Ecuador

With an overnight bus I made it into Ecuador to Guyaquil. The town is not very interesting and dangerous from what I heard. But it was a great starting point for a discovery trip to the Galapagos.

Had a flight the next day and luckily met a dive guide at the airport who helped me finding a nice cheap place in Puerto Ayora on the main island. From there it was perfect to explore the islands over an under water.

The first three days I went diving with the best luxury daily dive boat available and got to see stingrays, schools of eagle rays, hammerhead sharks, Galapagos sharks, lots of big fish, thousands of turtles, played with seals and more. That was one of the best places for diving I've been to.
Wanna go back and dive again!!!
Only thing it was cold water and I wore a double 7mm wet suit at the end. Every day I got to see a different spot (Bartolome, Gordon's rock, North Seymour, Daphne, Cousins etc.) and did some side trips to see all the animals that are typical for Galapagos.

After seeing the underwater world I did some boat trips to other islands like Isabella and Floreana and checked out tortoise farms, pirate caves, volcanoes and beautiful beaches. Ten days were not enough to see all of this nature preserve but great to enjoy animals and scenery.
Can as well recommend the street food there and my bed and breakfast for 15 USD a night, called 'Casa de piedra'.

When I left this little paradise I flew straight into Quito and strolled around in the old city there and I didn't feel unsafe although everybody warned me. Took the table car up the mountain and enjoyed the great views over Quito and the Cotopaxi volcano. Well food was not so great and when I found bugs in my rice for the third time I stopped eating local food. ;-)

So Ecuador was pretty and I wish I had more time to explore some of the mountain ranges and do some hiking, but I was on my way to Mexico to meet up with my family (after a year! - yay) what cut my time short.

Peru

Hola desde Peru!
Yes it is an amazing country and I understand why so many people travel here. Beautiful landscape and a lot to discover. But it couldn't top Bolivia, at least for me. For my taste, maybe because unluckily I was here during main season, it was too full with tourists. Especially the ones who don't even speak a word of Spanish. :-/
Well, but still there is a lot to tell about the country and my travel.
First I stopped in Puno, just on the other side of Lago Titikaka and visited the floating islands. Interesting how they build those islands and how they live, but the tour was made to sell only their handicrafts which was bit annoying. But had a very nice hostel there on top of the hill with a great view over Puno and the lake.

From there I went to the famous Cusco and stayed for a while. Nice town, just a bit too pricey and still very cold at nighttime. A good place for a hot chocolate with view of the cathedral...
The bad thing was, I had a cold so I wasn't feeling like hiking and so I decided to book the more boring tour to Machu Picchu. Even had to wait a few days to get a train ticket because of all the people. But finally I started towards MP and experienced something really awesome. Beautiful scenery in the sacred valley and lots of markets and ruins. Met Sophia from Hamburg which was a nice change to speak in German and to have great company for the Machu Picchu day! And it was incredible!

The green mountains and the huge ruin on the ridge between Cerro Machu Picchu and Huayna Picchu are just breathtaking. We arrived there before sunrise and got to see everything without the crowds. Then when the sun came out it turned even more stunning. We stayed for 6h up there, including a tour for two hours. For lunch we found a little pick nick spot and then we just sat and enjoyed the views. But eventually we had to leave this beautiful place and go back to Aguas Calientes. I had a train earlier than Sophia and got back to Cusco around ten at night. Right on time for late dinner and shower.

Next day I did some more sight seeing and bought a ticket to Arequipa. Tried to avoid the overpriced tourist buses and got some good deals for traveling by bus. One overnight trip later and I was in the white city of Arequipa and tried the Wild Rover hostel again. La Paz was better. But the city very nice. Many colonial buildings, an interesting and colourful monastery and super views of the volcano El Misti. And the food was great there, too, lots of local specialties. After exploring the city, I had a tour to the Colca Canyon for two days.
It is the second deepest canyon in the world. I was just a bit irritated about what the definition of a canyon is, cause it looked to me more like a deep valley and not like a canyon. Sorry. But the views were spectacular. And we got very close to those huge birds, the condors! Very graceful how they glide through the air with mas o menos 3 m wingspan.

Back in Arequipa I took a bus to Nazca and stopped only for a flight over the famous lines. Got to see the astronaut and the colibri and some more figures. Weird place! But I was lucky, I got a plane with only four people in it including the two pilots, so they flew the round as we wanted.
And in the afternoon I continued to Ica, or better to the little oasis Huacachina in the middle of big sand dunes. The dunes are up to 300 m and there's a lagoon with palm trees, some hostels and restaurants. It is actually a very touristy place, because only few families live here.
Everybody comes there only for the dune surfing, so did I. Cruising with a dune buggy up- and downhill, even jumping and enjoying views over the lagoon, the dunes and the sunset. Looks like you are in the desert. And during the ride you get to surf or slide down some of the dunes with a board. That was such a great fun, I liked it more than the volcano boarding in Nicaragua. And at nighttime there was a lot of party going on and I had to drink a lot of Pisco, uuuahh. In Pisco Sour it's fine, but pure... ;-) Had a good time there and still amazed by how many different landscapes exist within Peru.

From there it was only 4h to Lima and I checked into a really cute little hostel named the Link. Sophia was in the same hostel and so I had nice company again.
Sightseeing in Lima is not so big, there are only a few places but they are pretty. I had the feeling it is more a city to live in. Anyways the old centre and the coastline are worth a visit and of course the districts Barranco and Miraflores. There is a shopping mall in the cliffs towards the ocean and you can do paragliding from those cliffs, too. The food is amazing, everywhere you can have fresh seafood and I love Ceviche! :-)
But after four full days in Lima, I couldn't stop thinking about sun and beach, so I took a long bus up north to Mancora.
As expected it was nice and sunny, great waves and cute surfer boys all over the beach. ;-) Stayed in the Point hostel first, which I really liked, but moved then to the Loki for some party and to see a friend from Australia, Ashleigh (met her in Patagonia). That was a full week just relaxing at the beach or pool and partying all night. Fun times! Every day beautiful sunsets and yummy happy hours drinks. So I had a good finish for Peru but was already excited for the next place in Ecuador.

Bolivia volunteering

I'm in Cochabamba and first I stayed at hostel Buenos Aires and wanted to find volunteer work. I heard about an organisation Sustainable Bolivia, so I stopped by there and were lucky. They offered me three different opportunities and I chose the energy one. ;-) So in the next days I had a visit in the organisation CECAM and learned about what they do and started work the very next day.

The organisation is a little family run business and has an open air workshop in the back garden of the house. They build solar ovens and efficient wood burning stoves. I started helping with office work especially translating from or into English for correspondence with other countries companies, organisations, volunteers etc. Further I continued updating their facebook page which was actually an easy job and then I helped with some new projects in a suburb of Cochabamba. We provided food and medical support to impoverished families in Villa Esmeralda. I as well donated some money to build five wood burning stoves for five selected families.

It was good to see how the people there are thankful for the work we did and it was heart-touching to see when a dentist, who helped us for free, checked the kids teeth.

The whole time I was living in a house with seven other volunteers which was really nice. I had a home for a while with my room that I shared with Justine, a french girl, a kitchen and a TV in the living room. Every week we had shared dinners with all other volunteers in the main house. We were appr. 25 people plus some local friends. Me and another German girl cooked once a typical dish from home. The weekends we went out for party or visited different places close to Cochbamba. Besides shopping on the big local market or hanging with friends it was a welcome change from the work.

First trip was to Tupiza, the wild west of Bolivia. I had a long weekend and did a two day horse back riding trip. The landscape was so stunningly beautiful and I have never seen anything like it before. Canyons, rock formations and those colours, so intense in blue, yellow, red and green. It was great wherever I looked, just my but didn't like the horse ride that much! ;-) But it was worth it.

A few weekends later we went to Santa Cruz and from there, after visiting the zoo, to Samaipata. That's a little village in the rain forest and with one of the most eastern Inca sites. The ruins were nice and offered good views over the mountains and valleys around. A lovely weekend with friends.

Another 'fin de semana' we went to Torotoro national park. What a weird place, the landscape shows formations where you can see what tectonic geology means.

It looks as the earth just moved into that position recently and not thousands of years ago. We crawled through a very narrow cave, hiked into a canyon and saw some dinosaur footprints. They looked quite real, so I was very impressed!

We hiked in Pico Tunari national park what is right next to Cochabamba, met many new people from Cocha and international.

And I went to La Paz a few times to just enjoy good food and party. This city is so breathtaking and not only because of the altitude. ;-)

Further we took part at the Aymara new years party and celebrated into the year 5520. We got up to meet the local people on a hill to dance around the fire and to welcome the sun the first day of the new year. We expected a llama sacrifice, but luckily there wasn't one, only some herbal and alcohol gifts for Pacha Mama, the god of the earth.

I had a great time in Cocha and met so many great people, thanks to everybody that made my time so special. And it felt good to give at least a little help and support to some of the people there. After a great laving dinner and three days of partying, I left Cocha for my last tour and into Peru.

First Justine and me travelled to Sorata, a little town in the mountains north of La Paz. It was a curvy ride because we went from 4500m down to 2700m and we got the most amazing views. We could see down the valley into the rain forest at 1000m and up to the snowy peaks of 6500m. The altitude difference was huge and the landscape stunning.

We wanted to hike to a lagoon but because the taxi dropped us at a wrong start point we walked and walked and found only a little pond. 1,5h turned into 4h hiking uphill and the 4000m lagoon was suddenly 5000m high. Well, it was so beautiful so we didn't mind that we hiked for 7h instead of 4.

After that beautiful side trip into the mountains we went back to La Paz and met some of our volunteer friends from Cochabamba, they came to party with us and to visit Lake Titikaka together. We stayed at the Wild Rover where the bar is next door and where we started the night out with some drinks. When the bar closed at two we went to a club and I got home last, early in the morning. But after a shower and breakfast I was fit again to continue.

We took a bus to Copacabana and enjoyed the fresh trout from the lake for dinner. Next morning we took the ferry to Isla del Sol and started to hike over the whole island. We saw some ruins in the north and followed the path towards south with amazing views over the deep blue coloured lake and the snowy peaks of the Bolivian mountains in the back. It's beautiful and it was warm in the sun.

After three hours we got to the village in the south where we found a little place for the night.

Next morning we got up to see the sunrise from the view point what was freezing, but so lovely in reward. Then we had breakfast in the sun and took the ferry back to Copacabana.

We ate another trout and enjoyed the sunny afternoon. Then it was time to say goodbye! Everybody went into a different direction and I left Bolivia to Peru.

I was sad and happy.

After three months Bolivia, I loved the country and wished I could stay longer, but I was as well excited to continue and see Peru with famous Machu Picchu! Just, everyone please go and see Bolivia, it's great!

Bolivia travels

Bolivia! Yeah! Was so excited to go there and I stayed for the whole length of my visa. Three months!
I think I didn't do anything wrong with this decision, I had so much fun here.

Well, first I went traveling to the best places of Bolivia before working as a volunteer. When I arrived in Uyuni I met Grady again and we started a tour to the salt flats and the national park in the south west. What an amazing place on earth. The landscape dry like a desert, but with snowy volcano peaks, rock formations that appear alien like as from another planet, then colourful lagoons in white, green and red and as well pelicans and llamas everywhere. It was just incredible. I think I took a thousand pictures because it was so inspiring and stunning.

It was very cold at night but sunny every day. We stayed one night at about 4600m and it was freezing. But from there we were going to see some geysers going off early in the morning and could jump into a volcanic heated pool.

And at the end of our tour we got to see the big white salt flat which was a highlight itself.

Salt as far as you can see and a blending white that your eyes start to burn. Without sun glasses no chance. But so amazing! With the white clouds and a blue, blue in the sky it was overwhelming! And we had fun with the camera and took the photos that have these special effects because of the wideness of the flats.

When we got back to Uyuni town we just took a shower and continued to Potosi, cause Uyuni itself is only the start or end point for the salt flat tours and therefore a bit boring. But Potosi was interesting, it is located at an altitude of 4000m and you can feel how easy you get breathless when walking somewhere. We visited the mines and had to crawl through some pretty narrow tunnels with almost no safety precautions. So I got a little worried, but it was adventurous in the end. For the miners inside we bought some presents like Coca Cola or dynamite. And because it's so crazy to buy dynamite legally, we just bought some more to try it out and have some fun. We hired a taxi, went out of town and hiked into a little deserted valley. There we blew up a cactus and some stones. The explosion made a big pressure wave and even I was 50m away, I could still feel it and thought to sense some cactus needles blowing over as well. ;-) And because it was so funny, we had to buy some more including the catalyst to make the explosion even bigger the next time. But because our bus was leaving soon, Grady had to carry it in his bag. Weird feeling to travel around with some explosives in your baggage. ;-)

In Sucre we enjoyed some warmer weather and great food. It is a super nice town with lots of colonial architecture and nice cafes. We went to the recoleta cemetery, the view point, the centre and to a castle outside town. There we blew up the dynamite again, finally got rid of this dangerous accessory. ;-)

Wish we could have stayed a little longer in this nice place with the sweetest mangos ever. But we wanted to see some more places before Grady had to fly home and my volunteering started.

So from Sucre we went to La Paz, the highest capital in the world at 3800m. It got colder again and the air was thinner. Because the city lies in a valley with hillside extensions, it goes up and down when you walk the streets and makes you gasping the whole time. But it has great party and good food. We found the best Thai place in town.

We explored the city and wandered through the witches market where they sell llama foetuses and other ritual or witchcraft accessories. Odd place but interesting.

It was nice to hang out in La Paz for a few days and we went as well to Tiwanaku to see some Inca ruins and hear some history.

Not to miss, of course, was the death road biking and it was a spectacular ride. From freezing cold and fog into beautiful green mountains and a swimming pool finish. Only thing, the next days I couldn't sitm because my but was in pain. ;-) But still highly recommendable.

But then it was time to say goodbye and I went to Cochabamba to find some volunteer work.

Cochabamba is the city of eternal spring and the weather is like it, sunshine every day and warm temperatures daytime and cold at night. Surrounded by mountains and an overlooking Cristo statue on a hill in the middle of the town. There were not many tourists, but that made the place so special. I liked it a lot and found the organisation Sustainable Bolivia where I got a volunteer assignment.

Finally I started to do something useful during my trip! ;-)

Chile Part 2

This border into Chile was a bit special, very severe and at 4500m altitude. Chile is very strict with things you can bring in, so after scanning all our bags the dogs were sent through to find drugs or any food products. Even tea bags are not allowed.

But after that I could enjoy the great views during the ride down to Santiago.

In Santiago I did some sightseeing and met Cecilia again. She offered me to stay with her family in their house. It was so nice I got a home away from home and her mom made a big family dinner and tried to make everything perfect for me. Simply a mom. ;-)
I went out with Cecilia to some bars and I met some of her friends. Even my time was short I enjoyed it very much. Hope to come back soon. Thanks to Cecilia and her family!



After so much welcoming kindness, it felt hard to continue. But I went to Valparaiso to see the graffiti arts and enjoy a few days at the coast. It was colder than in Santiago and had more wind but sunshine all the time. Perfect weather for a stroll through the streets and to check out some of the view points, art works and cafes.





Then I took a bus north along the coast to get to Calama and then San Pedro de Atacames. Long empty surfer beaches for hundreds of kilometers, dry desert landscape and in the background the Andes with some volcano peaks. And the closer I came to San Pedro the drier it got. The Atacama desert is the driest place on earth with no rain the whole year. And you can feel it, within minutes you are thirsty and your skin dries out. But the landscape is an odd beauty, sand dunes and canyons and the rock formations seems to be from the moon.
I visited the worlds largest copper mine and for a short while I had the feeling to be back at work with a helmet on my head being on a construction site. ;-)


But I enjoyed the strange landscape and wanted to see more of it on the other side of the border.
So I tried to get one of the buses to Bolivia. There are only four a week and its hard to get tickets. As well the border office is only open at this time when the buses cross. But I was the first one in the ticket office and got a seat for the next day early early morning. The road is not paved and so the ride took 5h for 200km and another 5h to Uyuni in Bolivia. The border was the loneliest place I have ever seen. The border town is more a ghost town, there might be only ten people living and on the Bolivian side even less.
But it was a good experience and interesting to see.
And I was finally in Bolivia.

Argentina Part 2

A look out of the window of our bus showed a very deserted landscape in both countries Chile and Argentina when we crossed borders again. There was wide empty grassland wherever you look. This is how Patagonia looks like too, it is not only mountains.
But our first stop was way north in the mountains again in El Calafate. The town looked very clean and touristy and so it was expensive as well, but like all over Patagonia. But you gladly spend the money to see all the beauty.

We came to see the Perito Moreno glacier there. And it was amazing, the glacier was incredible, blue ice from a 74m high and 5km long wall melting or more crashing in bits and peaces into the lake. You can hear the noise like a thunder when blocks brake/fall down from the glacier end every few minutes. It's a very special place and so beautiful. And this glacier is one of biggest outside the north and south pole areas that is still growing and not shrinking like most. We spent an afternoon enjoying the view and then went on the next fabulous stop. El Chalten.

This little village lies at the entrance of a national park with great trekking and camping options. We hiked up the Condor view point and for a day trek into the park to see Mt. Fitzroy. What a gorgeous place. The colours of autumn were over the fields and in the trees and we had blue sky. And at the end of the trek we got rewarded with a view over a turquoise glacier lake and the impressive peak of Mt. Fitzroy. Well I think I can say I love Patagonia, it's so stunningly beautiful and well organised for travellers.

From El Chalten we took two long day buses to get to Bariloche. The routa 40 is not paved and only passable by day. On the way we saw many people who travel this famous route by motor bikes. That must be an awesome experience, too.
Finally in Bariloche we enjoyed the atmosphere of a German/Swiss styled town and very good food. This place is famous for chocolate as well. So we spent one afternoon just sitting on our hostel terrace on sunbeds enjoying the sunshine and, to top it all off, having red wine and chocolate. What a hard life... ;-)

We met some hiking friends again and explored the place together. A little hike with everybody up a view point to see the lakes was easy and nice. Great views again like everywhere in Patagonia. The lake district in general with all the lakes and green hills is perfect for outdoor activities.
On top I even got to stay in a luxury time share in Bariloche that two American guys offered us. With a fireplace and a jacuzzi really special and a welcome change to dormitories although the hostels in Patagonia are very modern and comfortable.

But after a few days I continued traveling north to Mendoza to explore the most famous wine area in Argentina. And the first thing to do is to join in a wine tour through the vineyards and enjoy drinking! So that's what I did for the next couple of days, drinking red wine and eat delicious food. But the area has more to offer, so I went to see the highest mountain in whole America, Mt. Aconcagua 6964m, an old natural Inca bridge, a canyon and the impressive Cristo statue at the border between Chile and Argentina, at 4200m. What a great finish for my time in Argentina!

And so I crossed into Chile again over the Andes and saw the famous ski area between Mendoza and Santiago. Well it had no snow at that time but might be interesting to check out in winter as well.

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.