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South America
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  • Pia W

South America

Ein Abenteuer von Pia mit offenem Ende Weiterlesen
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    Ituzaingó

    1. Mai 2018 in Argentinien ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C

    Would probably give this place a miss.... but it was nice to relax in the small town. Saw a lovely sunset by the river on the first afternoon we arrived. We did a full day tour of the wetlands where we saw caimans and capybaras. The tour guides also cooked a lovely steak and salad for us. So yummy. On our way back to the hotel our 4wd broke down and we had to get towed!Weiterlesen

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    Steve, Sarah and I

    Foz de Iguaçu - rainbows galore!

    4. Mai 2018 in Brasilien ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    🌈🌈🌈 So many rainbows here! So happy! We went to the argentinian side first and then the Brasilian. Got soaked on the boatride which was so much fun. I couldn’t believe all the butterflies there were in the park. There’s one called ‘ochenta y ocho’ (88) because of the numbers on the back of its wings. I loved the brasil side the most.

    We also went to the bird sanctuary which was great - hummingbirds, butterflies, tucans and macaws.    Weiterlesen

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    Ipanema beach with SarahSugarloaf mountain with Jeong and DerwinChrist the RedeemerFlamengos versus Internacional (2-0)! Mengoooo!

    Rio de Janeiro

    6. Mai 2018 in Brasilien ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    LOVE RIO 🇧🇷💚 - Had a full day doing a city tour, starting with Christ the Redeemer. Sooo unfortunate that it was very cloudy and we couldn’t see anything other than Jesus! Argh. Oh well, will just need to come back here! We then went to Santa Theresa quickly and to the famous colourful steps, the cathedral inspired by one of ghe Apollo spaceships (!) and finally Sugarloaf Mountain. Stunning views from there!

    We had a guide, G, who grew up and still lives in one of the hundreds of favelas (slums). He was great. I wish I could have done a favela tour but Intrepid said that the situation has been unstable for the past couple months, so advised against it.

    The afternoon highlight was a local football match - favourites, Flamengo versus Internacional. The atmosphere was electrifying! They won 2-0. We had this annoying couple in front of us who kept moving around and blocking our views (esp Sarah cos of how short she is!). We went as a group - 4 of us (Sarah, Steve and Mike) plus some other people joining the Urban Adventure tour. Lots of swearing, singing and chanting. I’ll never forget.    Weiterlesen

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    ¡Hola Colombia!

    10. Mai 2018 in Kolumbien ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Spent 3 days in Bogotá before joining the group. Was really good. Although Bogotá is dodgey as... so Last minute I decided to book a local tour guide, Tours of Colombia with David. I just had another American couple with me who weren’t very friendly, but that’s okay.

    First day went to Laguna Guatavita and the Salt Cathedral. Apparently the Europeans tried to find this lake hundreds of years ago as they thought there was lots of gold there. They even brought slaves to cut off part of the mountain to access the gold. The local indigenous community treated the lake as a spritual site and had ceremonies, initiating the local chieftains. There was gold there as the indigenous tribe would throw pieces of gold in the lake. But apparently it wasn’t pure gold. Was mixed with copper.

    Second day, met Rey (colombian who grew up in US) at his contemporary art shop near the hotel. The following day went to his shop to hang out before checking into the tour hotel. It was fun and funny as people though I was actually helping out the shop. I think I must have brought him good luck as there were plenty of customers that day! Anyway, it was nice to be able to hang out with a local and talk about all sorts of things.    Weiterlesen

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    Coffee Plantation

    14. Mai 2018 in Kolumbien ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    We visited a coffee plantation in Armenia, which was interesting.

    Here were my notes from the tour:
    Colombia coffee - best coffee in world is from panama, jamaica and then colombia.
    Takes 2 yrs to make forst production. Bery 8 months pick coffee, for 20 years. Best coffee, first 4 years of harvesting.
    Production of coffee costs 12,000COP for 1 pound.
    Good worker picks 100 kilos or 80,000 pesos (10 buckets) per day. They need to pay 10,000 pesos per day for food.
    Sizes 16-20 (biggest) exported. 12 to 16 kept in Colombia. Same taste.

    Black ivy coffee from thailand - elephant shit. Most exoensive. 1 pound is 700usd.
    2nd most expensive is Peru with animal too.
    3rd most expensive if skopi luak.

    Bitter part of coffee is from protein. The animals can absorb the protein. So the coffee beans are less bitter. More sweet and sour.

    6 times more caffeine in filter coffee than espresso.

    ——    Weiterlesen

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    Cocura Valley + Salento

    15. Mai 2018 in Kolumbien ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Went to a druglord’s plantation (!), with lots of wax palm trees 🌴 - tallest palms in the world. The tallest ones are over 100 years old. Amazing. Did a two hour hike which was muddy! It had rained heavily the night before. There was the option of going on a horse, but we all walked. There were tunnels hidden in the mountains for the people to escape the guerillas. Really interesting.

    We then went to Salento - a small, quaint town with the best coffee in Colombia (apparently). It was good though!

    That night we went for dinner and karaoke which was very fun and funny! 🎤🎼 This couple were there dancing salsa the right way and it was really beautiful to watch. I sang dancing queen with Aiko and Kirsten. I couldn’t keep it together - Aiko with his german, matter of fact accent singing Abba 😂.    Weiterlesen

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    Medellín

    17. Mai 2018 in Kolumbien ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Love this city. Modern, safe, lots of food options and quite a lot to see. Botero museum, comuna 13 (a drug and guerrilla ridden community now transformed after a couple of decades, equipped with escalator like in HK!), lots of amazing street art.

    We went clubbing one night at this ladies night club, with really poor mix of music... but it was for free, so not complaining! It was fun. Almost of us went which was good.    Weiterlesen

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    Our van got a bit stuck on the way to La Catedral.The disco at La CatedralAll artifacts from Pablo's time. The gun was found only 2 weeks ago.

    More Medellín

    18. Mai 2018 in Kolumbien ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C

    Did the Pablo Escobar tour (aka he who shouldn’t be named tour’....) for a half day. Visited 4 important places where he had an impact. The most impressive was La Catedral - self-made prison which he built in a year, including a jacuzzi, fake guardpost, football pitch, disco with a prison-like roof and of course a helipad... some prison!

    Interestingly, there are still some poorer communities that still adore Escobar for the support (bribes) they gave those families.

    We ended up spending the afternoon with a new American couple we had met on the tour. Aiko subsequently told me he loved the fiancée 😂😂 No wonder he looked so happy and was so chatty!    Weiterlesen

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    Cartagena and Bendita Beach

    19. Mai 2018 in Kolumbien ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    First time in the Caribbean! ☀️🏝🇨🇴 so humid and hot compared fo the altitude we were in for most of Colombia (and most of this south american trip even!!). So sick of altitude!! I’ve realised I’m definitely a sea-level kind of chica...

    A very relaxed, colonial style town is Cartagena. At least the walled city part. Very touristy as well. We ended up doing a day trip for 150k pesos to a small island called Bendita beach. So happy I did - great weather and unfortunately burnt my back really badly! Felt so nice to just relaxxxxx and not have to do anything, after being on the road for 2 months! 😁

    So far, I’ve been having a blast and have met some good people. Making every day count. Sad that my trip on this side of the world is almlst over....    Weiterlesen

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    Byebye Bogotá

    21. Mai 2018 in Kolumbien ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Picked up my artist’s proof (el niño jaguar), by Guache, the famous graffiti artist from Bogota. I absolutely love it. It’s actually part of Rey’s collection and a twin piece to another one he has at home.... felt a bit guilty buying it but he did say he’d rather I have it than anyone else. For whatever reason it spoke to me and I can’t take my eyes off it. I miss the gallery and spending time with him. Will never forget our friendship and connection ❤️🇨🇴😊Weiterlesen

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    Guate! First stop - Antigua

    25. Mai 2018 in Guatemala ⋅ 🌧 22 °C

    Joined my new group today. Was sad to leave Colombia so soon, but eso es la vida! I believe that’s how they say c’est la vie en español??

    Dissaponted there are only 5 of us on the tour.... such a small group. One of the Aussie girls thought we were in Mexico... and took out all her foreign currency in Mexican pesos.... right.... 😳😂Weiterlesen

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    Rio Dulce

    26. Mai 2018 in Guatemala ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C

    We stayed on this river for a couple nights. Was nice to be living in nature... well luckily I had a nice big bed with a roof and a fan! It was really hot and humid. Apparently the latitude is similar to that of Sri Lanka, so no wonder it was steamy!

    Did a river cruise and went to a place called Livingston. Quite a poor area that lives off tourism. It was a nice day. The girls would not stop taking videos and selfies...! I’m slowly getting used to it though.    Weiterlesen

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    Mayan Yaxha ruins

    28. Mai 2018 in Guatemala ⋅ ☀️ 33 °C

    We opted to do a tour of this lesser known Mayan ruin, which was special because there weren’t a lot of people on site. We almost had the place to ourselves, plus the howler monkeys! We watched a really nice sunset. We were told to shut up as this local man (pretty sure he was on drugs) wanted to meditate. He did for a few seconds before scrolling facebook.Weiterlesen

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    My name in Mayan!Carly, Jenna, Trev, me and Bree

    Tikal Temples

    30. Mai 2018 in Guatemala ⋅ 🌧 26 °C

    Spent a very hot day visiting the ruins in the morning. By 11:30am it was a sweltering 38 degrees. Hot hot hot!
    Our tour guide, Sofit left us again to do I don’t know what, whilst Reyes took us around the pyramids. We heard howler monkeys again which was really cool. To be honest I can’t remember much of what he said about the temples! And once you’ve seen one, you’ve probably seen them all. That said, it was really special stepping foot on the same soil the Mayans built these impressive linestone structures.

    We had lunch and a swim in the lake (found out after there were alligators in there!). Then onto San Ignacio in Belize. Carly thought because we had to show our passport at Tikal, that we were crossing the border already....!

    We stayed tonight in a small town just across the Belizean border. We had takeout - meatballs, cocunt rice and beans. Was yum! We sat by the pool and carly entertained us with her card trick!    Weiterlesen

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    Caye Caulker

    31. Mai 2018 in Belize ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    Spent 3 days on this small, relaxed carribean island. Highlight was definitely the snorkelling day. Look at the blue sea!! We saw a turtle, a dolphin, sharks, fish and this orange seaweed that felt really itchy when you were swimming amongst it. Fab day. One of the highlights if not the best day on this trip. Water was so clear, if not a bit choppy!

    Songs I’m listening to on repeat: Rockabye and a few nicky jam songs, reggaeton style!    Weiterlesen

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    Overcoming boredom on CC

    1. Juni 2018 in Belize ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C

    We decided to rent a buggy and make a stupid video of us four (jenna, carly, trev and I) on the island. Jen apparently has these stupid videos of herself on IG. So I thought it’d be a good idea to do something on the island - basically, of her dancing really ridiculously. She has no shame. It’s funny.

    We saw seahorses and pelicans too. Did a walk around the island which took about half an hour 😂🌴    Weiterlesen

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    Hola Mexico!

    3. Juni 2018 in Mexiko ⋅ ⛅ 30 °C

    We arrived in Mexico and went to Tulum. A small town with LOTS of mosquitos. Poor Trev, he got bitten everywhere. We had a nice relaxing time. Highlight was the Grand Cenote sinkhole and chilling by the beach. Much deserved after an activity packed 2.5 months!! We also tried some amazing local tacos that cost about 2 pounds for 3 big ones. So cheap. Had pineapple and pork with guacamole. YUM. Although, to be honest, I can do tacos once in a while but not every night like the others did. The two girls and our guide, Sofi were almost constantly sick. Not sure why. Weird that Sofi would be sick if she is from this region...

    Unfortunately the sea wasn’t great to swim in. None of us tried. It was full of seaweed that also made it stink a bit! Something to do with low season.    Weiterlesen

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    Mexico - short but sweet

    4. Juni 2018 in Mexiko ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    🎧 I wanna dance by the water
    Beneath the Mexican sky.
    Drink some margaritas by a string of blue lights.
    Listen to Mariachi at midnight,
    Are you with me?🎧

    We had a really good last night in this part of the world. Really enjoyed it. Went out for tacos (I shared Guac and chips and coconut breaded shrimp, with Carly). We then went for a drink at a Dubai bar (of all places? There were these two guys who would not stop filming themselves and us... was really off putting! Plus they played some arabic music or middle eastern that all sounded the same. No offence. Eventually we listened to some Cardi B which got the girls dancing. They have no inhibitions.

    We then went to this club which was really cool. I sipped on my tequila (when in Mexico...), which is apparently the right practice here, instead of downing shots! 🍸 They had this steam machine which blasted cold air every so often, whih was really cool and literally cool as it was hot hot hot! 😂😁

    Peace out Mexico. I’d definitely like to come back and hang out by the beautiful beach. Another time 😊🌴🌊    Weiterlesen

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    A trip of a lifetime

    5. Juni 2018 in Mexiko ⋅ 🌧 27 °C

    I’m now at the end of my South American adventure. It’s with a heavy heart that I say goodbye to this part of the world. I definitely could have gone on for another month or so.

    I have had the time of my life. It’s exceeded all that I had envisaged the trip to be. Travelling alone is character building and even though I did spend a lot of my time with people, it was great to meet new travellers who share the same adventurous spirit. I learnt a lot about the history, culture and people of the countries I’ve been to. There is so much diversity in the food, accents, clothing and buildings.

    Highlights were, in no particular order:

    - Reaching the summit of Las Torres in Patagonia. That was SO HARD and I really had to push myself to complete the last part of the first 12km. The fact we completed the 24km in 9 hours was a huge achievement. Loved Ecocamp as well. Sunrises were so beautiful.

    - Glacier trekking at Perito Moreno.

    - Machu Picchu in the rain with the double rainbow in the background. There was hardly anyone walking around that afternoon and it made the whole experience so special, as opposed to the next morning when we went and it was full of tourists. I enjoyed spending time with Alistair and Alison. They are lovely people.

    - The three day 4WD across Bolivia salt flats to get to San Pedro de Atacama was memorable. Not always enjoyable given how long the days were. But the scenery was epic and out of this world in a lot of places. Will never forget PK’s argument with Astrid in the car!

    - Iguassu falls. Omg. So beautiful. The boatride was sooo much fun. Getting absolutely drenched. Then the scenery and walking right up to the falls on the Brasilian side was so much fun. It was rainbow heaven! 🌈 I enjoyed hanging out with the Asian boys too. They were fun and it was nice to have someone on the trip who spoke Canto!

    - I love Rio. So picturesque. The football match was so much fun and will always remember that. The views from Sugarloaf mountain were spectacular. And loved going to the Ipanema and Copacaban beaches. One of those pinch me moments.

    - Colombia. If it weren’t for meeting Rey, I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed Bogotá as much. I really enjoyed the trip to the coffee plantation and will remember our conversation late at night with Christian, his wife, Yara and Aiko. Was hilarious. Medellín was fun and glad I went to that club if only for an hour! Going to the caribbean for the first time was unreal. Such beautiful water. Although I think the water in Belize was more spectacular if that’s possible! A great group during the Colombia trip.

    - Loved snorkelling in Belize. Seeing a turtle for the first time and the dolphins was very special. The Mayan ruins were great but had enough after half a day. The sinkhole (Gran Cenote) was really cool to swim in, quite literally. Bree dropped our locker key, it got stuck in the tree and I had to go dive into the water and pick it up! Adrenaline rush! Relaxing on tje beach was also fun. The two girls from Brisbane, Jenna and Carly, grew on me and I laughed a lot with them around. Our last night in Mexico was a lot fun, at the club. Good to let go once in a while!

    I have a feeling I’ll be back in this region sooner rather than later. I’ve made a point to myself to enjoy every moment and I have. I feel much more energised after the last 2.5 months and more relaxed.    Weiterlesen

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    Back in UK

    7. Juni 2018 in England ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Now relaxing for a few days in LB before going to Italy with the fam 😁 Feels so strange to be in such a developed country. Everything looks so quintessentially English! The roads, houses... having to remember that I can throw toilet paper in the loo again and that I don’t have to worry about hot showers! Plenty of hot water here! 😂Weiterlesen

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