https://elmeandro.ch en (cc) El Meandro <p class="excerpt"> We have created a separate page that describes our trip in a nutshell listing all the highlights and the best campsites. As a complement, this last blog post summarizes some of our best moments in pictures. Colombia Colombia is a country that is very easy to travel in. People are extremely friendly, beyond anything...</p> Continue reading]]> ]]>Sat, 27 Jun 2020 15:19:12 +0200/blog/our-trip-in-a-nutshell/blog/our-trip-in-a-nutshell<p class="excerpt"> Uruguay is the smallest Spanish-speaking country in South America, yet it is more than four times bigger than Switzerland. It is famous for its beaches, some of which we visited traveling mostly along the coast. The country is mostly flat, the highest peak being at 513m above sea level, and thus the roads are not...</p> Continue reading]]> ]]>Mon, 13 Apr 2020 11:06:56 +0200/blog/uruguay/blog/uruguay<p class="excerpt"> The short answer is: no. But it has been a little more complicated than that. Right now we are back in Switzerland since late Tuesday evening. We were lucky enough to be taken on a repatriation flight to Frankfurt/Germany and from there it was an easy train ride back home. For all of you who have been following our...</p> Continue reading]]> ]]>Fri, 03 Apr 2020 22:39:13 +0200/blog/are-you-still-traveling/blog/are-you-still-traveling<p class="excerpt"> The Patagonian Atlantic Coast essentially is about driving thousands of kilometers to get up and close with mostly marine wildlife every now and then. This time we were prepared for some of the most boring roads this planet has to offer. We reached the Atlantic coast on a straight back road from El Calafate....</p> Continue reading]]> ]]>Sun, 08 Mar 2020 17:07:23 +0200/blog/patagonian-atlantic-coast/blog/patagonian-atlantic-coast<p class="excerpt"> As soon as we had crossed the border from Chile to Argentina at Paso Roballos we were in off-road and outdoor heaven again. Lonesome gravel roads, sunny weather, great views, perfect wild camps. Paso Roballos is the last border crossing to Argentina before the Carretera Austral ends in Chile. The back road down to...</p> Continue reading]]> ]]>Mon, 24 Feb 2020 02:21:20 +0200/blog/southern-patagonia/blog/southern-patagonia<p class="excerpt"> We did find our highlights along the famous Carretera Austral as you will read below. A large portion of the road itself did not quite live up to our expectations though. Part of it may be due to the quite common rains that we experienced during our driving days. Especially the northern section is almost entirely...</p> Continue reading]]> ]]>Thu, 13 Feb 2020 17:33:38 +0200/blog/carretera-austral/blog/carretera-austral<p class="excerpt"> Because the ferry runs only once a week from Chiloé to Chaitén on mainland Chile, we spent almost an entire week on this island, which is known for its wooden churches. What we enjoyed most during our stay though were our overnight places which were always directly at the sea. Northern Chiloé We first arrived in...</p> Continue reading]]> ]]>Thu, 06 Feb 2020 17:43:22 +0200/blog/chiloe/blog/chiloe<p class="excerpt"> After a few days of rain, something we are not accustomed to, we hit Chile's Lake District. This region was of more interest to us again thanks to its picturesque volcanoes set along lakes and rivers. Hiking also became rewarding as soon as we were able to leave the dense forests of the lower regions behind. The...</p> Continue reading]]> ]]>Thu, 23 Jan 2020 02:40:19 +0200/blog/volcanoes-lakes-chiles-lake-district/blog/volcanoes-lakes-chiles-lake-district<p class="excerpt"> Relative to the distance traveled (3600km in about 3 weeks), this has been the least interesting part of our trip so far, which prompted us to cross the border between Argentina and Chile a few times to at least get some mountain driving and views every now and then. "] The Roads First we quickly drove southwards a...</p> Continue reading]]> ]]>Thu, 16 Jan 2020 01:26:57 +0200/blog/crossing-borders-central-chile-argentina/blog/crossing-borders-central-chile-argentina<p class="excerpt"> In Argentina we did another great road trip. The Puna is the Argentinian highlands, not as high up in the Andes as in Bolivia, but equally as impressive. It is easily possible to find overnight places below 3500m. The volcanic origin of these landscapes is glaringly obvious. During the two days driving from...</p> Continue reading]]> ]]>Mon, 16 Dec 2019 16:34:01 +0200/blog/argentinian-puna/blog/argentinian-puna<p class="excerpt"> 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...</p> Continue reading]]> ]]>Sat, 14 Dec 2019 21:39:30 +0200/blog/atacama-northern-chile/blog/atacama-northern-chile<p class="excerpt"> 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...</p> Continue reading]]> ]]>Thu, 05 Dec 2019 03:01:55 +0200/blog/southern-bolivia/blog/southern-bolivia<p class="excerpt"> 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...</p> Continue reading]]> ]]>Sun, 17 Nov 2019 17:24:19 +0200/blog/paraguay/blog/paraguay<p class="excerpt"> 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....</p> Continue reading]]> ]]>Wed, 30 Oct 2019 20:01:27 +0200/blog/brasil/blog/brasil<p class="excerpt"> 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...</p> Continue reading]]> ]]>Sat, 19 Oct 2019 00:20:58 +0200/blog/bolivian-lowlands/blog/bolivian-lowlands<p class="excerpt"> 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...</p> Continue reading]]> ]]>Mon, 14 Oct 2019 22:07:46 +0200/blog/in-bolivia-again/blog/in-bolivia-again<p class="excerpt"> 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....</p> Continue reading]]> ]]>Sat, 05 Oct 2019 18:02:49 +0200/blog/back-into-the-mountains-southern-peru/blog/back-into-the-mountains-southern-peru<p class="excerpt"> 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...</p> Continue reading]]> ]]>Fri, 27 Sep 2019 00:41:04 +0200/blog/along-the-coast/blog/along-the-coast<p class="excerpt"> 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...</p> Continue reading]]> ]]>Wed, 04 Sep 2019 18:36:53 +0200/blog/northern-peru/blog/northern-peru<p class="excerpt"> We traveled through Ecuador from North to South, fitting in a loop along the Pacific coast. The North We started exploring Ecuador at Laguna Cuicocha . This is a crater lake at a little more than 3000 meters above sea level. The hike around the laguna is very scenic once you get to higher locations (although we...</p> Continue reading]]> ]]>Thu, 08 Aug 2019 00:55:18 +0200/blog/ecuador/blog/ecuador<p class="excerpt"> From Medellín we traveled southwards to the Eje Cafetera and Los Nevados. We took a scenic route off of the main road. Eje Cafetera &amp; Los Nevados We spent a few nights in Manizales and near Filandia and then drove through the Valle La Carbonera, which is full of the famous wax palms, back down to the Magdalena...</p> Continue reading]]> ]]>Fri, 12 Jul 2019 05:23:43 +0200/blog/southwards/blog/southwards<p class="excerpt"> After experiencing the heat in Northern Colombia, we traveled southwards into the Cordilleras, the Andes mountains. We basically crossed the Magdalena river valley from east to west, thus starting in the Cordillera Oriental driving towards the Cordillera Central. Barichara First, we stayed close to Barichara for a...</p> Continue reading]]> ]]>Mon, 17 Jun 2019 01:16:07 +0200/blog/central-colombia/blog/central-colombia<p class="excerpt"> Northern Colombia is a hot beast. Upon our arrival in Cartagena it was around 35°C, which felt more like 40°C due to the added humidity. Cartagena Cartagena is a very nice colonial town. Unfortunately its main center has to be considered a tourist trap. We were constantly bothered by people selling souvenirs,...</p> Continue reading]]> ]]>Tue, 28 May 2019 21:55:18 +0200/blog/northern-colombia/blog/northern-colombia