BELEM

4. May 2011

Belem on the amazon river was only a short one day stop to organize the boat trip up-river. We arrived in the middle of the night in Belem and spent a view hours at the airport before going to the hostel in the morning. After checking in, we immediately set off to the harbor. We easily got two hammock spots in the air conditioned deck for a fairly big boat for the next day. Then we went to the market – Mercado Ver-O-Peso. Very interesting. Almost everything was sold - fruits, veggies, meat, fish and sea food, live and dead chicken, herbs and little bottles with natural medicine, crafts, hammocks and lots of other stuff. Business must be quite good for some of the vendors since they had flat screens hanging over their goods.
As almost everyday in the last few weeks we got caught in a heavy rain shower on the way back to the hostel. By now almost all of our clothes were wet.
Belem is not very touristy and besides the market and the Estação das Docas - old warehouses at the riverfront converted to upscale restaurants - there was not much to see.

RAIN AT THE BEACH IN PRAIA DO FORTE, BAHIA

27. April – 02. May 2011

We spent quite a lot of time in Praia do Forte, a small but very touristy town on the coast north of Salvador. Initially I didn't like it very much. It was quite "fancy" and everything was rather expensive. So, after one night in Praia we decided to check out the next beach town, Imbassai - only 15 km north. The only hostel there was nice and had a very green garden and there were little monkeys jumping around. But we were the only guests and it was very quiet. And the hostel was a long muddy walk away from town. Which seemed to be deserted as well - off season. The beach itself was very beautiful. White sand, palm trees and beach as far as the eye could see. Unfortunately it was raining most of the time. After one night "in the middle of nowhere" as Bine called it, we went back to Praia do Forte. There we spent another few days with too much rain. We walked along the few streets many times, started to get friendly with the locals, spent long hours on the internet, ate Acai (supposedly one of the most nutritionally dense berries) daily and hoped for sunshine. Saturday night we went out for Caipirinha and local live music. When the sun was finally shining we went to the beach for some snorkeling. There are natural pools and at low tide it's possible to snorkel right at the beach. Amazing. Lot's of beautifully colored fishes.
We left Praia do Forte after almost a week without spending much time at the beach as we had hoped.

SALVADOR DA BAHIA

26. April 2011

We arrived at the Salvador airport in the middle of the night and luckily it was easy to get a taxi. Of course the driver didn't know where the hostel was, although he said so. After driving around the block a few times he finally found it. After a few hours of sleep and a very good breakfast we started our walking tour through Salvador. Pelourinho, the historical part of the city is very beautiful. Cobblestone streets and old, colorful houses. And lots of churches (apparently there are over 100 churches in Salvador). We visited the Convento de Sao Francisco, an 17th century church almost completely painted in gold on the inside. Not beautiful but quite impressive.
Afterward we took the Lacerda Elevator down to cidade baixa (the lower part of the city) where we walked through the Mercado Modelo – an old building converted to a market where lots of touristy items are sold. Since nothing in Brazil is cheap we didn't buy anything. Afterward we went by bus (finding the bus station was the big challenge) to Barra, the neighborhood at the tip of the peninsula, surrounded by beaches. After enjoying a coffee we walked along the beach and to the lighthouse. Again, for a city the beach was really nice and clean.
For dinner we tried a typical local dish – Moqueca (fish or seafood stew) – very delicious.
After relaxing with a caipirinha at the hostel, we went to a free concert in the streets near the hostel. Very nice. Lot's of people drinking beer, listening to music and having a good time. Great atmosphere.
The next morning I went for a photo tour through Pelourinho before we left Salvador to check out the beaches north of the city.

RIO DE JANEIRO

21. April – 25. April 2011

I arrived at the airport in Rio around 2 am and since my friend Sabine's flight was scheduled to arrive at 6 am, I decided to wait for her at the airport. First of many nights in Brazilian airports. By bus we made our way to the hostel. It wasn't too easy since we weren't sure where to get off the bus. And Brazilian busdrivers drive like crazy. You have to hold on with both hands if you don't want to be flying through the whole bus. Luckily we got off at the right stop and only had to walk two blocks to the Arthostel (I really don't know why it is called arthostel since there was very little art in the hostel). We arrived a day before the Easter weekend and the hostel was quite full. We got two beds in a cramped 16 person dormitory. The biggest I have stayed and possibly the most expensive so far as well. But we were lucky to get anything at all over the busy holiday weekend.
After a short rest in the hostel we started to explore Rio de Janeiro. We started with checking out the area near the hostel. After walking around in the neighborhood Catete for a while and tasting the first fruit juices, we went to the beach. First of many beaches we visited was Praia Flamengo, where - under the shade of some trees - we planned the four weeks we would be traveling together.
After we didn't manage to find a metro stop, we took the bus to Copacabana. The beach was packed with people but very nice anyways. Long, wide beach, blue water, palm trees and a Caipirinha. This is Rio!
After walking around the city for a few hours we were both surprised how green and clean the city is. Many small parks and big trees in almost all streets.

The second day we wanted to take the cable car up to Pão de Açúcar (Sugarleaf Mountain), one of Rio's icons. But the line to get in was so long that we didn't want to wait in the heat. Instead we enjoyed an ice cream at the beach and walked along a nature trail. It was beautiful. A nice trail shaded by trees, the hill to the left and the bay to the right. We even saw capuchin monkeys. In the middle of the big city. After the walk it was time for the beach. This time we went to check out Praia Ipanema.

Not much different from Copacabana and beautiful as well. All beaches in Rio are great for people watching. And we were both a little shocked how little clothes people wear at the beaches - women (thongs) AND men (speedos). And it is quite normal to see people in their beach clothes walking in the streets. Not always a nice view.
Saturday morning we planned to go up to the Corcovado mountain with the famous Cristo statue. Again the line to get up there was so long that we skipped it and went to the city center instead. There we walked over a market before trying another time going to Pão de Açúcar. This time the line was very short and we got up there quite fast. Just in time for sunset! Amazing views of the city! We spent a long time just enjoying the views and taking pictures. Rio is located around many hills and there are beaches everywhere. It was great to see the city from above.
On our last day, we went up to the Cristo Redentor statue although the woman at the ticket counter advised us not to go since it was very cloudy up on the hill and supposedly it was not possible to see neither statue nor city. Luckily we did not listen to her and went up anyways. Just when we got to the statue the clouds opened up and we had great views of the statue and city. Amazing!
I really liked Rio de Janeiro and it is the nicest city in South America that I've been to. Some of the other cities in South America are nice and some have beautiful old colonial buildings. But none of the other cities are special. Rio is different and I don't think it can be compared to other cities. With the beaches directly in the city and it's many hills it's setting is spectacular. And it feels (and actually is) just a big beach town.

ALMOST BEING ROBBED IN MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY

20. April 2011

I only spent a little more than a day in Montevideo and that definitely wasn't the best day of my journey. The hostel was quite noisy and I didn't sleep very well at night. When I woke up it was raining and I didn't feel like walking through town. So, I spent a few hours in the hostel before I decided to check out the town. Beatrice and me took a bus to the Ciudad Vieja (Old town). The buildings were old. And deserted. Almost all stores were closed (if there were any) and there were few people around. We checked out the Mercado del Puerto, which is an old market building that now houses many restaurants with Parilladas (Barbeques) – a lot of meat. Since walking around in the rain wasn't too great we went for a coffee and lunch. It stopped raining and we decided to check out the waterfront. Well, not really beautiful. When walking back towards the city center, a guy on the other side of the street asked what time it is. Beatrice answered and I turned around to see who asked. The guy suddenly ran across the street (the area wasn't very busy), grabbed my purse and tried to take it from me. I fell to the ground and got dragged along a short way. I always carry my bag over my shoulder and it is not easy to take it. And thankfully my bag was strong enough to withstand this attack. When the guy noticed that it wasn't easy to get my bag, he ran off. In the end, nothing happened. I still have all my stuff and I'm fine. But it wasn't fun.
After I really liked Colonia and Punta del Diablo, Montevideo was kind of a disappointment. The city seemed very “gray” and the buildings are a strange mix of old and new but somehow everything seemed to be run down. Well, maybe it was the rain or it just wasn't my day and Montevideo can be a nice place. Just not for me.
In the evening it was time to say farewell to Beatrice - DANKE fuer die gute Zeit und den Wein – and take the plane to Rio de Janeiro to meet Bine. And the Montevideo airport actually was the one place in Montevideo that I liked (and since my flight was delayed for two hours I had time to enjoy it a little longer). Maybe the good engineering by Thornton Tomasetti helped make it a great airport. ;-)

RELAXING IN PUNTA DEL DIABLO, URUGUAY

16. April – 19. April 2011

Spending a few days in the fishing / surfer village Punta del Diablo was great. Very quiet and relaxed. No traffic, no street signs, no paved roads. Just beach, sun and the moon. Days were spend relaxing at the hostel terrace or walking at the beach. Nights were spend watching the moon and drinking Uruguayan wine. We couldn't see the sun set but watching the moon rise from the ocean was quite spectacular.
There was not much to do and that's one of the nice things about Punta del Diablo. We found a very nice hostel with amazing view. And I definitely got the best bed. Without leaving the bed, I could watch the sunrise and the beach in the morning and the stars at night. Awesome.

PUNTA DEL ESTE, URUGUAY

15. April 2011

Punta del Este was only a short stop on the way north. Originally we wanted to go to Uruguay’s capital city Montevideo but since it was raining there, we decided to go to the beach. Punta del Este is Uruguay’s most famous beach resort. There are a lot of hotel towers, wide streets, real estate offices, fancy stores and expensive restaurant. But most of the restaurants and stores were closed since it was low season. All together, it was not my favorite place to be and we stayed there less than 24 hours.

COLONIA DEL SACRAMENTO, URUGUAY

14. April 2011

From Buenos Aires it was only a short, one hour boat trip to Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay. All border issues were done at the terminal in Buenos Aires. The Argentinian and Uruguay officials standing directly next to each other, sharing one desk. I've never seen migration and immigration of two countries that close to each other.
Sun was shining when we got to Colonia and it seemed to be a nice town. And it really is a lovely little town. Very quiet and with lots of old buildings and cobblestone streets. There were a few restaurants and cafes with outdoor seating but very few people. And the river seemed to be on all sites of the historical town center. I liked walking around between the historical buildings and enjoyed the tranquility of Colonial. Definitely one of the nicest cities in South America I've visited so far.

BUENOS AIRES

10. April – 14. April 2011

From Ushuaia I took a plane 3000 km north to Buenos Aires. There I stayed in the hostel Artfactory and met up with Beatrice. The hostel was nice with most of the walls painted with different designs. We didn't waste much time at the hostel before going on the first city tour. We walked for a while through San Telmo, the neighborhood the hostel is located in. Nice area with cafes and old buildings. At night we decided to check out a Tango Show at Cafe Tortoni, Buenos Aires' most touristy cafe. It was more show than dancing but nice anyways. I guess, you have to watch some tango dancers while in Buenos Aires. To me, Tango doesn't seem to be the most fun dance. It's a serious dance and there doesn't seem to be vitality. But than again, I guess it's not supposed to be a fun dance. Sunday morning we went to the neighborhood of La Boca. I really liked this area. Colorful old buildings. Most buildings are not well maintained and a little rundown but with a lot of charm. It seemed to be an working class neighborhood near the port. I also walked by the Boca Juniors stadium were Diego Maradona played before moving to Europe. Unfortunately I missed to watch a game. Afterward it was time to check out the market in San Telmo. Lot's of artisans selling everything you don't need. The rest of the time in Buenos Aires was mainly spend with walks around town, some internet time and hanging around in the hostel, eating ice cream and drinking wine in the evening on the hostel terrace. Buenos Aires is a nice city but it didn't seem special to me and I wasn't as impressed as a lot of other travelers.

TIERRA DEL FUEGO, ARGENTINA

04. April – 09. April 2011

I went to “The land of fire” because I was so close (only a 12 hour bus ride away) and the name of the southernmost city in the world “Ushuaia” just sounded cool. People that I talked to before on this trip had totally different opinions about Ushuaia – from amazing city to not worth going there. Guess, it's the same with all places – some people like it, others don't. Anyways, I really liked Ushuaia. I can't really explain why, but it had a special atmosphere and the surrounding landscape was very beautiful. Maybe to know that one is so far away from almost all places in the world helped to make it special. And I also liked the rough and constantly changing weather – cold wind, rain and sometimes sun. Already the drive there was beautiful. It was snowing when we were getting close to Ushuaia and the mountains, trees and streets were covered with a thin layer of snow. Most of the time in Ushuaia was spent relaxing and catching up on blog posts and emails. After the long hike and the four weeks before with little downtime, a few relaxing days were necessary. Besides walking around I didn't do much most days, the only touristy things were a visit to a Penguin Colony and to the Tierra del Fuego National Park. In Ushuaia, I also had to say goodbye to “my guys”. First Ruediger left to go back to Germany and his desk. Than it was time to say bye to Micha as well. After traveling together on and off for 6 months it was quite sad to say goodbye without knowing when we would meet again. THANKS for an amazing time!

Penguin Colony
By bus we went to the estancia Haberton from where we took a boat to the Isla Martillo. The bus ride itself was good with amazing views of the fall-colored trees and snow covered mountains. We also stopped at the so-called flag trees. Trees that are bend from the strong winds. After coffee and cake at the estancia it was finally time to go to the island. There were lots of penguins on the island. And they didn't mind if you got close to them. At least if you didn't get too close. Eventually they would pick at your fingers if you hold them very close. Most of the penguins were Magellanic penguins and some Gentoo penguins. But we were lucky and there was even a king penguin. King penguins are not native to this area but somehow this one penguin made his way to the island and stayed there. He was taller than the other penguins and more pretty with orange neck and beak as well. We stayed on the island for a while, walked around the penguins, watched them, talked to them (even if they didn't answer) and took lots of photos (especially me). Before leaving the island we could see some penguins swimming and arriving at the island after a day of fishing.

Tierra del Fuego National Park
I went to the park for a few hours of walking along the lakes. It was nice. Especially since the trees were fall-colored and the mountains covered in a thin layer of snow. The park was very quite and there were very few other people there. Since it was raining I stayed only a few hours and did some short walks before heading back to Ushuaia.

HIKING WITH RAIN, SNOW AND MICE IN TORRES DEL PAINE NP, CHILE

24. March – 02. April 2011

After some time in Argentina it was time for a side trip to Puerto Natales in Chile to hike the Torres del Paine circuit.
We arrived around noon and with shopping and packing the afternoon went by quickly. Unfortunately, we wasted an hour at the info-talk about the park where we didn't get much useful information. For dinner we went to a very nice African-Chilean restaurant. Not the typical combination. The atmosphere was nice and I even got a curry that tasted good. (I was trying curries every now and then in South America and almost gave up on finding a good one – Maybe it helped that my expectations went down as well)
There was only one bus going to the park at 7.30 am in the morning, which meant another day of getting up early. We arrived at the park around 10 am and started the hike right away. Most people hiking at Torres del Paine NP walk the “W”, a hike that resembles the letter W on the map. We decided to hike the circuit around the Torres, finishing the hike with the W – a ten day hike.
The weather the first few days was almost perfect – at least for this time of the year. It was quite late in the season and it was too cold to sit around after getting to the campsite but it was sunny every now and than and wasn't too windy. The first two days we were hiking at “the backside” of the Torres. Mostly the trail went over meadows. Sometime along burned trees or forests, sometimes along lakes or rivers. We could see mountains and glaciers in the far, the sun was shining and it was very nice, easy hiking. On day four we had to get over the 1200 m high Gardner pass. According to the guide books this was to be the most difficult part. But again we were lucky with the weather. Only a little bit of rain and snow and almost no wind. Since the trail up to the pass is very exposed, it can be extremely windy up there. (Later we found out that only 5 days later due to the weather conditions, it wasn't possible to get over the pass anymore) So, getting over the pass wasn't as hard as I thought. And the view from up there was amazing. We could see the Grey glacier from above. With rainbow!! We walked along the glacier for a few hours before getting to the campsite. Amazing views. Especially if you like snow and ice. As the nights before (and the following as well) we had visitors at night. Mice! They tried to get to our food. Ate holes in my rain pants and Rudi's backpack. Since they couldn't get to the food, they ate the toilet paper and even gnawed holes in the water bottles, when there was nothing else lying around. The worst thing about the mice were the noises they made when walking near the tent. The next morning we got to a little bay with great views of the glacier, many small icebergs and condors. It was very beautiful and we spent quite a lot of time there. Exploring the bay, watching condors and taking pictures. At night we did not cook the usual 800 grams of Spaghetti with Ketchup, Salami and cheese but had dinner at the refugio to celebrate Michas birthday. The weather got worse over the next days with more and more rain. And snow. But the landscape was still nice. Our plan was to camp at the end of valle del frances, but on the way we met people that just came from there and suggested we don't camp there since it was snowing to heavy. So, we followed the recommendation and walked to the next campground. The next morning we made a day-trip to the valle. Snow was getting higher the further we got into the valley. At one point we had to start making our own trail in the ankle deep snow because no other hikers had walked that far on that day. We didn't see the apparently beautiful scenery surrounding the valley but it was fun to walk in the snow anyways. And pretty as well, with all the trees and mountains covered in snow. The next day we hiked to the valle ascencio. There was even more snow here and we had to set up camp in the snow. At least this night there weren't any mice. After we set up camp we hiked for an hour through the almost knee-deep snow to the Torres mirador. And we were lucky and there were only a few small clouds in front of Torres. The last day we only had to walk back down to the last refugio to take the bus back to Puerto Natales.
After a nice hot shower and clean clothes, Micha invited us for dinner (Patagonian lamb and wine). THANKS!

GLACIERS AT LAGO ARGENTINO, EL CALAFATE, ARGENTINA

21. March – 23. March 2011

Calafate was only a three hour bus ride south of El Chalten. Beatrice joint us to El Calafate where we wanted to see the famous Perito Moreno Glacier – one of the few glaciers that are growing. There were a lot of options for seeing the glacier and we decided for a full-day boat tour which was cruising Lago Argentina and also went to other glaciers. Evidently that was something that not a lot of backpackers wanted to do (it wasn't the cheapest option to see the glacier either) and there weren't many young people on board. I guess, the average age of all passengers was around 60.
From the harbor the view of the mountains and the lake at sunrise were a good start. First we sailed to the Upsala Glacier to see icebergs. The boat couldn't sail nearer than 15 km away from the foot of the glacier, since there are too many icebergs. And really, there were a lot of icebergs. In different colors and all sizes. Unfortunately it is difficult to judge the size of the icebergs. I would have loved to kayak around the ice to get up close for a better feel of the size. Well, next time.
Next stop on the tour was the Spegazzini Glacier which is over 100 m high. Cruising in front of this big wall of ice felt like being really close to the glacier. But the boat still was 300 m away from it.
After that we finally sailed to the Perito Moreno Glacier – 60 m high (above water) and 4 km wide. Quite impressive. Again, it was difficult to appreciate the dimensions without anything to compare.
We stayed close to the glacier for quite a while. I saw a few smaller pieces of ice breaking off but didn't see a big chunk falling off.
Since I always liked snow and ice, I really enjoyed this tour to the glaciers. Besides the glacier tour we didn't do much in El Calafate - went for coffee / hot chocolate in a chocolate factory and ate a lot of good food. Rudi – DANKE fuers taegliche kochen!! Sehr lecker.

HIKING AT LOS GLACIARES NATIONAL PARK, EL CHALTEN, ARGENTINA

17. March – 20. March 2011

We arrived in El Chalten around midnight after a rather long bus ride. The next morning Rudi suggested to start a four day hike in the afternoon. Expecting to do a few day hikes within the next days, that option hadn't crossed my mind before and I was quite surprised. It brought stress and some logistical difficulties with it but was a wise decision. The weather that day was perfect. El Chalten is a very small town and only has one supermarket. And that supermarket didn't have a big selection and closed for siesta from 1 to 5 pm. We just made it there to buy some Granola (breakfast), Granola bars (lunch) and Spaghetti (dinner) for the hike. Of course it wasn't very smart to spend two hours in a cozy cafe for breakfast / lunch before shopping. In the afternoon we started our hike (only three hours on day one) with blue sky and an amazing view of Cerro Torre, Fitz Roy and the whole mountain range. After walking a while we stopped for an hour at a viewpoint with good views of Cerro Torre and enjoyed the good weather. We set up camp before walking to Laguna Torre. Again, the view of Cerro Torre, the glacier and the lake with small icebergs was amazing. Walking was easy the next day as well - through forest and along a lake. It started raining half an hour before we reached the next campsite and didn't stop all night. Weather still wasn't very good the next morning but at least it wasn't raining anymore. After a short sidetrip to Laguna de los tres (without good views) we continued the hike along Rio Blanco. I walked behind Micha and Ruediger (I'm not fast enough to keep up with the guys) and followed them over huge bolders to Laguna Piedras Blancas. With my big backpack it was no fun at all. When I got to the lake we found out that we have to go all the way back over the rocks to the maintrail. I was not happy about that! Anyways, the view at the lake was stunning - the color of the lake greenish and the glacier at the other side of the lake white and blue. We even saw (and heard) a big junk of ice breaking off the glacier. The last day we did a little sidetrip to a viewpoint of Fitz Roy. Beatrice, who was hiking alone, joint us. The trail went up a pretty steep hill over gravel. It was exhausting but the view from up there was amazing. We even were lucky enough to see Fitz Roy a few times when the clouds opened up. After a hot tea in the refugio back at the camp it was time to head back to El Chalten. We only wanted to hike to the road and catch a ride there to El Chalten. I was quite surprised when I realized that the road was just a wide gravel trail. We were lucky and after a short time a pick-up truck stopped and gave us a ride to El Chalten. Back in town I enjoyed a hot shower, lamb for dinner and a good nights sleep in a bed before taking the bus to El Calafate the next day.