• Anna Ba

Sabbatical

A 87-day adventure by Anna Read more
  • Trip start
    September 2, 2024

    Off to Greece 🇬🇷

    September 2, 2024 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    My 3 months sabbatical is underway and I am so excited!

    Here's what's planned so far:

    3 weeks in Greece:
    I'll be heading to Ikaria, a beautiful island in the North Aegean, to visit my godmother. I know the name of the village she lives in and met her last when I was a child, so it should be an adventure finding her.

    Since my brother is planning to arrive 4 days before we're meeting the rest of my family on Naxos, we talked about visiting an island called Milos together - it's supposedly an island with a good night life. Though who knows where the winds (or tides) will take us in the end.

    Of course I've got to test my new dive gear in Greece, too, and most likely there will be some more water sports going on.

    2 months in South America:
    After Greece I'll be back in Berlin for a few days from where I'll catch a flight to Santa Cruz in Bolivia. The capital of Bolivia, La Paz is located at an altitude of 3600 meters which makes it a tough starting point. That's why we'll take a lower approach to ease into the country's significant heights.

    Anita will arrive one day after me and we've got a rough plan for the next 4 weeks.
    After 15 (or is it 16?) years of friendship, this is our first backpacking trip together and I can't wait to explore this beautiful part of the world together.

    It gets more blurry from here. We'll be crossing the border to Peru at some point and then I'll be heading to Colombia to spend the next 3/4 weeks exploring this country.

    Keeping you posted :)
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  • Scooter tour

    September 5, 2024 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    Yesterday, I did what I believe is the best way to explore an island - or any new place: I packed my mask and snorkel, rented a scooter, and set off on a long ride through the island. And it was absolutely lush!

    Over the past few days, I also found out where my godmother works (it was actually surprisingly easy, since the ~8500 people living on the island seem to mostly know each other). Unfortunately, when I arrived yesterday, the woman I spoke to informed me that my godmother had just finished her shift and left 10 minutes earlier. However, she gave me her working schedule for today, so I'm confident I'll catch up with her soon.

    In addition to not having met her yet, another factor made me reconsider my initial plan to leave on Saturday.
    I talked to this guy who told me about "pangirys" which are basically local village gatherings with music, dance, food and drinks that happen every summer once in each village on the island-and one of these is happening on Sunday close by. I remember them from when I was a child, so there's no way I'm missing out on that! I am chuffed!😍
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  • Panigiri Agios Dimitrios

    September 8, 2024 in Greece ⋅ 🌬 23 °C

    Thank you Ikaria!!! 🙏
    My whole stay here, and of course especially this Panigiri was such an incredible experience which I've been looking forward to for so many years! Young and old drinking and dancing to greek music until 6 am in the morning.

    Although my time here has already come to an end, it certainly hasn't been the last time and I've already made plans with my godmother's husband to return and help him milking his 80 goats!

    There’s something refreshing about immersing yourself in that kind of authentic, grounded lifestyle, where people don't have much but share everything and happiness comes from the simple things. I'm leaving (hangover in tow) grateful as ever ♥️- next stop: Syros
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  • Exploring Syros

    Sep 9–12, 2024 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    I arrived on the island of Syros yesterday evening after a three hour ferry ride. I must admit, following the panigiri it wasn't the smoothest journey I've had 🙈

    Syros is much smaller than Ikaria and therefore I almost managed to drive to each part of the island by motorbike within today.
    It's not quite as green as Ikaria and I also found the few nice beaches today pretty crowded but Syros makes up for that with the charming cycladic capital city Ermoupoli and the friendly locals.
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  • Naxos Part 2

    Sep 16–22, 2024 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    The week with my family has come to an end and it was amazing! We did a quad tour, cliff jumping and, as anyone who knows my family can guess, the drinks were flowing.
    Louis and I also went diving at a 90m big ship wreck and took some kite-surf lessons. Add to that plenty of delicious food and great times with my favorite people—what more could you ask for?
    Now, I'm on my way to the airport in Athens to fly back to Berlin for 3 nights before my travels finally take me to South America on the 26th.
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  • Hola Bolivia

    Sep 27–29, 2024 in Bolivia ⋅ 🌬 26 °C

    I can't believe that I'm in South America, it's been on my bucket list for so long!😍

    After a ~24 hour journey with quick stop overs in Frankfurt and Bogota I arrived in Santa Cruz de la Sierra early this morning and was super relieved to find my backpack had made it, too.

    After a few hours sleep I just started strolling through the city, exploring Santa Cruz. The first impression is great: people are super friendly and helpful, the food is both cheap and delicious and the streets are rather clean. I was surprised to see fewer homeless people than I expected, considering Bolivia is one of the poorest countries in South America.

    The one thing I'm struggling with is getting a realistic grasp of the safety situation: can I take out my phone openly on the street, should I avoid crowds, can I go out for dinner by myself in the dark or do I need a taxi? - I guess I'll get the hang of it soon. Also, I've barely seen any tourists yet, I'm excited to see whether this is the case all over Bolivia.

    Additionally to all those impressions, as expected, most people here speak hardly any english. The best way to improve my spanish I guess😄

    Anita is already on the way and will arrive tomorrow morning. I can't wait to explore this beautiful country with her!
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  • Full speed - Santa Cruz-Samaipata-Sucre

    Sep 28–30, 2024 in Bolivia ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Anita has arrived and the first 3 days already started off great!
    In Santa Cruz we met some guys in a restaurant who play in a local rock band. They invited us for beers and played guitar. Our conversation was a hilarious mix of English, Spanish and a lot of hand gestures and due to the seemingly never ending supply of beers we ended up being pretty tipsy by the afternoon.

    Later that night we went with two other backpackers via local bus to this fare which turned out to be massive and offered many activies. We tried bull-riding and even caught a free magic show – it was so much fun!
    Riding local transport is also always an adventure and this time felt like a scene straight out of Harry Potter. The driver drove insanely, opened and closed the doors in full speed and loud music was played all along.

    The next morning we headed via Minibus to our next stop, Samaipata. The town has a charming, laid-back hippie vibe, so we spent a few hours wandering around before catching an overnight bus to Sucre.

    Apart from one other backpacker there were only locals on the bus. When we arrived in Sucre at 2 am things got a little confusing. We asked some of our bus companions how to get to our accommodation and they told us to stay on the bus. We thought it might get us closer to the city center, but instead, we ended up sleeping on the bus for another two hours with everyone else. Eventually, we grabbed a taxi to our homestay to catch a few hours of proper sleep.

    Now we're exploring Sucre and are getting ready to catch another bus to Uyuni at 10pm tonight - Uyuni is located on 3670m above sea level, so we'll see if we can handle the altitude - however, we already increased it from 400m in Santa Cruz to 2790m here in Sucre within less than 24 hours and so far we're both doing fine.

    In Uyuni our first highlight is awaiting us - a 3 day tour (which we still have to book) to Salar de Uyuni and the Laguna Colorada. We're thrilled and excited to see if our travel will stay as fascinating as the last days.
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  • Salt Flat Tour Part 1

    Oct 1–3, 2024 in Bolivia ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C

    We arrived in Uyuni early on Tuesday morning and were greeted by chilly 3°C. After a quick coffee break and changing into our warm clothes we went to book a 3 day tour through the Bolivian Andes national park which started at 10am on the same day.

    Within the 3 days we explored the vast Salar de Uyuni, originally known as Tunupa, spanning an incredible 10500 m². We also visited the Cactus Island, train cemetery, colorful lagoons (Lagunas Coloradas), relaxing hot springs and volcanic geysers. Along the way we were able to see plenty of wildlife: flamingos, lamas, vicuñas, rabbits (vizcachas) and two foxes.
    We slept two nights in salt-hotels and being at an altitude of 4200m you can imagine the view of the stars.

    The landscape was very impressive and partly martian-like. In fact NASA apparently even conducts tests here to better understand Mars-like conditions.

    At the volcanic craters, we reached an altitude of 4950 meters. Fortunately, Anita and I only experienced mild headaches, nothing a little coca leaf (or Dolormin Extra) couldn't handle. While I'm not entirely sure if the coca leaves truly helped, they did feel like a shot of espresso.

    I am still in awe and so very grateful that I was able to experience this wonderful part of the world and will surely never forget these stunning views!

    Next Stop: La Paz
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  • Amazon Rainforest

    Oct 8–13, 2024 in Bolivia ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    We just finished an incredible 5-day pampas and jungle tour. The first few days in the pampas were mainly filled with boat trips along the Yacuma River and some hiking in search of anacondas.
    We spotted hundreds of caimans (mainly small ones but also a few black caimans, up to 4 meters long), plenty of capybaras, an ostrich, pink river dolphins, many colorful birds of all sizes, anacondas, frogs and squirrel monkeys. On the first day we were woken up by a howler monkey whose roar sounded like a clogged drainpipe!
    In a lagoon with river dolphins, we decided to go for a swim. Though there were large caimans on the opposite bank, our guide assured us it was safe. But after one of us was bitten by a fish, we decided to head back to the boat. Not even 30 seconds after getting out of the water, a huge caiman, around 3 meters long, popped its head up at pretty much the same spot we had just been swimming. Just in time I guess.

    On the third day we made our way to the Madidi Nationalpark, part of the Amazon rainforest and one of the most biodiverse places in the world. We hiked through the jungle, visited a local tribe, learned about indigenous beliefs and traditions, cooked traditional meals and crafted rings from nuts.
    As for the wildlife, we saw spiders in all sizes and varieties (including little tarantulas and lightning spiders), glowworms, snakes, lizards, hand-sized butterflies and an oposum.
    Listening to those jungle sounds was incredibly relaxing.

    Having had 39 degrees down there, we're now back at La Paz with cool temperatures up to 8 degrees. We'll head to our last stop in Bolivia tomorrow - Copacabana/Isla de Sol before making our way to Peru
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  • Last stops in Bolivia

    Oct 15–17, 2024 in Bolivia ⋅ ☀️ 9 °C

    On the way to Peru we spent our last days in Bolivia in Copacabana at the Titicaca Lake, which is a very spiritual place for the inka tribes. The lake is around 6 times larger than lake of constance and felt like an ocean.
    From there we visited the Isla del Sol and hiked from north to south. Our hostel had a great view across the lake including alpacas in our garden.

    Bolivia was truly magnificent. We have met so many lovely locals and seen the most stunning places. Bolivia is still a very poor country and quite chaotic and it reminded me a lot of South East Asia.
    As we leave this country we are filled with immense gratitude for the warmth and kindness we've encountered and awe for it's breathtaking beauty and rich culture.

    Muchas gracias Bolivia 🫶
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  • One week in Cusco - Peru

    Oct 18–24, 2024 in Peru ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C

    Crossing the border by Bus took some time but else went pretty smooth and we got our Peruvian stamps.
    After the 14 hour drive, we arrived in Cusco early in the morning.

    Cusco is the main hub for visiting Macchu Piccu. Since both of us were not that fussed about spending loads of money on visiting this crowded place, we looked out for alternatives. Luckily Cusco is also a good starting point for many other hikes, so we decided to do the 7 lagoons. Good decision! The views of the Andes were magnificent and the lagoons glowed with vibrant colors.

    Spending 6 days here, Cusco surprised us by having a very nice old town, with loads of cafes, bars and restaurants. The flair is very alternative and the streets are super colorful.
    We also visited the Cusco Theater, some of the cities view points and a nearby town called Pisac.

    Now, it's time to say goodbye to Anita who will fly back home, as I'm heading to the airport for my flight to Cartagena in Colombia.
    We've had such a great time together and made memories we will always cherish.
    I couldn't have asked for any better travel buddy ♥️ Salud por nada más!
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  • La próxima estación-Cartagena, Columbia

    Oct 24–26, 2024 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Cartagena is a very vibrant and colorful city - every evening there seems to be Salsa played on all public places throughout the whole city. I've met some lovely locals, inviting me for dinner as well as learning how to dance Salsa. I've been told being in Cartagena and not being able to dance Salsa is like being in Germany and not drinking beers. Fair point!
    Sooo, I had a few goes and I think it went quite well. I love the vibes, everyone here seems to be all about Salsa after work and it's so impressive to watch all these great dancers.
    Additionally to getting out of my comfort zone in the way of dancing in the middle of the street, english seems to be even less of a thing than in Bolivia. I guess I'll be learning a lot in the upcoming weeks.

    Other than that I went to the beach, which, close to Cartagena, is not actually that nice. The water isn't as you'd imagine the caribbean sea and there are plentyyy of vendors, wanting to sell you anything, from cocktails over bracelets to lobster. It doesn't feel safe leaving your stuff there for a swim, so I had to ask an older couple to watch it for me while swimming. They are Columbians, living in the US and after having a nice chat, invited me for dinner.

    Today I headed over to Isla Grande, which is part of the rosario islands near Cartagena.
    This is the caribic as you'd imagine it now! 😍
    Let's see if it's worth diving here and I'll definitely get some tanning going.
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  • Isla Grande y Cartagena 2.0

    Oct 26–Nov 1, 2024 in Colombia ⋅ ☁️ 30 °C

    On Saturday morning I took an one hour boat to Isla Grande. I stayed in a hostel that was absolutely beautiful - picture a tropical paradise with relaxed, colorful vibes and music all day long.
    On my second day I headed to the island's most popular beach, Playa Libre, which quickly became packed with day-trippers from the city.
    One of the highlights there was the local vendors, who served up Piña Coladas and Coco Locos right from their handmade canoe-bars in the water! Goes without saying, I had to try one myself.

    A few hours later, I got an invitation from some locals I’d met the day before in Cartagena to join them on their boat (music and drinks included). They had hired a driver and we stopped at another island, where one of the guys’ family ownes a resort. We had our own private beach party, and it felt absolutely surreal - an incredible experience!

    Later that night back at the hostel, a group of us decided to head to a party in the local village. We made our way through the jungle for about 10 minutes and the walk was easy enough on the way there. But by the time we headed back it was pouring rain, pitch dark, and the trail had turned to mud. We all arrived back at the hostel completely soaked and covered in mud but it was the perfect end to an unforgettable day, since we washed it all off in the ocean, swimming with glowing bioluminescent plankton 😍.

    When I returned to Cartagena the next day, I unfortunately got sick with tonsillitis and had to take it easy for a few days. After some antibiotics, I’m finally past the fever and am currently on my way to Santa Marta. But, I already know I’ll be coming back to Cartagena shortly - the city is absolutely amazing and so are the people I’ve met there. Hasta pronto Cartagena!
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