The big one

A 255-day adventure by Katarina Read more

Follow Insights Calendar Photos Share

The big one Traveler
Valdivia
May 9, 2018 in Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
Once we settled a little bit in our new home, we decided to head right towards the beach village Valdivia for a short walk and a bit of shopping.
This is rather fishing village then a resort place full of sun beds. But we took a lovely stroll along the beach and discovered some strange fish being washed out and half eaten.
Now that's finally the weather and the sandy beach we were looking forward.Read more
0 likes
The big one Traveler
Around Loma Alta
May 14, 2018 in Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
We took few walks around the Loma Alta along the papaya and banana fields. With sunset it get really magical atmosphere.
We have some regular friends like iguanas, lizards and cows that we can hear while we have breakfast.Read more
0 likes
The big one Traveler
Around the garden and fields
May 21, 2018 in Ecuador ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C
Once we set a bit further from.the garden and walked past the fields, we have discovered more fruit that grows here. Not even sure what are they called but looked like nothing we know.
For dinner is so easy to whisk up fried bananas from the garden, perfectly enjoyed with a cold beer!Read more
0 likes
The big one Traveler
Montañita & Olón
May 24, 2018 in Ecuador ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C
After quite a while spent in our jungle hacienda it was time again to explore.
Originally we wanted to head towards Puerto Lopéz but as we got up quite late, we decided to head towards small village of Olón and walk back to Montañita.
Even though the season is changing for worser, we had beautiful sunshine and perfect beach weather.
We got off the bus on Olón and walked towards the beach. There isn't really much to see but the beach itself is really nice and much calmer then the one in Montañita.
We walked along towards the cliffs that divide the two villages. As there wasn't way to cross we had to return back a bit to get on the road.
Next we got on th cliffs and could enjoy some beautiful views. The waves coming towards the shore made a fantastic display all along the beach. From here we walked towards the beach of Montañita.
We have been talking about trying surfing. As I didn't have swimwear and couldn't go in the water just yet, Petr had to try for both of us.
We rented a surf board for am hour for him to try. It looked really hard but I think he absolutely mastered posing with the surf! Looked like a proper beach boy!
Once he had enough, we walked along the beach watching others to have a go until we stopped for a break with our home made empanadas.
It was so nice just to sit by the ocean and watch the waves and group of small crabs on the beach.
Overall it was a very nice day and we could spend the rest by resting and chilling.Read more
0 likes
The big one Traveler
Leaving Loma Alta
May 30, 2018 in Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C
After more than three weeks in our tropical jungle lodge it was time to say goodbey and get on with our journey.
We had the most amazing time in Loma Alta and enjoyed the place so much!
It was lovely to have a "home" away from home and stay still for a while.
The funniest bit was when the bus reversed to get us from the side road as we were walking towards the bus stop.
Now it's time to enjoy the last month and a half of our journey!Read more
0 likes
The big one Traveler
Guayaquil
May 30, 2018 in Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
Thankfully we have opted for only one day in this huge city.
We haven't heard many travellers rave about the place and once we walked around, we could understand why.
The city is a huge and very important port for Ecuador and that reflects a lot in its appearance.
The city centre is not that nice and doesn't have much history.
The nicest part is definitely along the river where we could see an investment in the area. It's really well maintained with gardens, rides for children and even Ecuadorian version of "London Eye".
The architecture is all over the place and it reminded us slightly of Montevideo. Overall I think its a place that was nice to see and we had just right amount of time to do so!Read more
0 likes
The big one Traveler
Cuenca
May 31, 2018 in Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C
After being so long at the sea level, we were back at the altitude. From not really nice Guayaquil we headed to a beautiful and historic city of Cuenca that has city centre part of the UNESCO world heritage.
We didn't have a clear plan what to do, only knew we would like to go to park Cajas and do some souvenir shopping.
The city centre itself is really nice and full of beautiful colonial architecture. The cathedral on the main square has a original blue Czech tile on the roof that can be seen from far away.
The place has a really nice atmosphere and is easy to navigate.
Our favorite part must have been visit to the Golden Prague Pub with some delicious food and beer.
One of the afternoons we have decided to head towards the viewpoint Turi but got slightly stuck half way through at delicious BBQ stand.
The city has got a lot of work going on right now and you can see an investment on every corner, including beautifully restored church San Blas.Read more
0 likes
The big one Traveler
Parque Nacional Cajas
June 1, 2018 in Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C
Probably one of the last opportunities here in South America to visit a national park for us was close to Cuenca.
Very different type of landscape we have seen in till now opened ahead of us once we approached the park.
Most of it is moorland type of landscape with low bushes and lots of little lakes spread around.
The altitude ranges between 3 100m and 4 450 m above sea level and as we weren't yet very acclimatizate we have opted for an easy walk along the lower parts.
First part of the trip has been very cloudy and the colours did look rather dull and depressing. But it still had an amazing atmosphere.
Later on sun finally made its way through the clouds and the entire place looked greener and happier.
As the paths are not that long we took an afternoon bus back to Cuenca to spend the afternoon souvenirs shopping.Read more
0 likes
The big one Traveler
Gualaceo
June 3, 2018 in Ecuador ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C
As our trip is slowly but surely coming to an end, we have decided to head towards "famous" and recommended crafts market in a small town of Gualaceo.
We easily grabbed one of the buses from the terminal and after an hour ride we have arrived.
It didn't seemed really busy so we walked around in a search of a market place.
After visiting the classic Mercado we headed towards the main square that is in reconstraction and will soon look very nice.
In front of the church we tried to question local about a market but he only recommended the classic mercado full of fruit, vegetables and meat.
Disappointed we headed back to terminal and grabbed first bus back to Cuenca.
I hope the well known Otovalo market close to Quito will be better than this.Read more
0 likes
The big one Traveler
Golden Prague Pub
June 3, 2018 in Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
We have walk past the pub two days earlier and noticed the Czech week event from 3rd of June. As that's our last day in Cuenca, we have decided to pay them a visit and see what food they will have.
Walking to the pub we dreamt about gulas and svíčkova and other Czech delicatesses.
Once we sat down we ordered a beer each and as we thought it's 5 USD for each, we were determined to make it last throughout the dinner.
The menu looked really good and it was hard to choose. The Czech chef Vladimír Šalanský who owns a restaurant in Strahov prepared several nice dishes.
We agreed on gulas and sekaná and patiently waited for dishes to appear in front of us.
In the meantime Petr spotted their Sunday to Thursday happy hour from 15:00 to 19:00. With beer half price we were ready to enjoy more than one.
The food was served rather quickly and soon we tucked in. It was absolutely delicious and it made us miss home even more.
Before we headed out, we asked for a photograph with the chef and promised we will visit his restaurant back in Prague.
I think it must have been one of the best cuisine experience we had in South America and not just because the beer was finally well priced and sooo tasty!Read more
0 likes
The big one Traveler
Quito
June 5, 2018 in Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
By visiting Quito we would be finally crossing to the northern hemisphere and getting closer to home.
The city itself has a historic city centre part of the UNESCO world heritage site and it's one of last capitals we get to visit on our journey through South America.
Over three days we walked it's narrow streets of city centre, visited one of the most decorative churches we have seen, tried new food and made two different day trips.
On a first day we met a guy selling delicious arepas with cheese that I really liked. And while visiting crafts market we have discovered park with street vendors selling asado skewers. Those were really nice as well and we have tried couple of those.
The city is not one of the liveliest but and has a very calm atmosphere.
We enjoyed watching shoe shiners getting down to business at the main square and locals potting around the market.
Last evening we climbed to the Crystal palace close to our hostel and watched a lovely sunset over the hills surrounding Quito.Read more
0 likes
The big one Traveler
Mitad del Mundo
June 6, 2018 in Ecuador ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C
After a long but rather cheap ride from the Quito city centre we have arrived to the village of the Mitad del Mundo (the middle of the earth).
Once we have paid the 5 USD fee, we could enjoy several interesting museums on site before heading to the famous line.
We have visited few souvenirs shops and museums before we got to the memorial.
There wasn't many people so we could take couple of pictures before heading up to the viewpoint.
The line divides the southern and northern hemisphere and we had to do the classical pictures of one foot at each hemisphere.
The view from the top was very nice and we could see volcano Cotopaxi and mountains at the back.
We walked down the stairs and enjoyed the museum in the memorial that explained a lot about our earth and how it actually all works.
From here we walked to the sign and walked a little bit more around.
Overall it was a lovely trip to the no. 1 Ecuadorian attraction.Read more
0 likes
The big one Traveler
Cruzloma
June 7, 2018 in Ecuador ⋅ ☀️ 16 °C
A nice day trip on the slowest cable car ever is to a viewpoint over the city and peak of Cruzloma with 3945 m.a.s.l.
It took us good hour and half just to get to the cable car that is sitting on the slope.
Once we paid the rather expensive ticket, we could joint he que heading up.
I must say we have never seen slowlier thing, not just the getting on and off but the drive itself was rather slow.
We kind of forgotten about the altitude up there and made a trip in shorts and t-shirt. The temperature in the city was around 32 °C but up there with the wind it was much colder.
So we took the faster way around the place and quickly took couple of pictures with the fantastic views before heading back down.Read more
0 likes
The big one Traveler
Crossing to Colombia
June 8, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
Our last land border crossing was between Ecuador and Colombia.
We heard couple of horror stories and people being stuck there for up to 12 hours so we have decided to get a bus directly to Cali.
The journey was a completely different story as we had a really bad driver.
The crossing itself was quite easy once we navigated the huge amount of people waiting to enter Ecuador.
The humanitary crisis in Venezuela is causing hundreds of people leaving the country every day and heads towards better life.Read more
0 likes
The big one Traveler
Cali
June 9, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C
As we have arrived to Cali really early in the morning and spent first 4 hours sitting at the bus terminal waiting for the sunrise, we could get a first idea of what we are about to encounter bright early in the morning.
We haven't read much about Colombia beforehand and therefore didn't know what to expect.
I think even of we would read everything there is, nothing could us prepare for this experience.
After a quick breakfast in our hostel and getting our bearing right, we decided to head towards the city.
It's got two centres. One of them is business and residential are for the top class and second is for the locals full of colours, street vendors and South American smells and noise.
Firstly we walked the "old" centre that was full of condominiums with rooftop swimming pools and security cameras. In between were jeeps converted to buses full of people and trees covered with mangoes, figs and parrots.
From here we headed through a small hill with a picturesque church to the city centre of the locals.
There was much more people on the streets with the usual noise. We definitely preferred this unpolished part of the city. Even though there was still couple of nice buildings and the area along the river is very nice.
We grabbed lunch in one of the many places serving almuerzo and tried delicious pork with rice and potatoes.
We walked all the way back to the hostel and I managed to take a picture what happens to be my favorite type of transportation we have seen in South America.
We got back to the hostel right on time before a massive storm began.
We have never heard such a thunder. We grabbed a beer and enjoyed watching the storm to pass on the terrace while listening to the rhythm of salsa.Read more
0 likes
The big one Traveler
Cali -> Medellin
June 12, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
One of the unexpectedly beautiful journeys we have undertaken was a journey between to rival cities. Nowadays it's not so obvious any more but back in 90's in those cities were two competing drug cartels.
The journey itself was very long as couple of landslides delayed the journey by good 3 hours.
But on the other hand it was stunningly beautiful and as we didn't know what to expect, we were absolutely amazed!
Something tells me we are up for more surprises in this country.Read more
0 likes
The big one Traveler
Medellín
June 13, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
Wow! What a city!
One of the nicest places we have been to when it comes to a city.
City with such a violent history when in the 90's it was named the most dangerous city on the planet to a city admired for its progress and year-round spring weather!
There is no such a place as Medellín! One of the first places we would consider moving into and the nicest people we have met so far!
Joining the walking tour of the city with a local tour guide who shared his stories with us and with locals coming over and saying hello was one of the best things we have done in here!
People in the streets smile at you and really appreciate every "gringo" who visits their city! Back in times no one would dream about visiting this place and even now there is a stigma about what to expect from Colombia!
Friends and family woyld warn anyone who would dear to come to this country. The truth couldn't be more further and this place absolutely exceeded any expectations we could had.
At the Plaza de San Antonio old and new Medellín has a powerful memorial. Place that in 1995 witnessed bloody attack on Medellín's people is now place where one can visit only with a tour guide. The remains of blew up statue of bird by famous sculputuror Fernando Botera are right next to a new statue that represents the future.
Over 4 days we have walked the streets of Medellín and met it's people.
I admire how could this place risen from its own ashes as a Phoenix!
I'm sure we will be back!Read more
0 likes
The big one Traveler
Medellín - Laureles
June 13, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
We have started our Medellín's adventure walking through a lovely district close to our hostel.
I think this is very we really started to fall in love with this city.
The streets are polished and clean and the buildings with nice brick architecture with water features and plants in front each entrance.
We have discovered a local cafe where we ended up having cafe every morning before we headed towards the city. We could really imagine living in here, buying fruits and vegetables at farmers markets and enjoyed the nice weather at the roof top terraces.Read more
0 likes
The big one Traveler
Medellín - Centro
June 14, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ 🌧 26 °C
The city centre is very different to the typical squares we have seen. There aren't any colonial buildings and it's more of a commercial centre with many stores, plenty of locals rushing around and lots of noise.
It's not very secure after dark but throughout the day it's perfectly fine with the usual precautions taken.
On the second day in Medellín we have joined the best walking tour we have tried. Our tour guide Edgar was very knowledgeable, passionate about sharing his city with us and interactive with all the gringos.
We have walked through the centre and he shared many stories, happy and those not so happy. We wasn't afraid of any topic and explained anything we were interested in.
I think this deepened our understanding of the city and Colombia itself.Read more
1 like
The big one Traveler
Medellín & Fernando Botera
June 14, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ 🌧 27 °C
Fernando Botera is a Colombian artist known all over the world for his very distinctive style known as "Boterismo".
May of his sculptures are displayed in prominent location all over the world but those in his home town Medellín have a special significance.
We have seen his "birds" sculptures at the Plaza San Antonio with very powerful message.
Many of his sculptures are gathered at Plaza Botero. Unfortunately the weather didn't allow us to take the best pictures but still, walking around his "fat" statues has been very entertaining.Read more
0 likes
The big one Traveler
North of the Medellín
June 15, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
Our favorite way to view a city is from above. In Medellín it's easily done by travelling by cable car that takes you above the roofs of one of the neighbourhoods that were badly affected by drug cartels back in 90's.
The city's plan to connect poor and troubled parts worked better than anyone could ever expected. Now there is a modern library being built where youth can read about Simon Bolivar and not take a gun into their hand.Read more
1 like
The big one Traveler
Medellín - Jardín Botanico
June 15, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
An easy metro ride from the cable car at the north of the city is located Botanical garden.
It's the first one we have found for free and walking around has been a nice relax after the busy and never sleeping city centre.
Our favorite part was the beautiful Orchideorama and spotting an iguana that happily waited for us to take pictures.Read more
0 likes
The big one Traveler
Piedra del Peñol
June 16, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C
Our last day trip in South America took as to a stunning place in the heart of the Colombian countryside.
Huge probably volcanic rock overlooks a man made lagoons surrounded by beautiful country.
To get to the top you need to climb 650 steps that are elegantly placed on the rock itself. From the bottom it looks really daunting but once you get going, the nice views encourage you to keep going.
From the peak absolutely stunning views opened ahead of us and we were really glad we took the trip.
The weather worked out perfectly and we could see little town of Gautapé what would be our next stop.Read more
InvokationsStunning landscape indeed! Beautiful pics and a good read! 😃
6/19/18Reply
1 like
The big one Traveler
Gautapé
June 16, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
From the Piedra del Peñol we took a nice walk along the reservoir to the most colourful town we have visited in South America.
The town is settled in the Andes and surrounded by huge man made reservoir that creates a stunning background.
The town itself is famous for very colourful houses with bas-reliefs.
As it was an early afternoon the light for the photographs was a little bit bright but we have still managed to take some beautiful pictures.
After a stroll along the pretty streets, we have grabbed a beer at the local supermarket and enjoyed it watching locals at the mains square.
As it was our last day in Medellín we headed back soon after and went to pack for our last South American destination, Bogotá.Read more
1 like
The big one Traveler
Bogotá
June 18, 2018 in Colombia ⋅ 🌧 16 °C
Arriving from Medellín, the city of eternal spring, coming to Bogotá has been a bit of shock to the system.
As it's our final South American destination, we were looking forward strolling the streets, having so.e street food and delicious coffee.
Unfortunately we have woken up to kind of drizzly and cold morning. We took a while to get out of the door and we have started with breakfast at out favorite cafe.
For lunch we decided to grab a menu del día in small restaurant close to city centre. Here we met lovely gentleman who we got to chat with. We have discussed politics, weather and of course football. As we didn't know where to watch the match tomorrow morning, he invited us to a cafe close to his workshop.
In the afternoon we have joined another free walking tour around the town. It wasn't as good as the one in Medellín but it was nice to walk with the local.
We got to try chicha, the fermented corn drink that is so popular in Bolivia and Peru and walked the streets covered with street art.
I think it rained about 20 times throughout the walk but that's the Bogotá's weather.
After the tour we returned back to the museum of Botero that the tour the guide showed us.Read more
0 likes