Amazing Iguazú

A place of peace and power, a place where everything else is forgotten, where minerals of water drops refresh your skin and happiness and harmony full fill your mind. The waterfalls of Iguazú, the greatest waterfalls on earth, is a place where nature shows it's beauty and power. 

Feeling the soft water on my skin and listening to the endless and loud flow of the water, even just seeing the amazing Iguazú waterfalls was the moment where I realized how small I am and how powerful the nature is.

Once again I was enchanted by South America.

Buenos Aires and Rosario

Back to the city life! In a way it was nice to came back to a big city but it was also quite a shock. I bought the flights to Buenos Aires three days before the flight, I didn't have any plans, but thanks for my partly hosts and partly travel mates Minea, Jula and Emma I didn't have to, they had already planned lots of stuff.

We headed to Rosario - the home city of Jula, Messi and Che Guevara.  I loved every second of Rosario. I really felt the Argentinean vibe there: Drinking mate - the traditional argentinian drink, having an asado -  a barbecue and a taste of the real Argentinean meat, hearing football on every possible radio and passionate fans expressing them selves for their team, drinking wine at late dinners and experianceing the bohemian nightlife - all very stereotypical but real.

Rosario was perfect, a bit smaller than Buenos Aires, but still a city with lots of things to offer.

 Unquestionably the best part of Rosario and Buenos Aires was the people. Besides our amazing crew also the local people, they were all so nice and helpful and very proud of their country, eager to share and show their culture.

After Rosario we went back to Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires is like a mix of the southern European capitals with a latin vibe it's a city of life, lights and endless nights. We did all the crucial tourist sightseeing in Buenos Aires, best of them being the San Telmo Market and the cemetery of La Recoleta, both very inspiring places. The market of San Telmo is a ridiculously long street full of interesting handcrafts, design, antiques, and art, perfect way of spending a sunday exploring all the things that San Telmo has to offer, including the amazing graffiti art on the side streets. La Recoleta the famous cemetery where the elite souls of Argentina rest (including the adored Evita) is a maze of statues, detailed vaults  and sidewalks, an ideal place for wonderers. Walking the streets of Buenos Aires it is inevitable to feel yourself small these streets are huge and the buildings are huge, all in all Buenos Aires gives a really impressive impression. 

Back in Perú

I've never had much interest in Peru but because of my dear little sister I've been there many times and that's why after Ecuador  I headed to Peru again. However, this trip changed my whole idea about Peru. I arrived to Lima but headed straight to a little village called Chicama in the department of La Libertad. The busdrive was absolutely fascinating, the bus drove on a coastal road where there was a landscape of the beautiful sea and sunset on the left side, and on the right I could see huge sand-covered mountains, it was an extraordinary an beautiful contrast of different colours and different shapes on the landscape on each side of the windows. In addition of the excellent bus service with food and pillows included, the 9 hours drive passed by in a blink.

As soon as I got my dear little Andrea (who wasn't that little anymore) to my arms I realized how much I've missed her. Even though, I only get the chance to see her every two years, I love her the most. She is the smartest, cutes and sometimes the most annoying little girl I know, haha. The days we spent together I tried to make it the best for us. I turned to be a kid again with her. Andrea made me jump and play on trampolines, she made me giggle like a little girl before going to bed and I even found myself running around the house with my face painted and doing the indian dance, there's nothing I wouldn't do for my little sister! 

Andrea lives in a small very peruvian village, Chicama, in the middle of the big corn and sugarcane fields. I loved the place, it's funny that we live in places so different, but I'm happy that she can live in Chicama. It's a quiet place where children can play outside safely, where everyone is somehow related to one and other or at least knows each other, where the whole community works for the common well-being, and for example Andrea's grandparents have a farm and a vineyard where they take care of the animals and can live a very down-to-earth kind of life. It made me think a lot about my childhood and the places where I grew up. I've always been a city girl, but now I learned to love the countryside. I think the environment where Andrea is growing up is ideal for a small child like her. I wish I had the opportunity of playing on the streets with all my cousins when I was a child or for example having chickens or getting our own eggs from the backyard... I'm very thankful for the big family of Andrea's in Chicama for making me feel like home, for letting me into their lives and showing me places around. I'm thankful because I've found one place more, where I can feel like home.

Living the Coastal Life

"I’m sitting in a bus on the coastal roads of Ecuador, going from Puerto Lopez back to Montañita. Latin music is playing on the bus, it's salsa. I feel so happy and loving. I love South America, I love traveling, I love being on the road and I love the people I’m surrounded by. I feel better than I’ve felt in weeks. We just went to an amazing fishing town called Puerto Lopez, I loved it. We ate some seafood, got to now a local family, we snorkeled in the pacific ocean and got burned under the sun. Now, we're heading back to Montañita, the ultimate party town on the beach, to spend our last night with Zac. It’s hard to explain this happiness, but I feel like I belong to the waves of the sea and the unknown roads that are taking me to places I never thought I would see.”

                                                                                                                                       Ecuador 2.2.2014

           

Ecuador was lovely. The sea and beach always brings a certain atmosphere and feeling to the environment. 

In Montañita , the ”Magaluf” of South America as Sara and Zac called it, I loved sleeping late, having fresh fruit juices for breakfast, laying on the beach, checking surfers with a cuba libre in hand, sharing experiences with other travelers and, of course, partying at nights! The coastal chilled life tought me to live day by day, enjoy the moment and it made me do exciting things like surfing or dance in the club like-nobody-is-watching.

A fishermen’s town called Puerto Lopez, where all the rush and stress is forgotten, got me enchanted. I loved the easy-living life of this place with it's calm and relaxed atmosphere where people make their living of fishing and spend afternoons laying on the hammocks. I don't know what else to say, as I wrote before, I felt happy and free, no more words.

Sunset in Lima

"I fell in love at the seaside"

Sara and I have had many magical moments during our travels, and this was one of them.

This is how best things happen in life, without planning and as a surprise, without expectations. We weren't supposed to go to Peru, but we had a long long wait for our flight to Ecuador, so we decided to go out and we knew that we wanted to go directly to the sea. 

We went to the Miraflores beach, on a beautiful and safe area in Lima. 

We sat on the rocks on the beach and immediately got hypnotized. 

The beach of Miraflores is rocky, full of little, soft and round rocks. The sound of the waves crashing with those rocks was something I hadn't heard or felt before. The rocks made the waves sound strong but still very calm, it was something that just kept both of us quiet. We didn't need any words, I think we both knew what we were living and just wanted to enjoy the moment. It was perfect: surfers in the landscape, the sleek rocks under our bare toes and little water drops of the waves refreshing our skin. 

And when the evening arrived, and the sunset begun... It left us breathless and without words. One of the most beautiful sunsets I've ever seen.

The Death Road

Our last adventure with Sara in Bolivia was the "Death Road"!

The death road is a road that links between the mountains of La Paz and the tropical jungle of Coroico (a town I already posted about). It has been named the world's most dangerous road, because of it's narrowness, danger of rock falling, lack of guard rails, fogginess and muddiness on rain seasons. People die on this road almost every year. However, this is the "old road" (still in use though) nowadays there is also a new and safe one, but the old road has been an exotic tourist attraction of mountain biking for many years.

The biking starts in La Cumbre 4650 meters above sea level, one of the highest point in La Paz. Even though the first kilometers are easy, biking on asphalt, I was still freaking out. It was so scary, the speed was just uncontrollable and when we got to the part of the rocky road, I almost cried. 

Anyways after biking a while I got used to it and I could really enjoy the ride. In the end, I think it was awesome! 

After I could relax a little bit with the bike, I began to enjoy the views and every smell and feeling I got on the road. I felt the wind, the fresh andean air blowing to my face, I could feel the humid and warm air of the rainforest,  I felt the water drops of the little waterfalls, I felt the rocks under the wheels of the bike...

The sensation and adrenaline I got of biking on these crazy roads was amazing, at the same time I felt as I was going to to die but still felt more alive than ever! 

We were so on to this with Sara that we also did the zip-sliding on these mountains. It felt like flying, I almost felt like a bird, haha. It was incredible to see everything from above and actually feel free in the air, I loved every second of it.

© These pictures are not taken, but they are edited by me, the original pictures are from the mountain biking company Barracuda.

Sand, Sun & Fun

Our second destination with Sara was Santa Cruz de la Sierra! We were so excited to see the sand dunes, enjoy the sun and have a little bit of fun so we got Sara's friend Zac to join us too. This trip to Santa Cruz was like taking a little holiday from a holiday, it was all about having fun. For me, it was nice to take a break from La Paz, and just let everything go and enjoy the company of my lovely Sara and all the new people we were about to meet. 

We headed straight to the hostel Jodanga (best hostel I've ever been to and also has the best owner Gustavo!) that I discovered the last time I was in Santa Cruz, and it was no disappointment, the atmosphere in that place is just one of  a kind. 

The next day we went to the long-waited sand dunes, Lomas de Arena, to do some sand-boarding and drink some beers. The way to the dunes was the best, we got there in the back of an open van. The ride was so much fun, although it hurt my butt a little bit, haha. The landscapes on the way were also nice, the sun was shining strongly and on the way we saw cows, a little chicken family, a bit of the country side of Santa Cruz and the last part was just driving through this protected savannah area, all beautiful. 

Once we got to the dunes and found a good place, we started the best part of the trip: sand-boarding. At first, I was very scared of doing in it, but it actually was the easiest thing ever and so much fun!

In the end we were a little tired (or maybe it was the effect of the beer) and we just started to fool around, Zac doing some rolly-polling (maybe the best word I learned on this trip) and me and Sara just sliding the hill sitting on the board like two little kids, using James's words: it was genious!

After all the sun, sand and partying we did the two days, the last day was a little more chilled. We went to the zoo and saw these adorable sloths! They were so cute, might be my favorite animal from now on!

Copacabana and Lake Titicaca

The year 2014 started great! My dear friend Sara finally arrived to Bolivia and I'm more than glad to have her here :) 

Our first trip together was to the town of Copacabana and the lake Titicaca.

This place is told to be sacred, people go there to do traditional rituals to get luck and fortune in life, it was the perfect way to start the year. 

We climed to the little hill El Calvario. It was hard for both of us to climb up, because of the altitude, but we made it. The way up was also interested because to get on the top you have to follow twelve crosses that are each a momemorial of one of Christ's life events, the religious spirit could really be felt. Once we got to the top we lightened six candels, all from different colours which all had a different meaning. For example red for love, green for work, blue for study etc. Luckily we got help from two cute local girls who new all about the traditions and they showed us how to do it right. 

The views from El Calvario were amazing. The lake Titicaca is one of the biggest in the world and it really looks like a sea, because it's endless! The water was blue and clear, it was beautiful. We just sat on the hill and stared the view for hours, until we realized that we should head back before the last bus to La Paz leaves.