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South America
  • Robin Stacey
Apr – Jun 2023

South America

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  • Trip start
    April 3, 2023
    Robin StaceySouth AmericaTraveler
    1

    Punta Arenas

    April 3, 2023 in Chile ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    Long flight Quito>Lima>Santiago>Punta Arenas

    arrived in the afternoon and Wandered around the city a bit. Nothing too special but it’s not too bad. Walked along the ocean a bit, lots of gulls and cormorants, statue of Shackleton.

    Slept early after the long travel day, and took the bus in the morning to Puerto Natales    Read more

  • Robin StaceySouth AmericaTraveler

    Puerto Natales

    April 4, 2023 in Chile ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    Bus from Punta Arenas, stayed at a tiny hostel for 3 days to plan and ready for the W Trek in Torres del Paine.

    Day 1:
    Walked through the town and along the beach. Kinda small, fairly pretty, touristy, a bit expensive. Statue of a Mylodon because I guess there was a lot of skeletons from the ice age found nearby.

    Tag 2:
    Planned a bit, didn’t do much.

    Tag 3:
    Was here an extra day because it was only possible to book the cheap campsites for April 7th to 11th for hiking. But actually had a really nice day. Went to breakfast with Vi and Will from the hostel. French girl and American guy, they are cool! Will is a funky guy, he’s taking the ferry to the southernmost town in the world, on a little island. Just because I guess! Then we went to the cave of the Milodon, a big cave nearby where they found a lot of fossils from the last ice age of milodons (giant sloths), sabre tooth tigers etc. it was cool! And a nice hike along the hill to a view point and another little cave and some big rocks to climb on. Beautiful views, actually reminded me a lot of the Yukon landscape.
    Then chill a bit and pack gear ready for hiking tomorrow in Torres del Paine! Evening in the hostel was super nice actually. There was a guitar so Will played a bit (he used to be in an Avril Lavigne cover band!!) , and it turns out Violette is a super good singer! So it was a hostel singalong evening, which would normally be kinda cheesy, but it was actually really nice! Haha. I was too shy to play.. 🤔    Read more

  • Robin StaceySouth AmericaTraveler

    TdP - Paine Grande>Lago Grey

    April 7, 2023 in Chile ⋅ 🌨 4 °C

    Puerto Natales > Pudeto > Paine Grande > Lago Grey (11km)

    6:45am bus from Natales to Pudeto, a point in the national park where you can then catch the ferry/catamaran. Drove 3 hours through the chilly sunrise and waited awhile in the wind and rain for the ferry. Then half an hour ferry along a blue green glacier lake to Paine Grande, one of the Refugios to start the trek. I am doing the W-Trek, a classic 4-5 day route through the National Park. Would have like the O trek, which is 8-9 days and goes around the back of the park and is less touristy, but it’s closed in April unless you hire a guide, which is too expensive :/ Next time!

    Started hiking from Paine Grande around 12 noon, along Lago Grey towards the Grey glacier.
    1st fail: lost my earphones :( there’s a hole in my pocket so they are just gone somewhere unknown :(
    2nd fail: forgot to bring gas for the cook stove.. ayayay. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I feel cursed/scatterbrained. Usually I’m so organised and careful. Luckily the campsite is pretty well equipped so I could just buy some 😂 if this were tombstone I would have had to cancel the hike!
    Anyways I hiked about 3 hours to Campamento Grey. Already a beautiful trail with fall red and orange everywhere, and the blue/grey lake alongside, the occasional chunk of bright blue glacier ice floating by. The downside: pretty grey weather, constant light rain, and INSANELY WINDY!! Seriously I nearly fell over a number of times from huge gusts of wind, and could barely see sometimes with wind and pelting rain in my face! But I made it to the camping area and set up my tiny yellow tent. Felt a bit lonely lying inside. Not that much to do except make a hot chocolate and cook dinner already. There’s a cooking building aswell so that is good, would be shitty cooking outside in the wind    Read more

  • Robin StaceySouth AmericaTraveler
    11111

    TdP - Grey>Paine Grande

    April 8, 2023 in Chile ⋅ 🌧 9 °C

    Refugio Grey > Grey Glacier Lookout > Paine Grande (20km)
    Cold and windy night, the sleeping bag is passable but not very comfy for this weather. Woke up with the sunrise, packed up and left my gear at the Refugio while I hiked to the Glacier Grey Lookout. It was actually really good weather (still unbelievably windy and occasional rain in the air), but mostly clear. 1.5 hour hike to the lookout up closer over the Grey Glacier. It was really beautiful, the mountains surrounding it, the blue ice textures, the sun and shadow illuminating different sections. Really worth it! Thena chill hike back to the campsite, had lunch and picked up my gear to hike back to Paine Grande for the night. Arrived around 4:30pm, setup camp and made dinner. Cold shower bleh, early bed because why not!Read more

  • Robin StaceySouth AmericaTraveler
    31111

    TdP - Paine Grande>Frances

    April 9, 2023 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 2 °C

    Paine Grande > Mirador Britanico > Campsite Frances
    21km

    Wow! What a day. So cold overnight, couldn’t really sleep much. It started snowing really thick as I left the camp so I was a little apprehensive.. Got up for an early start and hiked the 8km or so from Paine Grande to Campsite Italiano. Quick lunch and leave the bag for the hike up the valley towards Mirador Britanico. That’s when the beauty of the place really hit me! The hike was really pretty through orange and red forest, along rushing streams and through rocky clearings. On both sides absolute incredible mountains rising high, snow blowing in foggy swirls around the tops. The blue sky and bright sun didn’t make much sense while snowflakes fell around me as I hiked. As I got up to the top, the snow stopped and the views opened up completely on all sides. Amazing!! After while on the top, hiked slowly down again and grabbed my bag, then continued another couple km to Campsite Frances. Setup the tent and cooked up some gourmet instant noodles as a reward for a long day of hiking.Read more

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  • Robin StaceySouth AmericaTraveler
    21

    Torres del Paine - Frances>Chileno

    April 10, 2023 in Chile ⋅ ☀️ 5 °C

    Campsite Frances > Campsite Chileno
    15km
    Another freezing cold night, for sure below zero and the sleeping bag is not even close to warm enough! Didn’t freeze to death though so that’s a win. Watched the sun come up because I could sleep anyways, and had a slow breakfast (plain oatmeal 🤮) , then packed up and left at around 10am. 6 hours or so walk today to Chileno, this time all with the back. Really beautiful weather, and no wind! Crazy. along the lake through the forest and then drier vegetation. Looking for pumas but no luck :/ did see a huge condor swoop maybe 10m over me. Made it to Chileno campsite around 4:15 and had an hour just chilling in the sun. Cold again as soon as it’s down though! One more night, gotta be up early tomorrow to be at Las Torres for sunrise 🌅Read more

  • Robin StaceySouth AmericaTraveler
    1

    TdP - Chileno>Laguna Amarga

    April 11, 2023 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 5 °C

    Chileno Campsite > Base Las Torres > Centro Bienvenida > Puerto Natales
    16km

    Another cold night, somewhat improved by gloves on feet and feet in sleeves of puffy jacket (top tip). Must have been -4 overnight, I looked it up later and it doesn’t get much colder than -5 most of the time even in winter here. Chilly! Up at 5:30am to hike 2 hours in the dark to the Base Las Torres mirador for sunrise at 8am. This is the most famous part of the park, the enormous monolithic towers of white rock jutting out of the valley . It was both sweaty and cold hiking up the rocky icy path. Made it about 15 minutes early to see the towers slowly come into view in the early morning light. Then for maybe 2 minutes they are cast in glowing orange light by the rising sun. Amazing! Hopped around to stay warm, and about 20 minutes later the full sun hit the top of the towers, now with bright yellow reflecting in the lake below. It was incredible!! And perfect weather.
    Then slowly hike down to the camp and pack up for the last segment back to the end of the W trail. Hiked the last part with a few people from the hostel I had met before in Natales. Made it down to catch the bus back to Natales at around 3:30pm. Felt good to get back to a warm hostel and shower. Had pizza and beer with the guys and slept so deep!!

    Some people I met along the way: Zach, dude from Minnesota who has beeen travelling for 4 years. Mario, Costa Rican who works remotely (jealous!). Anna, French girl who went to school in London. Marcus, pilot for British Airways 👨‍✈️. Chatted a bit with some folks from Toronto as well, and some from Montreal.

    I liked hiking alone, but camping alone like that is pretty boring to be honest. Too cold to do much or sit outside, not really a place to chat or get to know other people, and at the end of the day I’m pretty exhausted anyways and not that much feeing like meeting new people. Missed Malina to play Crib with or just chill together and chat about the day!

    That was my longest hike ever actually, around 90km in 5 days. All in all really successful!! Sore legs and feet but no injuries or blisters, amazing weather other than the first day or so, and the landscape was absolutely amazing.
    Woo! 🥾🗻    Read more

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  • Robin StaceySouth AmericaTraveler
    1

    Perito Moreno Glacier

    April 13, 2023 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C

    Slept great in a real bed again, and then afternoon 5hr bus across the tiny border office into Argentina. Made it to El Calafate, a town on the edge of Lago Argentino. Kind of an annoying evening trying to figure out the best way to do things.

    Argentina has a bizarre economic situation where there is high inflation but the bank exchange rates are set really low, so if you take money out of the ATM or pay by credit card, you get about 200 Argentinean Pesos for 1 USD. But if you exchange it on the “blue dollar rate” (kind of like a legal black market rate) in currency exchanges or Western Union offices, you get nearly 400 pesos to a dollar, nearly double! The only problem is that calafate is a small town with only one western union and one currency exchange, and none of them have much money to give out… so I’m kinda stuck. I had read about it before so I brought some USD which you can usually pay with, but then you get a random rate depending on what they want to give you. Weird! Also annoying because I want to just spend one day here and move on to el chalten, so it’s tricky. But anyways!
    Hostel was meh and I got up early to catch a bus to Perito Moreno Glacier about an hour away. It’s pretty famous and pretty awesome! You can walk along a bunch of viewing areas and platforms for some great photos pretty close to the ice shelf. It’s almost 70m above the water level at the point where the ice comes down to the lake! Enormous. Every few minutes you hear a huge rumble like thunder as a piece falls off, and sometimes see the splash from a chunk the size of a car. Also got a ticket to take a boat ride up to the base of the glacier, where we got up to about 100m away and could really see the scale of how huge it is. Pretty cool! Got beautiful weather aswell. If you hiked over the glacier about 30km you would reach Torres del Paine, it’s really close.    Read more

  • Robin StaceySouth AmericaTraveler

    El Chaltén

    April 14, 2023 in Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C

    Arrived at midnight in El Chalten, a small town in the mountains of Patagonia.

    Day 1: Laguna de los Tres
    Woke up early because some guy in the hostel let his alarm ring for 15 minutes. But it’s ok, it got me up to hike Laguna de los Tres, aka the trail to the base of the Fitz Roy. The weather was amazing! Chilly in the early morning but warmed up as the sun illuminated the beautiful fall colours of the mountain valley. Most of the hikes here start straight from town which is amazing so you can do day hikes no problem. About 4 km uphill, then you reach a huge valley at the base of the mountains, full of beautiful forest and lakes. The fall colours are insane! Another 7km or so mostly flat, then a last steep part up to the Laguna, which sits at the base of the Fitz Roy, the biggest and most famous mountain, jutting up into the blue sky. Really loved this hike!! Incredible views, colours, landscape. On the way down I did a detour to hike along the valley and around a lake there, involving a fair bit of bushwhacking. Ended up a lot longer than I expected, and I got back to my hostel after a solid 35km hike! Holy moly my feet hurt.

    Day 2: Laguna Torre
    Had planned a chill day, but Mario, Svenja, Zoe and Anna got to the town and were doing the Laguna Torre hike, and Another great weather day so why not! This one was a little easier, just a bit of uphill at the beginning, then again flat through a forest valley until another lake, this one at the base of Cerro Torre, one of the other well known landmarks here. Again super beautiful! The mountains are just amazing, and it’s such a nice time of year with green, yellow, orange and red leaves everywhere. By the time we got back it was 25km and my legs dying! Then went for fries and a beer together.

    Day 3: Miradores
    This time somewhat more chill day, just a 7km round trip out to the Mirador de las Aguilas and Mirador de los Condores near to the town. Super nice views of the mountain range (same one you can see on the Patagonia brand logo), and the other direction over the huge Lago Viedma and Lago Argentino.

    Day 4: Cascada Chorillo del Salto
    Another more chill day while the others did the hike I did on Day 1. Super windy today so I just hiked a short 8km round trip to the waterfall Chorillo del Salto outside of town. Pretty nice! Some people taking selfies, nice fall colours, cold water. Tempting to jump in but wasn’t brave enough 😋

    Day 5: Loma Pliegue del Tumbado
    Another long hike, probably the toughest! My cheap hiking boots falling apart and my feet complaining, we made it another 25km or so in total out to an awesome viewpoint and back. A lot more elevation gain than the other hikes so my legs were burning! But really nice views over the Laguna Torre that we hiked to the other day, as well as the Fitz Roy. Also the lake and huge barren desert stretching the other direction. Awesome! Saw some huge condors aswell, really cool. Feet absolutely killing me on the way back, but made it. Happy Birthday Malina!! 🥳❤️

    Day 6: Huemal Glacier
    Took a shuttle out 37km to Lago del Desierto, along the bumpy dirt road that follows along further down the river valley. A beautiful drive in the sunlight, seeing the red and orange forest and the sparkling river. Then a nice easy hike up to the Huemal Glacier for some nice views of a green glacial lake and the long thin Lago del Desierto which stretches to the Chilean border. Had a little more time to walk through the forest along the lake, and then the shuttle back as the rain started to fall. Pretty exhausted! Last night in Chalten, then travel day on the 20.04 El Chalten to El Calafate by bus, then fly to Buenos Aires.

    Loved it in El Chalten! Nice laid back town vibe, good food, amazing hikes right on the doorstep. Was nice to hang out awhile with some the guys I got to know a bit in Natales/Torres del Paine, so I had a nice mix of socialising and solo chilling.    Read more

  • Robin StaceySouth AmericaTraveler
    221

    Montevideo

    April 21, 2023 in Uruguay ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    Bus to el Calafate, flight to Buenos Aires. Figured out the city bus into the centre and got there around midnight. Slept in a bit, Had a relaxed morning and walked around the streets a bit, got a haircut. Happened to bump into Domenica, someone we met at the Spanish school in Ecuador. Small world! But had to run to the ferry so didn’t have time to chat much.

    Ferry about an hour crossing the huge Rio de la Plata over to Colonia, Uruguay 🇺🇾. Then bus right away a couple hours to the capital city Montevideo and met Mario and Svenja who were also there for the weekend. Arrived and got some food and chilled a bit, then had some beers in the evening at a bar on the street, and kind of spontaneously went to a club! Haha. Only for like an hour, but it was fun dancing to Spanish regaeton that I don’t recognise. We were the only white people there which is always a fun/weird feeling.

    The next day I had a free day in Montevideo to explore, did a walking tour around the old city which was good. Some facts:
    - Uruguay is about 45% atheist. 3.5 million people, 15 million cows.
    - At plaza zabala, there is a fountain with spelling mistakes on the carving, and penis-shapes on the fence around it because the architect was mad at the owner.
    - Uruguay is the most democratic/least corrupt country in South America, is very advanced concerning human rights/gay rights etc. Weed is legal here.
    - President is a surfer.
    - The painting of the revolutionary hero Artigas hangs in every school etc, was painted by a guy that never saw him and it doesn’t look at all like him.
    - City name Montevideo = Monte (hill) + VI (Roman numeral 6 for six hills + D=de (from) + E (east) + O (west). There are 6 hills in the region, apparently that’s the why they named it Montevideo (Seems iffy but that’s what the guide said).
    - Mate 🧉. You see it everywhere in Argentina aswell, Maté is tea that everyone drinks constantly wherever they go. You bring a thermos of hot water, some of the tea, and a little cup with a special straw. It’s really funny, you see everyone carrying a thermos under their arm all the time! It tastes kinda bitter, and has a lot of caffeine I guess. Never thought id find a culture that drinks tea more than the English!

    Then chill afternoon just checking out the city, found a lot of people fishing on the pier. Next morning bus to Colonia.    Read more

  • Robin StaceySouth AmericaTraveler
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    Colonia de Sacramento

    April 23, 2023 in Uruguay ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Quick stop in the cute little town of Colonia, Uruguay. The cheaper ferries to Buenos Aires are from here anyways, and it’s an old Spanish/Portuguese fort settlement, I think the oldest in the area? It has been attacked 7 times in wars between Spanish/Portuguese/Uruguayans since 1680, and now it is a tourist spot for day trips from Buenos Aires. it’s really pretty with cobbled streets, stone buildings, lots of trees and flowers everywhere, nice cafés etc.

    Went a little early to have a few hours to wander around before my ferry. Super cute here, I would stay longer to chill if Malina was here with me 😋 climbed a lighthouse for a dollar, with a nice view. Had a good coffee and sandwich, walked along the wall of the old fort. Then ferry back across the Rio de la Plata (river of silver, because the Spanish thought there were huge riches of silver hidden in the areas up the river) back to Buenos Aires    Read more

  • Robin StaceySouth AmericaTraveler
    3

    Buenos Aires - Recoleta

    April 24, 2023 in Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    Arrived back in Buenos Aires, public bus to the hostel and wander around the city for a couple hours in the evening. Lots of people around and things happening. Walked past Teatro Colon, the big famous opera house, and a tango show next to it. Big obelisk that every city seems to have for some reason. Amazing empanadas here that cost 160 pesos (about 30 cents USD)! So good and cheap.

    Next morning walking tour of Recoleta and the surrounding neighbourhood.
    Facts:
    - Argentina was one of the richest countries in the world in the end of the 19th century because of beef exports (Pampas region excellent for agriculture)
    - 100% inflation right now
    - Buenos Aires nice areas mostly French style city planning and architecture, was popular when the city grew
    - Argentina independence/reorganisation after chaos in Spanish empire 1810,
    - General San Martin national hero, conquered Lima from Argentina, liberated Chile from Spanish. Also hero in Chile and Peru! Similar to Simon Bolivar in Colombia/Ecuador/Bolivia
    - after independence civil war in Argentina for 70 years
    - Avenida 9 Julio is the widest street in the world (120 metres)
    - falklands war is an weird bit of history and interesting to think about how to decide who should control different territories based on all the factors

    Then a little wander alone through some parks, and a weird mist/dog/smoke/smog all around. Decided to tour Recoleta Cemetery in the afternoon, a big and beautiful cemetery full of mausoleums of rich/famous people.
    Cemetery facts:
    - a grave of politician Carril and his wife, who hated each other. Then he died first and she designed the grave so that when she died they would have statues facing away from each other 😂
    - first president after the dictatorship ended in 1983
    - Evita (Eva Perón) grave was pretty plain. She was very popular wife of president (think Princess Diana), and died young. Then her body was stolen and hidden in someone’s office for years and then brought to Italy and buried without telling anyone. Some people kidnapped another politician to make him tell them where her body was. 24 years after her death, she was finally buried in Recoleta cemetery.
    - bizarre number of abandoned graves falling apart/coffins kind of half open. Really creepy and strange. They are privately owned so the managers can’t really do anything about it.    Read more

  • Robin StaceySouth AmericaTraveler
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    Buenos Aires - La Boca

    April 25, 2023 in Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    Little morning tour to La Boca. Took the public bus again because I’m cheap/adventurous?
    Facts:
    - 1870 to 1920 Argentina got 6 million immigrants (pop went from 1.5 to 6.5) 65% Italians. Most arrived and styled in La. Boca, the port neighbourhood here. Influenced the language (Argentina speaks weird Spanish). Many can still get Italian passports and Italian politicians sometimes campaign in Argentina.
    - many indigenous were killed during colonialism, they also took shelter down in Patagonia because it wasn’t really colonised. Mate comes from indigenous tradition
    - Tango: started from mix of immigrant music styles. Was usually between men, almost duelling competitive dance. Started in La boca. Was banned by rich people in 1904. People lived all together in big communal houses, would sometimes just rent a bed for when they came back from working 12-16 hours at the docks
    - Boca Juniors (famous soccer team) stadium is here, team got its colours came from the flag of the next ship to dock at the port (Sweden). They had a game against the other club from the area River Plate, to see who got to stay in La Boca. They won so the River Plate moved across town
    - dictatorship 1976 to 1983. Coup against the government , targeted particular left wing group montaneros. Killed around 30000 people over the time, often kidnapped them and kept them in camps, then pushed them out of a plane over the ocean!?
    - mural of Graciela woman who started movement of women against the dictatorship. Was also noticed by international press during World Cup. They still protest sometimes.
    - the crazy colours and art of the neighbourhood started from an artist guy (forgot his name) who grew up here and came back after becoming successful artist, founded an art school etc.    Read more

  • Robin StaceySouth AmericaTraveler
    1

    Foz do Iguaçu - Brasil

    April 26, 2023 in Brazil ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Flight from BA to Puerto Iguazu, Argentina. Crappy hostel but up early the next day to check out the Iguazu Falls, I think one of the 7 wonders of the world? Maybe depends who made the list..

    Went over to the Brazilian side today, took about an hour on the bus (didn’t even need a Brazilian stamp for some reason). This side is smaller but gives a wider panoramic view of the falls.

    Magnificent! Other tourists around but not too bad, I think it can be way busier sometimes. Just one boardwalk/trail along this side, so I followed along leisurely, admiring the various views of the falls as well as some pretty birds and cute Cuoties (fluffy little animals). It ends up right at the base of the devils throat, the main horseshoe of the massive waterfall. You get really close and can follow a boardwalk out into the river a bit at the bottom, then walk up to be level with the top of the falls.

    After a couple hours I headed back to the entrance and went to El Parque das Aves. Was a really nice sanctuary for all kinds of birds from the area that are threatened, and they study them and take injured ones and breed some to try to release them back to the wild. Saw awesome parakeets and macaws, flamingos, toucans, scarlet ibis, cool owls, harpy eagle, lots more!

    Then back to Argentina and a chill few hours before bed. Officially can check off Brazil after about 6 hours there haha! Lots more to discover there of course but that will have to wait.    Read more

  • Robin StaceySouth AmericaTraveler
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    Cataratas Iguazú - Argentina

    April 27, 2023 in Brazil ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Half hour bus to the Argentine side of the falls for exploring today. This side is bigger and more trails spread out along the edge of the falls to explore. Started early and walked the two closer trails - beautiful and peaceful, only saw a handful of other tourists on those trials which was awesome. Nice views and bridges over the various smaller falls that cascade in several levels along the way. Saw a toucan, a frog of some kind, cool butterflies, a huge spider, and some condors (I think) soaring above the falls.

    Then walked further to the boardwalk out to the Devils Throat. Found all the other tourists! Here you walked maybe 600m along a boardwalk across the river at the top of the falls to a platform perched precariously above the rushing water. You can see and feel the insane amount of water roaring through the falls. Amazing! I think the water level is quite high right now, so there was a lot of mist aswell, but it came and went and through the gaps you could see across to Brazil. Occasionally got wet as the wind blew a gust of mist over the viewpoint.

    Then took a little train that trundled back to the front of the park. Lots of Cuoties as well, and they like to steal peoples food when they aren’t looking. Watch out!

    From the front I walked another 3km trail out to a smaller waterfall. Enjoyed that walk a lot, not many people do that one so it was quiet and you could hear the sounds of the jungle. Saw a couple of monkeys high up in a tree eating fruit from a tree and dropping the seeds.

    Later in the afternoon I headed back to town and had a struggle to change money, then chilled at the hostel until my night bus at 11:30pm. Next stop: Paraguay!    Read more

  • Robin StaceySouth AmericaTraveler

    Encarnación

    April 28, 2023 in Paraguay ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Night bus about 5 hours to Posadas, then found a bus across the border to Encarnacion, Paraguay. Everything went smoothly except the bus forgot me at the border in Paraguay so then I had to walk a couple of kilometres to my hostel. 😂
    Walked around the town a bit to find food and cash. Quite a nice place actually, with people chilling in the main square and selling cold Mate, which is the Paraguayan specialty. Didn’t know what to expect really because Paraguay gets very few tourists and is known as very poor, corrupt and relatively dangerous compared to most of South America. But in this tiny taste, I liked it a lot and had good vibes.
    Took a local bus about an hour to the village of Trinidad. Here there are the ruins of a Jesuit Mission, built in the late 1600s. Quite a strange bit of history that I didn’t know anything about before. Some Jesuits arrived in this area of Brazil/Argentina/Paraguay in the 1600s and somehow convinced a lot of the native Guarani people to follow them and build huge communities with stone churches and buildings etc. This one had 4000 people! Also Converted them of course, but built pretty impressive settlements. Then the Jesuits got kicked out of South America by the spanish and the communities kind of just fell apart and the Guarani left. Weird/cool! There’s still a lot of indigenous in Paraguay and the language is widely spoken apparently. Took a cab to check out the other ruin Jesus de Tarangay (?) 10km away, with an impressive well-preserved church. Then bus back and evening walking in the town and along the lakefront. Korean food from very grumpy owners. A day in Paraguay!    Read more

  • Robin StaceySouth AmericaTraveler
    1

    Salta

    April 30, 2023 in Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    A long travel day and night bus from Encarnacion, northwest across Argentina to Salta. Arrived early so dropped my bag at the hostel and wandered for awhile.

    It’s a nice city but to be honest I found it kinda boring! Walked up Cerro San Bernardo, a 45 minute walk to a viewpoint over the city. Then chilled at a cafe on the street for awhile. There was an annoying plane flying over the city the whole day with a loudspeaker repeating some kind of ad over and over again 😂. Then I went to a museum where they have some mummies of some kids sacrificed by the Incas and buried way up super high in the Andes in this area. Very spooky and bizarre, you can really see all the clothes and skin and stuff still there. They had cool info about the Incas and the history of the area aswell, with lots of artifices. Next I zipped into another museum which told the story of Martin Manuel Güemes, who led the local army of gauchos (cowboys) in fighting against the Spanish. It was kind of a fun museum with lots of videos telling the story.

    Then lay by the pool in the hostel and chilled for the evening.

    Next day was a holiday so everything was closed! Tried to take a bus out to a forest to walk in, but the bus never came. Tried to get money out but impossible. Pretty much did nothing! A bit annoying.. then met Violette for dinner, who I met in Puerto Natales and happens to be here at the same time.

    All in all Salta is okay, quite pretty and clean but not that exciting for me to be honest, especially when everything is closed! Next morning finally got some money and found a bus north to the village of Purmamarca.    Read more

  • Robin StaceySouth AmericaTraveler
    1121

    Purmamarca

    May 2, 2023 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Finally made it to western union for cash, and took a bus for a few hours to the capital Jujuy, then another bus north to the village of Purmamarca. Super cool landscape here with multicoloured mountains and bright red cliffs. It’s just a tiny tourist village, busy with mostly Argentine tourists. Dropped my stuff and straight away did a mini hike around the mountain near the, with the setting sun illuminating the awesome rock formations. A nice little spot.

    Not much to do in the evening and I can’t seem to find any good social hostels. This one was okay but kinda empty. It’s shoulder season or the start of off season I guess so that’s part of it. I did. chat with an interesting woman who grew up on a sailboat around the world, lives in Uruguay now, and sails with her brother to Antarctica sometimes. Her brother also sailed the Northwest passage in a mini catamaran. Crazy!
    There was a political rally thing next door so they played loud music and had a crazy drum band until like midnight 😂    Read more

  • Robin StaceySouth AmericaTraveler
    111

    Tilcara

    May 3, 2023 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Wanted to do another hike in Purmamarca but the trail was closed I think, so without much more to do, I took a bus further north to Tilcara. Another little village, a bit bigger but similar vibe. Checked into a hostel where I was the only one lol. But actually kinda nice with a good view, hammocks to chill in etc.
    Then hiked to the Garganta del Diablo (everything is named after the devil here). It was about an hour hike to a sort of waterfall (not that impressive), and a canyon that was cool. Also just interesting landscape with more weird mountains and 3-meter cactuses 🌵. Getting back to high altitude again (2900m) so I felt that a little too. Afterwards did a little look around the Pucara de Tilcara, the ruins of an Incan fort from just before the Spanish arrival. They had reconstructed quite a lot of it so you got a feel for what it was like. Pretty cool!    Read more

  • Robin StaceySouth AmericaTraveler
    2
    135

    Humahuaca

    May 4, 2023 in Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Next short bus to the next village: Humahuaca. Arrived early enough to check in and then get a quick taxi to a nearby village where there is a canyon called Quebrada de las Senoritas. About a 40 minute hike through some desert with super red rock formations, up through a big red canyon. Pretty cool, but kind of a lot of other tourists in a small path. I wanted to do another little hike nearby to get away from people and explore a bit, but they got mad at me and said you need a guide for that section for “safety” 🤨. It was like that a few times in this area of Argentina, I find it really annoying that it’s impossible to hike and explore a bit by yourself. So then I walked back and took the bus back to Humahuaca.
    The village is a little bigger and more touristy than the others, but also kind of nice. Lots of people selling crafts and empanadas.
    The other bug attraction here is the Hornocal, a range of rainbow mountains nearby. Got a ride for around 45 minutes way up into the mountains at 4300 meters! Then he gave us about 50 minutes to take pictures and walk a bit down to a viewpoint. It was nice, and really impressive mountains, but unfortunately cloudy so I didn’t get the full bright colours. I wanted to wait another 15 minutes for the sun to set completely because it looked like it might come out for a bit, but the driver insisted on hurtling back down the hill, so that was a bit stupid too. Oh well.
    Ran into Olga again at the hostel, the sailor woman from a couple days ago, and a Brazilian guy called Renato. Had a nice evening chatting with them. She used to work in fashion design for huge famous designers and had some stories about how crazy that world is, even more than you imagine from the movies!
    Next morning took the bus north to the border and crossed into Bolivia!    Read more

  • Robin StaceySouth AmericaTraveler
    11211

    Tupiza

    May 6, 2023 in Bolivia ⋅ ☀️ 7 °C

    Easy border crossing from Argentina into Bolivia! They actually asked for a COVID vaccination record, but they didn’t really look at it when I showed it haha.

    Then a sweaty minibus ride to Tupiza, a town in the desert. Got some money and walked around the town a bit, did a little walk for sunset up to a viewpoint. Things are crazy cheap here. I got a burger with fries for 1.30$! And there’s tuk-tuks everywhere which is usually a good sign because 1) they are funny, and 2) it means you can get a ride anywhere for like a dollar 👍
    In the evening went for dinner with Renato the Brazilian guy, and then got organised for my tour to the salt flats tomorrrow. Woo!    Read more

  • Robin StaceySouth AmericaTraveler
    1
    1211

    Uyuni - Day 1

    May 6, 2023 in Bolivia ⋅ 🌬 5 °C

    Uyuni Salt Flats tour with Tupiza Tours. Left Tupiza at 8am in old Toyota Land Cruiser that struggled up the crazy dirt road, winding up to max 4900m altitude. Cramped and not super comfy, but I loved just looking out of the window. Driver/Guide Gerry only Spanish. 4 others in my group: couple from France, mid 20s they just finished medicine studies. And couple from Australia/Scotland. All nice and friendly, but I felt a bit 5th wheel sometimes!
    Tour was basically driving all day through these bizarre landscapes and stopping at interesting poiunts, miradors, lakes etc.

    - Landscape barren and desert 🏜️ windy and dusty, but beautiful.
    - lunch at a village
    - Ciudad del encanto cool pillar like rock formations, just made of compact sand.
    - small and uncomfy driving along the bumpy road in the middle of nowhere
    - saw llamas, pequaci?, and big bird like and emu (name?)
    - ruins of colonial Spanish town San Antonio del Nuevo Mundo. From 1604 they enslaved the Quechua natives and made them mine silver. Then built the town to house more slaves and planned to bring them from Africa. Went a few meters down into an old mine shaft, super sketchy and creepy
    - highest point of the road 4900m!
    - stayed in basic concrete house with some beds. Played cambio (card game) with the group.    Read more

  • Robin StaceySouth AmericaTraveler

    Uyuni - Day 2

    May 7, 2023 in Bolivia ⋅ ☀️ 0 °C

    - first overnight was in tiny mostly abandoned village, 70 people that live in Queta Grande/Chico. Nice soccer turf!
    - Laguna Hedionda nice viewpoint
    - Laguna Kollpa: flamingos, cool salt flats, frozen water
    - nearby salt extraction abandoned because not enough water there anymore
    - Laguna Verde nice green colour!
    - Hot springs relaxing and beautiful :)
    - Geysers stinky and cool
    - Laguna Colorado: so many flamingos! Hundreds.. And really red water
    - overnight at 4300m Refugio Laguna Colorada
    - more Cambio playing in the evening, strange dinner of fries and hotdogs on top with onions    Read more

  • Robin StaceySouth AmericaTraveler
    1

    Uyuni - Day 3

    May 8, 2023 in Bolivia

    - Cold morning -7? Brrr
    - 1st stop piedras del arbol: cool rocks look like trees
    - Laguna with lots of flamingos, super salty shoreline to walk along, also found some eggs and dead flamingos
    - Laguna Negra black lake cool rocks also
    - drivers constantly chewing coca leaves
    - lunch with goat head
    - Lots of quinoa farms here, lots of farmers in the field harvesting, drying. Tried some quinoa beer: not very good
    - for our last night, a fancy(ish) salt hotel! Pretty cool, it is a building out of salt bricks, with salt on the floors and beds made of salt aswell.
    - after checking in to the hotel, drove out to the famous Uyuni salt flat for sunset! Incredibly beautiful, it’s enormous, so flat that it doesn’t really make sense, and really pure white salt on the ground! So cool and we got an awesome sunset too.    Read more

  • Robin StaceySouth AmericaTraveler

    Uyuni - Day 4

    May 9, 2023 in Bolivia ⋅ ⛅ 0 °C

    Awake at 5am to drive out to the flats again for Sunrise. This time stopped at the island lookout to get a view from a bit higher. Really amazing sunrise, and the flats just go on and on in pure white. Only annoying thing is other people. Why can’t people just shut up and enjoy nature peacefully! Always talking…
    Had breakfast and drove out to take cheesy perspective pictures which was fun!
    Stopped at an old Salt hotel in the middle of the flats, where they also started the famous Dakar race a few years ago.
    Exit through the gift shops: Souvenir shop/salt factory thing with some explanation of making the salt bricks.
    So many French people! Seriously I think 70% of people I overheard were French! I don’t know why.
    Last stop at a strange train cemetery, would be a great place for a photoshoot with malina. Then we finished the tour in Uyuni! Really awesome 4 days, I loved it! Only thing is it would be nice to have more time to explore solo some places.
    Then watched the champions league game at a restaurant with the others and waited for the night bus to La Paz.    Read more

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