Muizenberg - Cape Town

We arrive at Michael’s place in Muizenberg and even before we put down our luggage Elodie screams out: my camera! We must have forgotten it in one of the shuttles. Trying not to panic we call everyone to locate the camera. It is in the last shuttle. We can come pick it up says the driver, he lives on the other side of town, in a dodgy neighborhood… Let’s go says Michael, our host and savior. This is what a positive attitude does: we have a great ride through all Cape Town, while Michael explains about historical events, cultural phenomenons, and ideology. The camera finds its owner and we drive home in high spirits. No way does he want a compensation. The only promise we have to make is that we will do the same thing to someone else one day. The next day we go all three to the Cape: Cape of Good Hope, or Cape of Storms as it was called before, due to the numerous storms in this area, close to the meeting point between the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean. The name Cape of Good Hope was given because of the great optimism engendered by the opening of a sea route to India and the East. After a delicious Tibetan lunch we visit the Jackass Penguins at Boulders, a whole colony of these small South African penguins live there. Three young ones try to conquer the ocean and make me laugh a lot as they stumble under a wave.

On the way back, Michael shows us a statue of the Great Dane “Just Nuisance”, the only dog ever to be officially enlisted in the Royal Navy and buried with full military honor. Another great day.

The beach at Muizenberg is nice, I particularly enjoy watching the Seagulls dig for shells that they drop from a great height down on the beach to break them open. Elodie picks some shells – “I want to cook them” she says, and I can only believe her when she says they are good. To part from our host, and also to escape from the rain, Michael takes us to do some winetasting at Groot Constantia. Elodie knows a great deal about wine and we share some delicious moments, tasting and laughing.

Saths is our next host. He lives in a beautiful house just under Table Mountain which we never see because of the clouds. He shows us all his favorite places to have a coffee in Cape Town, great! He is good company and introduces us to his ten year old son with whom we spend some time and play Jenga while Saths is at work. In two days we leave South Africa and I finish my trip. It feels weird and good at the same time…

The sea is angry and we cannot visit Robben Island, the prison where Nelson Mandela was kept for 18 years. I will have to come back one day. Instead we go for a walk in town, and meet for lunch with Mary I met in Bolivia. We finish the day in the South African Art Museum where we have the chance to be invited to a private vernissage. A perfect end to the trip, tomorrow we go home…

photos Cape Town

Gansbaai – Overberg

It is a beautiful morning in Hermanus, and we are going to cage-dive with great white sharks…Who hasn’t seen the movies “JAW”? Listen to this http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=BE&v=ZvCI-gNK_y4&noredirect=1 it fills you with terror, right? It doesn’t stop us. What an adventure! What we discovered was amazing. These animals are not mean, as we might think, but they are very curious and like to taste with their jaws... One of them bite the cage right in front of me. Saying my heart did not beat twice as fast would be a lie, but I am quite confident that the steel in front of me will hold. No feeding they promised. This is not entirely true. To attract the sharks, they pour fish oil into the sea and to play with them a giant sardine head is thrown repeatedly into the water. After 20 minutes in the water I feel like an ice cube. Enjoying the sharks from above is also quite pleasant and certainly not as cold! We take a shuttle to our last destination in South Africa, Cape Town. For me it’s the last destination of my travel around the world…

photos Gansbaai

Oudtshoorn

The land of caves and Ostriches! Did you know that you can stand on an Ostrich egg without it breaking? Or that male ostriches also lay eggs? (the guide was so convincing, we even believed her for several minutes..). In one ostrich egg there are 24 eggs from a hen… time for omelet! Beautiful animals they are and not as ferocious as they say, I had four of them eating in a bucket in front of me and didn’t’ get a scratch. Another nice thing to see near Oudtshoorn are the Cango caves. We do the “adventure” tour where we crawl up a narrow chimney and slide through a “letter box”. The caves are beautiful and that is good because the weather outside could not be worse. The rain is pouring down and the clouds cover everything in grey.

photos Oudtshoorn

The Crags – Garden Route

Welcome to the Magic world of Khoinania… a mixture of the land of the Khoisan people, original inhabitants of South Africa, and Narnia, the magic world of C.S. Lewis we all know about. It is like entering another world where supernatural is normal. The cat from Alice in wonderland sleeps on the terrace, a 900 year old gigantic tree towers over the forest and the three dog pets of the hostel seem to know more than they want to share… As we descend into the Magic forest, we almost expect to see a gnome pop out from behind a tree, or a talking frog who shows us the way. It is pure magic and I love it! If you pass by this place you shouldn’t miss spending at least a few nights in the enchanted atmosphere of Wild Spirit : http://www.wildspiritlodge.co.za/ Let the pictures speak for themselves…

photos Khoinania

Port Elizabeth – Sun Coast

All friendships start somewhere. This one starts in Port Elizabeth. Leizel, Kurt, Niamh and Kay welcome Elodie and me into their family. Happy birthday Amir, what a beautiful birthday cake you have there. The day starts off with a children’s party and continues with a visit to Kurt’s parents, then to a family dinner with Leizel’s family. The food is delicious, and the company even better. To finish the day, we have tea with some friends. A busy day for us, but oh how good it is to feel the bonds that tie these family members together… Leizel has been to Belgium and she loved it. We share memories about places which used to be my home, tasting African liqueur, even better than Bailey’s.

The next day, they lend us their car so we can drive around a little.

Our first destination is the Daniell Cheetah breeding station, about half an hour’s drive inland. Lucky us, there is no one there so we get a private tour. The guide lets us enter many cages with wild cats, but the most impressive one is the cheetah itself. A female who has grown up in captivity is quite tame and we get to meet her, pet her and even play a little with her. Her name is Ola. If something goes wrong though, we have no chance of escaping as the cheetah is the fastest animal on earth, running as fast as 120km/h. She is beautiful! We see two lion adolescents playing with each other, a leopard in a cage, Caracals, Servals… this is Paradise for cat lovers!  

After that, we drive to the Red Location, a museum on Apartheid, situated in the township. Interesting building in the middle of the shantytown. Unfortunately I have no photos as I didn’t want to take out my camera. Inside the museum are various boxes showing how different groups of people fought against apartheid: workers, musicians, politicians…

To complete our experience, we drive to the South End museum. The South End suburb used to be a good place to live for all sorts of people, regardless of their color: whites, blacks, colored, Indians, Chinese… This vibrant, harmonious spirit was crushed when the Group Area’s Act came into force. All non-whites were forcefully removed from their homes, their lives and assigned to areas far away from the city centre of Port Elizabeth, far away from their homes. “The museum has been designed to provide an accurate picture of the life once enjoyed in this bustling and diverse neighbourhood. More than this, it exposes some of the injustices experienced by non-whites, and it honours the key figures who lived (and sometimes died) for their eternal determination for justice and racial equality.” (http://www.southendmuseum.co.za/) We say goodbye to our lovely host family and hop on the Bazbus to our next destination.

 

photos Port Elizabeth

Coffee Bay - Wild Coast

Wild Coast…the name suits the coast. The cliffs plunge into the sea, with waves covered in white because of the wind… In the distance we see a whale, they are migrating. Have you heard of the great Sardine run? It is comparable to the great migration in West Africa only it happens under water. The sardines migrate up the coast, followed by predators such as dolphins (they are the ones rounding up the sardines!), sharks, even birds who hope to feed on the huge amount of fish available. Trekking along the coast is a good way to explore the surroundings. The first day we walk West to some caves and a nice cliff where we can jump off into the water. The second day we walk in the other direction to the hole in the wall. Our guide explains about different plants, some are even deadly. Elodie cuts off a piece of an Aloe and I taste the bitterness of the juice. They use this juice to stop babies from breastfeeding. I understand why, the taste stays for more than an hour! After some swimming our guide makes toasts on a fire with a two-sided grill – delicious!

photos Coffee Bay

Durban

After a last night of sleeping in the car at a petrol station, we get up really early to get it cleaned. It sure deserves it! The two cleaners do an excellent job, even removing the glue on the windows after the plastic bags in the back. We can return car as new, only with some more kilometers on the counter. We spend a few hours in Durban and the city has potential, I can feel it. My father told me that when he was in Durban, he saw a guy being robbed of all his belongings right in front of him, in one of the more dangerous neighborhoods. We luckily see nothing of the sort and stroll on the beach and near the stadium before jumping on a bus to Coffee Bay.

photos Durban

Sainte Lucie - Imfolozi

After our adventure with the Zulus, we need some rest. We decide to spend a couple of days in Ste Lucie, notably to visit the natural park full of wild animals near Hluhluwe: Imfolozi. We set off as early as we manage to get up and drive in our Nissan Bakkie to the entrance of the park. It is always a surprise when going on a safari, you never know if you will see any animals at all… that’s the game! We are very optimistic as always, and after driving an hour or two (mostly in huge holes in the road or into trees on the side of the road) we start seeing them: a giraffe eating off a tree, impalas as far as the eye can see, zebras, wildebeests…  Some vultures circle over our heads. We don’t see the cadaver, but we know it must be somewhere close. To me the highlight is the white rhino. We see several of them, and not too far from the car. An elephant feels threatened by our car and waves his ears while she stamps her feet. We stay calm in the car and she leaves with her baby in the opposite direction. Phew!  

 photos safari

Sainte Lucie estuary is definitely worth a visit, especially when we discover that you can potentially meet hippos, sharks and crocodiles there… We unfortunately only see the latter. Fishermen on the beach tell us that they sometimes get a shark on their fishing line, but that they throw it out in the sea. Fishing shark is prohibited in South Africa. On our way back, we meet some friendly monkeys. Bye bye Sainte Lucie, we need to deliver the car in Durban tomorrow.

photos Sainte Lucie

 

With the zulus at Zamimpilo market

Our idea is to find some zulu women willing to teach us their handcraft. Elodie is interested in the weaving of zulu baskets and I am keen to learn anything really, they make so many beautiful things… We have an idea of the area where to go and after asking one person who sends us to another person who suggests us to go to another place, we find exactly what we are looking for: Zamimpilo market! Zamimpilo is a community of 144 women. They manage the market 24-7 where they sell fruits and vegetables in the front and handcraft in the back. Behind the market there is a huge space where they prepare the fruits and those women who don’t work from home have a workshop where they make their craft. Some are making baskets, others ceramics, beads, shoes, mats… They sing and dance for us to welcome us in their community. We can start from Monday and one of the women, Bhekiwe comes up to us to ask us if we would like to stay with her and her family during these days. You bet we will!

During the weekend, the women all go to church, either Saturday or Sunday. Mrs Thusi, the manager of the market, invites us to her church, a Christian Lutheran church, in a huge tent filled with a congregation all dressed in white. She has previously dressed us up in traditional zulu skirts, necklace, bracelet and hair band. When we arrive, the archbishop invites us to come in front, so we can photograph and film the faces. The scene is hilarious. Mass lasts for more than three hours and we witness preaching in zulu, crying, screaming, zulu dances, drumming and even vuvuzelas. What an experience! The following day we also attend mass, but on a smaller scale, in a small gospel church. We are still dressed up in zulu costumes, we are getting used to that now. The rest of the weekend goes by with washing of our clothes and spending time with our host family. Nothile shows us her school and we even get to meet her teachers.

The first thing we experience when showing up when they told us to come Monday morning is that time is quite different from our time. Nobody is there! We wait. The women in the front ask us to help them to sell. We can do that. Each woman manages her own little stand, but they take turns selling. We take the payment from the customer and put the named price tags in a huge basket. Twice a day, the money and the tags are counted and the pay is distributed among the women, minus 10% for the running of the market.

Finally some of the women arrive and they start showing us different crafts. I start with beadwork. Ritta shows me how to make a round zulu necklace with lots of colors. I realize how long it actually takes to make it. She also shows me a bracelet. Suddenly, one of the women gets up and starts dancing, two others swing a rope and soon we’re three jumping in it. It is quite tiring to sit all day and this is nice distraction.

On my second day I can finally start with ceramics. The zulu women make beautiful big black clay pots with different designs: ukhambas. Gladness gives me one of her aprons and I can start. I enjoy making these big clay pots. We form the pot by building up coils of clay and smoothing them down with the back of a spoon and an old telephone card. Then the pot is left to dry and only after we decorate it with little lumps and thin coils on which we roll a wheel with a pattern. In total I make three of them, but they are too big to carry, especially because they are not fired.

One day we visit a Sangoma, a traditional healer, with our guide friend Xolani. She lives in a traditional zulu village, surrounded by her children and grandchildren. She was chosen to be the next Sangoma when she was very young. She treats all sorts of different illnesses, from stroke to less serious cases. She also talks to the spirits and predicts the future. We spend some time with her where we ask her all sorts of questions.

On Friday we do the firing of the clay pots. There is no kiln; the fire is prepared on the ground, with old wooden pallets and dead trees. The pots are placed in between the wood and the fire is then lit. They do two firings like this: a small one to start with, then a bigger one. Each one takes about one hour to burn down. The last firing is to give the pot its black color. Before we start, one of the women paints my face with red clay, to protect the skin against the sun and the heat from the fire.

On my last day I learn how to make the traditional zulu baskets. That is, I start one. Making a basket takes a long time– a medium-sized basket can take about a month to make The women use palm leaves that are cut until they have the right thickness. These are thread on a thick needle made from an old umbrella and sown around a base that makes the thickness of the walls. To make colors; they use roots, leaves, berries, and tree bark. It is hard work and I pierce my fingers, more than once.

After 10 days with the women, it is time for us to go, but not light-hearted. These women have become our friends now. To say goodbye, we all dance to traditional zulu songs and even a drum  I hope to come back one day.

photos Zamimpilo

South Africa - Johannesburg

We only make a short stopover in Johannesburg and don’t get to explore much of the city. Billy hosts us for two nights and his lovely niece Ruth takes good care of us. Rebecca cuts and fixes our hair. Elodie arrives one day after me and we pick up our car at the airport, a brand new (only 67 km), white Nissan Baki with space to sleep in the back. We cover the windows with black plastic bags and stow our stuff in the back. This is our home for the next two weeks. We are both very excited about our following adventures in Zululand!

photos Jo'burg

Zanzibar

Zanzibar, also called the Spice Island is so different from mainland Tanzania! I had gotten used to being the only white person. Here tourists are everywhere. I ask for the cheapest and best hostel and a man brings me to Manch Lodge. If you want a nice place to stay on Zanzibar, this is it! The dorm is huge with big beds lined up against the wall like in an orphanage. In total I stay three weeks on Zanzibar, in different places on the island, but whenever I’m in Stone town, this is where I stay.

Zanzibar has a rich history and the architecture of Stone town witnesses of many influences. The massive wooden doors are of Arab influence. Stone Town used to be Africa’s main port for the slave market between Africa and Asia. The British then gained control over Zanzibar and abolished the slave trade. In 1964 Zanzibar became part of Tanzania.

I am very excited because I have booked a dolphin tour on my first day here. We set out in a boat, search for dolphins for an hour, snorkel a little bit, then search again. I am sitting on the edge of the boat, waiting for them to show up so I can jump in and swim with them. We see two Humboldt dolphins but they disappear as fast as they appeared. Then, three bottlenose dolphins surfing on a wave approach our boat. Jump says the driver and so I do. They are there, I can see them but then they disappear too. Still, it was a great experience, AND not the last one with dolphins. Unfortunately, the water but also the wind is cold and I didn’t bring enough clothes. On my return I feel like crap and go to bed. Some people at the hostel bring me water and try to convince me that I have malaria! Luckily I don’t have it.

My second dolphin experience happens two days later, with Caren from Kenya and Ken from Glasgow. We have booked a spice tour combined with Prison Island with a local guy, Juma. The spice tour is very interesting. We get to taste pepper, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, chili, and cinnamon among others and see how they grow. They decorate us with lots of different accessories made from grass as you can see on the pictures. A local kid climbs a palm tree with a rope tied around his legs. I even climb a tree to see if I haven’t forgotten how to do it. The lunch is delicious and desert is local fruit. The Jackfruit is a pleasant surprise and Caren swears she could eat at least five of them!

The afternoon starts with a nice boat ride to Prison Island. Juma then guides us through the island: women gathering shells on the beach, giant tortoises as old as 189 years old, the buildings meant to be a prison but that were used as a quarantine station for ships going to Zanzibar. We put on our snorkeling equipment and jump into the water. After half an hour Caren shouts: dolphins! Three of them! We swim as fast as we can to reach them. They are not afraid of us, three wild dolphins, a mother, her baby and a huge one. Thy swim around us, under us, in front of us, as if they are playing. I can’t believe this is happening! They stay half an hour at least, then they swim off into the ocean. Wow! So unexpected, the dolphins are not supposed to be there at all!

Nungwi is my next destination, in the North of Zanzibar. Juma organizes our transport. He is very professional and his prices are more than correct, after a little bargaining of course… The place is amazing: beach, turquoise water, lots of sun, Dhow boats, Sea Turtles, snorkeling, yoga on the beach, fake Masais, Mister Quality Products (he said it was his real name), relaxing, bargaining… Even more amazing than the place though, are the people I spent time with here: Miriam, Martin, Ken, Caren, Elvie, Jolanda. Without you it would not have been the same! So thank you for these fantastic days in Nungwi, I will never forget…

My plan was to volunteer in Kenya but as this doesn’t work out, I decide to learn something new. Since I first saw the Tinga Tinga paintings I have wanted to learn how to paint them. Tinga Tinga is a painting style that developed near Dar Es Salaam in the second half of the 20^th century. It is a naïve and caricatural representation of African animals, very bright and colorful. Oscar accepts me as a student in his workshop. During five days I work from morning till evening to learn as much as possible. The smell of paint and kerosene sticks to my clothes. During the night I dream of lions, giraffes and elephants running over my canvas. During the day I paint them. What wonderful days…

My last destination on Zanzibar is Paje. It is on the East coast of the island and I have no problems understanding why they call it Kitesurfer’s Paradise. My kite lessons start the next day, with a local guy who charges 4 times less than the kite schools.

Lesson One: master a small kite by playing with it on the beach

Lesson Two: security measures with the big kite.

Lesson Three: master the big kite

Lesson Four: Body dragging. You basically let the big kite drag you in the water, without the board.

This is as far as I got this time. Next time I will start on the board, but now I have to go to South Africa and meet Elodie.

photos Zanzibar

Dar es Salaam

Digna and I take the morning bus to Dar es Salaam where the family is expecting us. We are all here for the same reason, to celebrate the communion of Zeno, a ten year old boy. On my first day, Athanase takes me to the city as we live a little bit outside of town. The micros here are if possible even fuller than any other place I have been, and people push to squeeze in even more passengers. It takes more than two hours to get to town and to be honest it is not a very nice one. The beach however is nice and it is only two buses and a ferry away… The moon is beautiful tonight and as I was watching it rise I thought to myself that either you have or you will be watching the same moon wherever you are in the world.

The day of the celebration we first all go to church. It is not a stone church or brick church like we have at home. It is a huge tent and whoever doesn’t fit inside it can sit outside, on one of the nearby hills. That is what we do so we can enjoy some sunlight at the same time. After mass we head to the family house where everybody is getting ready. Last preparations before the big evening which proves to be perfect! The food is so delicious and there is a lot of dancing. Zeno is in the center of the celebration, gets a lot of gifts and even gets to drink champagne. I know about one happy boy who is going to sleep tonight.

photos Dar es Salaam

volunteering in Tanzania

Near Kiberege in the Morogoro region Bibi Kalembwana herbalist trust fund is to be found. Kalembwana is the grandmother, bibi in Swahili. She founded the herbalist hospital in 1912. When she felt she would only have a few years more to exercise, she transmitted all her knowledge to her grandson, Shaibu. Today, he is a renowned doctor and people come as far as from Morogoro to receive his treatments.

Kalembwana is also an organic farm with rice, bananas, papayas, coconuts to mention only a few, and an orphanage. In total 9 children live and go to school from here, 17 others are supported by the organization, but they still live with a family member in the nearby villages of Mkasu or Kiberege. To send one child to school costs about 30 dollars a month, school fees, uniforms and books included.

Shaibu and his wife Digna are the “mother” and “father” of all these children. They love them as if they were their own, care for them and teach them about responsibilities and duties. The children participate in the daily life of the household by cooking, cleaning, carrying water from the river, watering the plants…

Every morning I wake up at 7 and I start the day with sweeping the floor in the house and mopping if necessary. After that I assist the women in their daily chores in the kitchen. We make chapatti in the morning, and for lunch and dinner rice or chips. There are many chickens around and every day one ends up in the pot, together with coconut milk, ginger, garlic and some tomato. They don’t use the milk inside the coconut. We use a special chair that has a metal handle with a blade to scrape away the coconut. This is then mixed with water and that’s the milk they use for cooking. It is also put into the green vegetables that we eat almost every day: pumpkin leaves. Delicious! Some days we go down to the river to wash our clothes or even our bodies, other days we go to the village to say hello to relatives or friends.

When the children come back from school and they have finished their chores and eaten, I teach them English, and then we play games until the darkness sets in and we move closer to the house to eat the evening meal and talk about our day. The life here is good. The men work on the farm and rice fields and the women prepare the rice and take care of the house and the food. The kitchen area is huge and has many little fires where different preparations are cooking all day long, filling the air with delicious smells.

Anu is my friend. She is 21 years old and she introduces me to many aspects of the African way of life. We wash our bodies in the river, we talk about the differences between us and our cultures, and we prepare food together. Her family is from Kiberege and we visit them several times. Her mother even gives me two Kangas (matching pieces of fabric) as a present. Kangas are very appreciated here in Tanzania. Not only are they beautifully colorful, but they also have inscriptions sending messages to those who read them. Mine say “if talking is silver, silence is gold”. I like it.

One day the women redo their hair. First they take out the previous plaits, and then they do it again, in a different pattern. African hair is different; it is easier to make it hold. I am fascinated by the speed with which the new hairstyle is created. Another day the children and I go for a walk on the property. We even see a snake and many banana trees and jackfruit.

There are so many things happening around here. The former Tanzanian minister of natural resources is a close friend of Shaibu. He visits him for lunch on his way to somewhere else. I am lucky I get to meet him and we even take a picture with him and the children. There are many dogs around, and cats too. They wait for us to finish eating, then they get the rests and lick the plates. One of the dogs has puppies! She has hidden them under a bush. They are so small they look like rats.

I am so lucky! Digna is part of a women’s group and it is her turn to host the party. 30 women arrive, dressed in their most beautiful clothes. They have brought food and the whole day goes by with cooking and laughing. After, they bring gifts to the hostess, usually money, and then they dance. When I start to dance as well they all start laughing. It must look really funny, a msungu moving to African rythms! The children join us and we dance until the sun sets and even longer… Such beautiful three weeks. I wish everyone could experience this.

photos Kalembwana

Safari

My first Safari!! Five days of game drive in four national parks. The organization is chaotic, the plans change all the time, people leave, others come, the car breaks down... It requires a lot of patience, but in the end everything works out and the animals and scenery we see are amazing.

We start from Arusha and drive to Tarangire first. Tarangire National Park has the greatest concentration of animals outside of Serengeti. It even starts outside the park where we see blue-balled monkeys and magnificent starlings. Then we enter, I am very excited. We are driving a jeep with a roof that opens so we can stand up and watch the animals. The African elephant is majestic and there are huge flocks of them. A warthog crosses in front of our vehicle. Impalas, giraffes and ostriches grass nearby and the highlight: a female lion resting under a tree, 8 meters from the road. We sleep in tents near the second national park, Manyara, and watch the moonrise and the sunrise the next day.

photos Tarangire

The setting changes completely as we enter Manyara National Park. From open plains we now drive through a forest with huge trees. A group of baboons are camping on the road and a bit further a blue monkey makes a brief appearance. Our driver knows where to find the animals. We are going to see hippos. They are quite far away, but I am still able to, catch them with my zoom. Elephants, gazelles and more giraffes inhabit this park. I keep an eye open for climbing lions, but am not able to spot one. That’s the game!

photos Manyara

Ngorongoro is a huge crater with flat grassland inside. The crater used to be a mountain even higher than Kilimanjaro before it collapsed. Today, the crater is a natural sanctuary with 30.000 animals. The game drive in here is not a game, the animals are everywhere! There are herds of zebras, wildebeests, elephants, hippos, lions, buffalos and even a black rhino in the distance. Luckily Hannah has a big zoom so she can catch him on a photo. The area is also home to the Masaais, one of the ethnic groups in Africa who live close to nature and wildlife.

photos Ngorongoro

 Our first day in Serengeti starts off with a broken car. Sultan, our driver, and Mister Bean, the cook, jump out of the car to fix it. We also get out of the car, to see what they are doing. They decide to attach a wooden stick to the steering, which is broken. “Don’t worry”, they say,” we have done it before”. I’m not worried about the car, but more about the 5 lions which were resting only 500 meters from where we stopped… Serengeti is even better than what I imagined. It is so beautiful I could stay here for days trying to spot animals and enjoying the landscape. It stretches as far as your eye can see and the game viewing is incredible! A huge male lion sleeps under a tree, a half eaten carcass of a zebra in front of him, the definite highlight of this fourth day. Sultan even manages to find us a leopard, even if it is far away, lying on a branch of a tree. We have thus seen the big five: elephant, buffalo, rhino, lion and leopard. Incredible! A stork sets off in the air from a tree, showing us the way to our camp, where we set up out own tents today.

photos Serengeti 1

Serengeti’s second day is if possible even better than the first. We have an early morning drive to try to see the predators returning from their night hunts. The sunrise is breathtaking and in the early morning light the animals are numerous: hippos, monkeys, hyenas… Some vultures are eating from a dead wildebeest, probably killed by the group of lions in the distance. Then, the most beautiful scene happens right in front of our eyes. A female lion and her two cubs cross in front of our car. I hold my breath and almost forget to take pictures as the mother and her stumbling children act as if we weren’t there. On our way back to Arusha I see Mount Kilimanjaro in the distance, at the back of Mount Meru.

photos Serengeti 2

Tanzania - Arusha

Karibu Sana means you are very welcome in Swahili. My African adventure is about to start! I land in Arusha at 4 o’clock in the morning. As I had told my host I would arrive at one I didn’t expect him to still be there. But Kened is there with a friend and a sheet of paper with my name on it. What a relief and a pleasant surprise! His house is spacious and I even get my own room. His mum prepares nice spicy food and the next day Kened and I visit the city together. The central market, where they sell food, is the first stop. I buy some huge avocadoes for supper. In the center there is a clock tower with the map of Africa on it and different signs with cities and national parks of Tanzania written on them. We meet a Masai who guides me through the Masai market; masks, wooden sculptures and my favorite, the Tinga Tingas. These are oil paintings of animals drawn as cartoons. They make me smile. Kened and I go home, we didn’t sleep much last night.

I was supposed to leave for a Safari on my second day, but the group is only leaving the day after, which means another day in Arusha. Kened has to work, so Juma is my guide, and a good one too! I had seen in a brochure that there is a place called Shanga nearby Kened’s house. Shanga is a project started by a Dutch woman. It is a non-profit organization employing disabled people to create beautiful products out of recycled materials. Two professional glass blowers train two deaf people. They show me how to say hello in sign language. A man with paralyzed legs paint the most beautiful Tinga Tingas I have seen so far. Women make jewelry and lamps with glass beads from recycled bottles. The products are sold in the shop, where they also sell the gemstone Tanzanite. Tanzanite is to be found only in Tanzania. It is 1000 times rarer than diamonds and it is estimated that once the mines near Arusha are empty, there is almost no chance to find it again. After this very refreshing visit, Juma wants to show me the Polish cemetery. It is outside of town, so we go by micro, the local bus. The cemetery is near a beautiful lake and at the end of a forest. The guardian knows everything about the Polish refugee camp and tells us all he knows. There is a very special atmosphere in the cemetery that the pictures cannot completely render. Leon, my other host is back from Lake Victoria. We spend a nice evening together, Leon, Kened and I, cooking and talking before I set off on my first safari tomorrow!!

photos Arusha

Lima

Last stop before Europe. Jorge hosts me for these two days, he lives in Barranco, the bohemian part of Lima, with his lovely white female kitten. “Have you already tasted Pisco?” He asks me. I have, but not the way he prepares it, with canady dry, delicious! On my first day we stroll around in Barranco. The area is nice and relaxed, overlooking the sea. A pity the weather is not better but the second day the sun decides to shine and I can enjoy the center of Lima bathed in sunlight. What a delightful end to the South American part of my trip!

photos Lima

Huacachina, Ballestas, Paracas

Huacachina is a small oasis in the middle of a desert outside of Ica. All the houses are built around the Laguna in the middle. My hostel has a swimming pool and a big garden with a giant turtle living in it. I relax there for some hours before going on the sand buggy and sand boarding tour. The boards are old and broken so the sand boarding is a deception. Better to slide down head first. The sand buggy however is really fun! Our driver takes us up and down the dunes at a tremendous pace. We scream as we pass the top and fly down, only to start again on the next top.

photos Huacachina

Ballestas is sometimes called “Poor man’s Galapagos”. I can assure you it’s not at all like Galapagos, but that doesn’t mean it’s not worth seeing. From Huacachina the bus leaves early in the morning to bring us to the boat going out to the islands. Pelicans follow us as we enter the dung bird’s territory. Before, Peru used to export the bird shit to Europe as fertilizer, but they overdid it and had to stop the production, the fish were getting scarce in the ocean. Sea lions sunbathe on the rocks, vultures circle over our heads, but most impressive are the millions of birds nesting on the 3 islands.

Paracas is less visited than Ballestas it seems. A shame because it is really worth it. We are only three visiting, a charming couple from Isla Margarita, Venezuela, and me. We admire the beautiful scenery, the birdlife and finish off with having delicious lunch at a restaurant by the sea. The Cathedral, a rock formation that used to be the symbol of Paracas unfortunately collapsed during the latest earthquake. Vultures fly over the area in search for food. I jump on a bus to Lima, my last destination in South America.

photos Ballestas and Paracas

Cusco and Machu Picchu

Cuzco is the kind of city I could spend weeks in without getting bored. Its streets are welcoming and the population friendly. I wander around aimlessly, admiring the artworks sold in the street. I visit a small museum showing weaving techniques and traditions. Two women are weaving in the museum, they come from a village nearby and demonstrate different ways of weaving and decorating their work.

photos Cusco

I spend one whole day trying to find a good deal for Machu Picchu, which is not so easy. Inca trail should have been booked months ago and even Huayna Picchu, the mountain in front of Machu Pichu is sold out. I buy a ticket to Machu Picchu Mountain which I will not regret.

First, I go by private car to Ollantaytambo and from there I take the train to Aguas Calientes. Aguas Calientes is a very pleasant place and its hot springs relaxing after a day of travel. I spend too much time in the baths, my fingers get all wrinkly. Better get early to bed, I want to be on the first bus up to Machu Picchu in the morning. It is raining at first, and the whole site is hidden in a cloud. I have booked a guided tour to learn more about the Incas and their way of living. Fredrik is a photographer and installs his camera to film as the mist lifts from the ruins. As the morning gets older, the ruins slowly appear. It is magical! There are many lamas around, posing for our pictures. I climb the mountain, the view is breathtaking. The feeling of being here is even better than I imagined. I can picture the Incas walking around in the streets of the city. Their civilization was very advanced; especially in astronomy. They also had a special system for water irrigation. This was truly one of the highlights of my trip.

photos Machu Picchu

Arequipa and Colca Canyon

The cheapest bus to Arequipa costs only 5€. A good deal if the guy next to me had taken a shower. Renzo is my host in Arequipa. He lives close to the center in a beautiful apartment. His family lives upstairs and is like Renzo trying to make my stay as pleasant as possible, and they succeed! Arequipa is a beautiful city. The sunset over Plaza de Armas is incredible. I visit an old convent and take in the atmosphere of the city.

photos Arequipa

Renzo helps me find a good deal for the Colca Canyon, the deepest canyon in the world, or is it the second deepest…? Our guide is excellent. We descend into the canyon. It is pretty steep and my knees feel it too. Admire the scenery… Some condors fly over the canyon at Cruz del Condor, cactus cling to the cliff. We have lunch at the bottom of the canyon, walk three more hours and crawl to bed. The next day we have to climb all the way up again, 1300m of steep slope, starting at 5 o’clock in the morning to be on top before sunrise. We set off at a steady pace; donkeys pass us carrying the wounded and tired. A little bit more than two hours later we reach the top, what a relief! On our way back to Arequipa we stop at a village with baby lamas and several other viewpoints. Finally, the Misti appears, next time I come here I want to climb it.

photos Colca Canyon

Lake Titicaca II - Peru

Next day we travel to Peru the local way. Enough with the tourist buses, we take taxis and micros this time. The price is about the same, but the ride is much more interesting and uncomfortable. The lady sitting next to me shares all her food with me and I get to taste many strange things wrapped up in different leaves. Puno is the city on the Peruvian side, not very interesting in itself but again convenient for catching a boat to the islands. I want to go the next day. The easiest way is to buy a round trip to Uros, Amantani and Taquile and stay overnight on Amantani at a homestay.

Uros are floating islands on which people actually live. The local guide explains how the islands are created. First they carve out a block of mold, then they plant it with grass so the island is actually alive. Finally, they cover it with more grass and plant their houses on top. I visit one of the inhabitants of the island and he shows me the inside of his house. They have electricity since two weeks now, thanks to the solar panels. In his house live 5 people and they earn their living making traditional handicrafts. All is very beautiful. The children go to school one and a half hour away in small boats. The man tells me the worst problem with living on this island is the cold wind, but he couldn’t imagine himself living elsewhere.

Amantani is a real island with some interesting things to see. We settle into our homestays and eat a simple but nice lunch. Anton, Giro and I then go for a swim in the lake. It can’t be that cold, right? It can! Then we follow the locals up the hillside to the two sanctuaries: Pachamama and Pachatata. Pachamama is mother earth. She is the one to pray to if you want good crops and good harvests. Pachatata is obviously a male (her husband?). Each sanctuary is on its own mountaintop, giving us a beautiful view of the sunset. At eight o’clock I’m in bed. What an exhausting day.

At 2 am I wake up, vomiting and with diarrhea. I stumble out of my bed and down the stairs. Of course there is no running water, I have to go down to the end of the garden to fill the water bucket. I am very cold and try to lie down but constantly have to run down the stairs. The grandmother wakes up around five. I ask her if she can make me a cup of tea. She first has to gather the wood, then light the stove and heat the water. In the meantime I feel weaker and weaker. Finally it is time to go to the boat. I am not looking forward to another boat ride, especially with only a basic toilet… The captain of the boat is worried; I can see it on his face. He wants to bring me ashore, but is responsible for other tourists who are going to visit Taquile, another island. I cannot move and my face is first white, then green according to one of the passengers. The captain then decides that it is his mission to cure me before returning to Puno. You wouldn’t believe all the tricks he tried on me to make me feel better. Water, tea, water with rehydration salts, a pill (I don’t know what it was), alcohol flower water under my armpits, under my nose, leaves disposed on my belly, soaked in salt water and with a pullover tied around me, some newspaper supposed to prevent me from vomiting, a foot massage… I was quite happy when Puno appeared in the horizon. God knows what he would have done next. He was so frustrated that I didn’t feel better that he even paid my taxi to my hotel. What an experience! Two days in bed wasn’t quite how I had imagined my first days in Peru, but at least I have a great story to tell YOU.

photos Titicaca II

Lake Titicaca I - Bolivia

Lago Titicaca, the world’s highest navigable lake is shared between Bolivia and Peru. Both sides are worth visiting, I start with the Bolivian side. Copacabana is the ideal departure point for visiting the islands on the lake. Isla del Sol, the Island of the sun, is only a two hour boat ride away. How pleasant to feel the wind in my hair (?!). It is quite cold though, but I decide to stay outside to take in all the beauty of the scenery. We arrive in the small port on the northern side of the island, the least touristy one. A young boy invites me to his hostel. Actually, I think it’s the hostel with the most beautiful view of the island. I can see both sides of the bay, and it is cheap. Armed with my torch I set off for the Inca ruins and the sunset over the whole thing. How beautiful! Even more beautiful is the full moon rising on the other side, the full moon… In the evening I meet up with Anna and Mag, my new friends from England. We set a plan for tomorrow: walk to the south side of the island. Luckily I left my heavy backpack in Copacabana, the walk is not that easy, it goes up and down a lot. The people here are much more used to the altitude and walking with heavy loads. On the track we meet some women with mules and we follow each other almost all the way to the south. If you go the same way, be prepared to pay several tourist tickets, one in the north, one for the trail and one to enter the south.

photos Isla del Sol

We check in to a nice hostel for the night and ask around for internet, which there is only at one place that opens later. Vladimir, another guest, offers to take us but he needs a translator because he is going to a shaman in the evening, who only speaks Aymara, the local language of the island. He has found a person who speaks Aymara and Spanish, but he himself only understands English. Sure, we will go with him, at least for the experience. The Shaman is one little dried up raisin with a few teeth in his mouth. His specialty is to heal little diseases with grinded rocks and plants, which he heats up so they produce a special smoke. Then he rubs the “patient” everywhere and says some words in Aymara. Vladimir is now healed, but still wants to know his future. Unfortunately, our shaman doesn’t have coca leaves, so he cannot do it right now. We need to come back tomorrow at 8 o’clock. Sure thing, we will be there! This time our host lady comes with us, the other translator is busy elsewhere. The Shaman has bought coca leaves so the future telling can start. He puts all the whole leaves in a cloth together with 4 coins, mumbles a few words, asks the “patient”to blow on the package and holds it over his head. What will the future be like? Health? Work? Love? All seems good for those who do it, although too vague to really mean anything. I personally prefer to see for myself what happens. After this refreshing start to the day, we take the boat back to Copacabana where Anna and I climb a hill to see the city from above.

photos Copacabana

La Paz and Death Road

The official Capital of Bolivia, highest Capital in the world is surrounded by steep hills. Almost anywhere you go in La Paz, you have to climb. That is what I do, I climb to a mirador overlooking the whole city. In the background you can see snow-capped hills, and on the other side, the road that leads to Camino de la Muerte… I stroll around in the streets, visit the Museum of fine Arts. There is a beautiful photo exhibition there: El Grito del Silencio, of the artist Katharina Muench showing women and their sufferings. I also pay a visit to the Coca museum, to learn more about these coca leaves I’ve been chewing the last weeks which is in fact the prime ingredient used for producing cocaine. Very interesting. From chewing the leaves in the antique time to using the distilled leaves as painkillers (cocaine) or as drugs… Evo Morales has allowed the use of coca leaves, for chewing. It helps against altitude sickness and supposedly helps concentrating. It certainly plays an important role in miner’s existence. Interesting fact is that most of the coca leaves produced go to the United States as cocaine where most overdoses are also found…

photos La Paz

Camino de la Muerte – twice!

68 km, 3600 m downhill, camino de la muerte is the world’s most dangerous road. It was opened in the 90s to bikers but cars would still drive there. Some years ago, a new road was built so now mostly bikes ride down, at a tremendous pace sometimes. An average of 2 deaths per year have been registered on the camino since then, bikers falling off the cliff, buses ending up in the 300m profound valley… The camino is full of little crosses commemorating the deaths and our guide Chello even calls the bends after the nationality of people who died there. A little morbid, I agree. Barracuda Bikes is the company I have chosen to survive the death road. They give us helmets, gloves, glasses and full outfit with the company’s logo, and bikes of course. The instructions are clear: stay close to the mountain, use both breaks at the same time, shout when you overtake someone and whatever you do, do not try to avoid the big rocks on the road, the full suspension will take you safely over them. The first part is easy and very fast on asphalt at maximum 70km an hour. I feel like flying. After it gets trickier as the road is full of rocks and sand. There is only one way to go, and that is down. It takes a while to trust the bike but once I do I can increase the pace. This is really fun! My arms shake, my eye can barely focus and I clutch the brakes and fly down to the jungle. Our group is very fast; we finish early and can go for a swim in the river near the restaurant. Check out the cool parrot I met there. We start the way back, uphill in the car this time, and on the new road. About ten minutes later though, there is a landslide on the road and people tell us it will take more than two hours to clean it up. Chello and our driver then decide to go back up death road!!! Actually, it is scarier uphill and in the van than on the bike and in control. What an adventure! Today I survived the death road, twice.

photos camino de la muerte

Sucre

I knew I would like Sucre, only the name makes me want to visit it. The buildings are all white and look like sugar and I would personally have thought the city received its name because of this. General Sucre, the revolutionary leader fighting for Bolivia’s independence gave his name to the town, is what I learned in Casa de la Libertad, where the Bolivian constitution was signed. Nowadays, La Paz is the Capital of Bolivia whereas Sucre remains the constitutional capital and they are very proud of it. I am particularly interested in the indigenous culture, so I first go to the mask museum, where different masks used for ceremonies are kept. Diablada, Cueca, Puillay are only one of the few dances I remember. Each dance has a special story, and special masks that go with it, a wolf, a devil, a pig… It has been a long time since I have climbed a hill, so I decide to go to the Mirador, Elke has told me they have the best hot chocolate in town there, which is true. A nice sandwich, sun, a beautiful view, a fresh fruit juice, and a hot chocolate, what more can I ask for?

If you ever go to Sucre, you must visit the museum of indigenous art. It is one of the most beautiful museums I have seen, and the explanations are clear and extensive. Bolivian women, and men make remarkable weavings; of heaven, of earth, and of hell. There is also a section on music instruments, clothing, archeology and other subjects related to indigenous art, history and culture.  Have a look, I wasn’t allowed to take pictures there:

http://www.asur.org.bo/en/museum/rooms/tinkipaya

In the evening, Elke and Daniel invite me to join them to see a performance of traditional dances, of course I want to! It is beautiful, and I can see how all the masks, costumes and musical instruments I have seen during the day are used.

The Sunday market in Tarabuco is very famous. Indigenous people from surrounding villages flock to this quiet little town to sell their production of weavings but also fruits and vegetables. Nice but a bit touristy, and the dance performance at lunch does not match what I saw yesterday.

Next day is a lazy day in Sucre with Katja and Vero, from the mine tour, walking around, eating, talking…

photos Sucre - Tarabuco

Potosí and mining in Cerro Rico

Potosi competes with other cities for the title: highest city in the world, at 4060m above sea level. Remember Litang in China, 4200m above sea level? One could say that Litang is more of a village whereas Potosi is a real city but this discussion I leave to the experts. As a result, Potosi has the highest restaurant, the highest brewery and probably many other highest things as well. Potosi’s history is closely linked to the mining industry and Cerro Rico, where silver was found in the 15^th century. Since then, millions of people have worked in the mines, and millions have died there as well due to accidents or poor working conditions. Today, the silver deposits have all been extracted but more than 20.000 miners still work in the mountain to extract other minerals such as zinc. The conditions have improved a little with the use of electricity and the protection equipments, but they are still appalling: most of the work is done by hand, temperatures are extreme and the workers are exposed to noxious gases.

After visiting the city, I book a tour to the mines…

Johnny, our guide, is an ex-miner. He has worked nine years in the mine before becoming a guide. Before setting off, we get a full miner’s outfit: boots, solid pants, a jacket and a bag in which we can keep our water and gifts for the miners: lemonade, alcohol and coca leaves. Then we enter the mine… It is dark, muddy and narrow. Our guide moves quickly, we try to follow through the many tunnels. Up a slippery rope just next to a 30m deep hole, down a ladder standing on one leg. No wonder there are accidents here. Then Johnny asks us if someone bought dynamite. Yes, someone did, niiice, we can set it off. One of the miners dig a hole in the rock, prepares the explosives and asks us to move away. We wait, then we hear a huge bang and the whole mountain shakes. I shake too… The rest of the visit we socialize with the miners. They open up the bottle of 96° alcohol, mix it with some lemonade and share it with us. We are not allowed to say no, that is an offence. A little bit for Pachamama, the rest for us. The miners also chew coca leaves, every day a bag. It helps against altitude sickness and helps them concentrate. One miner is called Spaghetti, he has worked 15 years in the mine. Another one has basically dedicated his whole life to the mine, 35 years, and when we ask him if he likes it, the answer is YES, he needs the money to support his women, he has 5 of them.

The boys start working in the mine when they are strong enough, somewhere between 14 and 16 and when they don’t die of lung diseases or accidents, they continue as long as they can.

Before leaving the mine, Johnny show us a statue of El Tio, the spirit owner of the mountain. According to miner’s traditions, he rules over the mines, simultaneously offering protection and destruction. Miners leave offerings for El Tío—tobacco, liquor, coca leaves—in hopes that he will spare their lives.

Have a look at the film: Devil’s miner if you are interested.

photos Potosí

Uyuni salt flats tour

I am not going to share the 700+ photos that I took during this 3 day tour through the Bolivian Altiplano… All I can say is that it was amazing! We left the Bolivian border in a 4x4: Fred, Jasmine, Laurie, Camille, Elke our driver and guide, Simon, and me of course.

On our first day, we visit lagoons of different colors, caused by algae and minerals in the water. Then, we stop at Dalí desert where we can literally imagine the melting watches hanging from the rocks. Nothing is better than a bath in thermal waters before lunch, then geysers Sol de Manaña in the afternoon. Laguna Colorada is our last stop for the first day. A lagoon with red water and full of flamingos, I have rarely seen anything as beautiful. We go to bed at 8, and sleep at once after this very tiring day of seeing beauty in its purest form.

The second day is if possible even more beautiful than the first one. A Stone tree and other rock formations, a volcano, strange plants, and flamingos, my new passion. We arrive in the evening at the salt hotel, the floor is covered in rough salt, and the walls are built with salt blocks. Just look at the photos, I think they speak for themselves, although reality was even better.

Day three: the Uyuni salt flats, the world’s largest salt desert, formed over the years with lakes drying out and rain draining the mountains of their minerals. It is situated 3600 above sea level and measures 150X100km. There are some islands in the desert; we visit one of them, Isla Inca Wasi, full of giant cactuses. As the desert is all flat, there is no perspective, and as the good tourists that we are, we take some of those photos you have probably seen before. Next up are the salt mines. Every family owns a truck and transport what they collect to town where it is transformed into salt sculptures or other souvenirs. We finish the tour in Uyuni, where we visit the train cemetery, the city’s only attraction. These old trains used to transport minerals to the pacific ocean but when the mining industry collapsed around 1949, the trains were left to die here.

photos Salar

San Pedro de Atacama

After a spectacular bus ride from Salta to San Pedro, sitting next to…a Belgian, I arrive in the afternoon. San Pedro is situated 2400m above sea level, in the world’s driest desert: Atacama. It is small and very touristy, no wonder considering all the things there are to do there. I check in to hostel Florida, nice and clean and with a courtyard in the middle. That is where I meet Alice, from Brazil, and we decide to rent bikes together the next morning to go to Laguna Cejar. Not too far is what we think, but 30 km one way is far enough, especially if you add some km because we get lost on the way, twice. Laguna Cejar is a beautiful lagoon situated in the middle of the desert. Its salt concentration is very high and we can see many salt crystals and salt formations inside and outside the water. Just next to it is Laguna Piedras in which we can take a swim, or more specifically, in which we can float, due to the salt concentration, said to be higher than the Dead Sea. What a beautiful day!

photos San Pedro de Atacama

The next day, I want to try another type of activity: Sandboarding. I have never done snowboarding, so I must admit I’m a bit nervous, but as soon as I’m on the board, the only thing I can think of is to stay on it and after a while even to turn or go faster. How fun!! After two hours of walking up and sliding down (there are no chairlifts in the desert), we finish the day in Valle de la Luna to watch the sunset. I return to my hostel full of sand and exhausted.

photos sandboarding

On my last day in San Pedro, I meet up with a couchsurfer, Juan Pablo, and we walk to Pukara de Quitor, an archeological site 3km out of town. The sun is burning as we climb up to the old ruins. The English signs are quite funny. Apparently they have been translated directly from Spanish, which makes them at times difficult to understand, see for yourself!

A definite highlight of my stay in San Pedro is the Astronomy tour. I didn’t know this before, but the Atacama desert is one of the best places in the world to observe the stars. A French Astronomer recognized this and set up a dozen of giant telescopes to catch the beauty of the sky above us, and show it to curious travelers like myself. With a great deal of humor and passion he starts explaining the general principles of Astronomy: the earth is a planet, the sun is a star, the planets gravitate around the sun, our Galaxy is just one out of many many other Galaxies that are situated light-years away. He shows us some constellations and teaches us how to recognize them.  Then we move on to the telescopes where he has zoomed  in on some interesting phenomenons: Saturn with its belt, the jewel box; three aligned stars with different colors, the Milky Way, Sirius It makes me dizzy to try to think of the immensity of the universe, its creation or it’s current expansion. There at is definitely more to it than we can see and that makes me feel really small…

Salta and Cafayate

Last stop in Argentina before going to Chile again. The bus ride takes 36 hours and doesn’t even go all the way to Salta. At two in the morning, the bus stops about 80 km from Salta, and the next bus only goes at five… What else is there to do than to sleep at the station, or at least try to sleep. Salta itself is a nice town, Salta la Linda (the beautiful), is what the inhabitants call it. I walk around in the center and book a tour to Cafayate on the next day. The weather was not that good so the photos are a bit grey too.

photos Salta

Cafayate is in the Southern part of the Calchaqui valley. Getting there is a 170km long bus ride through the most amazing landscape, red rocks, different rock formations such as the nail, the Titanic, the Amphitheatre, the gorge (or throat) of the devil, the priest, castle formations and Lamas! This region is also known for its wine, 70% white, 30% red, grown at almost 2000m of altitude. It gets this special taste when the grapes freeze at night. It is called Torrontes wine and is delicious. We visit a Bodega called Vasija Secreta which produces the Vas wine and stroll around in Cafayate for a couple of hours before returning to Salta.

photos Cafayate

Bariloche

Bariloche has Argentina’s best chocolate, and that is true! I try several types, truffles filled with dulce de leche, Alfajores with mousse au chocolat, pralines…Aouh, my stomach hurts, I think I had too much. Periko’s hostel is the perfect place to stay, well situated and helpful staff. I only have one full day in Bariloche. Not enough to do a real trek. Anja recommends Cerro Campanario, the most beautiful thing in Bariloche she says. What a stunning view indeed, and it only takes some twenty five minutes to climb to the top.

photos Bariloche

Entre Arboles - woofing two weeks

Entre Arboles is a small Paradise situated in Mallin, 18 km from El Bolsón. As soon as I enter the gate I know that these two weeks will mean something special to me. Entre Arboles means in between the trees. I love trees. There is the house of Lali and Vero where I will work; behind some trees the round house of Gloria and Seba, Vero’s brother. Graziela lives there too, she has decided to follow her children, Vero and Seba in their different choice of life. Luis’ house is a bit further down the path and Juan’s behind some other trees. There is a very special atmosphere here, of peace and serenity. People live in harmony with nature and respecting each other. There are some unwritten rules: nobody can alter nature more than what is necessary to build a house and there are no fences. Most of the inhabitants are vegetarian. Twice a year they buy the food they need in bulk and everyone has a little garden with vegetables and fruit for their own consumption. Life at Entre Arboles is determined by the seasons. In summer, people work a lot, on their houses, on producing jam and conserves for the winter, which can be very cold, and earning money by selling things they produce at the Feria (local market) in El Bolsón. In winter, people stay more inside and some days the snow is so thick that they can only go somewhere by foot.

As soon as I arrive Lali greets me with a giant smile. She is like a sunflower and whenever she smiles her warmth spreads around making other people want to smile too. Lali is a musician, she plays the guitar and sings, but she loves all instruments. You can find her on Youtube, Lali Estivill. She shows me around: the houses, her studio, the dry toilet, the cats. Three other volunteers are there too but only for a couple of days more. They help me get settled and give me advice on how to light the fire and where to find everything. I already feel at home here.

Vero has traveled the world for six years before returning to Entre Arboles, where she bought the property 18 years ago. She loves hard work and has done almost everything herself in her house, together with Lali. When I was there, they built an oven, Estufa Rusa, with refractory bricks to keep the heat for hours after the wood has gone out. She also makes clothes that she sells at the Feria, mostly pants and skirts. Graziela paints the clothes with Mandalas and prints similar to those of Cueva de las Manos where I went before. They are lovely and I get to help Vero to sew them!

The first week I either sew with Vero or I help Lali with various works on and around the house, always with breaks and Mate of course. Then Janet arrives. Remember Janet from London? She was woofing near Lago Puelo cracking nuts and when she heard about this place she decided to change immediately. How much more fun to be two! I am so happy that she decided to come. The second week we get to do more work on the house, learning all the different construction and decoration techniques

As you can see from the photos, the houses are in wood with some walls of Adobe. In the Adobe they have incorporated colored bottles and plates. When the sun shines through them, the whole house becomes like a rainbow of different colors. I am totally charmed… First, we plant some nails in the wood and stretch a metal string between them. Then, we make a mixture of straw and liquid clay and we soak the straw in the mixture. This is the isolation and goes directly in the wall, pressed together by two wooden walls that will be taken down once the straw is dry. The second and third layers are made of clay, sand and cut straw. We mix it until it is the right consistency and sticks to the wall. It is called revoque grueso. We use two layers of this. The last layer is called revoque fino and is another mixture, finer and smoother than the others, and we mix in different colors to decorate the house, inside and outside. It is so beautiful but hard work as we need to smooth it out with a spatula several times before we are satisfied with the result.

One day the girls decide to go to the national park near Lago Puelo to collect nuts. We are lucky, not only do we find nuts, but also some of the best apples I have ever tasted, only waiting for us to pick them. On our way back we find a little kitten alone in the night. We decide to take it in until the next day when we can bring it back to its owner. Many dangers lure between the trees at night, especially for a helpless little kitten. I don’t sleep that night, the baby doesn’t stop walking on my head and trying to put its head in my mouth... Another day, Seba and Gloria have caught a rat but as they don’t want to kill it, we drive it to the entrance of Mallin, far enough so it will hopefully not return. This is also what I love with Entre Arboles, every day is different and often nature decides to surprise us.

After two weeks here, I am so sad to leave. You know when you say goodbye to family or good friends and your eyes start to get wet? I hope you will read this Lali and Vero and again thank you from the bottom of my heart for these two wonderful weeks. Also thank you Janet for sharing this experience with me, I will never forget all the laughs we had! The snow has fallen on the mountains during the last night, winter is approaching here...

photos Entre Arboles

El Bolsón

Trekking is really one of my favorite things to do and El Bolsón has numerous beautiful places to be discovered by foot. Our little group from yesterday and Anja of course decide on Piltriquitron (Mapuche for hanging on the clouds). On our way to this majestic mountaintop we visit the Bosque Tallado, featuring statues carved out in dead wood by local artists. Beautiful isn’t it? The climb is steep and dangerous at times. We slide on all the little rocks and have to use our hands not to fall down. It is well worth the effort though; the view from the top is incredible, see for yourself.

After this adventure we deserve an icecream. Jauja has the biggest assortment I have ever seen. We share one kilo between 4 people, half of it is chocolate profundo, the “bestest” chocolate icecream in the world!!! Other days go by walking around in town. El Bolson is a real hippie town with artists and alternative people everywhere. Four times a week, around the little lake in the center is the Feria artesanal. Here, you can find food, liquors, mate’s, clothes, and many more handmade items.

photos El Bolson

I am waiting for an answer from host farms in the area where I want to do two weeks of woofing. In the meantime I might as well do some more trekking. Remember Janet from the hotel in London? Well, she is here too, waiting for the same thing as I am. We spend two wonderful days together hiking in the area. Before setting off on our first trek I move to Jorge’s place, a couchsurfer, and his 4-year old daughter, Angeles. We spend two wonderful evenings together exchanging music, sharing food and of course drinking mate.

The first trek is the one of Encanto Blanco. It takes us through the forest and over wooden bridges to the cutest little refugio I have ever seen. Everything is in wood and there is a dog there with one brown eye and one blue eye…We eat our lunch here and return to la Tilleria to take the taxi back to El Bolsón. While we are waiting we witness the cutting up of a cow that has been slaughtered. The whole family participates, even the cats and dogs, licking the blood. Somehow it doesn’t seem totally disgusting, even for a vegetarian like me. This meat will feed the household during the long winter months and every body part will be used for something.

photos Encanto Blanco

Our second trek goes to Cajón del Azul. The setting is different from yesterday. Rio azul is really blue, or I would say turquoise. Some men are fishing and give Janet 3 of their fishes. At the refugio there are many kittens, running around everywhere. You can imagine their joy when Janet gives them a fish to chew on. After these two days I have received an answer from one of the woofing places. Vero and Lali are really happy that I want to come to help them and they are expecting me the next day!

photos Cajon del Azul

I shaved my head!!!!

To travel is to experience new stuff isn’t it? I have wanted to shave my head for a long time and this is how and where it happened. I arrive in El Bolson at 5 in the morning without having booked anything. What do I do in these cases? I choose someone who has and I follow this person. Katja from Finland seems well organized and has booked a bed in Casa del Arbol in the center. Christian from Germany and I decide to wait with her until the hostel opens. Casa del Arbol, nice name, and they have a bed and nice breakfast. I sit down to eat and Eyal appears, he was the Israeli sleeping outside in Perito Moreno, without a tent. We start chatting all together when I mention Durian (remember the strange fruit I tasted in Singapore?), Paul hears it from the other side of the room and joins in the conversation. Our little group is formed. Now we only need Anja to be complete. Anyways, we chat and then Katja says she wants to shave her head. Then I say I want to shave my head. We don’t hesitate long before we decide to do it together, tonight! We need a shaving machine. Sergio, the owner of the hostel invites us for dinner at his place where he has a shaver. This couldn’t be better! Eyal has a shaved head too, he can be the hairdresser, Paul films the whole thing in HD and Katja and myself are either victim or photographer, when we are not the one being shaved. What a strange sensation not to have any hair left on my head… it is all smooth and cold, as if someone put tigerbalm on my head. I cannot stop touching it, I am fascinated by this new experience. How do I look without hair? Well, now I see it, and so can you on the pictures in the link below.

photos of the shaving

Cueva de las Manos

I continue my trip alone, again, as Lionel has taken the plane from Rio Gallegos back to Belgium. I have some loooong bus rides in front of me. Then Anja suddenly appears in the bus to Perito Moreno (the city) and the bus ride transforms into a pleasant one! We decide to meet in El Bolsón three days later.

I plant my tent in the camping municipal for two days. Perito Moreno is small and pleasant, but there is not so much to see there. I take the bus to Los Antiguos for the day, visit the lakeside and some chacras (farms producing jam, liquors, and other homemade products) while waiting for the real reason I wanted to come here: La Cueva de las Manos. 

photos Perito Moreno and Los Antiguos

9000 years ago, original inhabitants of the area decorated the walls of Rio Pintura with handprints, guanacos (argentinian lamas), and geometrical figures. The prints were made by blowing paint from their right hand with their mouth onto their left hand, leaving a negative image of the hand on the rock. How interesting! There are hundreds of paintings. Can you spot the foot of a nando (argentinian ostrich) or a hand with 6 fingers? 

photos Cueva de las Manos

El Chalten

Trekking in Chile has opened our appetite. We are ready for some more. El Chalten offers us a wide range of treks in another beautiful setting, different from what we have seen before. The trees in this national park are amazing! We are not so lucky with the weather; the clouds have decided to hide Mount Fitz Roy, at least for the beginning of the day. We climb up a step slope for about an hour to reach Laguna de los Tres. Turquoise water and more glaciers await us. Pity that there are so many clouds though, but here is a photo taken by Anja the following day so we can imagine how it looks bathed in sunlight… On our way down, the sky suddenly clears up and Fitz Roy appears, majestically towering over the whole area. We stop at a lake to bathe our sore feet before returning to El Chalten and a delicious meal in a microbrewery. They serve little soups in home-made ceramic cups and have a separate vegetarian menu.

We haven’t seen a glacier up close yet, so that is what we want to do on our second day in El Chalten. Glacier Viedma can be reached by bus, then by boat. A huge wave splashes over my camera, but fortunately it survives. My truthful companion during this whole trip has seen it all, and has been through worse than this. Our guide explains everything very carefully: how the glacier brings all the dust and small rocks with it while advancing, which gives the grayish color to the water and also makes the glacier look dirty. We see the marks left by the glacier on the rocks, from when it covered more of the land. Then we attach crampons to our shoes and we get to walk on the glacier itself. How amazing are all the different ice formations? Here we see a giant crack with little blue frozen drops everywhere; there we see a tunnel through the ice. Some places the glacier seems like a landscape from a different planet and then there is a slope that looks like a beach. The ice twinkles like little stars. As a reward our guides serves us Bailey’s… on ice of course!

photos El Chalten

El Calafate and Perito Moreno Glacier

Situated on the shores of Lago Argentino, Calafate has the ideal location to visit the Perito Moreno Glacier, 80 km away. Perito Moreno is one of only advancing glaciers in South America and it moves up to 2 meters every day, calving huge iceblocks into the lake. 30 tourists died because they went too close to the glacier. Therefore, we can now only see it from one of the many metal platforms and catwalks constructed at a safe distance. Impressive! A blanket of ice that carves its way between the mountains, digging out valleys and leaving polished rock behind. The blue of the ice is so blue and we are lucky, the sun decides to show up as well.

photos perito moreno

Torres del Paine - Chile

Together with Anja and Aurélien (from the mountain top), Lionel and I take the bus to Punta Arenas, for a short stopover on our way to Puerto Natales. No time to visit penguins this time unfortunately, a shame because the biggest colony of magellanic penguins is near Punta Arenas. This may seem strange, but I like leaving some things behind unseen. It gives me a reason to return one day. On our way to Chile we see some playful dolphins following our boat, jumping up and performing a whole show for us.

Puerto Natales is a nice little town with the best hostel so far: Tin House. The owner knows everything there is to know about trekking in Torres del Paine.and she helps us prepare our trek for the following days. We decide on the W, and Anja is coming with us the two first days. We are doing the trek from West to East.

On our first day we first take a bus, then a catamaran to Paine Grande where we leave our bags. The trek to the Grey Glacier is 11km each way so we have to walk fast if we want to return before sunset. The landscape is amazing!. Announced by little floating icebergs, the glacier appears in front of our eyes, nestled between hills and trees, flowing down to the lake. Back in our camp we set up the tent, a one-person tent, for two. Anja sleeps in the refugio. If I haven’t felt like a sausage before, this is it. Backpacks, sleeping bags, arms and legs, other body parts all stuffed into this tiny space. We manage to sleep though, so well that Anja has to come and wake us the next day as the alarm didn’t go off.

On day two the landscape changes again. Last year a tourist accidentally burned down half of the national park, and now nature is trying to recuperate. We see many burned down trees, but the grass has already grown back. In Valle del Frances, we get a glimpse at the Torres, as we climb up in the middle of the W. For the next nights we are still in tents, but in rented two-person tents. More comfortable! Day three the landscape is again different, as we leave the burned area to the greener and preserved part of the park. The sun is shining, the water is turquoise and we are motivated. We stay as long as we can in the sun, enjoying the scenery as we rest along the way. Last day. I have dreamt about sunrise over the Torres, red light licking the mountains… Crushed was my dream when we wake up at 5 in the morning to pouring rain. There is no chance we will see anything today. Even when we get up, some hours later, the clouds lay as lids over the valley. Hopefully we will get better weather on our next trek.

photos torres