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Latin America
  • Pascal Steck

Latin America

From the most southern town Ushuaia to the border wall of Mexico. Discover the continent on a backpacker’s budget. Get off the beaten tracks, having life-changing experiences and immerse in local culture. Leer más
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  • Inicio del viaje
    31 de diciembre de 2019
    Pascal SteckLatin AmericaPascal Steck

    Au revoir!

    31 de diciembre de 2019, Francia ⋅ ⛅ 3 °C

    Point of no return. I passed the security and right now I am queueing for my flight to LGW.
    Since I am not really into blogging and writing in gerneral I still hope to post my journey here on this platform.
    All right then. Bye family, relatives, friends, Switzerland. I will be back around May 2021. 😜 Ok let’s see how long I really travel...    Leer más

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    1

    El primer día.

    1 de enero de 2020, Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    13 hours and 45 minutes and the pilot managed it on schedule. Even it has been a long journey without any proper sleep I was wide awake and ready for my first day of sightseeing.

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    ¡Hasta luego BA!

    6 de enero de 2020, Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    The first encounter with a South American capital is done. I was told Buenos Aires is the most advanced city on the southern continent and it sure is. I couldn’t see anyone without a smartphone therefore it just felt like home. Everybody was occupied by texting to his friends and family. 😋
    Nevertheless this city is doubtless a lovely place to be.    Leer más

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    The end of the World

    9 de enero de 2020, Argentina ⋅ 🌧 6 °C

    Welcome to the major launching gate to Antartica. With only 15.000 US$ you will find yourself on a National Geographic cruise and enjoy a two week expedition to the South Pole.

    However I planned only two days in Ushuaia which is known as the most southern town of the World.
    On day one I did a Beagle Channel cruise, where I passed by a Lighthouse an island full of Condors and an Island where pingüinos huddled together in a colony.
    The second day included a hike in Tierra del Fuego National Park where I met woody woodpecker and his friends.    Leer más

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    It’s gonna be the “W”

    15 de enero de 2020, Chile ⋅ ⛅ 5 °C

    Torres del Paine National Park in Patagonia Chile is one of the continent’s most sought-after hiking activities. Visitor numbers having reached a quarter of a million in the last year.
    That’s pretty much why I had to go there to verify its popularity. It has also been recommended by Tomás and Vicente two fancy guys I met in Sidney a couple years ago. I have therefore chosen to do a multi-day hike.
    The ‘W’ hike, name given by it’s shape has been my choice due to it’s shorter distance. This trip started extremely well. Right on the very first day I met four Chilenos, our acquaintance turned into a wonderful friendship. Sarita, Nadia, Kathy and the divertido mountain lion Francisco. We did the whole hike together and thereby amused ourselves with our huge knowledge of each other’s language.    Leer más

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    Glacier Perito Moreno

    17 de enero de 2020, Argentina ⋅ 🌧 10 °C

    The Perito Moreno Glacier is one of the most beautiful places in all of Argentina and also one of the top tourist attractions in Patagonia.
    When I arrived in El Calafate my Chilean friends already texted me not to book any tour neither a bus to the glacier. Well as you assume right, they took a bus earlier and organized the whole trip from El Calafate to the Glacier, including a boat cruise to be even closer to the scenery. Unfortunately Sari was not on board anymore, she went back to Santiago for a beneficial massage after the strong „W“ hike we did. Nevertheless the remaining crew could also manage this sightseeing point.Leer más

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    Fitz RoyCerro Torre

    Fitz Roy & Cerro Torre

    20 de enero de 2020, Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    After El Calafate I arrived in El Chaltén. A village build due to its close proximity to Los Glaciares National Park. This park is considered the hiking capital of Patagonia.
    For Kathy and Frasisco this was the final destination of their holidays. Therefore we took the same Bus to get there. Once we arrived we decided to meet on the next day in the park. So I went to bed to recharge my battery which was extremely low after the „W“ and Perito Moreno.

    On the very next day I rented some gear and hiked to the camping where my friends were supposed to hike too in the early morning. We caught up in the middle of the hike and once more we were united and ready to discover the park.

    On our first hike we aimed for Fitz Roy. After some steep passages we managed to reach the top. I could already feel that we were all utterly exhausted.

    The second day was supposed to be Cerro Torre. My Amigos already knew it would be another big challenge to master. Fitz Roy as the main attractions in the park was done, Frasisco therefore told me that they will leave the park today instead of sleeping another night here. That said we wished us a safe journey and went our ways.    Leer más

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    Hacer dedo

    22 de enero de 2020, Chile ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    All buses to Bariloche were fully booked for the next 5 days. Instead of heading to Bariloche I made my way to Los Antiguos.

    I met Mateo in the bus who was also on his way up north. We shared our curricula and after a while he told me about his hitchhiking experience. Just in the right time to get this knowledge. There was almost no chance to go further north with any public transport.

    After a night in Los Antiguos we started hitchhiking to Chile Chico where we caught a bus to Puerto Rio Tranquilo.

    Rio Tranquilo is famous for its Capillas de Marmol which are located in the second biggest lake of Argentina/Chile. We booked a cruise to check this place. In the evening I enjoyed the view to the lake and mountains while I had a lovely haircut.

    Mateo fell in love with this peaceful and sleepy town. He told me to stay one more night there to enjoy the nature. I on the other hand had to make way north as fast as possible. I didn’t want to miss Bariloches lakes and wonderful landscape.

    I got up early in the morning and tramped successfully to Coyhaique.    Leer más

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    Osorno & Petrohué

    26 de enero de 2020, Chile ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    After a rough night in Puerto Río Tranquilo, an adventurous trip (ha dedo 👍) to Coyhaique, an 18 hours bus ride to Puerto Montt, I was happy to sleep in a real cama. But the past days have shown its effects. I started feeling feverish and tremendously sleepy.

    However, in the early morning I continued by bus to Puerto Varas, a small town 15 minutes north of Puerto Montt. This town is a typical vantage point for either Vicente Pérez Rosales or Alerce Andino National Park. I went for the waterfalls Petrohué and a hike among Volcano Osorno and lake Todos Los Santos both located in Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park.

    In this days I enjoyed a cozy dinner with a girl from Mendoza and even a day sightseeing in a neighbor village called Frutillar, where we picked up some free bicis and rode along Llanquihue lake.    Leer más

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    Santiago

    2 de febrero de 2020, Chile ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    I arrived in the capital of Chile 3 months after the protests. During the evenings the youth was still gathering at plaza Italia. So in this time I avoided this area even those demos haven’t been violent in the last few weeks.

    My friends invited me to sleep in their house. Casa de Francisco, a calm and familie-friendly neighborhood in the south of Santiago, first the first time I got my own room plus bathroom 🙂. Day one was dedicated to visit the city center. On the second day, my friends showed me Valle de Maipo. Fransisco and I took a swim and later on we all enjoyed a fried empanada. In the evening I had my first real asado (Sarita and Nadia joined us) 😍 y despues del asado fuimos a ver las estrellas al cajon. Which means back to the same valley for a Baylis 🍸 and night photography.

    With only a little sleep I went to the airport to welcome my cousin. Svenja arrived on time but immigration took more then 1.5 hours. Good for me I did not make it on time so in the end I just had to wait a few minutes to conceive my little cousin.
    We both spent two days in Santiago, whereas both day were supposed to be for a different place. First day - City center, second say - Valparaíso (a fantastic day trip with Fransisco and Kathy, thank you guys 😘). On the third day we had to catch a flight to Calama. So we left Santiago in the early morning.

    Bye bye Santiago. Hello fever once again: Too many days with less than 4 hours of sleep per day. Not recommendable.    Leer más

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    San Pedro de Atacama

    5 de febrero de 2020, Chile ⋅ ☀️ 13 °C

    Svenja and her favorite cousin left the airport Calama with the very last rental-car-key available on this day. After our procurement of needs and necessities we moved towards San Pedro de Atacama. Once we got there we checked into a hostel for our first desert-night. We cooked 1 kg of arroz added some peas, thus we were ready for the next two nights somewhere deep in the desert.

    With a list of things to do in San Pedro (thank you Fransisco) we steered our coche to a bunch of different places.

    Short summary:
    Day one Svenja lost her smartphone. Day two we drove back to the point of assumption 🤨. We found her phone but by having it back we demolished a tire 🚙. We took a bath in el Tatio’s geothermal geysers field and slept at an altitude of 4300 meters above sea level. 🧊 🥶 ❄️ 🤒

    On the third day we went back to Calama for another night in a real bed 🛌.    Leer más

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    Jujuy

    8 de febrero de 2020, Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    My lovely amigos from Santiago highly recommenced going to San Pedro de Atacama instead of renting a car and driving up the desert for some less known attractions. That’s why we found ourselves in a totally different latitude.

    Time has come to rearrange our itinerary and decide where to go next. We could actually choose between Bolivia’s boarder and go to Salar de Uyuni or Argentinas boarder for the region of Jujuy.

    Thus we went to Argentina to get back to the original track I once planned for us. After a 13 hours bus drive we arrived in Salta. We then straight walked to a rental office and asked for the cheapest car available. We got a car for only 15 US$ per day. Our goal was a 3.5 hours drive to the north, a little desert village called Humahuaca. We reached it before midnight, sought for our hostel and went to bed.

    Our second day was fully loaded with different points of interest. We drove into the mountains near Humahuaca to see the Serranias del Hornocal aka. 14 colored mountains. On the way back we gave a lift to an old toothless couple from Humahuaca, after a while the car smelled like a horse/cattle farm. 😁

    Quebrada de Humahuaca was our second goal, yet we never reached this point, somehow misleaded by Google Maps. 😇 However, we drove over unpaved roads and small rivers until we finally made our way back to the carretera 🛣.

    Next stop Tilcara, a town famous for its Inca ruins. Svenja and I ate some Quinoa based lunch and visited this little town. That said we drove up a hill for a better view into a cajón and a cascada. 🙃 I guess the river only bears water through winter, hence no river, no waterfall but a lovely view over Tilcara and its surroundings. On the way down we picked up an Italian guy who went to Malta. 😋

    Purmamarca, our third village on this day was thought to eat a helado and visit the 7 colored mountains. After 30 minutes in this place we decided to hit the road again and drive to San Salvador de Jujuy for good.

    Our next and final day was a rainy day. Svenja told me rather not going for a hike but going back to Salta instead. So we did, sightseeing in Salta and just having a lazy day.

    El fin.    Leer más

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    Córdoba

    10 de febrero de 2020, Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    After a 17 hours bus ride, Svenja and I found ourselves in Córdoba, the second largest city in Argentina.

    The bus journey wasn’t as comfortable as we were used to have. El autobús arrived 4 hours late at Córdoba. Right behind us were three kids and a helpless mother who restlessly tried to calm down one crying kid after each other. The youngest kid vomited several times and the other two rascals hit their feet into our back seats from start to finish. Nonetheless we arrived in the city recuperated and ready for sightseeing.

    In this two days we were mostly walking through the market square in the very center of Córdoba. On the day of arrival we went to a parrilla Restaurant for some delicious churrasco. 😋
    On the second they we were roaming through some parks, drinking some coffees, collected our washed laundry and cooked some noodles for dinner. We took the 2pm. bus to Corrientes on the next day.    Leer más

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    Esteros del Iberá

    13 de febrero de 2020, Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Hola y hasta luego Corrientes. At 5.00 in the morning and after a 15 hours bus drive we arrived in the city located on the massive Rio Paraná. At the bus terminal we then waited a short time, approx. 7 hours 🤪, until our bus left to Concepción.

    With an urban bus we drove the next four hours from Corrientes to Concepción where the climate successively got more humid and hotter. In the middle of the afternoon we walked through the little village which is seamlessly attached to the national park of Iberá. The sun vaporized our brains while we were walking from the bus station to the hostel. Once we got there, the hotel/hostel owner told us that she does only have luxury beds, about 80 US$ per night. Fortunately she was super supportive and guided us to the house across the street where an old lady owned a little apartment with the affordable price of 20 US$ for one night.

    On that occasion we booked two nights in this cozy apartment. Although there was no proper kitchen area we somehow managed ourselves through the two days by cooking our noodles inside the electric kettle and steaming the veggies inside the microwave.

    After our first night we got up at 6 am. so that we were ready when Ricardo arrived. La Señora from the pricy hotel passed us the number of Ricardo Río, a local guide who got a 4WD car and two Kayaks. With him we spent the next 5 hours exploring the wonderful wetlands. A national park with only 20% of international tourism, and during January, February, March there are almost no tourists in this park due to the hot weather. We drove 30 km inside the park on sandy driveways.
    Even without any knowledge of Spanish and on the other side no English speaking abilities we were talking a lot about the caimans, tones of birds and other animals which we spotted on this untamed and wild wetland.

    On the next day we took the bus back to Corrientes. Here we are again. Hola Corrientes, bus terminal. But this time only 30 minutes. Bus Rio Uruguay will bring us to Puerto Iguazú.    Leer más

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    Ciudad del Este

    18 de febrero de 2020, Paraguay ⋅ ⛅ 35 °C

    Svenja and I crossed the bridge to Paraguay spent about two hours there and tried to get an entry stamp for Brazil on the return way.

    We didn’t get a stamp though. Without any stamp we were in Foz de Iguaçu and we knew we soon will take a flight. Mine would go to Rio de Janeiro and Svenja will go back home.Leer más

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    First Iguazú then Iguaçu

    19 de febrero de 2020, Brasil ⋅ ☁️ 32 °C

    First thing first, Svenja and I were overwhelmed, by seeing one of the natural seven wonders of the world.

    Puerto Iguazú was the último town in Argentina on our travel route, hence we tried to spend all our Argentinian pesos. We took a bus to the National Park and spent like 6 hours watching the waterfalls and hunting birds and raccoons with my camera. 🙂

    After two nights in a pretty nice hostel with a decent breakfast arrangement we decided to cross the boarder and booked a super cheap hostel in Foz do Iguaçu.

    Luckily we only spent one short night in this hostel, then if you stay in a tropical rainforest place like we did, never choose an accommodation without AC. 😉

    In the early morning we went to the Helisul heliport. After a 10 minute helicopter ride over the waterfall Svenja and I were paralyzed from this amazing flight. Ten minutes full of adventure and adrenaline. I even could take some presentable photos.
    The rest of the day we were visiting the Brazilian part of the national park and the waterfalls and in the evening we moved to a new place to sleep. This time we treated ourselves with indulgence. Two nights in a hotel where we had a breakfast way beyond a backpackers live.

    Before Svenja had to go home 😪 we did a short trip to Paraguay and we also ate dinner in two different restaurants. All that really completed a wonderful three week travel with my lovely cousin.

    After all that I took the flight to Rio de Janeiro, Svenja had her flights back to Switzerland. Tschüss Cousindli chum guet hei. 👋    Leer más

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    Carnaval in Rio

    25 de febrero de 2020, Brasil ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Such a freaking, spectacular, messed up and sleepless time of the year. Carnival in Rio de Janeiro is as intense as being member of a Guggemusig group during Fasnacht. 😉

    Two days before I arrived in Rio I received an email with a cancellation of my hostel. That was pretty unfortunate as it is almost impossible to find an accommodation during Carnival. I went straight to the hostel with the idea of discussing any possibilities to get a stay somewhere else. After a few lettres mêlées which we typed into google translator we finally found an agreement. I could stay 3 instead of 5 nights without any extra costs, meaning my advanced payment for all 5 nights were reused as a 3-night stay in. Within a 5 minute walk I could reach Copacabana and another 15 minutes to Ipanema. I spent the first day with two Brazilian guests who went to Leblon beach to meet a dozen of other Brazilians from their home Puerto Alegre. The first and only day with blue sky and a powerful sun which induced a high level sunburn on my legs. 🙃

    The next days were super cloudy and rainy but rather calm. I visited the two main attractions aka. Cristo Redentor on the Corcovado as well as Pão the Açucar, the super famous loaf of bread - pardon - sugarloaf mountain.

    Friday came and the city got more and more crowded. Blocos were playing during daytime and parties in the city center went crazy in the night. Saturday, Sunday and Monday were dedicated for the main carnival events. All famous Samba schools were marching through Sambadrome and the huge Blocos were on the streets equal to street parade in Zürich, with a massive platoon for safety reasons and thousands of vendors for thirst satisfaction reasons.

    Through all days and nights I visited some places to observe this crazy event. After 6 nights in Rio I was totally satisfied and decided to take a bus to São Paulo.    Leer más

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    São Paulo

    28 de febrero de 2020, Brasil ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    Time to relax.

    I spent 4 nights in this huge Metropolis. There are nearly twenty million people living in metropolitan area. You could walk around the city for weeks and come nowhere near seeing all of it.

    In my case, I didn’t walk at all. I spent most of the days post processing my photos. Lucky me it was rainy from morning till night, so I could really focus on my thing. 🙃

    After three days my body was fully recovered from all those crazy days in Rio. Therefore I decided at least to visit one single point of interest in the City. I’ve made my way through some neighborhoods and went to Beco do Batman.

    Among all my days I talked with a hostel staff member about eh... about everything, the whole world. He could recommend me so many nice places in Brazil. After I left São Paulo I was fed with information for a 4 months trip through the country.

    P.S. One of the highlights here was to sneak into a construction site and climb up a building (staircase) to its 25th floor where you could see the whole mega City with a spectacular 360 degree panorama view.    Leer más

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    Floripa

    4 de marzo de 2020, Brasil ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    Welcome to Miami 😎

    After a calm and peaceful time in São Paulo, I made my way towards the state of Santa Catarina. The capital of this state, named Florianópolis, is located on Santa Catarina Island. It's famous for its beaches, including popular resort areas and a vast collection of bars, for an unforgettable nightlife experience.

    I’ve decided to go there to work on my tan. My travel buddy Daniel once told me Floripa is best discovered by scooter. I’ve certainly followed his advice and rented a small machine for 5 days.

    Floripa after Carnival is a great choice. The big crowd rolled back home, only some Argentinien tourists who didn’t find their way back are remaining.

    I met tones of cool people, made many new friends and meanwhile made proper progress on my tan. Bottom-lime: I emptied many Caiperinhas and enjoyed the time to the fullest.
    😜😜😜

    Seriously it’s been an unforgettable time. 🤙    Leer más

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    Porto Alegre

    11 de marzo de 2020, Brasil ⋅ 🌙 25 °C

    Some of the acquaintances I made during my travels in Brazil are having their home in Porto Alegre. Lina and Marina were two of those cool people I met on the beach in Florianópolis.

    I stayed in a modern apartment in the middle of Porto Alegre aka. the place with the worlds best sunsets. I was spoiled with delicious cakes, dinners, Netflix, super enjoyable conversations and doubtlessly stunning sunsets.

    Thank you Marina and Lina for this absolutely unforgettable time and the best birthday I could have imagined. 🎂    Leer más

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    Punta del Diablo

    14 de marzo de 2020, Uruguay ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Off we go. Marina and I decided to discover Uruguay together. In our hostel there was only one topic. You don’t remember what the word almost stopped from rotating?
    No worries you can read it in our history books.Leer más

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    Montevideo

    16 de marzo de 2020, Uruguay ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    I was excited to see Yves and Roland somewhere in Bolivia. I was totally assure that those crazy beer lovers wouldn’t be able to leave Switzerland. But if they can’t do it should I just stop traveling and resign?
    Totally not. On my way to Bolivia I planned to take a ferry from Montevideo to Buenos Aires. From there a flight to Salta and then a bus to the boarder of Bolivia. Close to the boarder I meant to take a train to Salar de Uyuni. What a crazy journey could that have been right?
    But they stopped me already in Montevideo, no foreigners can enter Argentina today because just right now at this very day they closed the borders.
    Without running scared I staid one more night in Uruguay’s capital and made my plans of going back to Brazil as fast as possible. The idea, to be in the largest country once every Latin American country has closed its boarders.    Leer más

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    Curitiba

    19 de marzo de 2020, Brasil ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    March 19th as we all remember around this time every country went to lockdown. It as therefore my desperate attempt to escape this situation by making my way to the north of Brazil.
    I was told the virus is most likely to spread in the colder regions of the world hence traveling closer to the equator.
    Curitiba‘s hostels were already shutting down. Only one hostel was left to stay and even there I could stay longer then 3 nights. Nevertheless I made acquaintance with a crazy engineer lady. We were having a amusing night in the backyard of our hostel while drinking some cold beers.    Leer más

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    Salvador

    21 de marzo de 2020, Brasil ⋅ ☁️ 29 °C

    Ay caramba. One of the most vivid cities in the world has gone to quarantine.
    Intercity bus companies closed their business.
    Beaches were closed and protected by governmental organizations.
    Domestic flights were shrink to the absolute minimum.
    All restaurants were closed.
    Hairdressers too.
    Svenja and Esther called me and reproved me to come back home as soon as possible.
    My mom was too quite, I knew she must been in tremendous concern 🙃

    My flight back to Switzerland was scheduled on March 27. Até a próxima brasil.    Leer más

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    Belo Horizonte

    19 de septiembre de 2020, Brasil ⋅ ☀️ 35 °C

    The state of Minas Gerais has some canyons with absolute stunning waterfalls. I would definitely missed them if I didn’t ask Iuli about where I could go next.
    Before I stared my journey to Capitólio, the town located next to all those amazing waterfalls, I decided to rent a car in Belo Horizonte due to the fact that the bus a bit pricy and the timetable a big issue. A rented car gave me the flexibility I needed for this 5 hours drive to Capitólio.Leer más

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