Forget the textbooks - you’ve got Sofia and Yimnah!

Ever been on a tour where it felt like the guide was regurgitating endless facts they’d memorised from a textbook?

The kind of soulless experience that was more about remembering places, dates and names than connecting you culturally?

If so, we’re deeply sorry for your loss.

Why the Best Stories Aren't Memorized

A week or so in the company of Sofia Rubio, our Peru In Three Worlds guide...

and Yimnah Rosas, our Mexico: Roots of Fire guide...

... and you’ll see there’s no textbook travel here!

They’ve taken all the things they LOVE – food, conservation, customs, traditions and real-life stories, and have bundled them up in a big, fat, handwoven gift basket of ‘WOW’ you’ll really feel.

I mean, take Day 6 of our Peru trip with Sofia for instance...

Home to 10 percent of the world’s biodiversity and 20 percent of the earth’s fresh water, you won’t be spending it amongst the vines of the mighty Amazon rainforest, listening to just any guide give a talk on ecology.

This is where the jungled tracks of Sofia’s beloved childhood cross paths with the achievements of her adult life. Can you even imagine telling people you ‘grew up in the Amazon?’. Talk about a mic drop moment!

Meet the Woman Who Calls the Amazon "Home"

You’ll sink your teeth into the indigenous foods Sofia grew up on as she puts her Masters’ degree in Gastronomic Sciences to work, coloring in the textures and flavors found in the sky-high leafy greens growing all around you.

You know those buttery little taste bombs you find in a packet of mixed nuts called Brazil nuts?

Well, you’ll never bite into another one again without thinking of Sofia.

Recognised by the World Economic Forum as a Top Innovator, she’ll share her lived experiences of working with the indigenous people in the rainforest communities of the Ruta de la Castana – and introduce you to a bunch of her friends along the way.

This is the trail she created to help open the eyes of the world to Amazonian gastronomy and where you’ll truly get to feel the heartbeat of the forest and the special people that call it home.

That’s no sugar high behind Sofia’s energy for doing what she loves. It’s all natural – no preservatives needed! Take a sip of inspiration from Sofia’s cup home with you and let it carry you on your journey to doing the things that fill your own heart with joy!

In case you couldn’t tell already... we're nuts about Sofia!

And we’re utterly loca about Yimnah!

Warm, charismatic and with a big dash of fun, Yimnah’s got main character vibes.

You’ll see them in action on Day 2 in downtown Mexico City on her street food tour – just watch the way the stall holders greet her in all her favorite eateries she’ll take you to. You’re in for a lively show!

Stop Being a Guest – You’re 'Familia' Now

Yimnah’s fused decades of being an executive chef with her love of tradition and has created one smokin’ hot ‘n’ saucy recipe for connecting people to Mexican culture through cuisine.

It’s her, “Absolute favorite thing in the world!”.

Yimnah’s words, not ours.

Not even the flames in the chargrilled fires of Mexico’s outdoor kitchens can compete with the warmth you’ll feel in her company.

Her knowledge of traditional cooking techniques wasn’t memorised from the pages of a book. It was learned by feel. Passed down to her by hand from one generation to the next.

Hold out yours and she’ll happily transport you through corn kernels of time to teach you how to use ages-old tools of the trade and unlock new life skills you never even knew you needed.

Maybe you’ve heard that Oaxacan mole can have thirty different ingredients in it?

Well, that’s nothing compared to the Filofax of herbs and spices Yimnah keeps in the pantry of her mind. Arranged in alphabetical order of course! You bet she’ll share them with you – sharing is food for her soul!

But there’s really only one ingredient you need to properly understand Mexico.

Yimnah.

You’ll think of her often when you’re standing in your own kitchen with the molcajete she taught you how to use and know that not once did she ever make you feel like a guest.

You were always her familia.

And you can’t learn that from a textbook.