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Latin America
  • Pascal Steck
  • 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. Leggi altro
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  • Pascal SteckLatin AmericaPascal Steck

    Vila Velha

    25 settembre 2020, Brasile ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    After leaving Minas Gerais, a landlocked state, I made my way to Vitoria. The hostel was placed in Vila Velha a boarder City in the South of Vitoria.
    I was favored by fortune when I arrived in the hostel. The weather was getting better and my roommates were a mixed up bunch of passionate people. Raimunda was definitely the craziest of all. She created two amazing lunches for our little squad and was fully loaded with the Brazilian spirit. She liked to dance on the streets, sang funny songs and was always up to do something.
    After all the time our group spent together I was happy once not to be in a hotel or alone in a rented car. It’s good to have good company especially if you miss someone badly.    Leggi altro

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  • Pascal SteckLatin AmericaPascal Steck

    Estou de volta Salvador

    28 settembre 2020, Brasile ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    I left Espírito Santos behind and came inside Bahia the state of cacao, sugarcane and diamonds.
    I aimed for one of the beautiful islands in the south of Salvador. After one night in the same hostel I stayed in March I decided to go to Morro de São Paulo.
    In this short time staying in Pelourinho the cultural city center of Salvador I met Marlon. Marlon is a little saint, a man who tries to help as many people as he can with his social projects.

    https://instagram.com/projetosvivencia?igshid=w…    Leggi altro

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  • Pascal SteckLatin AmericaPascal Steck

    Morro de São Paulo

    30 settembre 2020, Brasile ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Morro de São Paulo is a romantic village in the north of Ilha de Tinharé. Tourists come out in droves to spend two to three days on the island. Most of these short-stay guests are having massive luggages containing clothes for at least a month. This has meant that the island has dozens of locals with hand barrows waiting at the pier for the arriving crowd.
    I spent 4 nights in the most epic hostel I’ve ever been. It is not only the location it’s the people who work there and the guests I met who made my trip in Morro de São Paulo unforgettable.

    I spent a full day on a party boat with most of my hostel people, where we discovered the natural pools around the island. It was my first time dancing nonstop for almost 7 hours. I made a bunch of new friends and killed tonnes of brain cells. 🍺    Leggi altro

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  • Pascal SteckLatin AmericaPascal Steck

    Recife e Porto de Galinhas

    16 ottobre 2020, Brasile ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    13 hours spending in the bus was nothing compared to the time Iuli had to sit quite until she arrived in Rio.
    Once I arrived in Recife I was lucky the bus stopped at the airport close the district Boa Viagem so it took me zero time to check into the hostel. However that hostel I booked was pretty strict. I could drop my backpacks but had to wait 5 hours until the official check-in time. So what I basically did was just walking along the beach and looking for a nice coffee shop. After an hour of walking the worst shops opened and I could kill three hours in there until it was time for the check in.
    Now let’s go forward to where it gets a bit more interesting. In the evening I ordered an Uber and went downtown for some nice skyline photography. All passengers who crossed my way were absolutely nice and so I didn’t have to worry if someone is going to knock me out and steel my camera which was mounted on the tripod.
    Now that’s all thanks for subscribing.

    Ok one more thing. On day two I went to Porto de Galinhas where I snorkeled for almost two hours. Obviously the color of my back changed its color but the day was absolutely fabulous. A good swim a wonderful lunch and a bit of sightseeing in a scenic little tourist village. In the evening, back in Recife I decided to end my stay and figured a way to move towards Natal. But on my google maps application there were two pinned locations in between the way from Recife to Natal. I picked out the more promising one and booked my bus to this very next place.    Leggi altro

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  • Pascal SteckLatin AmericaPascal Steck

    Pipa

    19 ottobre 2020, Brasile ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Pipa beach is a little town in the south of Natal. It’s as crazy as Morro de São Paulo in the matter of get-drunk-and-party-hard things.

    Saturday was party night. Sunday hangover day at Praia do Madeiro and Monday was scheduled for my first sunrise in Brazil.Leggi altro

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  • Pascal SteckLatin AmericaPascal Steck

    Jericoacoara

    26 ottobre 2020, Brasile ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Jericoacoara aka. Jeri is is a small touristic kitesurfing hot spot surrounded by huge sand dunes and the Atlantic Ocean. Due to its fame people all over the world are found in the uncountable Pousadas, Hostels and Luxury Resorts.

    We write the day of October 26, three months back Brazil opened its airports for international tourism. Some Europeans have already made their way to Brazil and it seems most of them went for Jericoacoara. The language on the street was French and English. No doubt Brazilians were clearly the majority.

    On my first day I took some stunning photos of the sunset whereas the second day was dedicated for a dune walk and the inspection of Pedra Furada (Stone Arch). That was already enough for my taste. I asked a bunch of transport agencies if it’s possible to go directly to Barreirinhas, the main gate to the Lençóis Maranenses National Park. Unfortunately prices were higher than expected and most agencies couldn’t provide any cars heading there on the following day.

    On day three I woke up quite early to catch one of the first public shuttles to Jijoca. After I had left the desert behind I entered a small bus to Camocim where I then took another bus to Parnaíba and from there another minibus to Tutoya. I spent about 4 hours in Tutoya waiting for the next bus going to Barreirinhas where I almost forgot to leave. In the end of the day I arrived in Barreirinhas and checked into the hostel a couple minutes after midnight.    Leggi altro

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  • Pascal SteckLatin AmericaPascal Steck

    Barreirinhas & Lençoís

    29 ottobre 2020, Brasile ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    Right after the sand dunes in Jericoacoara I visited the sand dunes of Lençóis. Seems like this is the only thing to do in the northeast of Brazil.

    I spent 3 nights in this lovely hostel called Casa do Professor. After a long journey where I had to take 5 different buses, I decided to relax on my first day before I try to book any tours to the dunes.
    Relaxing is overrated, isn’t it? I spent half a day to find some new swimming trunks and a new towel. Unfortunately I forgot to take this two items with me when I left Jericoacoara. After two hours, I finally found some trunks but no micro fiber towel. Once I returned to the hostel I bumped into a Brazilian girl who used to live in Zurich for a couple years. She sold me her second towel for a very fair price. On the same day the hostel owner could arrange a full day tour to dunes for the following day. It was such a lucky day after two rather bad days.

    On my second I got up at 7 o’clock in the morning and waited for the tour guide to pick me up. We were 6 tourists in one of this 4x4 Toyota Hilux Safari vehicles. After an hour driving through Caju plantations we finally arrived the dunes. A short walk on the sand and we found ourselves in front of a pond. Due to this brutal hot weather everyone just got rid of their clothes and jumped into the water. An hour or two in this area and the morning trip came to it’s end. We returned to the city were they dropped me at a buffet livre place. I ate some lunch took a nap back on my hostel and a soon after that I went for the afternoon activity. Same direction, different water pools plus the sunset view on the highest sand hill in this area. You won’t see many sunsets like that, absolutely incredible.    Leggi altro

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  • Pascal SteckLatin AmericaPascal Steck

    São Luis

    31 ottobre 2020, Brasile ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    São Luis is the Capital city of Marnhão. It has a lovely old town and the people are nice and cheerful. My plan was to take a flight from São Luis to Manaus and skipping Belém as well as Santarém to safe time for a slow boat trip to Iquitos and for Peru itself.

    Time is always running faster in the end of the year. 😋    Leggi altro

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  • Pascal SteckLatin AmericaPascal Steck

    Manaus

    3 novembre 2020, Brasile ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    The cheapest flight to Manaus was with a stopover in Brasilia. I had exactly 15 minutes to find the right gate in Brasilia. After 10 minutes I already arrived at the gate so there was plenty of time left for the bidding and finding my seat.

    Once I arrived in Manaus I took a Taxi to the hostel. My first time abroad not driving by Uber. It was already after midnight, I took a shower and went to bed. On the very next day I made some new friend on my doom. Marcel, Stefan and Roney. Stefan recommenced a nice agency for some jungle experience.

    Two days later, I woke up in the middle of nowhere. Footprint ➡️ Paraná do Mamori.

    After 3 days and two nights deep inside the rainforest I returned to Manaus enriched with unforgettable experiences and a bunch of new friendships one of which even became a cool bromance. ☺️

    After one more week in Manaus, a nice reunion party with my jungle friends, my old friends Stefan plus entourage as well as Sophia and Navina my new roommates, a day trip to swim with dolphins and a visitation of an Amazonian tribe, another day at the market to buy new earphones and the last day in a botanical zoo, I finally I entered M. Monteiro II.    Leggi altro

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  • Pascal SteckLatin AmericaPascal Steck

    ⛴ M. Monteiro II

    17 novembre 2020, Brasile ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    After 7 nights on Rio Solimões the boat M. Monteiro II reached its final destination called Tabatinga.

    Tabatinga is located in the Tres Fronteras area and belongs to Brazil. Half an hour walking and you cross the boarder to Colombia. Peru the third country, lays on the other side of the River.

    But let’s start at the beginning.

    An agent in Manaus brought me to the ship on Friday around 11.00h. We approached the boat from the riverside with a little motor boat. I had to climb over the rails to enter the big ship. Once I was there I watched a bunch of young guys loading the boat with cargo, lots of cargo. My cabin was not accessible in the first hour, too many carton boxes were blocking the way. The entire first deck was packed with cargo. The second and third deck are for passengers only. There is enough space to hang appropriately 660 hammocks down from the ceilings on both decks. All in all are 6 cabins, where the third deck cabins belonged to the crew members and the captain, the second deck was for passengers only. My cabin was the smallest and had no shower or toilet inside, but the agent mentioned already that they only had this one left for me. I wondered if I paid too much for this little cabin in the end. The lights didn’t work but at least the AC did its job.

    The first 4 days were calm and peaceful. There were less than 50 people on board and it was easy to get around and make some friends. I met an enthusiastic traveler from Liverpool who spent his last 30 years as a nomad. His specialties are wild camping and talking about all the COVID conspiracy theories. Then there were some Venezuelan people, some of them worked on the boat unloading all the cargo, others were married to some Colombian drug smuggling families. Even I couldn’t speak any Portuguese or Spanish (due to the hot weather my brain wasn’t working properly) I made some friends by giving away my cigarettes.

    The first sunset was absolutely epic, unfortunately all other sunsets were hidden behind clouds. Every day we got a decent breakfast at 6.30h, usually bread, banana or papaya, coffee and some kind of meat cake. At 11.00h was lunch time. All people were queuing in the second deck to get some delicious rice, noodles and meat. Sometimes there was salad or vegetables too. The bell rung sometimes at 17.00h or at 18.00h for dinner time. Dinner was just like lunch a big load of rice, noodles and meat or fish.

    For the last three days the amount of passengers was tripled. Most people entered the boat in Amaturá. Many kids were running around, teenagers started to flirt, card games turned into gambling tournaments and the TV zones were more and more crowded. I really enjoyed this spectacle.    Leggi altro

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  • Pascal SteckLatin AmericaPascal Steck

    Leticia

    21 novembre 2020, Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    Liverpool Mike told me two years ago when he was here for the first time, he met Elvis and Gloria the owners of Xingu Hostel.
    After we walked an hour from one end of Tabatinga to the other end of Leticia, two neighbor cities, we finally arrived at Xingu. Mike mentioned on the way several times they we can’t be right it’s not that far outside in the woods. However my maps.me app told me where Xingu is so I convinced him to trust my map. We knocked at the fence and Juan opened the gate. He spoke fluent English and told us all about how he split up with Gloria and opened a new Xingu outside Leticia. He told us lots of stories about some foreigners who tried to take a flight to Bogota and others visited Iquitos.

    Mike and I decided to visit Gloria at her old place where Mike staid before. We went to her place, she was not at home. Only a few minutes passed when a scooter with a young woman arrived at the place. It was Gloria, she welcomed us and she immediately started to prepare our beds. She didn’t open her business in the last 6 months, due to the lack of tourism during the pandemic. Gloria recommend me to visit some tribal houses on the forest. That was a nice hike into the jungle which I did the next day.

    However my main goal was Peru. Crossing the boarder for good. I wanted to leave this hot Amazonian climate zone and get rid of my rice belly in Peruvians mountains. I bought a ticket to Iquitos. As Juan already mentioned I couldn’t get a stamp to enter Peru, migration office was closed. I changed my plans. 1 week Iquitos and back.    Leggi altro

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  • Pascal SteckLatin AmericaPascal Steck

    Iquitos

    26 novembre 2020, Perù ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    A speed boat brought me to Iquitos. At 4 o’clock in the morning the boat stoped at a boarder control base. An army member checked my passport and told me to follow him outside into the darkness. I walked through slippery mud uphill to a house. The guy waited until I gave him some money. He even waited longer to squeeze more money out of me. After like 5 minutes I started to get nervous because I knew the speed boat wouldn’t wait for me. I gave him 100 Reais additionally to the 60 Peruvian soles he already received. In the end I spent 30 euros to get into Peru. Clearly I still didn’t have an entry stamp so on the way out I might have to play the same farce again.

    I’ve chosen an amazing hostel. The owner a sun with his mother and the guests, a Canadian retired dice instructor/language teacher and a Belgian guy who left on my second day. He was replaced with a Greek guy Nomade. Vadim from Canada (Russian background) and Prometheus were absolutely enjoyable. Even we were lazy as a sloth we always went for lunch and dinner together.
    On the first day I arrived late in the night.
    On the second day I bought a SIM card.
    On the third day I went to Isla de Los Monos.
    On the third/fourth day Vadim and I went to the jungle for a Ayahuasca ceremony. Overnight.
    On the fifth day I visited Barrio Florido together with Vadim. In the evening we celebrated the hostels first anniversary.
    On the sixth day I went to the city center and took some photos. I also fried to visit Belen. The flooded neighborhood during high tide in. We were in the end of the dry season hence Belen had no water. I was not welcome in Belen, people who live there are supposed to be the poorest in Iquitos. They showed me to go back upstairs and leave their neighborhood. In the Night Vadim and I went to a high class restaurant where I ordered a nice Ceviche and an Anticuchos.
    On the seventh day I puked and tried to recover from food poisoning.
    On the eight day I went back to Leticia.    Leggi altro

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  • Pascal SteckLatin AmericaPascal Steck

    ⛴ M. Monteiro I

    3 dicembre 2020, Brasile ⋅ 🌧 25 °C

    After a crazy week in Peruvians biggest Amazonian city I returned to the Tres Fronteras. I only staid one night in Leticia and bought a ticket to Manaus on the next day.

    I’ve chosen the same company. They had their first Monteiro ship in Tabatingas harbor anchored. Instead of a speed boat which would only take 30 hours but would leave on the next day, I decided to take the slow boat, once more. 3 nights 4 days on the river towards Manaus. Downstream. 1578 Kilometers later I arrived in Manaus.

    But hang on, half way done the ship suddenly stopped its engines. Two police boats were approaching our ship while I was trying to get out of my hammock. People started getting nervous. The crew members were walking through the ship and asked as to take up our hammocks.
    The Narcs came with big assault rifles and a cute dog. After one hour the guys returned to their boats and we continued our trip. The end.

    How many Kilometers did I ride on the Amazon river?

    Manaus - Tabatinga and back: 2x 1578 km
    Santa Rosa- Iquitos and back: 2x 487 km
    So far: 4130 km

    Amazon river length: 6448 km

    Should I go down to Belem?    Leggi altro

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  • Pascal SteckLatin AmericaPascal Steck

    Santarém

    9 dicembre 2020, Brasile ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    I felt so much safer in Santarém compared to Manaus. I even went to the harbor at night to take some photos of the Christmas lights.

    Once more the owner of my hostel was absolutely accommodating. I arrived at midnight in his place and told him that I only ate 11 bananas in the last 34 hours on the way here. He immediately opened iFood and asked me if I want extra bacon on my hamburger. ☺️

    After a restful night, in a real bed - no more hammocks - I went to the breakfast table where Erivan’s little elf had prepared some delicious food. Erivan asked me what I’m going to do here. I explained that I’m on my way to Rio but before heading there I’ll pick up some Christmas gifts in Fortaleza. He told me if I have the time I should really visit Alter do Chão. Well I had nothing else to do so I went to this place. One hour by public bus.

    Alter do Chão is where everyone goes to have some nice beach feeling. The huge river Tapajós turns into a lake (Lago Verde) and during low tide the shallow water heats up pretty fast and becomes almost a hot tub. I enjoyed a ice cold beer at the beach and spent roughly an hour there before the weather changed.    Leggi altro

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  • Pascal SteckLatin AmericaPascal Steck

    Fortaleza

    12 dicembre 2020, Brasile ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    I met Flávia in my hostel in Fortaleza. She’s a biologist 👩‍🔬 and due to her PHD degree, fluent in English. She invited me to join her and her friends for a day trip to praia de Cumbuco. The group was multi Latino diverse. A Peruvian, Bolivian, Ecuadorian, El Salvadorian and Brazilian student. They all go to the same university and everyone studies a different subject.

    I met Dani, Ivan’s former working colleague. He spent Christmas holidays in Fortaleza were he came along with all the relatives of his wives family. He brought my new iPhone, chocolate and some high quality masks 😷 and a secret Christmas gift. Yay my new phone.    Leggi altro

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  • Pascal SteckLatin AmericaPascal Steck

    Santa Cruz de la Sierra

    10 gennaio 2021, Bolivia ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C

    Welcome to Bolivia.
    The show must go on. I’m going to travel in Bolivia for about a month or a bit longer. Who knows.

    So far I spent 5 nights in Santa Cruz. Couldn’t leave the place earlier even though I got bit bored here. No tourism and pretty quite and peaceful on the city center.

    Public transport sector decided to go on strike on day five. I hope I can make it to Samaipata on day six.

    I visited a ecological park called Biocentro Güembé. 🙃👍    Leggi altro

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  • Pascal SteckLatin AmericaPascal Steck

    Samaipata

    15 gennaio 2021, Bolivia ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Sunday January 17, Samaipata. Flooding water destroyed a camping area as well as other lower parts of the village. A Swiss backpacker was in the middle of the action.

    A camping employee knocked at my door at 7 in the morning and told me that the lawn with all campers was already evacuated but I don’t have to rush the water level is more than one meter lower than my room.

    At 8 she knocked again and at the same time the water came inside my room. I quickly reacted and through my backpacks on my bed. After 40 seconds the water level reached the mattress. I made it just in time out of my room with both backpacks on my shoulder and only wearing underwear. A few steps towards the staircase and up to the safe place.

    It has been my first evacuation caused by nature’s force. Heavy rain and floodwater caper.

    Two days before I went on a guided trip to the Amboró National Park where we were looking out for condors. The day trip ended at a beautiful waterfall spot.

    One day before the rain I visited a Zoologico shelter. Monkeys, birds and wild mountain cats.

    Due to the rain cataclysm, I spend another night in Samaipata until the route to Sucre was fit for traffic.    Leggi altro

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  • Pascal SteckLatin AmericaPascal Steck

    Sucre

    22 gennaio 2021, Bolivia ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    10 days Spanish class with a young motivated teacher.

    Half day trip to the Parque Cretácico. 🦕

    Invited for lunch at bar/restaurant at the outer area of the city.

    Full day adventure with a socialistic party, driving through the city and dropping me at the Castillo de la Glorieta.

    Tried different local dishes:
    Salteñas
    Pique Macho
    Rellano de Papa    Leggi altro

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    Oruro

    5 febbraio 2021, Bolivia ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    On my way to Cochabamba I made a short stopover in Oruro. Bolivia’s capital of carnaval. It was actually not intended to visit this place at exactly the time of carnival but it just aligned with it.

    I spent a full day there to explore the city. There was obviously no sign of carnaval in the streets. 😷    Leggi altro

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  • Pascal SteckLatin AmericaPascal Steck

    La Paz

    14 febbraio 2021, Bolivia ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Too many cool things happened in La Paz.

    I arrived on a Sunday at 5 in the morning together
    with Anelisse. We directly went to the biggest market in South America which is located on El Alto. I needed to buy new pants as well as new hiking shoes. Anelisse bought on the same day just a couple hours later and after her sister, who lives in La Paz, arrived at the market a dozen of different articles for her uncountable pets.

    La Paz was the ignition point for a bunch of amazing trips.

    Even it was always freezing cold after a week I started to love this two cities, La Paz and El Alto.    Leggi altro

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