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South America

abril - junio 2023
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  • 36huellas
  • 8países
  • 61días
  • 373fotos
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  • ViajeroSouth America
    1121
    Día 21

    Colonia de Sacramento

    23 de abril de 2023, 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    Leer más

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  • ViajeroSouth America
    3
    Día 22

    Buenos Aires - Recoleta

    24 de abril de 2023, 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.    Leer más

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  • ViajeroSouth America
    2
    1112
    Día 23

    Buenos Aires - La Boca

    25 de abril de 2023, 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.    Leer más

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  • ViajeroSouth America
    1
    Día 24

    Foz do Iguaçu - Brasil

    26 de abril de 2023, Brasil ⋅ ☁️ 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.    Leer más

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  • ViajeroSouth America
    1
    Día 25

    Cataratas Iguazú - Argentina

    27 de abril de 2023, Brasil ⋅ ⛅ 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!    Leer más

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  • ViajeroSouth America
    Día 26

    Encarnación

    28 de abril de 2023, 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!    Leer más

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  • ViajeroSouth America
    1
    Día 28

    Salta

    30 de abril de 2023, 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.    Leer más

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  • ViajeroSouth America
    1121
    Día 30

    Purmamarca

    2 de mayo de 2023, 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 😂    Leer más

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  • ViajeroSouth America
    111
    Día 31

    Tilcara

    3 de mayo de 2023, 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!    Leer más

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  • ViajeroSouth America
    2
    135
    Día 32

    Humahuaca

    4 de mayo de 2023, 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!    Leer más

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