Maddison Johnston– Black Rock Travel

One thing’s for sure, the next time I’m walking along South Bank I’m going to be looking up for Condors because I’m sure I saw one circling around Crown Casino.

What do you think of the Micro Famil idea? Share your thoughts below

Interested to learn more about G Adventures and their unique culture? Read on