El Meandro

Atacama - Northern Chile

We only made a short stop in Chile coming from Bolivia before crossing into Argentina.

San Pedro de Atacama

San Pedro de Atacama solely exists for and from tourism. Although it is a little town with nice buildings, it is anything but authentic. We relaxed a few days here and visited the Valle de la Luna before moving on.

Paso Sico

The Paso Sico is unpaved on the Argentinian side and therefore used less frequently than the neighboring Paso de Jama. Along the road are some very nice lagunas. It gets less touristic the further up you go.

Salt, Water & Rocks - Southern Bolivia

The southwestern tip of Bolivia offers some of the most magnificent landscapes in South America. Before getting there, we crossed into Bolivia from Paraguay in the east, going through Tarija and Tupiza in order to acclimatize to the high altitudes again..

Tarija

Tarija is famous for its wines, although not so much outside of Bolivia. The wines are either sweet or of lower quality compared to more famous wine countries.

Tupiza

Tupiza is a tranquil little town at 3000m altitude. It is surrounded by bizarre rock formations of various colors.

Salar de Uyuni

The Salar de Uyuni is one of the most amazing and unique places on our planet. It is the world's largest salt flat. Driving a car on this huge area, you can chose any direction without hitting an obstacle for miles on end.

The small islands are great for spending the night, which we did twice. Walking up those small hills also gives another perspective of the salt flat.

Some people seem to be looking for trouble and ignore the fact that the edges of the Salar can quickly become a wicked mixture of mud and salt, which is a recipe to get stuck big time. Even the signposted ramps are not to be underestimated when rain sets in.

Nor Lípez

We took the route from the Salar going through Colcha "K", San Agustín and Alota. This connection between the salt and the water also has some stunning views on offer.

Sud Lípez

This region is also known as the Lagunas route among travelers and for good reason. Lagunas are countless in this area and almost every single one of them has a different color. Unsurprisingly that is what many of them are named after.

We drove pretty much the standard route southwards to the border with Chile at Hito Cajón. The landscapes on this stretch are simply mind-blowing.

Laguna Hedionda is one of the first lagunas coming from the north. We could observe flamingos from close up on the edge.

Laguna Colorada is one of the biggest lagunas and its colors are extraordinary.

Sol de Mañana is a geothermal area with many boiling mud pools and steam blowing from the ground.

Laguna Blanca and Laguna Verde with the impressive Volcán Licancábur in the back drop were our last stop. We camped right underneath the volcano and high above the Laguna Verde at 4500m altitude.

Paraguay

Paraguay does not really have much to offer in terms of highlights in our opinion, especially compared to other places in South America. What we enjoyed most are the places we stayed at in Altos (Hasta la Pasta) and in the Chaco (Harmony of Wilderness, Rosaleda Resort), all of which have been established by Swiss and German immigrants.

Ciudad del Este

Ciudad del Este essentially is a big shopping mall for Brazilians. Besides that we visited the Saltos del Monday waterfalls and the Represa de Itaipú.

Asunción

Asunción has a small center with a few beautiful graffiti and a handful of colonial buildings.

Chaco

The Chaco is at the same time a boring yet interesting experience. All roads go in straight lines through the same monotonous landscape. It is impressive though, how the Mennonites managed to make a living in this semi-arid region starting around the 1930s. Even Paraguayans from the east looked at us with fearful eyes when we told them that we were going to the Chaco. In reality the Chaco is easy to travel and offers almost everything that you get elsewhere. It is still recommended to take plentiful of water when leaving the main roads though.

Brazil

As we knew from our last visit here, Brazil means long distance travels on mostly boring roads. This is not any different in Southern Brazil. But the spots we visited were real highlights.

Pantanal

The Pantanal is a vast wetland mostly in Brazil, but also in Paraguay and Bolivia on the other side of Rio Paraguai. It is one of the best places to spot wildlife in South America.

We first drove the Transpantaneira in the northern part with stops at the beginning and the end of this famous road.

We were then lucky enough to be able to catch one of the infrequent barges that travel down Rio Cuiabá and Rio Paraguai from Porto Jofre to Corumbá.

After two nights on the boat we arrived in Corumbá at 3am. After disembarking we directly hit the road and also drove the Estrada Parque in the southern part of the Pantanal to spot more wildlife after dawn.

Bonito

Bonito turned out to be an overrated and expensive tourist trap. Every attraction, as simple as it may be, requires hiring a guide, which obviously is an expensive experience. We opted to just take a swim in the rivers running along the campsites where we stayed and then moved on.

Iguaçu / Iguazú Falls

We stayed at a hostel at the border of the Iguazú Reserve, so more wildlife walking around our vehicle.

The falls itself are impressive from both sides, Argentina and Brazil.

Bolivian lowlands

Lowlands in Bolivia means hot temperatures. At this time of year some 35°C need to be expected at least.

Parque Nacional Madidi

Our first day into the Madidi rain forest started with an 8 hour boat trip along the Río Tuichi starting in Rurrenabaque. It was raining all day at 20°C. Not exactly what we had expected. Everything was soaking wet and never really dried up for the next couple of days in this humid climate.

While animals are hard to spot in the dense forest, the flora is beautiful and impressive.

Chuchini

On the way east we stopped at Chuchini Reserve near Trinidad and took a boat trip on Río Ibare down to Río Mamoré (which ends up in the Amazon at some point north). We spotted some pink river dolphins (impossible to picture) and a few other animals.

Chiquitania

As soon as we took the turnoff in San Ramon, it felt like being in another world, or at least another country. Every village name starts with "San", the houses look better, the landscape predominantely consists of small hills. As a consequence the road takes more turns (as opposed to the flat straight lines in the rest of the lowlands) and is in perfect condition for endless miles. A rare sight in Bolivia where the roads hardly ever remain as intended for more than a mile.

In this region a number of Jesuit missions had been established in the 18th century and many of them have been restored in the late 20th century. These churches are mainly built from wood and look distinctly different than anything else in South America.

Politics

The entire country is fully decorated with propaganda for Evo Morales who aims to be reelected for president this weekend. Demonstrations like these are rumored to pay for people to attend.

Propaganda for the opposition is a rare sight but does exist.

Towards Brazil

The road from San Ignacio de Velasco to Brazil is a typical jungle dirt road which goes in a pretty straight line along the border.

The border crossing was an almost too relaxed experience. The Bolivian military standing at the border would just let us pass through without further ado and without any clue as to where the migration office is located. So we had to turn around and find the migration and customs offices on different ends of the town some 5 miles before the border. Similar story on the Brazilian side where the customs office had already closed by 4:45pm. So we spent the night at a lonely bar at the border, got our vehicle imported the next morning and got our entry stamps in Cáceres an hour's drive from the border.

Back in Bolivia

Since we have been to Bolivia ten years ago, we are trying to visit places we did not get round to seeing back then.

Lago Titicaca

Copacabana is located in a nice bay at Lago Titicaca and sports a famous church.

On the Bolivian side of Lago Titicaca the views are little more interesting because the road is built higher up on the hills than in Peru.

La Paz

La Paz is worth visiting solely for its existence. It is built into the steep hillside of the Altiplano. From that perspective the new Mi Teleférico, consisting of ten lines, can be considered its most important attraction as it provides great vistas of the entire city.

Yungas

Obviously, we wanted to drive the Camino de la Muerte again, this time downhill.

The roads are bad in Bolivia. Seeing how they are built it is no wonder that they dissolve in various ways after short time.

A few miles north of Caranavi we encountered a huge landslide that blocked the road for a few hundred meters. The road was supposed to be "rebuilt" within a day or two. After a couple of hours we were told by locals that there is a bypass. It was quite muddy due to the recent rains and a little steep, but not really a big deal for our vehicle.

Back into the mountains - Southern Peru

After the mostly boring drive along the coast we headed back into the mountains towards Cusco. Already the first few hundred meters of altitude gain provided fantastic views again.

Southern Peru is very touristic and expensive compared to anything we have seen so far. Obviously this also has some disadvantages. However, thanks to our means of transport we have found ways to escape the masses here and there.

Valle Sagrado de los Incas

Cusco is a nice town. It is also the center of gravity of Peru's tourism industry and therefore totally overcrowded and anything but authentic.

After some lengthy contemplation we finally decided to join the masses and take the expensive trip to Machu Picchu. The surroundings of the site are indeed impressive.

The Sacred Valley has some other highlights on offer though. We spent a night at the Salineras de Maras and had the site to ourselves in the evening and the early morning. These salt ponds have been used for centuries before arrival of the Incas and are still operational today.

We also spent some days in Pisac. The Inca ruins above the little town are huge and the site is bigger than Machu Picchu. Getting the full picture of this impressive ancient city requires to do a beautiful hike that takes a few hours. The typical agricultural terraces are constructed on steep hillsides.

Montaña de Siete Colores

The Instagram-famous rainbow mountain is actually only the icing on the cake in a fantastic landscape at 5000 meters above sea level. Approaching from the opposite side and a little later in the day than all the tour groups (~1500 people per day) made for a quiet and scenic drive.

Across the mountains

The drive to our next destination, the Colca Cañon, lead us again across beautiful mountains passes at 4700m.

Cañon del Colca

The prime reason to come to Cañon del Colca is to see the famous condors at Cruz del Cóndor. And they hardly ever disappoint and fly directly over and along the mirador every morning to the excitement of hundreds of spectators. We spent the night directly at the view point.

The canyon itself, although beautiful, is not the most spectacular but one of the deepest in the world. However, the road from Huambo on the canyon's steep hillside across the mountains to Alto de Majes is very scenic.

Arequipa

Laguna Salinas

In order to reach Titicaca Lake we did not take the main route but the 34C gravel road. We spent the night on the shores of the beautiful Laguna Salinas at 4300m. It got freezing cold. The locals win the salt from this laguna with simple means.

The further drive led along river gorges, lagunas and herds of alpacas and vicuñas until we reached Puno.

Lago Titicaca

Titicaca Lake is shared between Peru and Bolivia and is the highest navigable lake in the world at 3800m. Unfortunately a lot of trash somewhat spoils the experience, such that we ended up only relaxing a couple of days in Copacabana (Bolivia).

Along the coast

The Peruvian coast is a rather short story. Temperatures hardly ever reach 20° Celsius at this time of year and it is foggy most of the time.

Lima

Traffic in Lima is as chaotic and hectic as it can be. Barranco and Miraflores are some of the nicer and quieter districts.

Paracas

During a short boat tour to the Islas Ballestas we could spot sea lions, Humboldt penguins and other birds.

The Reserva Nacional de Paracas stretches along the coast south of Paracas. It is a scenic drive between sand dunes and along some nice beaches.

Huacachina

Huacachina is a small oasis surrounded by sand dunes. It is very touristic but we found a quiet place to spend a couple of days. Walking up the sand dunes for sunset and running back down again is a great experience in a country otherwise dominated by mountains.

Nasca Lines

We only made a quick stop on the Panamericana to view the famous Nasca Lines from the top of a tower. To get the full experience a flight across the vast area is the only option.

Northern Peru

We entered Peru in the northern mountains without any expectations whatsoever, and we were blown away and could immediately enjoy a wonderful drive along rivers and hills.

The first night we spent on a very lonely river spot. Our morning routine was only interrupted by a thirsty cow.

Chachapoyas region

Catarata del Gocta ranks among the tallest waterfalls of the world. The hike to the falls from Cocachimba leads through green landscapes and sometimes deep down into the gorge.

Kuélap is a walled settlement from the Chachapoyas culture in the 6th century. Unfortunately a lot is left to imagination.

Across the mountains

The entire road from the border with Ecuador down to the coast in Trujillo is very scenic. The stretch from Leymebamba to Celendín must be one of the most spectacular yet comfortable road trips. It is all paved, but mostly just one lane along the hillside atop steep cliffs.

The northern coast

We only went along the northern coast from Pacasmayo to Chimbote going through Trujillo. It is not an extremely interesting drive, but there are a few nice landscapes left and right.

Trujillo has a small colonial center and a few archeological sites of the pre-Columbian era of which we visited Chan Chan.

Cordillera Blanca

Temperatures at the coast do not reach 20°C at this time of year. Therefore we soon headed back to the mountains along Río Santa and through Cañon del Pato to Caraz.

The Cordillera Blanca is one of the highest Andes mountain ranges with snow-capped peaks up to above 6700m. We took a scenic drive to Punta Winchus at 4200m in the Cordillera Negra with vistas of the Cordillera Blanca. At this spot some of the rare Puya Raimondii flowers grow higher than 10 meters. They only bloom after several decades.

A highlight in this area are the various mountain lagoons in blue and turquoise colors. We visited Laguna Parón at 4200m and hiked along its shore.

Next we took a loop into the heart of the cordillera across the passes Portachuelo de Llanganuco and Punta Olímpica.

The first pass was a bumpy ride on a gravel road filled with stones and great vistas of the surrounding mountains and lagoons from above at 4700m altitude.

The next pass goes on a more comfortable and paved road and is therefore much more visited. The views are not any worse here though.

Our last stop in the Cordillera Blanca was at Glaciar Pastoruri. Due to its continued retreat, the last 150 meters up to 5000m altitude now need to be hiked.

Some more Puya Raimondii greated us along the road.

Ecuador

The North

Our next stop was in Quito. The city has a lot of nice churches and other buildings. However the atmosphere is generally rather hectic.

We then started to descend, first to Mindo, which is located between the lowlands and the tropical Andes.

The coast

The Pacific coast does not experience the best weather at this time of year, with a lot of garúa. Nevertheless we were lucky and could catch some sun while camping at the highly recommended Canoa Suites.

We then took a boat trip to Isla de la Plata from Puerto López / Machalilla. This island is also known as miniature Galápagos. Although this is not entirely true, we had the opportunity to spot a lot of blue-footed boobies and some humpback whales.

The central Andes

Cotopaxi is very majestic if it does not hide behind clouds. We were lucky and made it to above 4600 meters altitude and enjoyed some great views.

After a relaxing stop in Baños we drove to Alausí and took the train ride over the Nariz del Diablo. This railroad climbs more than 500 meters in less than 12.5 km. Some setting-back tracks aid in gaining altitude.

Cuenca is one of the nicest and most laid-back cities. Of course is sports a lot of churches, but also some tranquil alleys and many good restaurants.

Vilcabamba, which is located below 2000 meters of altitude, is surrounded by mountains and Cerro Mandango looks down upon the village. We hiked Mandango from behind and enjoyed the great vista from there.