biancaandhylke

Before we went on our trip we were warned by others who have travel experience that the transition back to work is tough. When they heard we are landing in Zurich on Sunday and start work on Monday they especially thought we were crazy. So, following their advice we decided to make the last two weeks of our travels a vacation. Traveling is loads of fun but can also be tiring: lots of new impressions different people, different places. Hiking, heavy backpacks, long bus rides with short nights. In these last weeks we decided to go for sun, beach and relaxation. After some deliberation we picked the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico: the weather is good this time of the year, great food and enough things to do. The first contrast that we noticed is the amount ... read more

After the Inca Trail we were extremely satisfied, but also somewhat “done” with the mountains. Having traveled north during our trip, we were now also closer to pleasant climates and the warmer part of the pacific coast. So we decided to leave exploring the rest of Peru for future travels, and move into Ecuador. In a travel tour-de-force we went from Cusco, via Lima and Guayaquil to Puerto Lopez on the sunny Ecuadorian coast. With the help of some flights we covered this long distance in only one and a half day. When the bus from Guayaquil arrived in Puerto Lopez, it was dark already and we didn't have a hotel. We luckily have no trouble finding a place to stay close to the beach. After arriving in the dark, seeing a city in the morning ... read more

After seeing the floating islands, we left Puno the same day we arrived. There was not much else to do there and we wanted to spend some time near Arequipa before we had to be in Cusco for the Inca Trail. Arequipa is quite a nice town, with a beautiful main square (often called Plaza de Armas in South American cities). Most sights in the city itself are museums and churches and you get some views of the surrounding volcanoes. Arequipa is at a relatively “low” altitude of 2400m. For most backpackers, including ourselves, Arequipa is not a place to spend much time, but as a transit point to Colca Canyon. Though some people and guidebooks make comparisons to the Grand Canyon, we found it to be quite different and beautiful in its own way. We ... read more

The amount of life in the jungle is overwhelming. Where the salt flats and highlands of Bolivia have very little life for kilometers around, the jungle has large amounts of life in every square meter. What a display of the beauty of this planet! Layer upon layer of plants, with animals interleaving with the foliage at every level. Decomposing leaves on the floor, with ants and bugs crawling around. Fungi recycling the fallen trees and leaves. A bit higher some shrubs, bushes and small trees. Birds hopping from branch to branch looking around for insects and fruits. Larger trees with the occasional dead leaf falling down to add to the compost heap. The animals at these layers are harder to see, as they are so far away. Tucans, monkeys swinging between the trees. And above it ... read more

After a pleasant flight and nice few hours around the main square of Salta, we departed on an overnight bus to San Pedro de Atacama in Chile. The bus was comfortable enough for a decent nights sleep, and we woke up somewhat short of breath at the Chilean border. We already got our first taste of high altitude there, since the border was at 4600m, and later crossed a pass at 4800. San Pedro lies in the Atacama desert, in the north of Chile. Normally the driest place on earth, the Atacama desert had 2 weeks of rain till a few days before our arrival. As you may have seen in the news this has lead to massive floods in parts of the desert close to San Pedro. Luckily for the people in San Pedro, as ... read more