Chile Part 1

Rio Gallegos itself is not very interesting but a good start to go south. So we took a bus to Punta Arenas which was only few hours away. From there it was easy to cross over to Tierra del Fuego and some islands to see some sea lions and penguins, my new favourite friends! They are so cute!

And then Jay and me went to Puerto Natales to prepare for our big trekking trip in Torres del Paine. First we planned on staying in Refugios and take it as an easy walk but after meeting other travellers we somehow let them convince us to camp. So we bought food for five days, rented camping gear and packed our bags. Oh man 14 or 16kg must have been in my bag. I was excited but as well already regretting the camping decision a little bit but there was no way back, cause the bus was booked and without reservations no Refugios would have space.
And then we went into the park and started our tour into an amazing scenery.
After one hour of hiking I hated my backpack and wished I had only a day pack there. Haha. But the landscape and the views would just make up for it. After a few hours we got to a glacier that melted into a lake and the view was just breathtaking. It was so worth it even this area of the park is burned down.
Later the first day it rained while putting up our tent and everything got wet but that couldn't bother us. We had a hot noodle soup and warmed up in our sleeping bags and got ready for the next day.
The second day was the longest and hardest for me. It was about 8h of hiking with the heavy bag on to the next campsite where we had mashed noodles and fell asleep already eight in the evening. But then the third day was a hike into the french valley with only water and your camera. We left the tent and our heavy bags behind cause we would return to that place later again. Our shoulders were just so happy that day! The views and the landscape in that valley were just incredible. I loved it there and the sun was putting all the colours into the right light. Stunningly beautiful!

The fourth day was as well a wonderful sunny day and led us to the final valley with the Torres towers.
Again beautiful scenery and a cute little campsite at the end of the trail.
Cause it was so sunny we were convinced it will stay like that but over night the fog and clouds came in. So for my birthday we got up early in the morning to hike up the last hill to see the sunrise over the towers but it turned out to be a little disappointment. We could still see the amazing three towers over the turquoise glacier lake but the glowing from the sun wasn't there. It was a big birthday present and when we got back that day to Puerto Natales we had a great birthday party with all my new hiking friends. In the end it was an awesome day for me!
And I was so proud I made it through the five days with this heavy bag on my back.


Whoever likes hiking and trekking, the Torres del Paine is a must do when you are in Patagonia. Incredible place so deep in the south of America!
And we did not have enough from mountains and glaciers, so we travelled north further into Patagonia and back into Argentina.

Argentina Part 1

Just a 20 minutes bus ride and my brothers and me went from Fort de Iguazu to Puerto Iguazu and were in Argentina. And what is the most important thing to do there? Have a nice dinner with steak and red wine!
Then we headed again to the waterfalls and this time we had sunshine the whole day. What an amazing place!
The devils throat with all the noise and steam is breath taking. I spent half an hour there just staring at the huge amount of water running down this waterfall. Then we started hiking the little trails to see more and more waterfalls and the big ones from different view points. Definitely a highlight of my trip.


With a luxury overnight bus we then went to Buenos Aires and continued the nice life style with great food and funny night life. We explored the neighbourhood, the famous cemetery where Evita lies, of course had dinner in one of the best restaurants in BA - La Cabrera, went to colourful La Boca and saw a football game of the Boca Juniors which was crazy.

I met up with Jay again to go together to Patagonia. And so we booked a flight from BA down to Rio Gallegos where we started our tour through the deep south.

Brasil

Brasil was all about Carnival. That was the main reason for me to go there in February. And to see Rio and the mighty Amazon of course. And that's where my tour started.

The border to Colombia was just a little road block, so I walked over from Leticia in Colombia to Tabatinga in Brasil to get my passport stamped and to find a boat going down the Amazon to Manaus. I ran into a friendly old man who drove me around with his little motor bike. He showed me the harbour, bought the ticket with me, got my bags from Colombia into Brasil, showed me around town, where the best restaurants are and next morning he drove me to the boat at 5am in the morning.
The actual boat ride down to Manaus for 1100km was boring but the Amazon itself is not. I saw some special places with Piranhas and the typical jungle animals, the meeting of a black and a white river stream that doesn't mix into each other because of temperature, speed and density. The rivers flow for a few kilometers side by side which is a weird phenomenon. After this looong time on the boat I got to this surprisingly huge city in the middle of the jungle, Manaus. Could enjoy the pre-Carnival celebrations in the streets and got an idea of what awaits me in Salvador.
Apart from that Manaus is not very nice, only the trips to the little side streams are very interesting.

I flew from there via Brasilia to Salvador where the big party should start. I met Gavin (Australia, met in Utila) who booked the hostel and all his Australian friends and then we got prepared for an extraordinary event. The first night out already turned into an 8h dancing and drinking marathon and the next days would continue like that. Well we visited as well the old town and a few beaches out of town for a change what was nice. The Carnival in Salvador had three circuits, each had "bloccos" that consists of trucks with loud music and people moving/dancing down the street and every circuit had different music styles. We saw the traditional show in the old town one night, the rest we spent at the beach circuit following the trucks with the best music. For Tuesday we got shirts to actually be part of the parade and to walk with one of the "bloccos". It was another 8h party pack. It was just incredible and so much fun! After four days of dancing my shoes gave up, I glued them so they kept going till I was back from the 6th night and then they were done. What an experience!

From there I went to Rio, next big highlight. The famous Rio de Janeiro with Christ overlooking everything. It was impressive, too. Saw the beautiful people at the Copacabana beach, went up the Corcovado to say hello to Mr. Christ and to enjoy the incredible views, visited the sugar loaf, followed the artists in Santa Theresa, had drinks at Ipanema beach and bicycled around the lagoon. If there wasn't that heat, it would be a nice place to live.


After party and sugar loaf I continued traveling with my new big brothers Gavin and Rodney (Aus) to the Iguazu falls. On the Brasilian side we got a nice overview of how massive the falls are and planned the next day to check it out closer on the Argentinian side.
But before I left expensive Brasil, we went shopping across the border in Paraguay. Cheap electronics paradise. Shopped for a bit and then looked forward to a nice steak and red wine in Argentina!

Colombia - mi amor !

Welcome to Colombia!

After this rough sailing trip, I finally arrived in Cartagena. And it is true Colombia welcomes you! I can highly recommend everybody to visit this unique country.
The people are friendly and helpful, food is great and it offers all kind of landscapes, from tropical beaches to snow covered mountains and from bustling cities with intense nightlife to dreamy little villages.


For me Cartagena was somehow special, because I had this romantic thought of this old movie in my head. haha The city isn't that romantic, but the old town still keeps its charm and it is nice to wonder around the old streets. But the prices there are more for the richer travellers.
A little side trip to Playa Blanca turned out to be interesting because it was fully packed with local tourists who spend their holiday month January somewhere at the beach. We barely found a tent for the night and tried to get out there by boat next day again.
Since my credit card got hacked in Panama and I tried to get a new card to Cartagena, I had to stay for a while. But it never got there. Very lucky and happy I travelled with a friend paying all my expenses during that time.

So we went on to Santa Martha and Taganga to see and dive the beautiful Tayrona National Park. We got a two nights, three days diving trip in the park and stayed at one of the beaches in hammocks. This bay and its beaches were just for us and we were only three, Tine (Norway), Grady (US) and me. A little paradise in Colombia's north. Got to dive to a coral nursery as well what was something new and cool.

From there we went south and stopped in several little mountain villages, e.g. Giron, San Gil and Villa de Leyva. I had the feeling I'm somewhere in Spain in the Pyrenees, same vegetation and look of the houses and streets.
Was really nice to hike around there, explore nature and some waterfalls. If you like rafting and paragliding, that's a good place to go. In one of these towns they had hot springs that you could swim in at nighttime with candle light, very romantic. Something more action you get if you are up for a bungee jump, like my friend. I never understand how people can do it, for me it's enough just to watch it! ;-)


After that I was ready for some cold and was looking forward to go to Bogota and to wear jeans and a jumper. Temperatures dropped down to 10 degrees Celsius at night, on the mountain even down to 3. But I enjoyed the change and Bogota, did some shopping, good dining, museums (gold museum!!) and coffee drinking. Went up the mountain, to a tower and saw a bull fight. After that, now I understand all the protests against this. What an animal cruelty! I expected something different with a fair chance for the bull, but it is just torturing and murdering poor animals. Apart from the fight the time in Bogota was very relaxing and enjoyable.

Ah and I finally received a new credit card from home and was able to travel on alone. Big thanks to my friend for lending me the money and to my parents for organising all the mail thing to Colombia.
Hope it won't happen again.
From Bogota I flew again into the heat, down to the Amazon basin. Leticia is a humid and hot but friendly little border town and I walked over to Brasil to get my passport stamps and to find a boat to Manaus.
For me Colombia is one of the top countries so far, all is very safe and friendly. Just go and find out yourself!

Panama

My expectations were high when I got to Panama because I heard so many great things about this country.
But I was a little bit disappointed in the beginning, prices were as high as in Costa Rica! And I got a cold the very first day in Bocas and lost my voice for a few days. On top of that it rained the whole week that I spent there. Hmm, not a nice start in this country.

But it should get better! And yes it turned into an amazing time at the west coast. It was a long way to Santa Catalina, had to take several buses and stop overnight. But finally there, the beach was nice, the waves good to surf, sunshine the whole day and awesome diving! Got to see a whale shark while diving out at Isla Coiba, which is a nature reserve and similar to the Galapagos Islands. I was as well surprised how stunningly beautiful the beaches were on those islands. Well preserved and protected from all people. Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera that day and so I can't show any pictures of this paradise.
In Santa Catalina I met Grady (U.S., met on Utila) again and we travelled together to Panama City and for the next weeks.
Panama City is very modern and it is called Miami of Central America. Big tall buildings forming a nice skyline during day and night and best to be seen from the old town where we stayed. It was such a nice change to be in clean and modern surroundings, do shopping and eat in fancy restaurants. For Christmas they had lights and illumination everywhere and loud music in the streets. There was as well a big parade along the coast road with thousands of Panamanians celebrating. Interesting to spend Xmas like this. But as well strange for me, it was my first one away from home and family. No traditional Gluehwein, a real Christmas tree or cookies but next year I hope to be back for that.

The day after Christmas we went to see the Canal. What a huge Canal system and construction. Impressive how these big cruise liners or cargo ships go through all the gates. From the Atlantic to the Pacific it is 80 km and it takes them 10 h to pass the three locks. For my friends at my very home it must look like the little locks in the "Spreewald", just a few times bigger here. ;-)
Spent the whole afternoon there watching the big ships passing by and all the technical features.

After few days more in this cosmopolitan city we booked a sailboat to Colombia and went to Portobelo to board there. We started the sailing trip on the 30th and spent New Years at the San Blas Islands which was amazing. These islands are so very beautiful, fine white sand and turquoise water. A dream!!
But then we sailed into open water away from the coast towards Colombia and this time of the year the sea is the roughest. Well I didn't know that before I started and so it was wild! The boat went up and down the waves, normal walking was not possible and toilet breaks very difficult. haha ;-) Out of 17 people, three survived without getting sea sick. I luckily somehow managed to be one of them. And it took one day longer to get to Cartagena due to the wind and waves. But we all made it and arrived in a beautiful old colonial town and as well in South America!

Costa Rica

Well, Costa Rica must be really beautiful, but I just stopped in San Jose for overnight and in Porto Viejo at the Caribbean coast on my way to Panama.
San Jose is quite safe to walk around even at night time and the beaches on the east coast are very nice. I was not lucky, it was raining a lot. But I could manage to get a few nice pics of the place.

There is a big negative aspect for Costa Rica, it is so so expensive. Compared to the other countries in Central America prices are way higher. Somehow it feels more like being in the U.S. than in a country in Latin America.
Therefore I can recommend Costa Rica only for its beautiful nature and wildlife, but nor for exploring culture and food. It has the greatest variety of animals within the rain forests, more than all the other neighbour countries. Well, this is only my opinion, everybody should make his/her own experiences.

The beaches in Puerto Viejo are beautiful but it is dangerous to be there at night. Heard about a lot robberies.
But for two chilling days it was perfect. And then I crossed the most relaxed border ever. A little hut on the Costa Rican side of the river, then this old scary looking bridge by foot and then another little hut to get the entry stamp for Panama. Nobody is in a hurry and all is easy...

Happy New Year

Hallo meine Lieben!
Wuensche euch ein gesundes, erfolgreiches und glueckliches neues Jahr 2012!
Ich hoffe die guten Vorsaetze sind nicht schon wieder vergessen. ;-)
Macht das Beste aus eurer Zeit und geniesst jeden Tag! So wie ich das grad mach ... ;-)
Viele liebe Gruesse aus Kolumbien!
Eure Linda

Happy New Year to all my friends!

Froehliche Weihnachten! Merry Xmas!

Hallo meine Lieben!
Hola my dear friends!

Fohe Weihnachten und gemuetliche Feiertage mit Familie und Freunden!
Wish you all merry Christmas and a great time with your loved ones!

Kommt gut ins neue Jahr!
Happy New Year!

No Gluehwein for me this year, hmm, too bad, but ok I'll have a few Rumenades instead!!
Cheers.

Nicaragua

It felt strange to leave the island, I kind of felt home on Utila. But somehow I was too curious of what would come next. Well, I'm proud to be a dive master, but there is so much more to see, discover and learn.

First place in Nica was Leon, a nice colonial town. And what to do there? Of course the famous volcano boarding. That was awesome and you could get your speed boarding down there. I wasn't too fast but one of our group broke the record and got on the top five speed list with 85 kmh.

After some great party and the boarding I went on to Granada another beautiful colonial town. Spend a day just relaxing in the courtyard cafes reading my new book. Stieg Larsson books, I'm addicted. Went as well to the islands in the lago Nicaragua to see some local families and their typical life.

Next day I got on the ferry to Isla Ometepe where I met Tine and Jay (Norway and Canada/Australia girls I met on Utila) again. Ometepe is a big volcano island in lago Nicaragua. We went to a hostel in the middle of the forest far away from everything. But nice to relax, go hiking, meet other travelers and party with them.

There are two volcanos and we decided to hike the smaller one, Maderas, which was scheduled with 8h and thats enough hiking for one day. The conditions on top were muddy and slippery because it is always covered with clouds. But we could still get some good views. Just the crater lake at the top was in fog.
The day before we rented some horses and had a nice ride along the beach and to Ojo de Agua. That is a little water place with crystal clear water from the volcano. It was perfect to get a little refreshment. My legs were so heavy after these two days of action, I could hardly walk. ;-)
And Tine and me, we were lucky, at night there was somebody in our dorm and stole her and my bag, the night guard caught him on his way out and brought our stuff back. So lucky, but so creepy as well, none of us heard a thing and woke up while the thief was next to our beds!
And I had a strange kind of allergic reaction and went to the doc who gave me a little sheet of paper with some prescriptions, I should get in the pharmacy, including 4 shots I had to get. But she didn`t tell me how to do it. So I got some huge injection needles and the little vials and should give me the shots myself. Haha, never done this before, aaaahhh help! But all ended up good, cause it turned out that Tine is a doctor and she was happy to help me.


After all this it was nice to go to the beach and relax for a bit! The pacific coast and its beaches around San Juan del Sur are so beautiful! We went to Hermosa and Maderas beach. I tried some surfing again and enjoyed the times with the girls. And we partied every day there, even we didn`t want to. Somehow we couldn`t stay away, hehe!

But that was as well the end of my Nicaragua trip. We split up into several directions from there. Tine went to Mexico, Jay to Panama City and I took the bus to San Jose in Costa Rica. Nicaragua is a great place, it`s so definitely worth a visit!!!

UTILA

My days on Utila! Well I could write a lot about this amazing place, the nice people I met, all the things I learned, the parties almost every night and the sunny weather.
But I think I just give a slight overview. Haha and it would be better not to tell everything...

I came to Utila to do some diving with Nora (the German girl I met in Belize) and do my rescue diver certificate. But it happened to me what happens to so many people, I stayed for more than 2 months.
Haha, yeah but I really had such a great time and enjoyed every minute.
Was so nice to dive and party with Nora, but she had to go back soon. When she left I started the rescue course and in the end I decided to do my dive master there as well. I thought it might be useful while traveling to stop and work from time to time.
The dive center was Alton's and I got there through a friend that worked there and who I met a year before in Egypt diving of course.
My dive master training included not only learning skills, I had to work in the shop and do all the stuff that I would have to deal with if I worked there for real. That meant be there at 7 am in the morning to get all equipment ready for the divers, prepare the boat and start smiling! Same for the afternoon boat or whatever was scheduled for the day. So this is how I learned all about how a dive shop works for a dive master.
The rest of the time I spent in the hammocks on the dock reading, well studying my dive master manual. Or I was out partying with all my new friends I met at the shop as well tourists that came along. Most of the parties were at Tranquila bar and I have really good but also bad memories of this place. Hehe, Tequila Tuesdays were the worst! 10 Limpiras for a shot of Tequila what is only a few cents, so for about few Euro you get 10 shots and that is enough to do many stupid things after having them. Sometimes I wish my friends form home or my brother would be there to party with me. But luckily it never happened anything bad to me, like one friend who lost her 4 front teeth after an extensive party there. Somehow there were lots of loose teeth and they were always connected to me, uh! It wasn't me! But after most nights you just have a hard time getting up next day and survive the morning boat. ,-) But since I love diving I don't mind an early start.
Especially when we had dolphins around the boat playing with us, so that we could go in snorkeling with them. Those days were the best and of course every time we went to the north side of the island for some diving. So good diving there. That was as well the place for the lion fish tournament. Since the lion fish is an alien species in the Caribbean everybody goes hunting for them. At the tournament appr. 500 fish were killed and it was so delicious food what the local girls cooked out of it.
Another great event was Halloween when we all got dressed up and had good times partying at Alton's, Cross Creek and Tranquila. Another great party spot was the bar in the bush, but it was only open certain Fridays.
When I finally finished my dive master my last skill to fulfill was the snorkeltest, which is a funny drinking game. You get a mask on and snorkel in your mouth with a cutted bottle attached on top. This was filled with a mixture of alcohol and juices what you have to drink straight because it won't stop pressuring down. Good fun and got drunk early, big night out, haha.
After I was certified I started working for Alton's to get some more experience in being a diving tour guide. They even wanted to hire me for the main season but I only stayed for two more weeks and then followed my original plan of traveling.
I really enjoyed the job as a dive master and the place. Thanks to all the people who work there and to my new friends I found on the island. You made my time there so special and I am so happy that I was part of it. I learned a lot, had new experiences and so much fun in these two months. Met as well so many great people traveling. One thing is for sure, I will definitely come back to Utila to see what's going on someday!
But every great time comes to an end eventually, so I decided end of November to go on and start traveling again. Next stop Nicaragua!

I mean as I said I could write so much more about the island, new friends, great times, yummy dinner we cooked, loads of alcohol, diving experiences, parties, boys or funny things that happened around me but I think you got a good idea of how it was. :-)