Conservation & Community, Interviews, People With Purpose, Plan South America | Peru | 29.09.24

An Interview With Petit Miribel from Sol y Luna

Petit Miribel is the owner and creator of Sol y Luna, one of the most beautiful hotels in the Sacred Valley of Peru.

Hotel Sol y Luna is intimately connected to the Sol y Luna Foundation. In fact the foundation came before the hotel, and provides primary and secondary education, special needs care, an orphanage and further education for underprivileged children in the surrounding area.

Where are you at this very moment?

I am at home at Sol y Luna in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, Peru.

Tell us about Peru when you first arrived? What first drew you and ultimately kept you there?

What brought me to Peru was my path in life, a desire to do something of use to others. I came to Peru in the 1990s, and then came to the Sacred Valley as I was looking for somewhere I could make a difference. Why do I stay? For the children of the Sol y Luna Foundation.

How did Sol y Luna come to be, and at what stage did you start the Foundation?

The foundation came first. In 1998, my husband Franz and I founded the Sol y Luna Foundation. At that time there were no luxury hotels in the Sacred Valley, the gateway to Machu Picchu so we decided to open a hotel as a means of raising funds via reservations for our foundation.

At first the foundation started with a school, and now the school goes all the way from kindergarten to 17 years of age. We then support children with strong academic results to study the IB in Cuzco and some of our students are studying under our Roots & Wings further education programme, four students are at the Catolica University in Lima.

This is an incredible achievement given they were born into extreme poverty, and in many cases were subjected to violence and abandonment. The Sol y Luna Foundation now has four projects: the Sol y Luna School, Paqari for special needs support, the Sol y Luna Home, and Roots & Wings for further education.

Who are your heroes?

The children of the foundation. They are survivors.

Tell us about any guests that were positively affected by a visit to Sol y Luna?

Last year a young girl of 14 spent half the day at the foundation with us, a few months later she got back in touch and she had launched her own campaign selling T-shirts for our children. Her best memory was not Machu Picchu or the famous Peruvian food, but the children who touched her heart.

How can our readers make an impact?

By coming to Peru and spending some time at the foundation.

They may also like to support our current fundraising campaign, we are raising £25k to mark 25 years of the Sol y Luna Foundation.

Get in touch to start planning your journey.

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What do travellers feel and experience when visiting Sol y Luna?

Many people come to Peru to see Machu Picchu, but when they leave they tell us that what surprised them most, and what will stay with them forever, was the emotional connection they made with the Peruvian people.

What defines the gastronomy of the region?

Potatoes! There are more than a thousand potatoes, but it doesn’t stop there – it’s the variety that is incredible. From quinoa to kiwicha, and so much more…

Tell us about your sustainability initiatives and any new discoveries we should know about that help keep operations running in harmony with nature?

Our sustainability initiatives are all-encompassing… we are currently creating a new kitchen garden which will serve our Relais & Chateaux restaurants, as well as teach the children of the foundation about local products and horticulture.

My son, Thomas, who is a North Face athlete, is creating Sol y Luna’s new excursion base, Viento Sur, which is launching with 40 new excursions taking guests off the beaten track to places of untouched natural beauty.