Our Story by Founder, Sara Bustamante
I have often thought of my life as a patchwork quilt, created by the many intertwining experiences of my eclectic journey through life. The world has been my oyster for as long as I can remember. I have lived in 4 different countries on 4 different continents – Germany, Japan, the United States (to include Hawai’i for 14 years) and Peru – as well as studied abroad in Tahiti, French Polynesia. Many years ago I lost count of how many countries I have traveled to, but those stories are for another day. This story is how Antiqua DMC came to be…
Our story began in the Amazon in 2009. I had traveled to Peru with my sisters to explore Machu Picchu and Manu National Park. Since I was a little girl I always had a picture of scarlet macaws taped to my bedroom wall that I ripped out of a National Geographic Magazine. I had dreamed my entire life to see them in the wild. As fate would have it, that picture had been taken in Manu. After requesting to have a female guide for our trip, as my sisters and I didn’t feel comfortable with a male guide in such a remote area, the travel agency assured us that they would assign their best, most experienced guide….and of course, that was Daniel Bustamante.
The moment I met him I felt as if he were already family and admired him for his intelligence and sense of humor. After our initial time spent in the Amazon we both knew we had to see each other again. Five months later I was back in Peru for our first real date – trekking through the Cordillera Blanca in Huaraz. Our life then became a whirlwind. We traveled all over South America together – Bolivia, Argentina, Chile, Southern Peru and Ecuador. Daniel and I married in the Sacred Valley of the Incas in 2010 and honeymooned in Argentina, Brazil and the Amazon.
In 2011 we founded Peru Eco Expeditions, a luxury adventure travel company, based in Cusco, Peru, which is Daniel’s hometown. At this time we were not yet ready to start a life together in South America and Daniel moved to be with me in Hawai’i. We lived in Hawai’i together for 4 years where we had our daughter and continued to travel the world. In 2015 we decided it was time to fulfill our dream of operating Peru Eco Expeditions full time. I took a leap of faith and left my very good corporate job working for MC&A, Hawai’i’s largest DMC (destination management company). We packed our entire life into six large suitcases, flew south to the heart of the Andes and never looked back.
It is now a decade later and I can confidently say that was the best decision we have ever made. Peru Eco Expeditions has grown not only to become a successful business, but is our passion and livelihood. It has also allowed us to live a life that we had only dreamed about. Daniel and I now own land in our beloved Amazon that we set aside for conservation, continue to travel the world with our family and trek in Patagonia every summer. This is where the creation of Antiqua DMC began.
I have been in the travel and DMC business for more than 20 years and have seen the tremendous changes that have taken place within this industry. Antiqua, the Latin root word for ancient, was created from my own nostalgia of a bygone era of travel. I longingly remember the days where travel meant reading Lonely Planet guides while sitting on the aisle floor of poorly lit bookstores, smelling the pages that held the magic of faraway lands and dreaming about getting lost in the sights, sounds and flavors of exotic destinations.
Antiqua DMC is my vision to preserve the timeless elegance of travel and keep the spirit of discovery and exploration alive.
And that is my continuing love story with South America…
– Sara Bustamante, Founder & Owner of Peru Eco Expeditions & Antiqua DMC
