Author: letgogetlost

Leticia

From Tabatinga Port in Brazil we took a 10 min taxi ride to the border. However there is no immigration office at the border and we were told that we would have to walk about 2 km back into Tabatinga to the „Policia Federal“ to get our exit stamp for Brazil. For the Colombian entry stamp we would have to go to the airport of Leticia, but we were told that we could do that anytime within the next week. But we recommend to go get the stamp on the day you arrive! More about this later. So we found ourselves a hostel and organized ourselves a trekking tour into the jungle for the next day.

Amazon Tour:
The tour cost about 100 000 pesos per person including a lunch. We had a guide with us who took us to 2 different malocas. A maloca is an ancestral long house used by the natives of the Amazon, notably in Colombia and Brazil. Each community has a maloca with its own unique characteristics. During festivals and in formal ceremonies, which involve dances for males, the long house space is rearranged; the centre of the long house is the most important area where the dance takes place. Each maloca has two entrances, for men and for women. In the malocas we met a shaman who explained his way of living and showed us some tools they use for ceremonies.

We didn’t see many animals, some exotic birds, some monkeys and different insects. Some people expect to see many different species during their trek and are often left disappointed…
The tour was great fun, although it was extremely humid and we both have never sweat so much!

leticia
beautiful animals in the amazon jungle
walking to the Maloca
Shaman
preparing the coca
Coca powder
tasting the coca


Our Anniversary:
As it was our four year anniversary, Martin organized a nice hotel for the two of us and surprised me with a marriage proposal! 🙂 And of course I said YES!

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Ayahuasca Ceremony in the Jungle:
We decided not to go into details about this event but if anyone is interested in an authentic  Ayahuasca experience we can recommend William!

How to find William? you have to take a taxi to the kilometer 7 and ask in the community for “William”.

Mr William
preparing coca

After a week in Leticia we decided to head to Bogota and as the only means of transportation from Leticia is by boat or by plane we had to book a flight to Bogota. We left to the airport a bit earlier since we still needed to get our entry stamp for Colombia at the immigration and to our surprise, the immigration office was closed because of elections! This meant we could not fly to Bogota and lost our flight! We were all quite stressed about this and decided to head to the travel agency to see what we could do! The travel agency was really nice and gave us a 50% discount for the new flight the next day!

At this point we want to thank Micha for a great 5 weeks of traveling together! It was a memorable  experience and also wonderful to have been able to spend some time of our trip with a great friend! As we just got engaged, we wanted to finish our trip the two of us and so Micha flew to Santa Marta while we left to Bogota! ♥

Bogota

We arrived in Bogota and realized how cold it was here! Bogota is located 2650 m above sea level and is surrounded by mountains. Our hotel was located in La Candelaria (the old town) and so we spent the first day exploring this part of the city. We heard from fellow travelers that the Graffiti tour is worth the money and so we decided to do that on our second day. The street-art which is found around Bogota is truly amazing and to have someone there who can tell you about the different artists and the messages behind the art is beneficial. The tour is tipp based but they tell you that one should pay between 20’000 – 30’000 Pesos.

the Plaza
the Graffiti tour
the oldest building from Bogota
an artist at work

Monserrate
Another fun thing to do for a great view over the city is to take the cablecar up to the top of Monserrate, a mountain of almost 3152 meter. From here one has a great view over the city and only here one can see the size of this capital.

This is Bogota
the church

Gold Museum
Bogota has many great museum option, although we both are not really keen on museums we did decide to go to the Gold museum „Museo del Oro“. This museum contains over 55,000 pieces of gold and other materials from the pre-hispanic cultures in Colombia – the biggest in the world. It is a great way to educate yourself on how these metals evolved and what they were used for over centuries.

Villa de Leyva & Raquira

To get to Villa de Levya we had to take a bus from Terminal de Norte, Bogota which took us to Tunja. This ride took about 2 hours and cost 20 000 Pesos and from Tunja there was another smaller bus that took us to Villa de Leyva. We loved Villa de Leyva! This colonial town is nested in-between beautiful scenery and the atmosphere here is so relaxing. This place, like Salento, is really over-crowed on the weekends because many local tourists from the neighboring big cities come here for a weekend get-away. Villa de Leyva charms visitors at every street corner. Strolling down its stone streets in any direction you will stumble across churches, convents and  monasteries.

the plaza
Mamasita
the artist getting some fruits for us
Halloween
horse show

From Villa de Leyva one can take a bus to Raquira which is a smaller town about 1 hour from Villa de Leyva. It is famous in Colombia for its colony of artisans, who produce traditional pottery & hand-woven goods. We really loved all the colorful buildings and the authentic Colombian  vibe there!

Main street of Raquira
Plaza

Cartagena

From Bogota we took a flight to Cartagena and we stayed here for 3 nights. It is the fifth-largest city in Colombia and the second largest in the region, after Barranquilla. In 1984 Cartagena’s colonial walled city and fortress were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The old city is surrounded by a huge, thick, wall. The wall was built to hold off frequent pirate attacks and attempts to gain control of this port city. Martin and I weren’t quite as blown away by Cartagena as other travelers, in our point of view, there were just to many tourists and the shops around here are too Americanized. There are great places to eat though and the best place to watch a sunset is Cafe del Mar!

Most hotels will tell you to head to Playa Blanca for the turquoise water and white sand beach but we had heard from another backpacker that there is a place called Rincon del Mar which is located 2 hours from Cartagena with only one Hostel and the real Caribbean lifestyle – that sounded more like a place for us.

Fruit seller
abandoned building
the clocktower
Cartagena skyline
the walls surrounding the old town

Rincon del Mar

To get to Rincon del Mar one needs to take a bus from Cartagena to San Onofre and from there you can either take a Motorbike Taxi for 10’000 P or a taxi for 30’000 P depending on the road conditions and your haggling skills. After a 30 minute drive we arrived in the small fisher village and quickly found our hostel Mamallena. This hostel is managed by the wonderful Arturo and his four legged family, Bella and Tomate!
Rincon is far from a tourist destination, and so the accommodation and infrastructure here are quite basic, and therein lies its charm. A place to visit if you want to disconnect from the world and relax on the beach! There are not many restaurants here and so we mainly bought food from the small store and cooked ourselves or ordered a fresh fish through the hostel which was served with coconut rice and a salad for only 12’000 Pesos! Every evening we could see the fishermen returning with their catch, upon arrival they would unload their catch to sell or trade, while the village children would come out to the beach and play football or watch us play Volleyball!

Chilling at sunset
the Caribbean against the tourists
My darling Bella
Fishermen coming back with their catch

From Rincon del Mar one can also organize a boat tour to the neighboring Islands of the San Bernardo Archipelago… Santa Cruz del Islote is the most densely populated island on Earth, with more than 1,240 people living on the island 0.12 km2. Very interesting to see! We didn’t get a chance to get on the island but i doubt there would be any space for tourists. 😉 The second Island we visited was Isla Tintipan. Tintipan itself is beautiful: a little palm-tree covered island, surrounded by azure water, coral and not much else, it is about as close to the Caribbean island cliché as you can get. There is even a backpacker hostel here called Casa en el Agua! Its located in the ocean and offers hammocks for the budget traveler or comfortable private rooms!

The most dense populated island
The most dense populated island
Hostel Casa en el Agua
Tintipan Island

We met some great people here and we all stayed waaaay longer in Rincon del Mar then we intended! Martin and I stayed over 10 days as the days here pass way too fast and we thought that this was the last time we would see the ocean before heading back home to Switzerland. Thank you Carly, Jorge, Arturo, Eva, Izzy for a great time at this hidden gem.

Streets of Rincon
ohhh and pigs run free on the beach
fun nights at Rincon
Arturo and Jordan

Santa Marta

So after we finally decided to leave this heaven on earth we were waiting for our bus in San Onofre when we witnessed something horrible. Right in front of us, a lady selling Empanadas was pushed out of the bus by the driver…. She was obviously pissed off, but what happened next was completely crazy, she grabbed her knife and stabbed the bus driver in the leg. She then slowly walked away while the bus driver drove a few meters… until he stopped the bus, came out and pulled up his pants to see his wound. He was bleeding profusely and no one seemed to do anything! This sight shocked me for a few days and so in Santa Marta all i wanted was to go home… However, this was the only „bad“ experience we had on our 11 months trip around the world and its save to say that we were at the wrong place at the wrong time…

We spent a few days in Santa Marta. At first glance, Santa Marta does not impress. Most foreign tourists use it as a base for exploring the nearby famous Tyrona Park. Unfortunately for us, the park was closed through all of November and the reason for this was because the indigenous people of Tyrona asked the government to have a „one month break“ from tourist! 🙂

Plaza
Beach of Santa Marta
Streets of Santa Marta

The beaches in Santa Marta are really not great and so we heard about this little hippie village called Palamino which is a 2 hour bus ride from Santa Marta. We headed there early morning and spent the day at the beach. This place is great for surfing and not really a great place for swimming with children. The currents are extremely strong. We were a bit disappointed that we did not stay a few nights in Palamino because it really has a great relaxing and happy feel to it.

Palomino Beach
Palomino Beach

Medellin

We heard great things about Medellin and every traveller that has been to Medellin told us it is a must-visit city! It is the second largest city in Colombia with its population at 2.44 million and nicknamed the „City of Eternal Spring“ for its temperate weather. There are many things to see in Medellin and the city’s metro system is a great and efficient way  to explore the different places.

Capoiera
Capoiera
Metrostation

Pueblito Paisa:
It is one of the few ecosystems that is conserved in Medellin and is considered one of the city’s seven „Guardian hills“. It offers a great view of the city and also has a exhibition of Photography.

View from the top
Restaurants and chill area
a miniture model of Medellin

Botanical Garden:

To get to the Botanical Garden one can take the Metro to the „Universidad“ station and the entrance is free! This place is really magical and it has more than 1000 living species and 4500 flowers. The garden offers a great retreat from the city!

Orchids
Metrostation Universidad

Cable Car:
The cable car was build to help people stranded in the favelas! People from the favelas had to make a slow and long journey down the mountains to get into the city. As the cable car climbs, the city transforms. Modern buildings fade. The streets begin wide and paved, then deteriorate, becoming narrow and uneven. These are the favelas.

On the way up to the top

We definitely fell in-love with Medellin and made this place our home-base for our last two weeks in Colombia.

Guatape

We were excited to take our first excursion out from our new home base in Medellin and Guatape was the prefect place! Guatape is a 2 hour bus ride from Medellin and a charming little town! Gautape sits on the edge of a reservoir created by the Colombian government for a hydro-electric dam, built in the late 1960s to supply water to Medellin. This dam flooded the area and created this breathtaking scenery. We stayed for 4 days and visited the famous La Piedra, a huge, 200 meter rock that’s over 70 million years old. One can climb the 600 plus steps to the top for the most gorgeous view!

View from the top
600 steps to the top
There are boat cruises available as well

Salento

Our second excursion from Medellin was to head to Salento. The bus ride is between 6-7 hours and there are direct buses from the Terminal Transporte Sur. The direct buses leave at 9am and cost 41’000 Pesos per person but saves one a lot of time. The other option is to take a bus to Pereira or Armenia and then another bus to Salento.

Located in the coffee region of Colombia and home to the tallest palm trees in the world, Salento has a lot to offer and we knew from day one that we would be staying awhile! We arrived on a Sunday which was a bit too over-crowed, as like Guatape and Villa de Leyva, Salento is a popular destination for Colombians on their days off!

Carrera 6 is the main street which connects the Plaza with the view point called Mirador. I was overwhelmed by all the beautiful handmade jewelry which was sold in pretty much every single store! Our first 4 nights we stayed at Casa de Lili which was right on Carrera 6, we played many games of Pool and found our favorite restaurant „Makao“. It is exactly what we were looking for in Colombia! After 1 month of eating the same Colombian food we were just happy to have found a international restaurant for a reasonable price! The owners are a lovely couple and their friend who make you feel at home!

Plaza
Carrera 6
View from the Mirador
View from the Mirador
View from the Mirador
View from the Mirador


Fogwalker-tour to Valle de Cocora:
Everyone that comes to Salento will head to the Valle de Cocora and usually most people will head to the valley without a guide. We however, decided to look for the fog walker tour office and book a tour with them. We were 4 people, two lovely swiss girls Nadia and Jasmin and our lovely guide Carlos who explained, with great knowledge, the history of the famous and protected wax palm trees. The trek took us to the hummingbird reserve where two ladies feed the birds with a sweet drink. There are 6 different species of hummingbirds and to get a picture of this fidgety birds is definitely a challenge! The last part of the trek brings one to the famous Valle de Cocora and this is just a breathtaking few, although it is not natural for these lonesome palms to be on a field with no other trees. Many years ago, farmers would cut the forest but as the wax palm trees were protected, they were not allowed to cut the palms. These palms however are facing extinction, as their roots are not very stable and as heavy winds can make them fall. We really enjoyed this tour and the value for money is definitely worth it!

not a rare sight…men on their horses
Orchid
Hummingbird (Kolibri)
can you see the face?
Valle de Cocora

Eco-Hostel Yambolombia:
After four days in the city, we decided to head to an eco-hostel called Yambolombia. What a great and relaxing place to do Yoga and read a book! The walk to the hostel is however 30 minutes from the city and there are no restaurants near by. So we had to by some food groceries from the city to cook our own meals.

Walk to Yambolombia
Yambolombia
The view from the hostel
These two crazy birds


Coffee Farms:
Another attraction in Salento is to visit a Coffee Farm. The Coffee Farm we visited was called Don Elias and is a small family owned farm. The tours are offered in English and in Spanish and definitely worth a visit. First one is brought to the plantation and then after there is a brief demonstration of how the beans are processed.

Coffee Farm
Coffee Plant
Coffee Beans
Machine to remove the shell
Beans drying in the greenhouse
Beans being roasted
Coffee grinder

We stayed in Salento for 10 days and i definitely left a part of my ♥ there. We wanted to adopt a street dog called Lukas but after being here for a few days we realized that the street dogs of Salento have the best life! People in Salento take the best care of the street dogs here, they feed them, wash them and shower them with love. Lukas followed us everywhere we went and it was hard to leave him behind!

My Lukas
Martina and her follower

Rio de Janeiro

Wow! We made it to Rio de Janeiro after sitting in a plane for 32 hours from Manila, Philippines! It has been an amazing 6 Months in Asia and we loved every minute of it but we both agreed that it was time to leave for another continent! 🙂

Our initial plan was to fly to the US and then head over to Mexico and so forth but as we were searching for flights, I realized that I did not have a biometric passport. This meant, I would have had to apply for a Visa for the US and as we didn’t have enough time to organize that, we had to look for an alternative way to get to South America. It took a whole day of researching because almost all the flights from Asia to South America fly through the US… one even needs to get a visa for the US, if you are just a transit passenger. Although those flights were cheaper, it was not an option. Eventually we found the flight Manila – Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) – Sao Paulo – Rio de Janeiro! So here we are!

We drove to the hostel which was in the Favela of Leme, were our good friend from back home, Micha, was already waiting for us! As he has been traveling through central and south-america for the last 8 months we decided to spend the next month traveling though Brazil together.

We stayed two nights in Rio and we fell in love with this city! Definitely one of our favorite Metropol. The mix of beautiful beaches, big hills and big city life makes everything more laid back which is unique. As our hostel was located near the famous Copacabana beach we spent the morning chatting and enjoying the Brazilian sun and yes, 95% here walk around with a thong! 🙂

There are a few main attractions in Rio, such as the Sugar Loaf and of course the Christ Statue, called „Christ the Redeemer“. We decided to visit just one of them and went for the Sugar Loaf. The view over the city is just astonishing, especially by sunset. And when it gets dark one can see the Christ Statue lit up on the other side of the city. As we only booked two nights in Rio, we agreed that we would head to Ilha Grande, and come back to Rio again after.

Wow! Wir sind in Rio de Janeiro gelandet, 32 Stunden nachdem wir in Manila ins Flugzeug gestiegen sind! Wir verbrachten wunderbare 6 Monate in Asien und genossen jede Sekunde davon. Doch wir waren uns beide darüber einig, dass es langsam an der Zeit war einen neuen Kontinent kennenzulernen.

Unser eigentlicher Plan sah vor, dass wir in die USA fliegen und uns dann ab da über Mexiko nach Südamerika bewegen würden. Als wir dann aber nach geeigneten Flügen suchten, realisierten wir, dass dieser Plan so nicht aufgehen wird. Denn Claudia hat keinen biometrischen Pass, welcher für die Einreise in die USA jedoch erforderlich wäre. Und die Zeit die es gebraucht hätte, um ein Visa zu beantragen, hatten wir nicht mehr. Also mussten wir nach Alternativen suchen. Dies beanspruchte fast einen ganzen Tag, da praktisch alle Flüge nach Südamerika über die USA führen. Und selbst wenn man dort nur einen Transit macht, braucht man dafür ein Visum.

Schliesslich fanden wir einen Flug von Manila über Addis Ababa (Äthiopien) und Sao Paolo nach Rio de Janeiro. Ist doch easy! 😉

Wir sind direkt zu unserem Hostel ins Favela von Leme gefahren, wo auch schon unser guter Freund von zuhause, Micha, auf uns wartete! Da er praktisch schon ganz Südamerika bereist hat, entschieden wir uns dazu den nächsten Monat gemeinsam in Brasilien zu verbringen.

Wir sind 2 Nächte in Rio geblieben und haben uns direkt in diese Stadt verliebt! Definitiv eine unserer liebsten Metropolen so weit! Der Mix von Stränden, Hügeln die zwischen den Häusern hervorheben und Grossstadt Flair macht diese Stadt einzigartig.

Den nächsten Morgen verbrachten wir gemeinsam am Strand der Copacabana und genossen die Sonne. Und ja, 95% der Frauen hier tragen einen Tanga, egal welchen Körperbau sie nun haben! 🙂

Es gibt auch sonst einiges zu sehen in Rio, wie z.b. den Zuckerhut oder die Christus Statue. Am Abend gingen wir also mit der Gondel rauf auf den Zuckerhut um die Stadt mal von oben zu sehen. Das hat sich definitiv gelohnt. Die Aussicht ist der Hammer und Rio aus der Vogelperspektive ist  noch viel schöner als es sowieso schon ist! 🙂 Uns war in dem Moment klar, dass wir nach Ilha Grande wieder zurück nach Rio kommen würden.

Copacabana
Copacabana
Sugar Loaf
Sugar Loaf
Christ the Redeemer
Favelas
Favelas

Ilha Grande

To get to Ilha Grande it takes about 6 hours. The bus from Rio to Angra dos Reis is a 3 1/2 hour bus ride and from there you have to take a Ferry for 2 hours till you reach the main town of Ilha Grande, Vila do Abraao. When we arrived, we walked through the alleys looking for a place to stay and realized that this is quite a touristic area. There were shops promoting boat tours, snorkeling and diving tours just like in Asia, but the difference was that they didn’t jump and shout at you to sell their tours. 🙂 We ended up on the beach again, after one of the hostel we checked out was full, and a guy (Luiz) came up to us and asked us in perfekt english if we needed help! So we told him we were looking for a hostel and he took us to the place where he was staying with his girlfriend and two little dogs. It was a great deal and we ended up staying there for 5 nights! Luiz, Gabi (his girlfriend) and Martin (Luis’s friend) spend the next few days showing us the Island! This island is perfect for anyone who loves to trek, there are many many routes to explore and reach other beaches on the Island. They told us that on Sunday they would walk up to „Pico do Papagaio“ as it was going to be the „Red Moon“. Pico do Papagaio is one of the highest, if not the highest mountain with a peak of 982 m. They asked us if we wanted to join them. Of course, we all agreed! So we spend the morning organizing and planning what we have to bring with us and left for the trek at around 3 pm. It took us 3.5 hours to get to the peak and we made it just before it got dark! These guys are so fit, if it wasn’t for us, they would have done it in 2.5 hours! 😉 The view up there is just breathtaking and as we stood on one of the rocks to take some pictures, all our hair was electrified, there was so much energy on that stone it was scary! So we set up our camp which consisted of one plastic shield which had 5 huge holes in it and that was it… We got caught in the middle of a huge storm and lighting was all around! No one seemed to say anything and we realized how dangerous this situation actually is or could be. It then started to rain and did not stop till the morning, we were drenched and cold! Even-though we had an interesting night with hardly any sleep, in the end it was really worth it. The best part of this adventure was definitely the sunrise! Look at the pictures and see for yourself! 🙂

Our stay on Ilha Grande was really one we won’t forget and especially thanks to Gabi, Luiz and Martin who made our stay so exciting! If you are reading this, we would like to thank you again for being such great friends and for organizing that fun farewell party at the beach!

Die ganze Fahrt von Rio zur Insel „Ilha Grande“ dauert ca. 6 Stunden. Zuerst für 3.5 Stunden mit dem Bus bis nach Angra dos Reis, von wo aus man dann mit der Fähre innerhalb 2 Stunden Vila do Abraao, den Hauptort der Insel erreicht.

Als wir angekommen sind machten wir uns auf, um ein cooles und günstiges Hostel für uns zu finden und realisierten zugleich, dass es sich hier um einen ziemlich touristischen, aber trotzdem sehr schönen Ort handelt. Hier gibt’s viele Shops die Bootstouren, Schnorchel- und Tauchtrips anbieten – wie in Asien auch. Der Unterschied ist jedoch, dass sie dir diese hier nicht so aufdringlich andrehen wollen, was uns sehr angenehm war. Wir fanden uns irgendwann am Strand wieder, wo uns ein Typ mit Dreadlocks ansprach und uns in perfektem Englisch fragte, ob er uns helfen könne. So lernten wir Luiz kennen. Er nahm uns dann mit zu einem kleinen Backpacker Hostel, wo er mit seiner Freundin und zwei kleinen Hunden vorübergehend wohnt.

Wir konnten einen guten Deal mit den Besitzern machen und da wir uns so gut mit Luiz und seinen Freunden verstanden, blieben wir gleich 5 Tage dort. 🙂 Luiz, Gabi (seine Freundin) und Martin (sein Freund) zeigten uns die nächsten Tage dann sozusagen die halbe Insel. Bessere Guides hätten wir uns nicht vorstellen können, erst recht nicht für lau!

Die Insel ist perfekt für jeden, der gerne wandert. Es gibt unzählige Pfade um den Dschungel zu erkunden, in Wasserfällen baden zu gehen oder an verschiedenen Stränden zu hängen.

Sie sagten uns, dass sie am Sonntag den “Pico do Papagaio“ besteigen wollen, um von dort aus den „Red Moon“ zu bestaunen. Pico do Papagaio ist der zweithöchste Berg der Insel mit einer Spitze von 982 m.ü.M. Sie fragten uns, ob wir uns ihnen anschliessen wollen. Natürlich sagten wir alle Ja!

Also verbrachten wir den Morgen damit alles zu organisieren und das nötigste zu packen. So gegen drei Uhr nachmittags machten wir uns dann los. Es dauerte 3.5 Stunden bis wir die Bergspitze erreichten und wir schafften es gerade noch rechtzeitig bevor es dunkel wurde. Die Jungs sind so dermassen fit! Ohne uns hätten sie es auch in 2.5 Stunden geschafft! 😉

Die Aussicht von da oben ist einfach atemberaubend! Als ich auf dem Felsen stand um ein paar Fotos zu schiessen, fing Luiz plötzlich an laut zu lachen. Erst später merkte ich wieso: meine und die Haare aller andern standen zu Berge. 🙂 Der Fels war dermassen mit Energie geladen, dass man sogar entfernt einschlagende Blitze im ganzen Körper spürte! Ziemlich beängstigend und zugleich ziemlich cool!

Wir machten uns dann schnell daran unser Camp aufzubauen, welches nur aus einer total zerlöcherten Plastikblache bestand. Darunter verkrochen wir uns dann, als wir von hunderten von Blitzen umzingelt wurden, die immer näher kamen. Wow, was für ein Erlebnis!!! Plötzlich sagte niemand mehr etwas und uns wurde klar, in was für einer gefährlichen Lage wir uns eigentlich befanden. Irgendwann fing es dann auch noch an zu regnen und hörte erst am nächsten Morgen wieder auf. Wir waren nass bis auf die Knochen und uns war bitterkalt. Wir haben die ganze Nacht praktisch kein Auge zugedrückt. Und trotzdem war es ein Erlebnis, welches uns noch lange in Erinnerung bleiben wird! Das kurze „Leiden“ wurde dann auch mit einem der schönsten Sonnenaufgänge belohnt, die wir je gesehen hatten. Schau dir nur die Bilder an! 🙂

Den ganzen Aufenthalt auf Ilha Grande werden wir immer in positiver Erinnerung behalten, insbesondere auch wegen Gabi, Luiz und Martin, welche diesen so besonders für uns gemacht haben! If you are reading this, we would like to thank you again for being such great friends and for organizing that fun farewell party at the beach!

Martin, Micha, Claudia, Luiz
Bamboo
Our Guides
that in the back, is the Peak
The Crew
The electrified hair
Amazing Sunrise
Our leaving party

Rio de Janeiro, Part II

After Ilha Grande we went back to Rio but this time we stayed in Lapa, a different district than last time and known as the entertainment district with bars and clubs. We stayed in a great hostel known as Mambembe, which is definitely one of the best hostels we stayed in Brazil and fortunately it was really close to the famous stairs „Escada Selaron“. So we walked around this part of the city and went to another view point which was also really beautiful.

It was time to discuss what our plans would be after Rio and as flights in Brazil are way too expensive, we all agreed that we would take a bus to Brasilia (Capital of Brazil) and head to a National Park – Chapada dos Veadeiros.

Nach Ilha Grande gingen wir wieder zurück nach Rio. Diesmal übernachteten wir aber in Lapa, einem anderen Distrikt Rio’s, der vor allem für seine vielen Bars und Clubs bekannt ist. Durch einen Freund von mir wurden wir auf das Hostel Mambembe aufmerksam, welches wir jedem wärmstens weiterempfehlen können! Danke Moe für den Tipp. 🙂 Sehr cool eingerichtet, sauber, günstig, von einem Schweizer geführt und nahe an der berühmten Treppe „Escada Selaron“ gelegen. Wir schlenderten ein bisschen in der Gegend herum und endeten an einem weiteren Aussichtspunkt, von dem man ebenfalls eine schöne Aussicht über die Stadt hat.

Dann war es wieder mal an der Zeit unsere weiteren Pläne zu bereden. Weil die Inlandflüge in Brasilien definitiv unser Budget sprengen würden, einigten wir uns darauf mit dem Bus nach Brasilia (Brasiliens Hauptstadt

Escadaria Selaron
Escadaria Selaron
Escadaria Selaron
Escadaria Selaron
Escadaria Selaron
Foto Credit: Micha Stocker
Escadaria Selaron
Foto Credit: Micha Stocker
Hostel Mambembe
Hostel Mambembe

) zu fahren, von wo aus wir dann weiter zum Nationalpark „Chapada dos Veadeiros“, resp. Sao Jorge fahren würden.

Sao Jorge, Chapada dos Veadeiros

The bus from Rio to Brasilia took about 20 hours! The good thing is that the buses in Brazil are really quite comfortable except that it feels like you’re in antarctica. 😉 From Brasilia we had to take another bus which took 4 hours to reach Alto Paraiso and from there a taxi to Sao Jorge. It sounds like a real mission to get to this place but it is totally worth it!

Sao Jorge is a small „hippie town“, which it really is. We were in Pai, Thailand which is said to be a „hippie town“ but has absolutely nothing to do with it anymore. Sao Jorge on the other hand has one main dirt road with a few little streets where the people live, surrounded by nature. There is a lot of colorful graffiti, many self-made dreamcatchers and other creative art. We stayed almost a week because we really liked the laid back atmosphere of this town, the Backpacker hostel we stayed at and the National Park offers many different attractions. One of the highlights for us was „Vale da Lua“. Getting there is actually quite easy if you have a car but if you don’t, the path that would lead from Sao Jorge to Vale da Lua has no sign and therefore its impossible to find on the way there. So we hitchhiked and that is quite common as not many people own a car around here. „Vale da Lua“ translated means Moon Valley and thats exactly what it looks like! There are also many waterfalls in this park, a beautiful one we trekked too was Raizama!
Big Thanks to Alex if you are reading this for the great tipp to come here!

Die Busfahrt von Rio nach Brasilia dauert geschlagene 20 Stunden! Das gute daran ist jedoch, dass die Busse in Brasilien sehr komfortabel sind (mal abgesehen davon, dass die Raumtemperatur an die Antarktis erinnert). Von Brasilia aus mussten wir dann einen weiteren Bus nehmen, der Alto Paraiso in 4 Stunden erreichte. Von dort aus ging’s dann mit dem Taxi weitere 30 km zum endgültigen Ziel: Sao Jorge. Klingt nach einer ziemlichen Mission um dorthin zu gelangen, aber die Anstrengungen sind es definitiv wert!

Sao Jorge ist ein kleines Dorf im Chapada dos Veadeiros Nationalpark, welches das Prädikat „Hippie Dorf“ auch wirklich verdient! Wir waren schon in Pai (Thailand), welches auch als solches betitelt wird, jedoch nicht das geringste damit zu tun hat (jedenfalls nicht mehr). Sao Jorge auf der anderen Seite besteht aus einer ungeteerten Hauptstrasse mit mehreren kleinen Nebensträsschen, umgeben von unberührter Natur. Nachhaltiges und umweltfreundliches Leben wird hier geradezu zelebriert. Die meisten der Häuser sind mit schönen Graffitis verziert und überall hängen Traumfänger oder andere selbstgemachte Dekorationen.

Wir haben hier fast eine ganze Woche verbracht, da uns die Atmosphäre so gut gefiel, das Backpacker Hostel super und die umliegende Natur wunderschön war. Eines unserer Highlights war definitiv „Vale da Lua“. Dorthin zu gelangen ist eigentlich ziemlich einfach, sofern du ein Auto hast. Denn der Fussweg, der von Sao Jorge aus zum Tal führt, ist nicht beschildert und deshalb mit nichtvorhandenen Kenntnissen der portugiesischen Sprache nicht ausfindig zu machen. So haben wir Autostop gemacht, welches hier Gang und Gäbe ist, da nur wenige Leute ein Fahrzeug besitzen.

Vale da Lua bedeutet übersetzt Tal des Mondes und genau so sieht es auch ein bisschen aus. Wunderschöner Ort, ein MUST SEE!

Es gibt aber auch andere besuchenswerte Orte im Park und viele schöne Wasserfälle oder Schluchten, die man zu Fuss erreichen kann. Eine davon ist Raizama. Herrlich um zu baden!

Vielen Dank an dieser Stelle an Alex für den super Tipp! Wir haben es hier sehr genossen. 🙂

 

Backpackers Sao Jorge
Backpacker Hostel
Yoga
Foto Credit: Micha Stocker
Atelier
Tabacaria
Foto Credit: Micha Stocker
Vale da Lua
Vale da Lua
Vale da Lua
Vale da Lua
Vale da Lua
Vale da Lua
Vale da Lua
Vale da Lua
Vale da Lua
Foto Credit: Micha Stocker
Foto Credit: Micha Stocker
Cachoeira Raizama
Cachoeira Raizama
Cachoeira Raizama
Cachoeira Raizama
Cachoeira Raizama
Cachoeira Raizama
Foto Credit: Micha Stocker
Cachoeira Raizama
Cachoeira Raizama
Cachoeira Raizama
Cachoeira Raizama

 

Brasilia

Our initial plan was to head to Bahia and spend another week there before flying to Colombia. However, after checking flights from Brazil to Colombia we realized that that was not happening. The flights were so expensive we could have flown back to Switzerland for that price! So we decided that we would take a 7 day boat trip on the Amazon river from Manaus, Brazil to Leticia, Colombia.  In order to get to Manaus we went back to Brasilia and spent two days there exploring the Capital which was build in 1960. Everything seemed systematically well planned out and Martin really wanted to take some photography of the unique architecture.

Unser eigentlicher Plan sah vor, dass wir nach Bahia fahren und von da aus dann nach Kolumbien fliegen würden. Wie so oft hatten wir jedoch die Flugpreise total unterschätzt. Die Preise waren so hoch, wir hätten dafür gleich zurück in die Schweiz fliegen können! Und da wir sowieso schon immer mal den Amazonas sehen wollten, entschieden wir uns dazu per Boot innerhalb 7 Tage von Manaus, Brasilien aus nach Leticia, Kolumbien zu fahren.

Um also nach Manaus zu gelangen, mussten wir wieder zurück nach Brasilia. Diesmal blieben wir aber gleich zwei Tage, da insbesondere ich gerne die Architektur dieser 1960 fertiggestellten Hauptstadt sehen wollte. Diese Stadt hat wirklich ihren ganz eigenen Reiz! Ich will jetzt gar nicht viel darüber schreiben. Wir waren sehr froh, dass wir diesen Stop eingelegt haben und empfehlen jedem der mal nach Brasilien kommt, dies auch so zu tun.

Manaus

We booked our flight from Brasilia to Manaus and left early in the morning. The view out of the plane was amazing, it was great to see the huge rainforest and gives one a sense of relief that not every part of the planet is destroyed yet! Martin said it nicely „the Amazon forest is the lung of the earth“.

We stayed in Manaus for two days before our boat would leave and that was really enough. Martin and I didn’t really like Manaus, it’s quite rundown. The heat and the humidity here is insane,  so far all our rooms in Brazil were with a fan, but in Manaus it was unbearable and we paid extra for an AC. 😉

Unser Flug von Brasilia nach Manaus startete schon am frühen Morgen. Die Sicht vom Flugzeug aus über den Amazonas war der Wahnsinn! Es ist einfach schön diesen riesigen Regenwald zu sehen. Obschon natürlich klar ist, dass auch dieser zusehends abgeholzt wird, hat man trotzdem das Gefühl, dass dieser Fleck Natur noch lange bestehen wird.

Bevor unser Boot ablegte, verbrachten wir zwei Tage in Manaus und das hat auch völlig gereicht. Claudia und ich mochten diese heruntergekommene Stadt wirklich überhaupt nicht. Die Hitze und die Luftfeuchtigkeit sind nahezu menschenfeindlich. Aber klar, wir sind hier ja schliesslich im Amazonas und haben dementsprechend auch nichts anderes erwartet. Bis dahin hat uns in Brasilien ein Zimmer mit Ventilator immer völlig ausgereicht. Aber hier zahlten wir gerne was drauf für die Klimaanlage. 😉

the port of Manaus