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Latin America

December 2019 - December 2021
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. Read more
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  • Pascal SteckLatin America
    Day 37

    San Pedro de Atacama

    February 5, 2020 in 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 🛌.    Read more

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  • Pascal SteckLatin America
    Day 40

    Jujuy

    February 8, 2020 in 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.    Read more

  • Pascal SteckLatin America
    Day 42

    Córdoba

    February 10, 2020 in 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.    Read more

  • Pascal SteckLatin America
    Day 45

    Esteros del Iberá

    February 13, 2020 in 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.    Read more

  • Pascal SteckLatin America
    Day 50

    Ciudad del Este

    February 18, 2020 in 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.Read more

  • Pascal SteckLatin America
    Day 51

    First Iguazú then Iguaçu

    February 19, 2020 in Brazil ⋅ ☁️ 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. 👋    Read more

  • Pascal SteckLatin America
    Day 57

    Carnaval in Rio

    February 25, 2020 in Brazil ⋅ ☀️ 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.    Read more

  • Pascal SteckLatin America
    Day 60

    São Paulo

    February 28, 2020 in Brazil ⋅ ☁️ 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.    Read more

  • Pascal SteckLatin America
    Day 65

    Floripa

    March 4, 2020 in Brazil ⋅ ⛅ 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. 🤙    Read more

  • Pascal SteckLatin America
    Day 72

    Porto Alegre

    March 11, 2020 in Brazil ⋅ 🌙 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. 🎂    Read more

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