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Aus Stuttgart/Vorfreude auf Südamerika/Cat-Lover/dankbar für Freude & Familie! Read more🇩🇪Stuttgart
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  • Südamerika

    Kuba Part I

    December 12, 2018 in Cuba ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    After a few last day in Bogotá (and losing 6kg of laundry), we had a 4h flight to our last destination: Kuba.
    And Kuba was so different than the places before.
    We had to adjust to a difficult and less frequent bus system, high prices in CUC, the consequences of communism (e.g. a shortage of flour resulting in a difficulty to buy bread) and internet availability only in a few places after buying a card.
    Nonetheless, Havana was beautiful and so interesting.
    The architecture, the old houses and the lively streets made it fun just to walk around in Havana Vieja und Vedado. On top of that we had a lovely owner of our Casa Particular and just enjoyed living at his place.    Read more

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    Food & Drinks Part II

    December 8, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Here a few culinary-photographs:
    1.) drinking a super yummy lemonade, made out of coconut water and lemongrass in Cusco, Peru (will definitely try to recreate it at home)
    2.) eating churros - what can I say? You can tell by my happy face!
    3.) eating trucha („Forelle“) with lots of garlic - I was kinda smelly for 2 days and had some stomach problems after, but it was worth it, haha!
    4.) trying „obleas“ in Guatape for the first time, a kind of waffle with Marmelade, Karamell, honey and.... cheese - we bought it from the cutest old lady ever, we liked her, but not the oblea.
    5.) did you recognize it? SPÄTZLE! KÄSSPÄTZLE! We missed it so much, we had to cook it.
    6.) Chontadura - a fruit, which tastes like a mix between pumpkin and potato, usually eaten with salt or in an empanada, super yummy!    Read more

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    Tayrona

    December 6, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    PARADISE!
    From Cartagena we took a 6h bus drive in the direction of „Tayrona Park“ and ended up in paradise. Viajero Hostel was a Former 4star Hotel now transformed into a hostel and so luxurious for a backpacker. Located direct on the beach, you could play volleyball, badminton, ping pong, do yoga and have a surf. On top of that, nice food was served in the restaurant.
    We didn’t leave our little dream-spot much, just visiting a few waterfalls, also known as natural swimming pools.
    We truly loved every second there!    Read more

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    Cartagena

    December 4, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Cartagena - you were so .... hot!
    After having rain and not so high temperatures in the coffee triangle, Cartagena was almost to warm to function properly.
    The city had some beautiful colonial architecture and a wall surrounding the old part from which you can spot the sunset.
    On the other hand, Cartagena was really busy and the town-beach is not worth a visit. So we enjoyed it for 2 days, but it was okay to move on after.    Read more

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    Guatape

    December 2, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Just a 2h ride from Medellín, the beautiful village of Guatape is located, also know as the „most colorful town“ in Colombia.
    Guatape is truly easy on the eyes. Every house is painted in a bright color and has some ornaments, called „zolocs“, that represent the agricultural past or important things (eg. fruits, but also tuk tuks) for the people there.


    First, we stopped at „el Penol“, a viewpoint. It is a huge stone with stairs (659 to be exact), which you can climb to have a fantastic view over the surrounding. It is characterized by many lakes and truly beautiful.

    Later we had a stroll through the city and some seriously tasty vegan falafel.
    But our highlight was kayaking on one of the lakes and watching the sunset cruising around.    Read more

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    Medellín

    December 1, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ 🌧 23 °C

    Medellín - a city with a famous but dark past. Formerly known as the home and main city for a well known drug criminal, in these days Medellín has managed to be in the news for more positive things, winning a prize for „most innovative city“ just a few years ago.
    And we think: well deserved.
    Medellín is such an interesting -and safe (expect for pickpocketing like in every other big city)- city, that still tries to deal with the dark times from the 80s and 90s. As you see the numbers, you might realize.... it’s Not that Long ago! And that’s truly important to know. The people affected by the times, are still alive and processing bombs, loss of dear ones and living in constant fear. Therefore it is so important to not being disrespectful by reducing Medellín to Pablo Escobar or even buying and wearing a shirt of him or romanticizing this cruel man.
    Interesting fact, because of his social engagements like building houses for the poor, there are also some (but not many) Colombians, which still think high of him.

    We started by visiting the „Casa de La Memoria“ to see an exhibition about those dark times. It wasn’t facts and dry information, but more interactive and modern pieces to make you understand the feelings of the people to that time. It was shocking. So much Kidnapping, Death fear, and political chaos (remember FARC, yes they were there as well). But still hope, because Colombians really are a bunch of optimistics.

    In the afternoon, we did an free walking tour with „Real City Tours“ and if you’re ever going to Medellín - do it! Edgar, our guide, grew up in Medellín in the 80s and 90s and was not only a witness, but was sooooo good! Speaking excellent English, he explained all about culture, history, architecture, politics and transformation.

    A really important part of the transformation are, for example, the cable cars, which we took the next day. A mayor of Medellín wanted to transform the city with two pillars: social architecture and education. So simple, so effective. Building cable cars was crucial for the poor regions to have a connection to the city -to schools, to hospitals, to work. The cable cars included them back into society. On top of that, he build libraries in the poorest region on the hill, so that young people have an alternative to joining a gang in order to make some money.

    Another example of transformation is „Comuna 13“, one of the most dangerous barrios during that times, changed itself completely with the help of electric escalators and lots of street art.

    Of course, there is so much else to see, from statues, to churches, to nice plazas.
    And a great nightlife on top of it!
    We can only recommend to give Medellín a visit!    Read more

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    Coffee Finca de Osaca

    November 27, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Here are a few photographic highlights of our coffee tour at the Ocasa coffee finca. The tour was really interesting and Beni and I can now proudly say, that we know a least something about the black gold. Haha.Read more

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    Coffee Triangle (Salento & Jardín)

    November 27, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ 🌧 18 °C

    Our next to stops after Cali were Salento and Jardín, both towns in the wonderful „coffee triangle“ of Colombia.

    First thing to say about this region: it’s beautifully green and lush! Wow! We didn’t really expect that hilly, fertile and -again- green landscape. It is easy to see why they have harvest every time of the year.

    Salento is a beautiful town with a nice cowboy vibe and offers the possibility to visit a coffee farm within walk distance.
    And that’s exactly what we did.
    We visited the coffee farm of Ocasa and had a really nice and informative tour with an enthusiastic guide and learned tons about the coffee production. At the end, we additionally enjoyed a really tasty cup of the coffee from the finca.

    Unfortunately, after our coffee tour, it immediately started raining heavily and it did not stop until we left the city.
    We therefore couldn’t hike the famous „Valle de Cocora“ and we couldn’t take pictures of that picturesque place.

    Next stop was Jardín, a really small village 4h away from Medellín. We reached it after a 12 hours Odyssee, switching bus 3 times.
    Again, a beautiful green nature with waterfalls surrounded the city. We stayed in a nice hostel on the edge of the city and enjoyed the veranda, from which you could spot some hummingbirds.
    We hung out in one of the Saloons at the plaza and tried „Aguardiente“, a typical and cheap liquor.
    We left both places a little sad: we would have loved to spend more days in the green!    Read more

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    Cali

    November 23, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Oh Colombia, what can we say? We are in love with you already.
    Arriving in Cali, we didn’t have great expectations and thought there’s nothing more to do than salsa and a great nightlife. On top of that, we heard stories about a high number of crime there and lots of pickpocketing.
    We were completely proved wrong!
    Cali has some really beautiful barrios (districts), some interesting street art, that deals with corruption, domestic violence against women and -of course- Colombia’s bitter past with drugs.
    And it’s true, you see a lot of poverty in Cali, but if you use your common sense, than you‘ll be fine.
    We had an awesome street food tour, tasting crazy fruits and drinks (footprint in the making!) and learned a little about the everyday life in Cali.
    We also did a salsa lesson, which was.... difficult! Haha. Salsa is actually pretty fast and we felt super stiff. But we were proud, doing something completely out of our comfort zone.
    We strolled around in a park full of cats (an artist from Cali created the first one and other artist created more cats as a tribute after his death), we ate delicious empanadas, saw nice churches with beautiful views, had crazy artisanal beer (with pumkin) and ice cream (there was an avocado-nacho-bacon one!) and learned most of all one thing: Colombians are really the sweetest people.
    It starts with a police officer shaking your hand to welcome you, there a people paying for a local sweet at the market so you try something typical and a guy on stage greeting us at a local celebration (through the microphone, we were a little overwhelmed, haha). One night, we also ended up in a garden of an alternative artist group with an acoustic guitar concert. We were accepted immediately. A pianist from Cali gave us some empanadas, which he was eating with his family. An older women sharing her joint with us... it goes on and on.
    Of course, you‘ll find dodgy people and first thing in Cali was getting ripped off by a taxi driver, but in general, we are overwhelmed.
    More stories will follow for sure!    Read more

  • Südamerika

    Cotopaxi

    November 20, 2018 in Ecuador ⋅ 🌧 9 °C

    At our second day in Quito, we decided to become active again. We made a tour with „CARPEdm“ and climb the second highest volcano in Ecuador: Cotopaxi.
    Starting early in the morning, we went to the National Park by car.
    Then the 1,5h hike to the lower glacier started. Luckily we had a guides making sure, that everyone could handle the altitude and which motivated us to walk in a steady pace. At a base camp at 4,800m, we could drink some coca tea.
    After that, we continued to hike and reached the glacier at an altitude of 5,100m. You could really tell that the air was thin, but cristal clear. In some lucky moments, the clouds moved a little and we had a nice view of Cotopaxi and its summit. (We unfortunately didn’t make it to the top, since it requires more time, better acclimatization and some experience with ice pickles.)
    Afterwards we made our way back to the parking lot and had the possibility to drive downhill with a mountain bike. Although being a little painful because of the bumpy dirt road, it was great fun!
    Our way home by car was than a little longer than expected: farmers blocked the highway back to Quito to protest for a better price for milk. And although it took us five hours more to get back, we are happy, that they seemed successful with their blockage.    Read more

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    Quito

    November 19, 2018 in Ecuador ⋅ 🌧 19 °C

    Surviving our 26151818 overnight bus ride (a little exaggeration, I know, but it feels like that!) we arrived in Quito in the early morning at 5 am.
    After a short sleep in our super clean hostel, we woke up to enjoy a city with an over 500-years old historic center, that an UNESCO world heritage site.
    We were taking a Free Walking Tour and learned a little about the cultures that influenced the city. Did you know Ecuador has 81 vulcanos? Us neither.
    There are plenty of plazas, churches (with lots of gold) and nice narrow streets with sweet restaurants.
    We were visiting the local „Mercado central“ and searched for the one vegetarian dish (a soup) they were offering.
    And what’s the best? Ecuador has such nice chocolate. We went into a shop and could try crazy combinations (e.g. with Yucca, a Kind of potato) and it all tasted awesome!
    The last day, we climbed up the Basilica (one of the three biggest gothic churches in the world) and enjoyed a fabulous view.
    In the end we can say, that although we met many Travellers that were a victim of pickpocketing on their way to Quito and the weather was crazy (icy rain and thunder every afternoon) we enjoyed it a lot and wished we could stay 1 or 2 days longer.    Read more

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    Los Frailes

    November 17, 2018 in Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    The second trip we made during our stay in Ayampe was a visit of the beaches „Los Frailes“.
    Just a short bus drive from Puerto Lopez away, there was an 1,5 hour hike to see 3 beautiful beaches. All were breathtaking and we didn’t even have the best weather! Nevertheless, swimming was only allowed at „Los Frailes“, since there is some serious current at the other beaches.Read more

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    Isla de la Plata

    November 16, 2018 in Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    From Ayampe, our refugium on the coast, it was a 20-minutes collectivo (shared taxi) ride to Puerto Lopez, the starting point of two tours we did.
    The first one was „Isla de la Plata“ (aka Silver Island) or also known as the Galapagos for the poor. Like us. Haha.
    After an 1h boat ride, we arrived.
    The island was not as green as expected, but still with a beautiful coastline. We saw lizards, small snakes and most of all: boobies (that’s their real name!).
    Those funny birds with incredibly blue feet were everywhere!
    After a small hike to see them, we did some snorkeling and it was amazing. So many colorful and big fish, mantas and corals.
    The Galapagos for the poor was totally worth a visit!    Read more

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    Cooking Class im Ayampe

    November 15, 2018 in Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    One of the activities offered in our beloved guesthouse VistaMar was a cooking class with chef Fernando.
    Fernando was a lovely and calm man from Jipijapa, who has a truck full of vegetables and fruits, with which he drives to Ayampe everyday. All the ingredients of our cooked meal were organic and out of his truck!
    Although he spoke little English and my Spanish still isn’t the best, we had such a fun time!

    We made „Ceviche de camarón“ and were thrilled how to cook such a classic of the south american cuisine. It was after a recipe of Fernando himself and boy... it tasted Devine!
    As a second dish we made „Corviche de Camarón“, a plate made of platanos (sort of bananas), which are formed to sausages and include a shrimp hidden inside.
    We cooked so much, we could share with the other guests and had even leftovers for the next day.
    We are very proud that we can now cook to traditional dishes of Ecuador and looking forward to cook both plates in Germany for our families and friends.    Read more

  • Südamerika

    Montañita & Ayampe

    November 14, 2018 in Ecuador ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    So we finally crossed the border to Ecuador after spending almost five weeks in Peru.
    And as I said before, Beni and I were in beach-mode. So we decided to skip Guayaquil and just head directly to the coast and Montañita.
    Known as a party and surf town, Montañita was fulfilling exactly those expectations. Lots of clubs and neon, but also a really nice beach with nice waves.
    We spent some nice time there, strolling through the streets and shops, drinking delicious coffee and surfing a little. We skipped the parties and had a „Sinner Season 2“ Netflix marathon during the nights and were perfectly happy with it.

    Our next stop was Ayampe, a small (really small!) village 30-minutes-away from Montañita. And what can I say? We found our favorite place in Ecuador.
    We planned on staying one night and ended up spending four and skipping the rest of our plans for the shore.
    The small village provided all that you needed: the best waves and boards so far, a lovely yoga studio with delicious muffins nearby, small shops with fresh fruit, plenty of delicious restaurants and the most lovely guesthouse (Vistamar). We didn’t want to leave!    Read more

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    1

    Huanchaco & Mancora

    November 10, 2018 in Peru ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    Next we made some beach stops in the north of Peru.

    First Huanchaco, a village close to Trujillo, where we took our first surf lessons - so exciting! - and just relaxed in beautiful hostels close to the sea, which offered cheap yoga classes.
    We also visited the ruins of Chan Chan and although quite impressive size-wise, Beni and I realized we have seen enough ruins for a while.

    The second stop was Máncora, a city with wonderful weather and a nice surf vibe. We met our lovely Germans again and went for a party and some drinks. And a beautiful sundown.

    After all the hiking and the -still awesome- mountain panorama all the time, we really enjoyed the coast and the sea. The vibe is more relaxed and the food was just delicious in both places!

    P.S.: The turtle lived as a pet in ATMA hostel in Huanchaco (a wonderful place-check it out!) and we immediately fell in love. A turtle is now high on my wishlist!    Read more

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    Huaraz & Laguna 69

    November 5, 2018 in Peru ⋅ 🌧 14 °C

    After flying back from Iquitos to Lima, we took a bus to Huaraz.

    At first Benjamin was a little sick, so we decided to take a first lazy day there, exploring the city and sleeping a lot.
    The city is a bit smaller, but nonetheless it was super lively, since there were some holidays in Peru.

    At our second day, we did a little and easy hike for acclimatization. We went to a small lake near Chiwipampa and enjoyed a stunning view and the nature by laying in the grass and breathing fresh air.

    Our next hike was more tough. We did a tour to the Laguna 69, which is at an altitude of over 4,000 meters.
    The hike itself was beautiful! It was one of the nicest landscapes we‘ve seen so far in Peru! Very green, many small and colorful lakes, small water“streets“ everywhere and peacefully eating cows.
    At the lake, you could just sit on the rocks and enjoy the amazing view and listen to the ice crack in the glacier above.
    On the 2-hours- way down, Beni could even take his shoes off.

    We loved the hike but it had one downside: as we returned to our hostel, some horrible headache showed up. Later I was feeling quite nausea. Thankfully, I could suppress all with medication and we were planning to go to the coast next.    Read more

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    2

    Welcome To The Jungle I

    October 31, 2018 in Peru ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    At our second day, we were so excited für our jungle encounter to begin.

    We started by visiting a small local market before getting on the boat. There we could try some typical fruits from the Amazonas and brave hearts could try some „suri“ (maggots). We weren’t that brave, though. Haha.

    Our boat ride was so nice, the amazonas ist astonishingly big and we ended up in a rescue center for animals from the Belen market. Those animals were treated there (mostly because of mean skin rashes) with the goal to release them back into freedom. We had the chance to hold an incredibly cute sloth.
    Also, our guide told us a lot about the native medicine made out of the plants of the jungle and their use - very interesting.

    Afterwards, we had lunch and could discover our lodge a little - the lodge even had a small pool to refresh!

    In the evening, it started raining heavenly since we were on the edge to rain season. We therefore went to bed early to get up at 4.45 to spot some typical pink dolphins and to see the sunrise.
    The sunrise we did not see, because of a cloudy situation, but we could spot some dolphins after driving around for an hour and almost losing hope.

    We than visited a local tribe, which Beni and i did not enjoy that much, because we had the feeling that the indigenous felt forced to welcome us and really needed tourists to buy their products. Nonetheless, there were the cutest little kids, looking all like Mogli and having a sloth as a pet!

    In the afternoon we had a little jungle trek, where Beni and I learned again about many plants and animals and spotted some monkeys and insects.

    In the Halloween night, we went out again to see the nocturnal animals. Mostly spiders - a little nightmare for me! You can tell by the look on my face in the picture below. We learned how to walk in the jungle to not get bitten by snakes, spiders and scorpions.

    At our last day, wen went fishing for piranhas and swimming in the amazonas! This was really such a fun end to an amazing experience and we are very thankful for it. Not even 1.000.000 moskito bites and sweating like crazy because of 100% humidity could lower our excitement.    Read more

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    Iquitos

    October 29, 2018 in Peru ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    After a short flight (ca. 1h40min) from Cusco, we arrived at the small airport of Iquitos and had to basically take of all of our clothes! Leaving in a jumper and a jacket in Cusco at the morning, it was 31*C an 100% humidity when arriving in the Amazonian city.

    Iquitos wasn’t our favorite place to stay. The atmosphere was just not as relaxed as hoped, more offers for drugs than in the other cities we‘ve been before, lots of police (because of the Amazonas borders) and not our kind of vibe.
    We also checked out the Belen Market at 3pm and although it was already closing, it was a shocking thing to see: tons of flights, dogs and vultures eating left over meat from the dirty (really dirty!) streets. We decided to not go there anymore, although we didn’t see „the crazy jungle stuff“ people are selling there -partly illegal.

    Nonetheless, we had two half days there and found a nice bar and some pretty views. And enjoyed taking the cheap Tuk Tuks for a little wind and less walking.    Read more

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    Cusco

    October 28, 2018 in Peru ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Cusco - an everyone’s favorite!
    It really is a lovely city: a wonderful historic center, tons of colorful stuff to shop, nice food, narrow streets, vibrant night clubs, the crazy San Pedro market and so much charme! We loved every second of our short stay and had the wish to never leave.Read more

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    Jungle Trek To Machu Picchu

    October 24, 2018 in Peru ⋅ 🌧 18 °C

    Our next adventure was the climbing of the „Machu Picchu“, a real classic.
    After thinking about the pros and cos of the different treks, we decided to go with the 4d/3n Jungle Trek since we hiked the days before and were planing more hikes after and the tour promised more action than the Salkantay Trek. And we could sleep a little longer because the tour started later. Haha.

    We started with a nice downhill cycling, beginning at over 4000m and ending up at 2000m. Luckily, the more we descended, the warmer it got. It was real action, since we had to cross little rivers, we cycled a normal autoroute and it was freezing cold and foggy the first 30 minutes.

    Later on the first day, we did some rafting. It was my first time and I loved it! Afterwards, we even had a little sauna time arranged. Than we went to bed early, since We had to get up early for our second day.

    The second day was the most intensive day of hiking. Starting early at 6am In the pouring rain, we were lucky as the sky cleared later and we could hike a part of the traditional „Inca trail“ whilst staying dry.
    We stopped at a little stall to learn about different products, that grew in the jungle area, try a little Inka tequila, pet some cute dogs and cats, and got organic face-paintings Inca-style.
    The second day ended with a short cable car ride over the river (very fun) and a visit of some „baños termales“ aka hot springs. Very relaxing after a long day hiking.
    This night we had a little party and thanks to an insane happy hour (4 drinks for the price of one!!), we got pretty wasted. Whooops.
    Benjamin and I met the sweetest Australians ever, and we had such a fun night out.
    We would regret it the next day, though. Haha .

    Day 3 started with a painful hangover. And some pain medication.
    We then went zip-lining, which was fun and thankfully not that exhausting (although....there was a part, where you could go upside down. Many of our group didn‘t even do it because of the fear of puking. Haha. We did it, but it was a close call. Hahah.)
    After lunch, we walked three hours to Aguas Calientes. We were so tired and honestly, couldn’t really appreciate the scenic route.
    In Aguas Calientes, after a tasty dinner (Spaghetti!) we all just fell into bed at 9pm.

    The last day started early at 4am with half an hour walk to the first check-point, opening at 5. Then we had to walk up an hour -just stairs!!- to reach Machu Picchu. Boy, that was some hard exercise at 5 o’clock in the morning!
    But it was totally worth it! Machu Picchu made us forget all the pain! It was much greener than imagined and just beautiful. At first, it was really foggy but as it cleared up.... ugh!

    After spending 3 hours up there, we had to walk 4 hours back to the bus stop at Hidrolectrica. Thankfully, we were not as hung over as the last time, so the way was bearable and we had a nice chat with our lovely Australian mates.

    At the bus stop, the bad luck started. We, and another sweet German couple (which we shared rooms with during our trek -greetings to Cathi and Dennis!) from our hostel weren’t picked up. We had to pay another taxi, which broke down twice! The 2nd time, the damage couldn’t be fixed and we were stranded in in the middle of the night in the absolute nowhere. Oh, and it rained. We were luckily picked up by a local bus and after arguing to get into that bus, we could sit on the floor until reaching Cusco at 12.30am.
    But that happens while traveling, and in end, we reached our hostel, even not the way we planned.    Read more

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