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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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  • 196footprints
  • 19countries
  • 718days
  • 1.2kphotos
  • 130videos
  • 139kkilometers
  • 77.7kkilometers
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  • Pascal SteckLatin America
    Day 716

    Welcome back

    December 15, 2021 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C

    Souvenirs for nice, nephew and godson: done ✅
    Last sip of Cachaça com Jambu: done ✅
    Last breakfast buffet, Brazilian fruits: done ✅

    6 hours stopover Lisbon, remaining photos post processed. Flight back to Switzerland.

    Hello 4°C, hello mama and papa.    Read more

  • Pascal SteckLatin America
    Day 713

    RJ

    December 12, 2021 in Brazil ⋅ 🌧 25 °C

    Rio de Janeiro what else.

    What does the video say? Police were approaching the bus terminal and suddenly all the food stalls were mobilized to escape the scene. I didn’t catch the peak of this hectic moment but it was quite a mess, everybody from kids to adults were packing their things and leaving the terminal.Read more

  • Pascal SteckLatin America
    Day 713

    Pedra da Gávea

    December 12, 2021 in Brazil ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    Free climbing rocks. 😜 Pun intended.

    On the Rio of this 840 meter hill one can overlook the most famous places in Rio de Janeiro. On one side you see Lagoa da Tijuca and the Long Beach with the same name and other the other side all of Rio’s landmarks, Pão de Açúcar, Christo Redentor, Copacabana, Ipanema, Morro dois irmãos, Rocinha, Vidigal and a good deal more.

    Pedra da Gávea is a monolithic mountain in Tijuca Forest. Composed of granite and gneiss, its elevation is 844 meters, making it one of the highest mountains in the world that ends directly in the ocean. Trails on the mountain were opened up by the local farming population in the early 1800s; today, the site is under the administration of the Tijuca National Park.    Read more

  • Pascal SteckLatin America
    Day 710

    Rio de Janeiro

    December 9, 2021 in Brazil ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    I’m glad to announce my very last stop on my trip. It’s a place we have seen before, not only once, it is my third time in this incredibly beautiful city. Yes I’m in love, in love with the nature, rain forest full with wildlife right in the backyard of one’s neighborhood, beaches with the most beautiful people on earth coming to this place to tan their skin and show there assets. Friendly folks, ice cold beer and to end your day, you just look for a bar with live music where a Bosa Nova band is jamming and all the locals are supporting the band with their voices .
    All right I will stop adoring the city now. Back to cold hard reality where you find yourself in an Airbnb huge, perfectly located two blocks from the beach and two blocks from the metro. Then you are awaiting your girlfriend surprising her with her favorite flower. And soon after you meet her all goes south. Sure I’m already in the south, south of Brazil, South America. Southern Hemisphere but still it’s not the end.
    Iuli devices to avoid me for my 8 days in Rio and I was trapped in a nice Airbnb without access to other backpackers. So my whole plan in Rio changed instantly. Instead of picnics and catamaran sunset sails, hikes and student friends meet ups, it was suddenly all different. But certainly being an experienced traveler, I started discovering Rio once more and in the end I did some really exciting stuff. One of the highlights was for sure climbing Pedra da Gávea without climbing gear. Who needs helmed and harness when you have the strength of a little macaque 🐒.

    Pão com queijo, muitos praias, Cristo redentor aka. Corcovado e muito mais.    Read more

  • Pascal SteckLatin America
    Day 706

    CDMX

    December 5, 2021 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    T minus 3, 2, 1, hasta la vista Mexico.

    I spent my last 3 days in Mexico City where I treated myself like a king. I slept in private rooms and ate entire cows in the restaurants. However my choice of accommodation was not as good as expected. The Airbnb I spent two nights in, was more like a hostel with small cells. Another hostel guest, two cells right of mine snored louder than the carnival Guggemusig of Switzerland. I decided to hit the nightlife again and returned to my cell around 4 in the morning. My strategy worked out well. I was totally exhausted and super sleepy after partying like a monkey thus felt asleep like a Guinea pig coated in a soft blanket.

    On the very last day I visited a church in the north of the City and changed to a hotel near the airport. I ordered some mole oxacaceño on UberEats to finalize my Mexican trip with some delicious traditional food.

    December 6. I went to the airport but the metro train was acting weird. On two stations without any announcement it stoped for 10 minutes. Nevertheless I made it on time to the airport and it went surprisingly easy. Nobody asked for any Covid tests or vaccination certificates.

    My stopover in Bogota was a pinch more tricky. Although I did my research about the stopover I couldn’t find any information about what is. We’re to continue my flight to Rio de Janeiro. Once I was waiting at the gate some airline assistant went from seat to seat and asked for a PCR test result. I told the young lady that I need a couple minutes to get the rest from the mail server.

    I grabbed my stuff and went immediately to another gate where I had time to fake my PCR test. Luckily I have a decent repository of old PCR tests from all over Latin America. Once I had my test ready, I returned to the gate and queued in line then it was boarding time. At the shelter I showed my test result. Once again they didn’t even check the name or date on the test. They only zoomed to the word negativo and then waved me through.    Read more

  • Pascal SteckLatin America
    Day 704

    Grutas Tolantongo

    December 3, 2021 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    A short trip, a new state.

    I decided to go to the Grutas located in the state Hidalgo on my own given that my Oaxaca company was busy with her work.

    I met a young French couple and a German backpacker on the trip to the waterfalls, caves, thermal springs and pools. We all enjoyed the hot water and the absolutely incredible nature and I toyed with the idea to stay a night inside this magical place, there were many camp sites all along the river. However it was Friday night and I decided to go back to CDMX.Read more

  • Pascal SteckLatin America
    Day 700

    Federal District

    November 29, 2021 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    Adios playas y lobos marinos, fishes and girls in bikinis. After a great time in Baja California del Sur I took a flight back to Mexico City where I was supposed to meet a bunch of friends I made during my Mexican trip.

    Maybe it was fate or even karma who hit me straight in my face, as I was back in the big city. Zero out of three appointments were executed. One friend after each other had to cancel their plans or were too busy meet me. Luckily my German Hermanos were in town. I joined them in a lucha libre event. For those who don’t know what it is, it’s this typical Mexican wrestling game where the wrestlers wear some colorful masks.

    Overall I enjoyed my Airbnb lifestyle as well as the night scene of Roma Norte, Juarez and Hipódromo. I finally bought new shoes since my old pair of shoes were totally worn out. I used them way too long, most of my socks were totally dirty and damaged by virtue of all those holes in my shoes.
    I found an online coupon website with an offer 400 pesos instead of 2600 for Blanqueamiento Dental Láser + Pulido + Limpieza. That was such a crazy discount I had to buy this online voucher and made an appointment at the dentists place. On December 2nd I went to the dentists to get my teeth whitened. You get what you pay for, with this super 20 usd deal I got a 15 minute dental cleaning and another 15 minutes of this laser treatment. The lady doctor told me in the end you don’t see much improvement since you only bought one session. Anyhow I wasn’t allowed to eat colored food for the next 24 hours. Maybe a second treatment in Brazil will make a bigger difference. Not sure though if I do it again.    Read more

  • Pascal SteckLatin America
    Day 691

    Cabo

    November 20, 2021 in Mexico ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    There I was. Second most Americanized place outside the states. Every single local was responding in English and all the prices were in USD. I certainly felt misplaced here. Only water ne hostel was affordable but at least it was located very close to everything. I spent some time with Alex from Minnesota who had tonnes of stories to tell. Let me right down some trigger words for later so I remember. (police officer, fishermen, backpacker, crazy republican, 14 guns, hunting). This dude was surely a nice man and good drinking company but due to the crazy environment he was born into he had pretty much the American stereotypical mind set.

    Cabo on first sight was a cray party town with rich people staying on huge all inclusive resorts. On second sight I discovered a way along the cost which lead to plenty of different beaches, one prettier than the other. Some beaches were packed with tourists who came here my water taxi. I was one out of 100 people who always saved the money on this taxis and climbed the rocks, spider walked the cliffs and walked on low tide, waist-deep water to reach all this hidden gems.

    The hostel offered some cool hikes and other activities but I spent every day discovering this beaches. There was so much fish life and sea lions were there sunbathing on some rocks. It was absolutely beautiful and I enjoyed it to the fullest. Ah by the way after a long time not seeing any Israelis, the hostel just had a new volunteer starting to work there, a crazy Israeli girl with whom we all went to the nightlife to play billiard and had a good time all together.    Read more

  • Pascal SteckLatin America
    Day 687

    La Paz

    November 16, 2021 in Mexico ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    There I am again. La Paz, the highest capital city on our planet. Hang on a sec. Why there is an ocean in front of me. Where are this cool Cholitas with their bowler hats.

    La Paz in México in the state Baja California del Sur is totally different to La Paz in Bolivia, that’s for sure.

    What did I do? I asked for whale watching tours and got the same answer from every single agency. No whales yet but it’s whale shark time. Don’t miss this opportunity. So I ended up going on a island tour with some little hope to see whales breaching I n the way there. I did this trip with two cool German siblings. They had a GoPro on board so we could take some cool videos of the island snorkeling tour which included swimming with sea lions.
    The next day we were going for the whale sharks. The three of us had a lot of fun out there and to swim white this 8 meter long road Langton edging giants was quite an experience.

    La Paz had a bunch of American tourists but generally it was a calm town which only attracts scuba divers and whale watching geeks like me. After three nights there I decided to go south to Cabo, the second biggest American springbreak Hotspot here in México. Luckily it wasn’t spring break time and thanksgiving was coming up soon, so all those lovely Americans were at home with their families and preparing their turkeys.

    By going down to Cabo I made a major decision. Instead of trying to reach the most northern point of continental Latin America I decided to save some money by heading down to Cabo. Tijuana did not have any cheap flights back to Mexico City anymore or better said, I was already too late for the cheap ones. Also the buses from La Paz to Tijuana were quite experience taking in consideration that there was more than 1400 kilometers to cover. Anyhow I booked a 35 usd flight from Cabo to CDMX but therefore had to kill 4 more days at the southern most tip of BCS.    Read more

  • Pascal SteckLatin America
    Day 687

    ⛴ BajaFerries ⛴

    November 16, 2021 in Mexico ⋅ 🌙 23 °C

    From Sayulita I decided to go to Mazatlán to check if there are any whale watching tours. After a never ending bus journey I arrived in this rather unspectacular city where I checked in the only hostel in town for a relative high price.
    Yet I am often blessed with fortune, two lovely ladies offered me some tasty Argentinian meat stew for dinner while they were listening to my travel stories. Even the next morning I came just in time for early lunch. The ladies once again prepared some food for theirselves and another hostel guest and I was invited too. I decided to leave town and go up to Baja California del Sur, one of the most famous regions for whale watching. The ladies just like me had a bus in the early afternoon and they already ordered a driver to the bus terminal. I could share the ride with them and later on I continued my trip to Los Mochis. The bus arrived 2 hours late and I had 45 minutes left to make my way from Los Mochis to Topolobampo where the ferry towards Baja California del Sur departed. The Uber finally arrived after 10 minutes waiting and I made it to the ferry 5 minutes before departure. I bought the ticket hopped on the ship and tried to sleep. Too many kids were screaming and yelling even it was already midnight. The ferry left the harbor one and a half hour late but since I read the review I already knew that departure time at 24.00 is more like a recommended hour.

    Nevertheless I made it to La Paz.    Read more

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