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SouthAmerica Touring

December 2014 - April 2015
A 113-day adventure by Isa Read more
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  • Isa and UlfSouthAmerica Touring
    1
    Day 1

    Frankfurt Airport

    December 15, 2014 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 5 °C

    Once again the starting point for a marvelous journey of Isa&Ulf.
    1. Check in successful :)
    2. Camera checked for drugs: unsuccessfully :) (of course!!!)
    3. Watching the plane getting ready while we get pampered with good beer at the business lounge, as last minute Miles-upgrade surprise from Lufthansa ;)
    So...we're ready to kick off 3.5months of adventure!    Read more

  • Isa and UlfSouthAmerica Touring
    Day 3

    Buenos Aires

    December 17, 2014 in Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    First breakfast in our cozy Buenos Aires (airbnb) home!. Slowly, very slowly getting started for the secrets of South America.
    Our first destination is Buenos Aires, capital city of Argentina and we're thrilled to discover their famous beef and the unique melancholy of the once the richest city in South America back in the 20's, one of the foundation of Tango.

    Although expensive we liked it a lot, especially Isa, but as always people made it really unique; we had the chance to meet old friends from the past we didn't see for many years who showed us their city from different perspectives: an old friend from Ulf`s Erasmus times in Madrid, an economist from BsAs university, who now works by the university trying to unravel the mysteries of the Argentinian economy, a colleague from Bayer, who after his retirement bought an island in the famous neighborhood 'Tigre' (Porteño's holidays destination) and transformed it into an ecological resort paradise, and friends from Isa's university, who work and live there for already a while, and took as to experience a real Milonga (dancing tango proved to be far to difficult due to being too inflexible (Ulf) or too tropical (isa)).
    So, after getting rid of the heavy jetlag we're happy to start our adventure!    Read more

  • Isa and UlfSouthAmerica Touring
    1
    Day 9

    Ushuaia, the end of the world

    December 23, 2014 in Argentina ⋅ 🌬 4 °C

    Traveling to the end of the world...not just as a saying, but literally!
    A dream comes true for us, spending Christmas with a local family here only 1000 km away from the Antarctica at the very southern tip of this beautiful continent!
    Hiking through an extraordinarily beautiful, almost bewitched appearing-untouched landscape, sailing on the stormy south Atlantic and enjoying endless days under the midsummer southern sun.
    And after the shock of 34 degrees in Buenos Aires , the 9 degrees of Ushuaia tropical summer, with bitter-cold Antarctic winds, snow on the mountains around and the Cristal clear air...actually really got us in Christmas mood ! Only concern for us...for Santa Clous, traveling from the north pole, it will probably take quite a while to get to us; but indeed our biggest gift for this year has already started ;-)    Read more

  • Isa and UlfSouthAmerica Touring
    Day 11

    Strait of Magellan, Chile

    December 25, 2014 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Really! who ever thought we could be there? Picture yourself as a kid in one of those endless geography lessons, thinking of those places that you'll never get to know.
    Well that was our first thought when we saw this sign!Read more

  • Isa and UlfSouthAmerica Touring
    1
    Day 12

    The Calafate & Perito Moreno glacier

    December 26, 2014 in Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 2 °C

    After 20 hours of a bus travel, starting at 4:30am and arriving to final destination at 1:30am we can say we've seen the vast topography of this not-so-small island named 'Firelands' or 'tierra del fuego' in Spanish. As we started our journey (fighting not to fall asleep), we crossed the last row of the Andes and its majestic tips and lakes, and then suddenly after couple of hours the showcase of the sudden change of landscape, completely flat and desert, from deep blue and savage green to yellowish hues of desertic isolation. While crossing the strait, we got the chance to see few penguins and their kind of black and white dolphins following us while we arrived to the main land of South America.
    Final destination: el Calafate, a small town best known to the world because of its big glacier, the most famous in south america: Perito Moreno glacier. In the area we also got to visit another small town 'el Chalten', both touristic destinations during austral summer.

    And we both had a similar feeling experiencing the impact of this wild nature. Our impression is the magnificent force of nature, and thoughts on how amazing is to be able to get to see how after 5000millions years, the forces of nature still shaping our landscape and how still humans are surrender to its wildness.
    We are totally happy with this highlight of the trip, totally worth to visit if you ever get the chance :-)    Read more

  • Isa and UlfSouthAmerica Touring
    Day 16

    Bariloche

    December 30, 2014 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    It took us two days, one sleep stop (Warning: Don't go to hotel Belgrano in Perito Moreno ;-) and about 1000 km to reach this destiny traveling the famous Route 40, where we were able to see more adventurous bikers and hitch-hikers wanting to achieve the route as well without the bus.

    An image of one far-away mountain chain on our left (The Andes) and the endless desert and isolation on the right, mastering all Argentinian Patagonia almost until the Atlantic coast, nothing more than wind and sun compasses this mystically beautiful landscape.
    And then getting closer to Bariloche was the big surprise; a north-nature-like microclimate, where forest and multiple lakes make this town a must- destiny for all tourists and backpackers.
    Despite knowing that we arrived during high season (New year's Eve) we got charmed by the friendly spirit of the town, so we kept delaying our check out day for a week or so. But not in vain since we had been invited (since Buenos Aires) to join a couple of Isa's university friends, David and Ximena, who were renting a car and doing the 7lakes district circuit, by chance, at the same time we were there! so what a coolest way to spend few days, with the great companion, camping and riding around this awesome area. Because the plan was to go with no plan or destination we even had to get a tent to camp, what we didn't know was that in Bariloche and surroundings temperatures can drop below cero at night =-O But nothing better than a good fire, Argentinian barbecue and friends to keep ourselves warm and inspired!
    Thank you, David and Xime, for making this part of the trip extra-special for us!    Read more

  • Isa and UlfSouthAmerica Touring
    Day 24

    Osorno

    January 7, 2015 in Chile ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    From the very beginning, one idea of the trip was finding the Latin roots of our relationship. Yet, as a big surprise, the trip to Osorno revealed the other part of our relationship, the German roots!

    The entire region has excellent beer (Kunstmann, slogan: "das gute Bier", yes, in German!), small villages have churches that are exact copies of churches in the black forest or the local Spanish word for cake is "Kuchen" and the last 10 bishops of the region were all of German origin. Yet also from an indigenous point the region is very interesting: it is the land of the Mapuche Indians, the only indigenous people in all over Latin america that resisted the Spanish. cities like Osorno were founded in the 16th century by the Spanish,but where destroyed by the Mapuche and abandoned. Actually the Spanish evacuated the entire region and signed a treaty with the Mapuche that it would be their territory, while the Spanish would remain in the north. only 300 years later, Chile finally conquered the south and Germans and other European immigrants colonized the land and re-founded the cities that were abandoned 300 years before. The conflict between modern Chile and the Mapuche yet is ongoing.
    in order to discover more of Chile, we made the quick decision to not take the bus but to rent a car and give us a week to advance to the north and go to santiago de chile, stopping wherever we would feel like doing so and visiting off the beaten path.    Read more

  • Isa and UlfSouthAmerica Touring
    Day 25

    Villarrica and seven lakes district

    January 8, 2015 in Chile ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    We had two options where to spend the night, either Pucon, renown town in the Chilean seven lakes district, or Villarrica.
    Of course Isa's family would immediately understand why we chose to stay in Villarrica.
    (There's also a town in Colombia named Villarrica, which happens to be Isa's mom parents town, where they grew up and raised their family).
    But this one is one of the oldest town yet almost totally renovate due to earthquakes and as soon as you get closer to the region you know why everyone loves it!
    A 2840mt volcano by a crystal-clear lake named Villarrica or beautiful town in Mapundun, the Mapuches language.
    And we didn't miss the chance to enjoy like the locals in a sunny-summer Sunday, having a picnic by one of the lakes and also go to the "geometric" thermas; a nicely design pools dredged into the volcano with icy cold pools and hot waters of almost 85• Celsius!
    Woww, we couldn't even resist 39•!!    Read more

  • Isa and UlfSouthAmerica Touring
    Day 32

    Santiago de Chile

    January 15, 2015 in Chile ⋅ 🌙 21 °C

    Arriving around midday, elegantly dropping the rented car off with German punctuality; then a 3h walking tour to get a first glance of this marvelous city under 35 degrees heat! Its inner city is absolutely flawless and Chile is certainly on its way towards becoming the first world, yet remaining a profound and pleasant Latin country.
    In fact we found it more Latin and less European than Argentina from its culture and customs, despite its more modern infrastructure and appearance. And as a special highlight, wherever we went, always the impressive mountain range of the Andes, like a wall 4-6000 meters high.

    Santiago allowed us to really get to know it well, including even a 5.0 earthquake waking us up at 2:00a.m; well, what would be a Chile visit without one?!
    Getting to know Chile's dreams and hopes by visiting Pablo Neruda's house and getting to know Chile's nightmares, visiting the Museum of Memory and Human Rights, dedicated to the victims of the dictatorship of Pinochet...yet what a remarkable country, building a museum like a big wound in their inner city, to constantly remind itself of the darkest moments of its past.

    Emotional highlight certainly was the wonderful dinner invitation by the parents of Ulf's Erasmus friend Pablo, who tragically died four years ago at age 29...We were invited as part of the family, and the friendship that started between Ulf and Pablo will go on between the families.    Read more

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