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South America Diaries
  • The traveling Orange
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South America Diaries

A 80-day adventure by The traveling Orange Read more
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    🇵🇪 La Palma, Peru
    The traveling OrangeSouth America DiariesTraveler

    Cuzco - La ciudad del principio

    January 1 in Peru ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    Decir que llegamos tan lejos y no vimos Machu Picchu es casi un delito.
    Pero los milagros existen. De alguna manera.

    Bienvenidos a la ciudad de los comienzos. Antiguamente imperio inca. La ciudad del rey de los incas. Ahora solo un vestigio de ese imperio.

    Conquistada por los españoles, destruida, peregrinada y masacrada. La ciudad de los nuevos comienzos.    Read more

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  • The traveling OrangeSouth America DiariesTraveler

    La Paz - Goodbye Bolivia

    December 26, 2025 in Bolivia ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

    After more than a month of Bolivia, I am saying goodbye to it.

    I am definitely going to miss the smiles, the laughter, the people, the joy, the easiness and the way of life the Bolivians live (definitely not going to miss the food).

    We had to leave Bolivia with a hurry, because the ongoing demonstrations against the government where rising up. And the issue to get out was getting day by day harder.

    So long Bolivia. I will miss you.    Read more

  • The traveling OrangeSouth America DiariesTraveler
    1

    Desierto de Siloli - Highest peak

    December 24, 2025 in Bolivia ⋅ 🌬 11 °C

    Then we left the salt flats and entered the surrounding deserts and that’s where it got seriously unreal.

    Red lagoons. Flamingos. Volcanoes in the background. Rock formations that look like they were placed there by aliens.
    Every scenery looked like a different desert.

    And between all of that?
    Nothing.

    Not “oh, a quiet road” nothing.
    Like… nothingness.
    No houses. No villages. No signals. No lights. No trees. Just endless dust and silence and a thin strip of road that sometimes felt more like a suggestion than an actual path.    Read more

  • The traveling OrangeSouth America DiariesTraveler

    Isla Incahuasi - Stranded on an Island

    December 23, 2025 in Bolivia ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Miles of nothingness, and then there is this Island. Not just any Island. The Island of the cactuses 🌵

    In middle of Salar de Uyuni is the Island “Incahuasi”

    Isla Incahuasi (the cactus “island” in the middle of the Salar de Uyuni) exists because Uyuni used to be a huge prehistoric lake and what you see today is basically the rocky top of an ancient volcano that stayed above the water, later left stranded when the lake dried up.Read more

  • The traveling OrangeSouth America DiariesTraveler
    1
    1

    Uyuni - Travelling together

    December 22, 2025 in Bolivia ⋅ 🌬 17 °C

    Uyuni! Not yet the desert but the city before that!
    David finally has arrived, before he even could’ve recover from his devastating 4AM flight we directly went with the Night bus to Uyuni.

    Now not only destroyed and without energy, we’re feeling the High altitude of 3600m. But Uyuni is definitely different than anything else I’ve seen so far in Bolivia. Tourists. Tourists everywhere.Read more

  • The traveling OrangeSouth America DiariesTraveler

    Lava lava Alta - Quechuan

    December 14, 2025 in Bolivia ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    The story behind “Quechuan”

    Quechuan refers to the people, language, and living heritage of the Andes, one of the oldest continuous cultures in the world.

    Long before borders or modern nations existed, the Quechua people thrived high in the Andes, mastering agriculture at extreme altitudes, reading the stars, and building stone cities that still defy time. When the Inca Empire rose in the 15th century, Quechua became its official language, spreading across what is now
    - Peru
    - Bolivia
    - Ecuador
    - Colombia
    - Chile and
    - Argentina.

    Then came the Spanish conquest. Empires fell, but Quechua didn’t disappear. Instead, it survived through oral tradition songs, farming knowledge, rituals, and daily life, passed down from generation to generation. Today, over 10 million people still speak Quechua, making it one of the most widely spoken Indigenous language families in the world.

    To say Quechuan is to speak of resilience, connection to land, and a culture that refused to vanish, rooted in mountains, memory, and collective strength.    Read more

  • The traveling OrangeSouth America DiariesTraveler
    1

    Cochabamba - Big city life

    December 11, 2025 in Bolivia ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    Cochabamba was born in a valley where the land is generous and the climate kind.

    Long before the Spanish arrived, the area was home to Quechua communities who called it:

    Qullqapampa
    “the plain of abundance.”

    Corn, potatoes, and grains flourished here.

    But Cochabamba’s story is not just one of fertility. Its one of resistance.

    In 1812, during Bolivia’s fight for independence, local women now remembered as the Heroínas de la Coronilla, stood against Spanish troops armed with little more than courage. Many died, but their defiance became a symbol of the city’s unbreakable spirit.

    That spirit resurfaced in 2000, during the famous Water War, when citizens united to oppose the privatization of their water.
    The protests echoed a long tradition: Cochabamba does not stay silent when dignity is at stake.

    Today, known as “La Ciudad de la Eterna Primavera” (the City of Eternal Spring),
    Cochabamba is a blend of tradition and modern life, markets full of color, food meant to be shared, and a deep sense of community watched over by Cristo de la Concordia, one of the largest Christ statues in the world.

    Cochabamba is not just a place.
    It’s abundance, resistance, and warmth rooted in the valley, carried by its people.    Read more

  • The traveling OrangeSouth America DiariesTraveler
    12

    Sacaba - Welcome to day to day life

    December 7, 2025 in Bolivia ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    Hugs. Warm ones. Full of affection.

    Hello, where are you from? You don’t come from around here?
    Ah what? Wow, Svezia!
    No no, switzerland.
    Ah sorry. Yes, Switzerland it’s beautiful! How long are you staying. A month?
    Ah no no, so short. Stay longer.
    Cocha is the best town of all of them. Amazing food, the cuisine king of all of them. Weather and the climate are kind with you. Better than the Tropics.
    What wow! You come from the Tropics, did you survive?
    Where? Salar, yes you have to absolutely visit it.

    This, has been the Ice Breaker of all Conversations I had.    Read more

  • The traveling OrangeSouth America DiariesTraveler

    Korihuma II - First Impressions

    December 4, 2025 in Bolivia ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    2,800 meters above sea level. High altitude problems? Me? Nah.
    I’m Swiss. Basically “mountain certified”.
    Alessandro — born on a mountain.
    Okay, maybe that mountain was only 800 meters above sea level… but still. Minor detail.

    But since I was five, I’ve been on skis, sliding around the Swiss Alps like I owned the place.
    Thin air? Steep slopes? That’s just childhood nostalgia.

    Mountains feel like home. And Sacaba, Korihuma II, Cocha? Definitely feel like home.    Read more

  • The traveling OrangeSouth America DiariesTraveler
    1

    Puerto Suarrez - Staycation

    November 30, 2025 in Bolivia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Life comes in a wide variety of flavours. With each passing day you experience different ones.

    Coincidence after coincidence. I lived like the Bolivians do. At least like someone from Puerto Suarrez. For almost two weeks I was ataying at Erick’s home. A kind Bolivian who embraced all the swissness I was.

    The days in Puerto Suarrez where Hot but during the night unberable. Cooling off was near to impossible in those weeks. But it didn’t matter to the smallest part. It still was one of the best experiences I’ve made.    Read more

  • The traveling OrangeSouth America DiariesTraveler

    El Carmen - Mangos

    November 29, 2025 in Bolivia ⋅ ⛅ 37 °C

    What if you dream?

    This is how this mini-side-Adventure felt like, something out of a dream.

    Talking to people, touching lives, and making the days of strangers from all over the world just a little better.

    Seeing that people far beyond anything you’ve ever known carry the same dreams, wishes, fears, and desires. And, plenty of Mangos and Tamarind the stomach can fathom.    Read more

  • The traveling OrangeSouth America DiariesTraveler

    Puerto Quijarro - Hot, hotter, Bolivia

    November 26, 2025 in Bolivia ⋅ ☁️ 36 °C

    Helped out on a volunteer Project. My schedule for the upcoming weeks:

    5:45 Wake up & shower (after being drenched by my own sweat of the night)
    6:10 Depart
    6:30 Arrive at the house that the constructors live
    - prepare Breakfast
    - prepare tables
    7:00 constructors eat
    7:10 Go pick up the Ingredients at the local Market. Meats, Veggies and so on
    7:40 Return and store everything
    8:10 Clean up the tables after Breakfast
    8:20 eat with the kitchen crew
    8:40 Start cleaning Main Hall, set up tables
    - prepare ingredients
    - prepare tables for 40 people
    - cook
    - get juice ready
    12:15 constructors arrive and serve food
    13:15 clean everything like tables, get tables out of dining hall, chairs, clean floor and mop it
    14:30 start preparing dinner
    16:00 done for the day
    17:30 Drive back home

    Challenginf part was the heat. 40C outside, shadows 35C and in the kitchen unbearable.    Read more

  • The traveling OrangeSouth America DiariesTraveler

    Boca de Onça - Water and Friends

    November 19, 2025 in Brazil ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    This day started with a trail. Not the rushed kind, but the slow, humid, forest soaked kind where every step smells like earth and leaves.

    Standing there, sweaty and tired, everything suddenly made sense. The hike, the heat, the silence between steps. This wasn’t just about the waterfall, it was about earning the moment. About slowing down enough to feel small, and being okay with that.Read more

  • The traveling OrangeSouth America DiariesTraveler
    2

    Buraco das Araras - Featherlight

    November 17, 2025 in Brazil ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    This place reveals itself slowly. At first, it’s just forest and quiet. Then suddenly, the ground opens up, and you’re standing at the edge of something enormous

    Looking down into the sinkhole, the colors hit first: deep greens, rusted reds, stone carved by time. And then the movement. Scarlet macaws circling the walls, their calls echoing across the crater, filling the space in a way that feels ancient and alive. It’s loud, but never chaotic. Everything belongs here. Now.

    I stood there longer than expected, just watching. There’s something grounding about places that clearly existed long before you and will continue long after. Buraco das Araras doesn’t demand attention, it earns it.    Read more

  • The traveling OrangeSouth America DiariesTraveler

    Rio da Prata - Snorkelling

    November 17, 2025 in Brazil ⋅ 🌧 20 °C

    Snorkeling through liquid glass

    One of those places that quietly resets you. The water here is so clear it feels unreal.
    Like floating through air instead of a water. Fish move slowly around you, completely unbothered, and the only real sound is the current carrying everything forward at its own pace. No rush, no noise, no distractions.Read more

  • The traveling OrangeSouth America DiariesTraveler

    Bonito - You’re so Beautiful

    November 13, 2025 in Brazil ⋅ 🌧 27 °C

    South America! Finally?

    I can only describe this as bliss. The moment when you realise it just fits.
    Is everything beautiful? Yes. My stomach is full, the hunger stilled by good alcohol and good company.
    In the middle of nowhere.

    Those are the moments you only realise afterwards, how beautiful the time was that I spent with everyone.

    A bit of a personal story but…
    At one point I felt like the following:

    Travelling is easy. getting accustomed is something different. The essentials to bring one self to travel is a minimal effort, the first hurdle to so call off. But then realising “oh wow i miss that and that, oh i miss this and this” is a story for itself.

    As i was coming down with a cold, not yet a fever. I really craved a room for my own. I was at that moment sharing a room with 5 different men. The hostel I was staying, was non chalant, not big etiquette, and not well maintained. So i thought. Not knowing what good or bad was at the moment.

    When I checked myself, this was a decision in a spur of the moment, into a pousada called “sao jorge” i thought to myself, “finally. a bed. a shower that i dont have to wear flip flops for hygienic reasons, and a room that i can spread my belongings around without a hassle and fearing the worst. Especially if my undies get stolen.
    Jokes aside, I just wanted to be alone. Ailing myself. Healing from the illness I was going through.    Read more

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