Laura Debyser

traveled in 39 countries Read more Ghent, Belgium

South America
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- May 17, 2024, 4:00pm
- ☁️ 23 °C
- Altitude: 35 m
- Peru La Libertad Trujillo -8.110514, -79.0283148°6’38” S 79°1’42” W
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Day 118–119
Trujillo
May 17 in Peru ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C
Trujillo itself wasn't that impressive (although it played a vital role in the fight for Peruvian independence), but we came here to visit two cool archaeological sites.

The Moche culture (100-800AD) was very sophisticated and strongly associated with religion. Their principal city was established at the foot of the impressive Cerro Blanco. The city was dominated by two imposing mud brick structures: the residence of the Moche rulers (Huaca del Sol) and the great temple (Huaca de la Luna), where human sacrifices were made after ritual combats.

The Chimú people (800-1470AD) were the descendants of the Moche, from whom they inherited the ability to build large edifices with mud. Chan Chan was the main city of the Chimú and home to an estimated 60 000 people, making it one of the largest mud cities of the ancient world. The Inca Tupa Yupanqui conquered the Chimú around 1470, after which many of Chan Chan's craftsmen were brought to Cuzco.Read more
Yana Van Meerhaeghe 😂
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Yana Van Meerhaeghe 😲
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Yana Van Meerhaeghe 🥰
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South America
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- May 13, 2024, 4:00pm
- ☀️ 29 °C
- Altitude: 5 m
- Peru Tumbes Puerto Chico Punta Máncora -4.106042, -81.0571614°6’22” S 81°3’26” W
Day 114–117
Mancora
May 13 in Peru ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C
We caught the night bus from Cuenca to Mancora, crossing the border in the middle of the night. Unfortunately, we arrived at 4:30 AM so we had to wait in the dark until our hostel opened. The town and its beaches aren't that special, but we really enjoyed our hostel (that we had to ourselves), the sunshine and good food at cool cafes!Read more
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South America
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- May 12, 2024, 4:00pm
- 🌫 10 °C
- Altitude: 3,689 m
- Ecuador Provincia de Bolívar Salinas -1.41478, -79.0372131°24’53” S 79°2’14” W
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Day 113
Ecuador
May 12 in Ecuador ⋅ 🌫 10 °C
20 typical pictures of our two months in Ecuador.
Yana Van Meerhaeghe ❤️
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Traveler Great, like on Galapagos islands
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Traveler Hihi herinner ik me nog van in Peru 🥴
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South America
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- May 8, 2024, 4:00pm
- ☁️ 18 °C
- Altitude: 2,548 m
- Ecuador Provincia del Azuay Cuenca Catedral de la Inmaculada Concepción -2.896992, -79.0051122°53’49” S 79°0’18” W
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Day 109–113
Cuenca
May 8 in Ecuador ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
The historic center of Ecuador's third largest city is UNESCO World Heritage and it shows. There are beautiful colonial buildings and well-preserved churches everywhere ⛪. We also found a lot of cozy cafes and good vegan restaurants here, which added to its charm.

We did two day trips from Cuenca. One to Ingapirca, the largest Inca ruins in Ecuador and one to Cajas National Park, where we hiked along a few of the 786 alpine lakes at an altitude above 4000 meters (= Miel with a headache).

After spending a month on the mainland in the rainy season, it's time to move on to Peru!Read more
Traveler I liked Cuenca, especially this church and the big patio. There was a restaurant in the first floor with great food. I don‘t know if it is still there.
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South America
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- May 3, 2024, 4:00am
- ☁️ 13 °C
- Altitude: 1,808 m
- Ecuador Provincia del Tungurahua Baños -1.39765, -78.4225671°23’52” S 78°25’21” W
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Day 104–109
Baños
May 3 in Ecuador ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C
Officially called Baños de Agua Santa, referring to the thermal baths heated by the nearby Tungurahua volcano, this town has turned into Ecuador's adventure capital. We biked the Ruta de Cascadas and stopped along the way to admire the waterfalls or (in Miel's case) go down some ziplines and swing from a huge suspension bridge. We also hiked to some of the surrounding viewpoints, the most famous one being Casa de Arbol.Read more
Traveler We did not visit Baños during our vacation in Ecuador but saw the volcano Tungurahua. I love your pictures, you have a great eye for the picture.
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Traveler Thanks!
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Yana Van Meerhaeghe 😲
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South America
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- May 1, 2024, 4:00pm
- ☁️ 10 °C
- Altitude: 3,864 m
- Ecuador Provincia de Cotopaxi Macapungu Laguna Quilotoa -0.867408, -78.9149480°52’3” S 78°54’54” W
Day 102
Quilotoa
May 1 in Ecuador ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C
The Quilotoa Loop is one of the most popular hikes in Ecuador. The first day, we hiked from Sigchos to Isinliví and were joined by a shy dog, Choclo II. We wanted to adopt him, but when we arrived at our hostel, he'd had enough of us and wandered off. The hostel (Taita Cristóbal) was the best! Hammocks, tea, a cosy fireplace and the best food! The second day we continued to Chugchilan through lush greenery and passed many farms, cows, and pigs 🐮 🐷.

Because we didn't want to miss the weather window for a view of the large crater lake on the third day, we decided to take a taxi to Quilotoa instead of walking. We arrived just in time to enjoy the spectacular views before the clouds came 🌧️.

PS: although this is one of the most popular destinations in Ecuador, we didn't meet any other tourists on the trail and we were the only guests in the guesthouses along the way. It's heartbreaking to see how these people struggle. First there was the pandemic and now the emergency situation keeps tourists from visiting this wonderful country. Thus far, we've always felt very safe, and people are extremely friendly! So come to Ecuador :)!Read more
Traveler Agree 100 % 😍
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Traveler 🥰
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South America
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- Apr 27, 2024, 4:00pm
- ☁️ 6 °C
- Altitude: 4,641 m
- Ecuador Faldas del Cotopaxi -0.657542, -78.4382250°39’27” S 78°26’18” W
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Day 98–101
Cotopaxi & Corazón
April 27 in Ecuador ⋅ ☁️ 6 °C
We started our exploration of the ‘Avenue of the Volcanoes’ 🌋 with the ascent of El Corazón at 4788m. Despite the Diamox, coca leaves and lots of water, Miel still developed altitude sickness and spent several hours in bed with a splitting headache.

The next day we were fortunately able to admire the almost perfectly symmetrical cone of Cotopaxi, with its 5897m one of the highest active volcanos in the world. As we aren’t sufficiently acclimatized to climb the summit of the volcano (+ it's quite expensive), we were happy to enjoy the views from Refugio José Ribas!Read more
Jenka Mergaert 😍
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Jenka Mergaert Prettyyyyy!🥰
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Yana Van Meerhaeghe Wow, dit is prachtig! Precies een poster. 🤩
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South America
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- Apr 24, 2024, 4:00pm
- ☁️ 18 °C
- Altitude: 2,825 m
- Ecuador Provincia de Pichincha La Foresta -0.208478, -78.4809250°12’31” S 78°28’51” W
Day 95–98
Quito
April 24 in Ecuador ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C
Back in Quito! We stayed a few days to acclimatize after the jump from sea level to 2800 m and mostly walked around the city.
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South America
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- Apr 16, 2024, 4:00pm
- ☀️ 27 °C
- Altitude: 2 m
- Ecuador Provincia de Galápagos Puerto Baquerizo Moreno Playa de Los Marinos -0.902088, -89.6122050°54’8” S 89°36’44” W
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Day 87–94
Galapagos - Isla San Cristóbal 🦭
April 16 in Ecuador ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
San Cristobal's colony of Galapagos sea lions is the largest in the archipelago and they are our new favourite animals. They are so playful and we often found ourselves surrounded by them while snorkeling (the babies are very, very cute). We also made time to admire the other wildlife (lots of sea turtles, iguanas, tortoises, sharks, rays, blue-footed boobies. the usual 🙈).

Swimming with the black tip reef sharks during the 360° tour of the island was really special and we were lucky enough to come across a group of dolphins! The mountainbike ride to the other side of the island left us completely dehydrated (the heat! no water! uphill!), but we got some beautiful views of the island and El Junco Lagoon.

This was our last stop in Galapagos. After three weeks of snorkeling, sun and the coolest animals, we are really going to miss this place! 🏝️Read more
Traveler Wow 😍
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Elke Vermeiren 😍
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Jenka Mergaert Waaaw🥰🥰
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Yana Van Meerhaeghe 😂
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South America
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- Apr 6, 2024, 4:00pm
- ⛅ 27 °C
- Altitude: 10 m
- Ecuador Las Jelíes Poza Salinas -0.956176, -90.96690°57’22” S 90°58’1” W
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Day 77–84
Galapagos - Isla Isabela 🐧
April 6 in Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
Isabela is the largest and one of the youngest of the Galapagos islands. Being here felt like being in a Planet Earth episode. We were greeted by penguins & sea lions upon our arrival and had a view over a lagoon with pink flamingos from our hostel's terrace 🦩. Every morning, we went snorkelling at the nearby Concha Perla Lagoon, where we saw sea turtles, huge sting rays, sea lions, white tip reef sharks, colourful parrotfish, pufferfish, shrimp and a lot of cute penguins 🤿.

We also did a tour to Los Tuneles, where we snorkelled through lava tunnels surrounded by huge sea turtles. We spotted a seahorse and entered underwater caves full of white tip reef sharks. We took a little walk in this unique volcano landscape, where some blue footed boobies were doing their weird mating dance.Read more
Traveler Mooi zorg maar dat niet gebeten wordt van een haai😄
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Traveler Waaaaa zooooo machtig!!!
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Traveler 🤩
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