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Exploring the Americas

August - October 2022
Esther and Jan's trip through South and Central America Read more
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  • TravelerExploring the Americas
    Day 21

    Gocta

    August 31, 2022 in Peru ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    Not too happy with our hotel in Chachapoyas and heading north anyway, we chose not to explore the second top sight in the area - Gocta waterfalls - in a tour from Chachapoyas, but to base ourselves in Gocta village (Cocachimba).
    After checking into our beautiful cabin, we then drove to the next village (San Pablo) to start the famed Gocta circuit.
    Labelled as the third highest waterfall in the world at 771m (actually split in two sections of ~250m and ~500m, so not sure if that counts), Gocta is nested in a lush green cliff at the end of a long valley.
    The hike started in fields, went through Mediterranean pine forests and got greener and rainforestier the closer we got. When we arrived at the water edge (technically there are two separate points for the upper and the lower falls), the water seemed more like clouds or a reverse candle flame than like a waterfall - almost spiritual. Locals understandably deemed this place haunted which is why it was only explored for tourism 15 years ago.
    After 17km/6 hours, we returned to our cabins for a tasty last supper, before we set out for the Ecuador border the next day. Definitely one of the best day hikes we ever did and a strong end to our time in Peru.    Read more

  • TravelerExploring the Americas
    Day 22

    ++Ecuador++

    September 1, 2022 in Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Today was all about traveling. Getting up at 4:30 (yuk), we walked 10mins from our cabin to the village main square to take a 30min tuktuk down to the main road. There, we hopped on the pre-arranged 3h shuttle to Jaén, which we explored a bit as we were early and had planned some buffer. The town is not pretty, but it was interesting as they don't see many tourists.
    Finally at 1pm, we really boarded our unexpectedly comfortable bus that would take us all the way to Ecuador. The road was ok (but curvy) on the Peruvian side, landscapes went from rice fields (reminded us of East Asia), to lush green hills. Reaching the border at 5pm, we were nervous as this is the least busy border crossing, is not even listed in the website of the German foreign ministry and was sometimes closed in the past. However, the procedures went smooth and relaxed.
    Back on the bus, the scenery stayed beautifully green, but would remain unpaved for the next 4 hours (40km). Therefore we only reached our final destination of Vilcabamba around midnight. What a trip.    Read more

  • TravelerExploring the Americas
    Day 23

    Vilcabamba

    September 2, 2022 in Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    After the long trip, we took things a bit slower in Vilcabamba. The town is very popular with American retirees (there apparently was a feature about the longevity of its people in a magazine in the 1950s), and the infrastructure shows. Western cafés and restaurants abound and were actually filled with gringos in the expected age range.
    It is understandable though, as the town is beautifully placed amidst green hills. In the morning, we went up the Mandango viewpoint, went for all vegetarian lunch, then relaxed at the pool of our fancier hotel, and then had middle eastern dinner - will be interesting to compare, once we get to the actual Ecuador:)    Read more

  • TravelerExploring the Americas
    Day 24

    Cuenca

    September 3, 2022 in Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    A four hour drive through juicy green mountains (changing buses in the city Loja, which looked nice but which we unfortunately had to skip), we arrived in the capital of southern Ecuador, Cuenca.
    Cuenca actually means "water basin", as many streams from the nearby mountains meet here. First a cañary settlement, then an Inka town, then a Spanish city and now Ecuadorian, Cuenca is proud of its own cuisine, history and even accent.
    We took a walking tour in the afternoon, saw some of the many churches and got a first feel of the city.    Read more

  • TravelerExploring the Americas
    Day 25

    Cajas

    September 4, 2022 in Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C

    Cajas national park, very close to Cuenca, is located between 3000-4500m altitude and features a highland tundra landscape with hundreds of lagoons.
    Despite rainy weather forecast, we set out for a small hike and were rewarded with an eerie landscape and even some unobstructed views when the clouds dispersed for short periods of time. The trip was rounded off with tasty trouts in one of the many trout farms.Read more

  • TravelerExploring the Americas
    Day 26

    Cuenca II

    September 5, 2022 in Ecuador ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    Since we spent the night after the Cajas with an American and a German-Brazilian couple we had met on the walking tour the day before, the next day started slow and was filled with some admin tasks (laundry, sim card, fixing Esther's camera bag, convincing Esther to get up from bed - the promise of a cheese board did help...).
    So, we only walked around town a bit more, went to a viewpoint, tried to visit a recommended museum, which was closed (even though they had said on the phone that they were open) and had a quiet night in.    Read more

  • TravelerExploring the Americas
    Day 27

    Guayaquil

    September 6, 2022 in Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    The next stop is Guayaquil, from where we will take the flight to Galapagos. Guayaquil is the largest city and economic center of Ecuador.
    The bus ride was a highlight itself, going from Cuenca at 2500m via Cajas national park (4200m) down to the coast.
    Guayaquil is set in a river delta, thereby bridges and river promenades play an important role. Malecón 2000 is the highlight, which is a completely fenced and guarded riverside walk/museum/amusement park filled with cafés, statues and even a ferris wheel.
    At it's southern end sits city hall and "Iguana park", a park literally filled with wild iguanas walking around. At the Malecón's northern end is Las Peñas, a hill with painted houses, artist studios and a lighthouse on top.
    All in all, the city left a very good impression, despite the fact that the weather was very hot and humid.    Read more

  • TravelerExploring the Americas
    Day 28

    Galapagos: Puerto Ayora

    September 7, 2022 in Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Next up: Galapagos. A 1.5h flight from Guayaquil (we only learned in flight that there is an additional time difference, so now 8h behind Germany). They also hadn't mentioned that you needed to pay 20$ transit fee and have your baggage scanned before you can even check in. The line was quite long (three flights simultaneously and only two counters), so although we arrived to the airport 1:45h before the flight, we only made it because I asked them to let us skip the line. There were still 8 people behind us in the line at Avianca who also hadn't known about the extra step and missed their flights...
    After that, things went better: Flight, arrival in Baltra airport (another 100$ entrance ticket), bus to ferry, ferry to Santa Cruz island and then taxi to Puerto Ayora - the main town - and check-in to our hotel.
    As our cruise would only leave at noon the next day, we had booked a dive tour in the afternoon. With our great guide Claudia from Galapagos dive company, we went to two spots in the bay and saw big swarms of fish, sharks, rays and a sea lion playing with us. A great experience.
    At night, dinner was had at Midori, which was all about amazingly fresh tuna. After that, we went to the pier, as the harbor lights attract fish and you can spot baby sharks and turtles from land.    Read more

  • TravelerExploring the Americas
    Day 29

    Galapagos Cruise I: Santa Cruz

    September 8, 2022 in Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Since the cruise would only start at noon, we had a surprisingly delicious breakfast and then walked from town down a cactus-lined path to Tortuga Bay. This was not only a beautiful white sand beach but also our first encounter with local fauna - Iguanas, pelicans, blue footed boobies. After a stop at Nymph Laguna on the way back, we then boarded the cruise ship which would be our home for the next four nights. A comfortable catamaran with eight cabins, a cozy common room and a sun deck (which we could only use on the last day due to weather:/).
    After our first yummy lunch on board, we rode back to Puerto Ayora to visit the Darwin Tortoise Breeding Center to see the namesake tortoises in all forms up close (we had in fact already seen a few from the road driving thru the island the day before). In general, what surprised us most is that wildlife abounds everywhere on the islands, even in the middle of the city. In the way back into town, we saw sea lions, crabs and pelicans just lying on the streets.    Read more

  • TravelerExploring the Americas
    Day 30

    Galapagos Cruise II: Floreana

    September 9, 2022 in Ecuador ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    While our cabins were quite comfortable, our journey unfortunately wasn't. On our cruise, we traveled between islands overnight. 6 hours of strong waves caused by the Humboldt current had reduced our sleeping time to only a few hours.
    Nonetheless, after a hearty breakfast we set out to explore the next island, Floreana. At Cormorant Point, we explored a lagoon and were lucky enough to find a recently hatched sea turtle on the way towards the water. Afterwards, we snorkeled around Devil's crown and saw sharks, seals, a turtle and swarms of fish.
    After lunch and a siesta back in board, we went kayaking at Baroness Lookout and then on to Post office bay, with an actual letterbox which is in use since 1792 - the idea is you leave a postcard and look for another one from your country in order to personally deliver the postcard to the sender. Surprisingly, barely any cards from Germany...
    Then we snorkeled from the beach (we hope to get some snorkel photos after our return) - the highlights were the sea turtles who sleep on the ground. At some point I was swimming above 10 turtles while three of them came up to swim with me - each at least half as big as myself. Quite magical.    Read more

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