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Nov 2019 – Sep 2025

South America Backpacking Trip

Our first backpacking trip. A few months touring the most spectacular locations of South and Central America! Read more

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Day 26
Wednesday, November 27, 2019 at 11:00 AM
⛅ 2 °C
Altitude: 773 m
Chile Torres del Paine -50.98187, -73.0537250°58’55” S 73°3’13” W
Torres Del Paine W Trek... Day 2, Part 2
November 27, 2019 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 2 °C
Chileno campsite along Lago Nordenskjóld to our 3rd campsite for the night at Francés... More photos!
TravelerGreat pics Z + C, stunning
12/2/19Reply
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Day 26
Wednesday, November 27, 2019 at 8:00 AM
⛅ 3 °C
Altitude: 768 m
Chile Torres del Paine -50.98088, -73.0538850°58’51” S 73°3’14” W
Torres Del Paine W Trek... Day 2, Part 1
November 27, 2019 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 3 °C
We trekked from Chileno campsite along Lago Nordenskjóld to our 3rd campsite for the night at Refugio Francés. This day was the ''easy day'' apparently! It was another beautiful walk with mountains and the lake at our side the whole way, with a beach stop as well... Then came the unexpected climb to the campsite! We made it and yet again celebrated with a 3 course dinner with fellow hikers and a Pisco Sour! 😊😉 Just to add that the water was sooo clear and incredibly blue (honestly no filters here!) So all the flowing water here can be drank straight from the stream.Read more
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Day 25
Tuesday, November 26, 2019 at 10:00 AM
⛅ 3 °C
Altitude: 823 m
Chile Torres del Paine -50.94136, -72.9491350°56’29” S 72°56’57” W
Torres Del Paine W Trek... Day 1, Part 2
November 26, 2019 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 3 °C
Day 1 from Central campsite to the famous Torres Del Paine peaks, then back down to our campsite Chileno for a night's rest and grub!
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Day 25
Tuesday, November 26, 2019 at 7:00 AM
⛅ 0 °C
Altitude: 825 m
Chile Torres del Paine -50.94065, -72.9493850°56’26” S 72°56’58” W
Torres Del Paine W Trek... Day 1, Part 1
November 26, 2019 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 0 °C
What an amazing week's trekking through Torres del Paine mountain range! Can't believe the things we have seen and touched (icebergs... Not just the lettuce type... We mean actual icebergs ❄🌬️😅) We had the most magical time and gained a positive aussie hiking friend called Pip to keep us going lol! It was probably the most challenging thing we've ever done, about 20 miles per day up and down all the valleys that lie in between Torres, Brittanico and Lago Grey (grey lake..iceburg city). We got fantastic weather throughout, except for the last night camping. There was a brutal hike from our campsite to Brittanico view point (all uphill) and back down towards Paine Grande campsite (somehow also alot of uphill). But to get the best views it's totally worth it 😂😊 Zach's knees started to buckle on the last 2 days so credit to him for finishing... And finish we did with beers and pizza and good company, before catching the 30min catamaran and 2.5hrs bus ride back to Puerto Natales to book into a lovely lodge overlooking the lake! Also I will add how great the meals were at all 4 campsites... 3 courses and buffet breakfast... Oh yes!!! 😂Read more
TravelerWell done guys, looks amazing!
12/1/19Reply
TravelerTruly awesome
12/2/19Reply
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Day 22
Saturday, November 23, 2019 at 4:16 PM
☁️ 13 °C
Altitude: 21 m
Chile Puerto Natales -51.73412, -72.4982851°44’3” S 72°29’54” W
Puerto Natales.. Before the big one!
November 23, 2019 in Chile ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C
So we made it to the starting point before the big 5 day trek in Torres del Paine national Park.... Puerto Natales!! We had some time to kill and chill before starting our trek on Monday (tomorrow eeks!!) . So we rented some bikes and toured the small town. We literally rode for the mountains, turns out everything appears closer than it is, but we did a fair ride, before heading back to relax at our best hostel stay yet!! We love it here, Diago who runs the place (his home with his family next door!) is really friendly, he knows so much about the sites and is a super cool guy to hangout with... Positive vibes 👌😁 We have also met some great people in our hostel, over a bottle of wine and beers.... Netflix hell yes! 😂 oh and not to mention all the pets they have ( x3 dogs and a cat 🙀😻🐶😊❤️) love it 😍Read more
TravelerWhere are all the cars?
11/25/19Reply
TravelerHaha 😂 not many about, but also well timed shots! 😁
11/30/19Reply
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Day 20
Thursday, November 21, 2019 at 12:06 PM
⛅ 11 °C
Altitude: 192 m
Argentina Arroyo Calafate -50.32394, -72.2614550°19’26” S 72°15’41” W
Half a day in el calafate
November 21, 2019 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C
We arrived here after a very early get up at 5.30am to catch our flight for el calafate ... (the place where icy treks happen!) So we had just half a day here before our 5hr bus to Puerto Natales the next day. We decided to chill, have a beer ( a few!) and some empanadas (fried bread pastries yum!!)Read more
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Day 19
Wednesday, November 20, 2019 at 7:22 PM
☀️ 28 °C
Altitude: 27 m
Argentina Palermo -34.57817, -58.4263234°34’41” S 58°25’35” W
Palermo Street Art
November 20, 2019 in Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C
We took another free walking tour (actually we had to pay for this one; 600 ARP each.. Haha 😂 free you say?!) but it was worth it, we learnt alot about the graffiti culture within buenos aires. Artists work together on pieces, so there seems to be alot of respect between the artists not painting over art but instead making their creations work with what's already there... Which is really nice to see! Also they want to encourage more female artists to stand out as men usually take up the majority of the graffiti art here... about 80%! All in all we loved seeing all the different styles with in the neighbourhood of Palermo as the style is ever changing and very diverse, and also with the support of the government all for creative work spaces.Read more
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Day 19
Wednesday, November 20, 2019 at 3:29 PM
☀️ 31 °C
Altitude: 32 m
Argentina Plaza Dorrego -34.62005, -58.372234°37’12” S 58°22’20” W
San Telmo Morning Walk
November 20, 2019 in Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C
Today we spent time walking around the neighbourhood we stayed in, and the walk took us to San telmo which was lovely, we spent time looking in the many antique and crafty shops down the little alleyways and then found the central square, usually hosting a big antique market at the weekend! Unfortunately we missed it, but still had lots to offer with eatery places set up and street tango shows to watch over a coffee or cocktail 🍹😉Read more
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Day 18
Tuesday, November 19, 2019 at 5:00 PM
☁️ 26 °C
Altitude: 10 m
Argentina Estación Casa Amarilla -34.63453, -58.3648434°38’4” S 58°21’53” W
La Boca Walking Tour Pt2
November 19, 2019 in Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C
La boca tour continues here... Welcome to part 2 :D mainly for the pictures.
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Day 18
Tuesday, November 19, 2019 at 3:00 AM
☁️ 26 °C
Altitude: 9 m
Argentina Estación Casa Amarilla -34.63399, -58.3651434°38’2” S 58°21’55” W
La Boca Walking Tour Pt1
November 19, 2019 in Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C
So this was an afternoon spent in La Boca, the working class neighbourhood within Buenos Aires, full of steakhouses (amazing btw!!) and full of creative Argentinian art and culture, down to the founder Benito Quinquela Martín who made la boca what it is today. I should also mention that La Boca is home to the most reputable La Boca football team, they don't have a great history with the Brits lol 😂 but apparently if you want to see a live game here it's very rare to get a ticket as they are sought after... As they're known for their passionate and possibly very threatening footballs fans and team (in a good way!!)Read more
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Day 17
Monday, November 18, 2019
⛅ 29 °C
Altitude: 42 m
Argentina Plaza Francia -34.58769, -58.3965734°35’16” S 58°23’48” W
Recoleta Walking Tour
November 18, 2019 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C
Today we did a walking tour of the fanciest neighbourhood in Buenos Aires. Most of Recoleta was built in the late 19th and early 20th century but the buildings themselves were designed to appear much older because it looks much fancier that way 🧐👌 Today is it home to most of the embassies and other important, official sounding places for important people. Our guide Santiago was incredibly knowledgeable and told us a lot of facts and history that I can't remember now, but it was impressive at the time. He told us about Argentinas troubled political history and gave us some great insights into the mindset of Argentinians today.
We then visited the Recoleta cemetery, the resting place for Argentinas elite. The mausoleums were ridiculously grand, some incredibly ornate and others just basically huge, imposing obelisks. We finished at the tomb of Eva Peron. A morbid but fascinating end to the tour.Read more
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Day 17
Monday, November 18, 2019 at 3:00 PM
⛅ 29 °C
Altitude: 23 m
Argentina Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires -34.57704, -58.4035634°34’37” S 58°24’13” W
1
MALBA modern art museum
November 18, 2019 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C
After our walking tour of Recolata we took a long walk through a few parks to catch the shade with lovely water features that locals seemed to be full on swimming in lol 😂 (well you would in the 30°c + heat) We past a stretch of new and old buildings (mainly new tbh with lots of fancy restaurants with the ££££ or £££££ symbols when you search on Google maps!! 😂) Finally to get to the MALBA art museum that displayed many arts from modern 20th century pieces to newer Latin American art.Read more
Traveler 😂😂😂
11/23/19Reply
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Day 14
Friday, November 15, 2019
☀️ 30 °C
Altitude: 216 m
Brazil Foz do Iguaçu -25.68956, -54.4368325°41’22” S 54°26’13” W
Brazil & Argentina Iguazu Waterfalls
November 15, 2019 in Brazil ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
We spent 2 days visiting the Iguazu falls in both Brazil and Argentina. Iguazu is the Tupi word that roughly translates as "big water" and let me tell you, that water is big as hell! The Iguazu falls are the largest waterfall system in the world. It is impossible to comprehend the amount of water going over every second, and the violently crashing falls are absolutely astonishing.
Even though we spent 2 days visiting the falls in 2 countries we still didn't see everything, especially on the Argentinian side; full of it's nature trails.Read more
Travelertruly awesome!! I think there could be well over 100 litres going over every second
11/19/19Reply
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Day 13
Thursday, November 14, 2019
🌧 24 °C
Altitude: 226 m
Brazil Foz do Iguaçu -25.61455, -54.4830825°36’52” S 54°28’59” W
1
Parque das Aves (Bird Park) & Itaipu Dam
November 14, 2019 in Brazil ⋅ 🌧 24 °C
Today we spent most of the morning at the wonderful bird park close to the famous Iguaçu Waterfalls, it was one of the best things we have done so far. We saw Macaws which were really the highlight; to be surrounded by them as fly around you was very special. We also saw alot of endangered species like the Harpy Eagle, and birds you don't see often like the hummingbird 😍😊. In the afternoon we took a trip around the Itaipu Dam (hydroelectric dam) on the Paraná River between the border of Foz do Iguaçu, in Brazil, and Ciudad del Este in Paraguay.Read more
Traveler You should get this one printed on canvas!
11/16/19Reply
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Day 10
Monday, November 11, 2019
🌧 22 °C
Altitude: 738 m
Brazil Pedra da Gávea -22.99683, -43.2845622°59’49” S 43°17’4” W
Torrential Rain in Tijuca
November 11, 2019 in Brazil ⋅ 🌧 22 °C
Well today was fun meeting Bernardo for our tour of the Tijuana rain forest, he told us lots of interesting things about the forest and the production of coffee here, back in the day. His knowledge on rio also was very interesting telling us best places to eat, swim and favela history. As it rained all day (flooded in most places!! Eeks) we decided to stay in the car for most of it, and didn't get to see many views e.g the Chinese view point or go on the trail walk through the forest. So instead we headed to Joatinga Beach that is less known to tourists, and more for the locals and surfers! The wealthy have houses here that overlook the hillsides to the beach... Lovely! P. S only a couple of pics/vids today as everywhere got flooded OMG! ☔😳😦😢Read more
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Day 8
Saturday, November 9, 2019
☁️ 25 °C
Altitude: 25 m
Brazil Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden -22.96742, -43.225122°58’3” S 43°13’30” W
Botanical Gardens
November 9, 2019 in Brazil ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C
Today we took a trip to the main botanical gardens within Río, which sits infront of the famous Tijuana forest behind it (3rd largest urban rainforest in the world, with a unique favela within its depths). Beautiful flora and forna, such a vast mix and with alot of wildlife on the rainforest side of the gardens.Read more
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Day 8
Saturday, November 9, 2019
⛅ 26 °C
Altitude: 26 m
Brazil Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden -22.96741, -43.2253622°58’3” S 43°13’31” W
Orchid Gardens and Around the City
November 9, 2019 in Brazil ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
Love orchids so much, so was glad to see they had a dedicated orchid garden / greenhouse with the botanical gardens. Beside the gardens we have come across alot of orchids within the city too; mainly growing on trees for decoration and peace lilies are seen alot here tooRead more
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Day 6
Thursday, November 7, 2019
⛅ 25 °C
Altitude: 5 m
Brazil Museum of Tomorrow -22.89452, -43.1796622°53’40” S 43°10’47” W
Museum of Tomorrow & Etnias Mural
November 7, 2019 in Brazil ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
Educational day at the museum of tomorrow , learning about the cosmos, earth, anthropocene, the future and our part in it ... What does it all mean!? We took a journey from the beginning of time in a 360 degree video dome. We learned about earth's ecosystems and how we are deeply connected to them. We took a look inside the human body, at our brains and DNA. Then we learned about the anthropocene, or age of humans, and how as a species we are dramatically altering our planet. Finally we were shown some pretty apocalyptic predictions about the future. I loved it!
Afterwards we took a short walk down the docks to Etnias, the world's largest street mural. It shows the aboriginal ancestors of each of the continents in stunning detail, which added nicely to the anthropological themes of the day.Read more
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Day 6
Thursday, November 7, 2019
⛅ 25 °C
Altitude: 15 m
Brazil Morro da Conceição -22.89458, -43.1856622°53’40” S 43°11’8” W
Graffiti Art on the Streets of Rio
November 7, 2019 in Brazil ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
On our walks we found lots of graffiti and street art, mainly in the gamboa and Centro area... There's tons of art all over the city but these are a few of the ones that stood out.
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Day 5
Wednesday, November 6, 2019
☁️ 24 °C
Altitude: 24 m
Brazil Praça Paris -22.91527, -43.179222°54’55” S 43°10’45” W
Walking Tour Lapa & Centro pt. 2
November 6, 2019 in Brazil ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C
Later in the day we headed towards the famous Selaron steps. The huge stairway has been tiled by one artist, Jorge Selaron, over several decades. Unfortunately he never quite finished it, but none the less it is an incredible achievement and an amazing place to visit. The surrounding area is covered in spectacular street art like a giant, sprawling canvas. The only down side to our visit is that a bird shat on my bag, which I didn't notice until after I'd smeared said shattings all over my shorts 👍
After I'd cleaned myself up we finished the day with dinner at the equally famous Confeitaria Colombo. This cafe's opulence, and queue to get a table, put Betty's tea rooms to shame. They also had English breakfast tea! A perfectly British end to a hard day's walk..Read more
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Day 5
Wednesday, November 6, 2019 at 10:30 AM
☁️ 24 °C
Altitude: 14 m
Brazil Cinelândia -22.91237, -43.1754422°54’45” S 43°10’32” W
Walking Tour Lapa & Centro pt. 1
November 6, 2019 in Brazil ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C
Today we did our own self guided tour of the cultural hotpots in Centro and Lapa, areas known for their historical architecture, traditional art and hidden gems like the 'Portuguese reading room' (basically a hogwarts/beauty and the beast library lol) which was in the middle of an urban jungle was hard to come across!
Our first stop was Cinelandia Square. Home to the Municipal Theatre, National Library and Museu Nacional de Belas Artes. Although we couldn't get in to the theatre, and the library is restricted to the entrance hall, the buildings themselves were incredibly ornate.
After a brief and slightly scary encounter with some questionable locals at the Carioca Aqueduct we decided to skip the more "off the beaten track" parts of the tour and headed straight for the Portuguese reading room, whose towering bookshelves and quiet, meditative atmosphere were very welcoming after the chaos of downtown Centro.Read more
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Day 4
Tuesday, November 5, 2019 at 11:00 AM
⛅ 32 °C
Altitude: 557 m
Brazil Corcovado -22.95104, -43.2105922°57’4” S 43°12’38” W
Oh Christ the Redeemer & Copacabana
November 5, 2019 in Brazil ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C
This morning we made it up to Christ the Redeemer via train, although the hike would have been lovely through the surrounding jungle with all its wildlife, is known for muggings, so we opted to travel 20mins on the cog train to the top with a crowd of festive Santa's 😊🎄"Feliz Natal!". Stunning views 😍👌🌞 in the 36°c heat. In the late afternoon we made it to Copacabana beach to get some sun and watch a beautiful sunset with a Caipirinha in hand! (of course being ultimate tourists 😂😉) and surrounded by the beautifully tanned locals haha.Read more
TravelerOi
7/1/21Reply
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Day 3
Monday, November 4, 2019
⛅ 25 °C
Altitude: 231 m
Brazil Sugarloaf Mountain -22.94895, -43.1545522°56’56” S 43°9’16” W
Sugar Loafing on Pão de Açúcar
November 4, 2019 in Brazil ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
Our first full day in Río so we thought we'd take the cable cars up to the top of sugerloaf mountain to see the whole city bathed in sunlight. The views were absolutely stunning, and we saw a couple of super cute marmosets! They're not actually native to Brazil and are pretty damaging to the habitat, but man they're so God damn cute. Get outta here ya little scamps!Read more
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Day 2
Sunday, November 3, 2019 at 7:30 PM
🌙 27 °C
Altitude: 26 m
Brazil Praia de Botafogo -22.94722, -43.1853422°56’50” S 43°11’7” W
Arrival in Rio!
November 3, 2019 in Brazil ⋅ 🌙 27 °C
10 hours and 9,300km later and we've landed in Rio! Time for a well deserved shower and beer I reckon.
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Day 1
Saturday, November 2, 2019 at 9:34 AM
⛅ 9 °C
Altitude: 144 m
England Almondbury 53.635, -1.7633353°38’6” N 1°45’48” W
The Journey Begins...
November 2, 2019 in England ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C
After 2 about years of planning, preparing and stressing our journey is finally underway!
We've packed what feels like literally all of our things into our backpacks and said some emotional goodbyes to our friends and family for the next 7 or so months.
Neither of us know what to expect and we barely even know what we're doing, but either way it will be an experience we'll not likely forget!Read more
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Trip start
November 2, 2019