South America and South Africa

Peninsula Valdes is in northern Patagonia and known for its excellent wildlife. There are populations of among others sea-elephants, southern right whales and penguins. My friend Ingo recommended to go there and I booked a flight and a rental car to explore the peninsula. When I went there I had my first surprise – Patagonia was flat with no hills, mountains, or trees. Until then I always thought the entire Patagonia would look like Tierra del Fuego with its snow-capped mountains and clear blue lakes, but no, for hundreds of miles only scrubs in the plains.

When I arrived in Puerto Piramidos, the only village and with 400ish inhabitants rather tiny, I immediately liked the place. It was sleepy and relaxed but I learned that it gets considerably more crowded on weekends. There are several whale-watching operators and I decided to break my “never again a whale-watching-tour-resolution” I made after my previous three, exclusively disappointing whale-watch experiences (if I haven’t repressed successfully the memories of other disappointing trips). To give you an idea: when I went to the beach I could see more whales from the shore than I have ever seen on all those tours together.

The first day I made an in total approx. 130 miles long dirt-road-trip around the island joined by a lovely young couple from Germany hitch-hiking in South America. We had a great day taking our time to watch the wildlife at the various beaches, which are, however, not accessible for human beings. We saw many sea-elephants and sealions, albatrosses, penguins, and on our way to the beaches loads of guanacos (looked to me like vicunas = wild lamas) and even an armadillo crossing the street right in front of us.

Later in the afternoon our car had a flat tire and after changing it with the help of a park ranger we decided to return on the shortest route given the gravel roads and the lack of an additional spare tire. In the end this incident was the greatest luck as we repeated our stops at the viewpoints we were before. There was a bunch of people standing at the penguin spot entirely ignoring the penguins. When we came closer we saw them as well: some orca whales, also rare to watch on the Peninsula, on their way up the natural canal. And while we were waiting patiently it became even more spectacular when one orca attacked and killed a sealion/sea-elephant resting on the shore of the canal. It was really exciting to watch how the orca was sneaking through the canal to make its deadly attack. After the sealion was towed into deeper water and killed a flock of seagulls indicated where the feast was happening.

The next day I decided to make the whale watching tour after checking the weather with one of the tour operators. It promised to stay fine for the day but windy for the day thereafter so that I made the tour against my initial plans on that Sunday. Again I was very lucky as an unusual high concentration of plancton in the water at one spot led to an unusual high concentration of whales, dolphins, sealions and penguins. Sometimes the different species were even interacting among each other.

It was amazing how the whales were breaching, showing their dorsal fin, feeding plancton, curiuosly observing our 12 m boat or diving underneath it. The whale mothers (about 15 m long) were guiding and protecting their babies (about 6 m long) and it was cute how they always held physical contact unless the mother was diving. Sometimes it even would have been possible to touch these huge animals because they were that close to the boat. Right before we left five whales were surrounding us and it was almost stress as I couldn’t decide where I watch first. When we went back to  Puerto Piramides I had a enormous smile on my face and it was time for a new “never again a whale-watching-tour-resolution” – this time, however, because it cannot get any better!

Before I went to the Peninsula Valdes I was somewhat anxious whether it can compare with the wildlife of the Galapagos Islands I had seen only seven weeks ago (time flies). As the focus this time was more on the sea-mammals, particularly on the southern right whales, it was again amazing and surely an once in a lifetime experience not to be missed. Muchas gracias, Ingo (if you read these lines)!

(see also under photos “Peninsula Valdes”)

Iquique is a city with a population of approximately 100,000 people squeezed in between the Pacific Ocean and the Atacama desert. It is well known among surfers and paragliders, which come here from all around the world to enjoy the excellent flying in Alto Hospicio and Pala Buque, the constantly fine weather, 360 days of the year are flyable, and the very good infrastructure.

When I arrived I was surprised because I expected a somewhat smaller city and also a smaller flightpark Altazor, where I stayed. Due to its location between the ocean and the desert and additionally limited through a huge sand dune that is projected to become a UNESCO World Heritage the city can only grow by the erection of high-rise buildings. Considering it is built in a seismic active area, that the last big earthquake occurred about 100 years ago, that the next big one is overdue, and that the larger part of Iquique is built on sea-level it appears to be only a question of time until the city is doomed to be washed away by a big tsunami following an earthquake. Nevertheless it is heavily growing – when Philipp Maltry started to develop the flightpark 10ish years ago the city was a few km away, now the flightpark is surrounded by 15-story houses.

The flightpark itself meanwhile has space for 70 guests, who sleep in refurbished oversea containers. There are two communal kitchens and most of the containers have a little bathroom. Usually groups of pilots are coming with organized trips, when I was there there were for instance groups from Brazil and Argentina. Additionally there is a bunch of individuals from around the world who form an own group, fly together, and have barbeques (“assados”) in the communal area every now and then. When I was there these guys came from Sweden (Mats), Austria (Stefan), the U.S. (Tommy), England (Joseph), and France (Hugo). The other guys except Joseph were regulars and Mats and Tommy are staying several months. There is also interaction between the groups but according to Stefan this is unfortunately decreasing the bigger the flightpark grows. Nevertheless after Stefan has encouraged me I made contact with Pablo from Argentina, a flight instructor from the flying site of Cuchi Corral close to Cordoba, who I will visit next week (the Iquazu waterfalls were sacrifized).

One flying site is Alta Hospicio about 400 metres above the flightpark and the preferred site for the morning flights. It is excellent for thermaling and a good launch for cross country flights. There are many options to land, one right behind the flightpark, and also one at the beach of Cavancha, after flying over the city. As there are almost no options to land in the city one needs enough altitude to be sure to reach the beach. The first time I was doing that together with Stefan and Mats who showed me also the thermals I was full of bubbling energy when I finally landed safely at the beach. It was so great flying over the city and watching the shore and the sealions from above. Thereafter we had lunch at a good fish restaurant.

The other flying site is Pala Buque, a among acro pilots world-wide renowned 60 m dune due to its constantly strong wind from the sea, which allows all kind of manouvers without the necessity to land. While I was there one of the top ten acro pilots was in the flightpark, going with its friends in the afternoon to Pala Buque. The more the day proceeds the conditions get weaker and also average pilots can launch. It is then still more a question of landing then of staying up but when I was flying after effortlessly gaining an altitude of 500 m the air was very smooth so that it was a real pleasure to fly there.

I enjoyed so much being there the last thirteen days, having all these great flights and the camaraderie with the other pilots. It would be nice to return soon but given the long flights and the costs to get there this is clearly not something for every year. Nevertheless I aim to stay in contact with some of the pilots flying in Europe to meet up again.

(www.altazor.cl)

The last three days I made a tour to the Salar de Uyuni (elev. 3,660 m), which is with 12,000 km² (half the size of the land Mecklenburg-West Pomerania) the largest and highest salt-lake in the world in the South-West of Bolivia. It is surrounded by volcanoes, multi-coloured lakes, and the big nothingness. The trip started in Uyuni a little town in the middle of nowhere which was in better times in the last century a major railway junction.The first stop was at the train cemetery where old trains found their final destination in the desert.

From there we went to the Salar de Uyuni with its blinding white endless salt-crust. At the borders of the salt lake the layer of salt is about 30 cm thick whereas it is at the centre up to 45 m. The salt is formed to pyramids to dry for further processing.

The next stop was at the Isla Incahuasi, a small island covered with tall cactii, some of them up to nine meters high and considering the annual growth rate of approximately 1 cm almost 1,000 years old. The Galaxy Cavern with its bizarre stone structures was our final destination for day one.

The next morning we continued our tour through the big nothingness of the Bolivian Altiplano. It was a great experience to cross the desert for hours, so different than anything in Europe. Sometimes we could see strangely shaped rock formations caused by volcanoe eruptions along the dirt-road, some of the volcanoes still active.

Several lakes, some of those coloured in red, green or a pale blue due to algae or minerals/metals dissolved in it, provided habitats for hundreds of flamingos, a bird species one normally wouldn’t expect to see in the desert and an altitude of more than 4,000 m. (Unfortuntaly I got sick that evening, the first time since I started my trip, so that I didn’t feel well enough to take more pictures. The best views were anyway on the first two days.)

This is not the Copacabana in Rio de Janeiro but the Copacabana at the shores of the Bolivian side of Lake Titikaka. It is a small town in an elevation of about 4,000 m and the atmosphere is very laid back. Lodging and food is really cheap and I enjoyed a lot staying here the last four days.

Yesterday morning I accidently spotted a women’s soccer tournament in the sports hall right opposite my hostel and when I went home in the evening around ten in the night it was still ongoing. Each team had their individual jersey which they wore over their complete traditional clothing. It appeared that they had at least four different layers of clothing and in their skirts they appeared like pawns moving over the chess board. The goalie kneeled down to catch a ball and it was caught in the seems of the skirt. Often lacking elegance it was visible when they were playing that they were doing regular training and at least prior to that tournament they had their tactics lesson as they were sticking to their positions. Also the spectators and the referees took the sports very serious.

The women had so much fun and it was very cute when they made a mistake and nevertheless smiled. I guess the life of a woman in Bolivia  is full of duties and that there is not much leisure or enjoyment.  Even more I was happy to see all the joy they had in their faces while they were playing. I think this is it about the things you are doing.

(The photos are far from being optimal or even good also owed to the difficult light. Nevertheless there is so much life in it that I publish them anyway. For those who like sunsets (and who does not?) there are more photos from Copacabana under photos “Evening at Lake Titikaka”.)

The last five days I was in Cusco, the former Incan capital and today’s backpacker’s epicentrum in South America and in Machu Picchu, the sunken Inca town in the jungle that was rediscovered by Hiran Bingham in 1911.

Cusco’s centre is defined by the Plaza de Armas. Apart from the Cathedral and another church the plaza and the roads adjacent to it are surrounded by shops that cater exclusively for the tourist’s needs: restaurants, bars, souvenir shops, tour operators, internet and money changing booths that more or less offer exactly the same for more or less the same price. The closer the buildings are to the plaza the nicer they look. Everything there is tidy and clean and the city stretches out to the hills enclosing Cusco. It is nice to sit here while writing travelblog but simultaneously it is a somewhat odd experience as it seems that the city centre is designed for the international traveller and not for the Peruvians. Even KFC and McDonalds have their branches here. Despite the amenities I am happy to leave to Lago Titikaka in Bolivia tonight as I didn’t really come here for seeing a quasi western town centre.  

Machu Picchu, built between 1450 and 1540 by the incas, is uniquely located on the top of the mountains at the border of the Amazonian jungle, about 70 miles north-west of Cusco. There are several ways to get to Machu Picchu of which the most spectular ones are the multi-day hikes, e.g. the well known Inca Trail. I decided to do a two-day bus/train-tour with a visit of the Sacred Valley, an overnight stay in Aguas Calientes, a town consisting of hotels/hostels and restaurants approximately 30 car-minutes below Machu Picchu, and thereafter a whole day at the ruins. I was curious how Machu Picchu would compare to Angkor, the temple city in Cambodia, which really impressed me when I visited it in 2002. (I consider its main temple Angkor Wat still as the most beautiful building I have ever seen.)

When I woke up there was heavy rain and Machu Picchu was in the clouds. Of course I was somewhat bemused but on the other hand the clouds emphasized the location on the hardly accessible top of the mountain and it appeared as almost built in heaven. Albeit the ruins are really good in shape considering that 70 percent were still intact after almost 500 years coverage by the jungle I was mostly excited about how they are located. (See also photos.)

The lasting three days I spent in Arequipa and the Colca Canyon. Unlike Nasca I haven’t planned the visit of these two places from the beginning but on the Galapagos Islands cruise somebody recommended to go there. Arequipa is the second largest city in Peru and beautifully located below some volcanoes. The most famous might be the Ampato where the famous Inca-mummy “Juanita” was found in 6,300 m altitude.

Arequipa has some old monastries of which the larger part of the Convent Santa Catalina was made accessible to the public after  the earthquake in 1970. The convent is like a little town in the city and it was restored and coloured typical for that region. While we were there, I was together with the two spanish flight attendants I met in Nasca, a film-team was shooting a scene for a film about a nun of this monastry.

After two days I left in the early morning for a two-day tour to the Colca Canyon which is deeper than the Grand Canyon but apart from that cannot compete with it. The tour started with a visit of the Cruz del Condor, the deepest part of the canyon, where each morning condors rise in the morning thermals. Thereafter we went to the rim of the canyon and started our hike to the “oasis” at the bottom of the canyon where we stayed overnight. As my feet were completely messed up by my hiking-boots I decided to make use of the offer to waive the next morning climb for a ride on a mule back to the rim. After the breakfast we continued our tour with visits to several villages with great views of the scenery, a bath in the hot springs of La Calera and finally a visit to the Aguada Blanca National Vicuna Reserve about one hour out of Arequipa. (See photos “Two-day tour to the Colca Canyon”)

The last 1.5 days I was in Nasca, well known for its Nasca Lines, which are parallel and geometrical figures, as well as designs like monkeys, birds, spiders etc. cut into the stony desert more than 2,000 years ago. They are best seen from the air and I arranged a flight for the afternoon. The plane had space for seven passengers and I was brought together with a group of five. Since there is not much else to do in the town I booked a tour to see a pre-inca cemetery a few miles off.

When I showed up at the airfield at 2:30, my flight was due at 3:00, the ground staff told me that the other group is delayed and that I have to wait a little bit. Finally at 4:30 they told me that the flight will not happen this day as the other people didn’t show up and they returned the money to me after a lengthy discussion I had with them as I wanted to do the flight anyway. Since I just came to see the lines from the air I was rather disappointed and somewhat angry how they dealt with me. For seeing them from a tower, the second best alternative, it was already too late as well as for the visit of the museum. And since I was leaving that evening, I already bought the coach ticket, there was no way of seeing them the next day.

Later the evening at the coach station I met some people from the cemetery tour again and while we were waiting we actually had a very nice evening and I relaxed. With the two flight attendants from the Canarian Islands I am actually now in the same hostel in Arequipa. And the Israeli guy said that he wished that what happened to me would have happened to him as the flight wasn’t that great anyway and not worth the money. Yessss!

Huaraz (alt. 3,000 m) is the main town of the Cordillera Blanca, where apart from the range of the Andes running along the Chile-Argentina border the highest mountains in South America are. The mountain range is easily visible and from Huaraz alone one can see 23 peaks higher than 5,000 m. The town is well known among international climbers, Peru’s highest mountain, the Huascaran (6,768 m) is only about 40 km away. While I was in Huaraz it was clear to me that I wanted to go hiking. I made two hikes, one self organized acclimatization hike to Laguna Churrup and one day-hike to Laguna 69. Both hikes started on an altitude of about 4,000 m and lead to an altitude of 4,600 m (the Mont Blanc as the highest mountain in Western Europe is about 4850 m high).

When I started the hike to Laguna Churrup at 1 p.m. it was too late to reach the lake and return to Huaraz while there is still daylight. Therefore I decided to turn around at 3.30, in time to be back before dusk. Despite I didn’t see the lake I enjoyed the day a lot, particularly organizing everything with the uncertainty how it’ll work out. I got to Llupa, the starting point of the hike, with a public-transport minibus together with ten Peruvians coming from the market with their stuff on the roof and all watching me. When I disembarked the minibus unfortunately I forgot to ask when the latest minibus is returning to Huaraz. Hence I learned the hard way that there were no buses operating from Llupa anymore when I returned from the hike. However, a farmer’s woman kindly told me so when I was walking by and she also pointed me to a different dirt road back to Huaraz saving me from making a huge detour. Eventually I caught a minibus when I was already expecting to have to walk back the entire way.

For the hike to Laguna 69 I booked the transport and the hike started “in the backyard” of the Huascaran. The weather here is always unpredictable and I was requested to bring clothing pretty much for any possible weather conditions. (Given the high altitude it is not a surprise that it gets really chilly when it is not sunny but windy.) The hike is in total twelve miles long and goes 600 m up. It consists of two parts which are more or less flat and two medium-long steep parts. A lot of people were doing it as it is arguably the most rewarding one day-hike in the area.

I was writing these lines while I was already in Nasca, the Peruvian town where ancient cultures cut lines in the desert, some of those more that 2,600 years old. It is still unclear what they were used for. However, it appeared kind of surreal to me being in the desert after seeing the Pacific Ocean four hours ago while riding on the coach and less than 24 hours ago being on 4,600 m above sea level surrended by glaciers.

While I was on my cruise to the Galapagos Islands I decided to go directly by coach to Huaraz, Peru, not knowing exactly how I get there. It was clear that I would take the overnight bus from Guayaquil, Ecuador to Piura, Peru, but thereafter I had to figure out how to get further. And since I would be new in Peru I wouldn’t be familiar with the conditions and circumstances, e.g. which border crossing is safe, which bus companies are reliable, via which towns should I travel, when should I change the bus, can I pay in USD (no) or do I need Peruvian soles (yes), etc.

In Guayaquil I entered the CIVA coach and apart from a closed border for one hour for what reasons ever there where no complications on the ride. When we got closer to Piura after approximately eleven hours drive I detected that the coach was going further south so I asked the conductor Juanito, how I learned later, whether it would be possible to stay on the coach instead of changing coaches in Piura (without knowing when and from where the next coach will leave). I mentioned that my final destination is Huaraz, still 20ish driving hours away. Juanito told me that I can stay on the coach, charged for the longer way proportionally and then he started calling around to find out which coach services would be suitable going further to Huaraz from our then final destination Chiclayo. While we were still on the coach it became clear that the direct service from Chiclayo was booked out. Anyway, after our arrival Juanito invited me to a cab ride to find out which other bus company would get me to Huaraz. (Considering that he already finished his work duties it is clearly unthinkable that this would happen anywhere in Europe.) The outcome was that I had to go with another bus company to Trujillo, change there the bus terminal to Movil Tours, meanwhile the third bus company, to take the overnight coach to reach my final destination in the early morning hours. He helped me to buy the ticket, even wrote me a little sheet on Spanish how I get there so that I would only had to hand it over the counter when buying the ticket in Trujillo if I wouldn’t make myself clear given my still limited Spanish skills. He gave me his email address, I gave him the address of my blog, so maybe he reads these lines.

Anyway, everything worked out perfectly. After 33ish hours I finally arrived in Huaraz at 6 o’clock in the morning without any problems. (Regarding the travel time: the long distance coaches in Peru are actually really luxurious, the seats are comparable with those of a business class of (intercontinental-)planes, one gets snacks and softdrinks, and there is excellent service by the staff – Thanks, Juanito!) The hotel was already open (I had not reserved) so that I could check in and finally could allay my desire for a shower.

The Galapagos Islands belong to Ecuador and are one of the places of my trip I wanted to see for more than 25 years. When Charles Darwin visited the archipelago in 1832 the abundant wildlife triggered his theory about the development of the species, still a cornerstone of how we see our world today. I decided to make an 8-day-cruise to get the most out of this excursion. With USD 1,690 (incl. flights) not cheap but worth every penny. (Prior to the cruise I was somewhat nervous whether it would be not as great as I always thought but I enjoyed each single minute.)

The Galapagos Islands are about two flight hours west of Quito and Guayaquil and of volcanic origin. Since many of the volcanos, particularly on the more western parts, are still active it still changes its outlay. What makes the islands so special is their isolation so that many of the animal species are endemic. Lacking the contact with human beings prior to the islands’ discovery they have no fear of men as this is not encoded in their genetic masterplan. The National Park Galapagos makes only a very small part of the islands accessible for visitors leaving the greatest parts of the nature uncorrupted. Everything is very well organized and each boat has an exact itinerary which places on which date and time they can visit.

Our boat , the Floreana, had space for 16 passengers plus crew and the daily routine started with a breakfast at 7 a.m., thereafter came a visit of an island with our guide/guard Victor, as he explained and simultanuosly took care that nobody stayed behind or left the path, followed by snorkeling in the ocean. Thereafter lunch at noon, at 2 p.m. the second snorkeling followed by the second land excursion and dinner at 7 p.m.. During the night we usually navigated to the next island.

On our first afternoon Victor lead us to  a part of Isla Sta. Cruz, the main island albeit not the biggest island, where giant turtles are living in their natural habitat. The biggest of the turtles we saw had a shell with a diameter of almost a meter and was approx. 190 years old, i.e. it was already born, when Charles Darwin visited the islands. We could get as close as one meter until the turtles finally pulled their heads back into the shell.

The first full day started with one of the highlights – the visit of Isla Genovesa with its fantastic bird colonies. For your better understanding – I am absolutely no birdwatcher and could never understand those people who get excited when they see or hear birds. But this was really different: we disembarked the dinghies and started our walk – birds everywhere and not scared at all. We could get very close to the birds and they were not flying away but were even curious. I have never experienced something like that before. In the morning we were seeing mainly red-footed boobies and frigatebirds as well as some sealions, in the afternoon mainly nazca boobies and marine iguanas. Sealions and marine iguanas accompanied us during the entire week.

On the second day we went further to to Sullivan Bay on Isla Santiago where we made a walk over a 120 years old lava flow. Since I have seen lava flows before I was not too excited when Victor mentioned the itinerary for the morning but when I saw all the lava structures lying out like pieces of artwork quickly I changed my mind (see under photos “Structures”). In the afternoon we traveled to Isla St. Bartholomé with maybe the most famous view of the Galapagos archipelago.

The next day we went to a small island called Sombrero Chino given its shape. It was the first time we saw penguins, pelicans and hawks. Shortly thereafter we had a truely unique experience: we were entering a beach when a female sealion was giving birth to a sealion pup. Unfortunately the pup was lying upside-down so it was not brought alive, which was a very disturbing moment for all of us when we eventually realized this. Some comfort was that at least the mother did not die while giving birth. (As I am really sure that this is the closest I ever get of trying to be a National Geographic photographer I dedicated an entire page to this event on “photos” .)

The fourth day presenting the mid of our excursion brought a visit in Puerto Villamil, the main town of Isla Islabella, which is by far the biggest of the islands. so The town itself is not so interesting but some nice spots presenting wildlife,inter alias flamingos are close by.

On the fifth day we visited Isla Fernadina in the morning, which has a huge population of marine iguanas. It was also the first time that we saw flightless cormorans, a subspecies  of the cormoran family that lost its ability to fly but can swim excellently. And, as always, the odd sealions were there. The snorkeling at this island was extraordinary as we saw lots of seaturtles, white-tip reefsharks, were swimming with sealions and I also saw an octopus.  In the afternoon we were going to Tagus Cove on Isla Isabella where we saw a bigger population of blue-footed boobies.

The seventh day brought us to Bahia James on Isla Santiago in the morning and to Isla Rapida in the afternoon. I thought I already shot my ultimate photo of a sealion or a marine iguana but again, I had to pull out the camera to take pictures, this time for instance of a sealion mother nursing her pup .