Quetzales
Next, we spent two days in Trogon Lodge, San Gerardo de Dota, getting up very early to stare at trees. Sometimes with a hint of quetzal behind branches and leaves but mainly just trees. Quetzals are strikingly colored birds, with iridescent green wings, backs and heads and a red belly. The male birds have large […]
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Corcovado Hike (part 2)
Costa Rica, April 10-20 Arriving in our hotel in San José, minus one bag that stayed behind in Bogota but luckily made it the next day, we realized that so far none of the hotel rooms we stayed in had a window or proper lights. Maybe booking.com should start showing windows as room feature? As […]
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Corcovado Hike (part 1)
Costa Rica, April 10-20 Arriving in our hotel in San José, minus one bag that stayed behind in Bogota but luckily made it the next day, we realized that so far none of the hotel rooms we stayed in had a window or proper lights. Maybe booking.com should start showing windows as room feature? As […]
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Tayrona
Our last two days in the region we spent in Tayrona National Park. A coastal park with beautiful beaches, covered in rainforest. We hiked to Cabo San Juan and spent the night in a rental tent. Dorin got a mighty smelly mattress though and after some relaxing hours at the beach we were okay to […]
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Lost City Trek – Ciudad Perdida (part 2)
After a couple of relaxing days in Cartagena we moved to Santa Marta, the starting point for our amazing although exhausting four days trek to Ciudad Perdida (Lost City) with Expotur. With our group of 15 hikers and well guided by our guides Camacho & Santiago, we hiked for 7-8 hours a day, steep up, […]
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Lost City Trek – Ciudad Perdida (part 1)
After a couple of relaxing days in Cartagena we moved to Santa Marta, the starting point for our amazing although exhausting four days trek to Ciudad Perdida (Lost City) with Expotur. With our group of 15 hikers and well guided by our guides Camacho & Santiago, we hiked for 7-8 hours a day, steep up, […]
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Cartagena
The time had come, the countdown reached zero and – we were still at the airport in Zurich. While AF confirmed that the air traffic controller strike would not impact our long-haul flight, it unfortunately delayed the incoming plane bringing us to Paris too much for us to make the connection. We blame you Cipri, […]
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Udaipur, Rajasthan‘s most romantic city
After another long drive, a detour on a dirt road and a visit at Ranakpur, one of India’s biggest, most important and very nice looking Jain temple, we got to Udaipur. We don’t really feel the romance, maybe we just did too much sightseeing in the last few days? Udaipur might have pretty lakes and […]
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Jodhpur, the blue city
Back from the desert, the landscape gets greener again, and more hilly. Mehrangarh, Jodhpur‘s impenetrable looking fort was built in 1808 and is a very impressive sight, with some great view points surrounding it. From there, we walk through the narrow alleys of the blue city. Traditionally, only Brahmin were allowed to paint their houses […]
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Jaisalmer – the golden city
Jaisalmer is so far our favorite city in Rajasthan. Founded in 1156, it’s the second oldest fort in Rajasthan, prospering from its strategic position along the silk route. Today the city’s economy is built on tourism and huge military camps, due to the close proximity to the Pakistani border. The fort and surrounding town are […]
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Temple of Rats
It‘s a long drive from Jaipur to Jaisalmer, so we stop overnight in Bikaner, to visit the Bikaner Fort and the Temple of Rats. That one is special. The story is that a local lady living there in the 14th century lost her son in a drowning accident. She then decreed that all members of […]
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Jaipur – the pink city
In 1876, the Maharaja of Jaipur had the city painted pink, traditionally the color of hospitality, to welcome the Prince of Wales. Today, the inhabitants of the old city are still obliged to preserve the pink facades of their houses and shops. After a forced ride up to the fort on elephant back, we get […]
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Ranthambhore, searching for tigers
For the wildlife part of our tour, we visit the wetlands in Keoladeo Ghana N.P. on a trishaw tour to look for its many birds and Ranthambhore in a 20-seat open truck for a chance to spot one of the 50 plus tigers in the park. Unfortunately we don‘t, we only get to see tiger […]
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Agra – city of love
When Mumtaz Mahal, the beloved third wife of mogul Shah Jahan died giving birth to his 14th child in 1631, Shah Jahan decided to respect her last wish to be buried below white marble. Going all the way, over the next 22 years he built the Taj Mahal, with 20’000 workers involved, many of them […]
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Varanasi – city of light (part 2)
On the first day we have an evening boat tour and watch the prayer ceremony to mother river Ganges. Early next morning, we watch the sunrise and morning ritual bathing and have a walk in the alleyways of the oldest part of the town. It’s all so narrow, they built shops and kitchens it what […]
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Varanasi – city of light (part 1)
Varanasi is incredible to visit. It’s one of the world’s oldest continually inhabited cities, and one of the holiest in Hinduism. To die in Varanasi frees the soul from the cycle of rebirth and offers immediate moksha (the Hindu version of Nirvana). Pilgrims come to the ghats (embankments with stone steps) lining the Ganges to […]
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Delhi p.2
Old Delhi, New Delhi On arrival, the pilot mentions low level smoke and we realize quickly that this is not the same as low level of smoke. It‘s foggy and smells of wood fire. Our hotel is in New Delhi, the modern part of the city, designed and built by the British in the 1920‘s. […]
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Delhi p.1
Old Delhi, New Delhi On arrival, the pilot mentions low level smoke and we realize quickly that this is not the same as low level of smoke. It‘s foggy and smells of wood fire. Our hotel is in New Delhi, the modern part of the city, designed and built by the British in the 1920‘s. […]
Read MoreAmazon cruise p2
Our last destination was Iquitos, for a five days Amazon river cruise on Cattleya, a small boat with only four cabins. With the whole wall being one big window, we could lie in bed and watch the river passing by. On activities, we enjoyed most the skiff rides on the smaller channels with almost black […]
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Amazon cruise p1
Our last destination was Iquitos, for a five days Amazon river cruise on Cattleya, a small boat with only four cabins. With the whole wall being one big window, we could lie in bed and watch the river passing by. On activities, we enjoyed most the skiff rides on the smaller channels with almost black […]
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Sacred Valley (p.2)
We returned by combined train-car ride back to Cusco and spent two more days in Cusco, including a full day taxi tour to the Sacred Valley, visiting the Inca ruins in Chinchero, Moray and Ollanta and the salt mines in Maras.
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Sacred Valley (p.1)
We returned by combined train-car ride back to Cusco and spent two more days in Cusco, including a full day taxi tour to the Sacred Valley, visiting the Inca ruins in Chinchero, Moray and Ollanta and the salt mines in Maras.
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Machu Picchu day two
The next morning we got up at 4am, which would feel much worse if not having fallen asleep at 8pm the evening before. Still, almost too late, the queue for the first bus at 5.30am was already going through half the village. Now the karma points paid us back and we still got to the […]
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Machu Picchu day one
After a relaxed day in Cuzco, realizing that on 3.300m even the 200m difference to Sacsaywamán is a though hike :), we took an early morning taxi to Poroy to board our 3h PeruRail train ride to Aguas Calientes. 3h of pan flute music is definitively way too much. Aguas was nicer than expected, but […]
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Cuzco
The travel back to Cuzco was another 3h boat, 1h car, short ferry ride, 2h van and 1h flight from Puerto Maldonado. Next up Cuzco and Machu Picchu. The seven days jungle tour was a great way to experience the different ecosystems from the dry mountains to the cloud forest and the Amazon basin. The […]
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Peru – Manu national park – Macaws
Manu Wildlife Center was another basic but comfortable bungalow in a very pretty garden setting. We got to see lots of birds, climbed up to a 36m treetop viewpoint (needing careful coaxing back down in Sabine’s case on the rickety spiral staircase) and went early morning to the macaw salt lick. We entered the blind, […]
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Peru – Manu national park – Day 4 – the Jaguar
On the way back it started to rain and wouldn’t stop for the next 36 hours. The afternoon we spent in the dining bungalow, sorting pictures, reading, eating popcorn and watching the wildlife from inside, as we had tamarin, capuchin and squirrel monkeys all passing closely by. The next morning it still rained, not too […]
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Peru – Manu national park – Day 3 – Giant otters
On our full day in Cocha Salvador, we went for a wooden catamaran trip on the actual Cocha, an oxbow lake near our camp. We got super lucky to see the resident giant river otter family with all its nine members coming back from a mid-morning fishing trip. The younger ones were quickly ushered back […]
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Peru – Manu national park – Day 2
Second day in Manu with even more traveling, first by car and long hours by boat on Rio Alto Madre and Rio Manu to the tented camp at Cocha Salvador. Along the way we saw turtles, caimans, capybaras and many more birds. Early morning we passed by one of the indigenous groups living in the […]
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Peru – Manu national park – Day 1
It’s a long way to Peru, curtesy to AirFrance with an extra hour before take-off looking for some missing luggage – unfortunately not ours as we realized later in Lima. 12h flight in an old cramped plane, with an outdated entertainment system, sad movie selection (The Fate of the Furious was the lead movie) and […]
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Diving in Malapascua – home of the thresher shark (2of2)
From Palawan we have a direct flight to Cebu. The plane leaves 30min ahead of schedule, they were done with the boarding 🙂 From Cebu it’s a 3.5h drive to the northern tip of the island and a 30min boat ride to Malapascua. We’re back at Ocean Vida and diving with Martin at Sea Explorers. […]
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Diving in Malapascua – home of the thresher shark (1of2)
From Palawan we have a direct flight to Cebu. The plane leaves 30min ahead of schedule, they were done with the boarding 🙂 From Cebu it’s a 3.5h drive to the northern tip of the island and a 30min boat ride to Malapascua. We’re back at Ocean Vida and diving with Martin at Sea Explorers. […]
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1’780 islands of Palawan (2of2)
After an awesome trip to the Philippines in 2013, we just had to come back for some more. This time, we travel to Palawan, for its rocky islets, turquoise waters and hidden beaches. Really well hidden, there is one where we have to snorkel through a hole in the wall and get out on a […]
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1’780 islands of Palawan (1of2)
After an awesome trip to the Philippines in 2013, we just had to come back for some more. This time, we travel to Palawan, for its rocky islets, turquoise waters and hidden beaches. Really well hidden, there is one where we have to snorkel through a hole in the wall and get out on a […]
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mountain gorillas!
Awesome day at gorilla tracking! Bwindi Impenetrable N.P. is home of almost half the surviving mountain gorillas. Ten groups have been habituated and can be visited by tourists, but not more than eight people and for only one hour per day. Our group is the Mukiza group, named after its silverback. Ten gorillas, including a […]
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tree climbing lions
On the way to Ishasha, we pull over close to a fishing village for a photo stop. Suddenly a knock on the window and a soldier requests to see all kind of papers from Sam. It seems the tiny bridge ahead is a key communication link and they don’t like people loitering around it and […]
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Queen Elisabeth – balloon flight
Early morning we go for a balloon ride over the Savannah. We get very lucky and are the only passengers, the day before and after they had ten and more passengers. To balance the basket our armed guard is getting a ride for free which makes him super happy. It’s nice to see the park […]
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Queen Elisabeth – boat cruise
Queen Elizabeth National Park is our second safari location, with one night in the northern part in the bigger but still very nice Mweya Safari Lodge and two nights in our cozy safari tent in the much smaller Ishasha Wilderness Camp. We have another boat cruise, with our own private boat on the Kazinga Channel. […]
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Spending a day with the chimps
Our chimpanzee tracking day is a great experience. The standard is walking through the jungle until you find the chimps and then getting one hour to watch them. We booked the add-on and get the full day chimp habituation program. It starts with waking up at 5 am to be there for sunrise when they […]
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Murchison Falls – Nile Cruise – part 2
On the Nile cruise, we see lots of birds, hippos and some crocodiles. Also, the rare, prehistoric shoebill stork that everyone wants to photograph at least until they get a closer look at it. Our hotel is the beautiful Baker’s Lodge. The cottage is big with the whole backside made with mesh to get a […]
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Murchison Falls – Nile Cruise – part 1
On the Nile cruise, we see lots of birds, hippos and some crocodiles. Also, the rare, prehistoric shoebill stork that everyone wants to photograph at least until they get a closer look at it. Our hotel is the beautiful Baker’s Lodge. The cottage is big with the whole backside made with mesh to get a […]
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Murchison Falls part 2
Murchison Falls is Uganda’s oldest and largest national park. Here the Victoria Nile flows into Lake Albert to then go on as Albert Nile, first passing through the Murchison Falls, a 40m drop only 7m wide. That’s a lot of water in a narrow gorge and a very powerful waterfall. The park offers game drives, […]
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Murchison Falls part 1
Murchison Falls is Uganda’s oldest and largest national park. Here the Victoria Nile flows into Lake Albert to then go on as Albert Nile, first passing through the Murchison Falls, a 40m drop only 7m wide. That’s a lot of water in a narrow gorge and a very powerful waterfall. The park offers game drives, […]
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Welcome to Uganda
Finally arriving in Uganda. I waited all year for this, even while diving in Sulawesi – look a blue ringed octopus, and soon I get to see gorillas, or hiking in Iceland – nice waterfall, but soon I get to see the Nile waterfall with hippos… Some last minute preparations such as getting a visa […]
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Golden circle
Out of the highlands into the Golden Circle where all the other tourists are. The Golden Circle is three popular attractions close enough to Rekjavik that they can be done in a single day trip, Thingvellir, Geysir and Gullfoss. First on our route is Gullfoss. Or the Gullfoss visitor center, we are starving. Gullfoss itself […]
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Hveravellir to Laugarvatn part 1
Hveravellir to Laugarvatn The day starts miserable, it’s cold, it rains, there is no view. No hiking for us then. Instead we take the car to the absolutely stunning Kerlingarfjöll. It’s ocher gravel hills, hot springs running in between, steam is rising – so awesome we don’t mind the snowstorm.
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Myvatn to Hveravellir
Myvatn to Hveravellir After a hot chocolate with view on the ducklings, we are off again to see some of the many things Myvatn has to offer. We could easily spend a few days here, there’s lots to do. But as we plan to cross over the highlands on the way back to Rekjavik, we […]
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Seydisfjördur to Myvatn part 2
Afterwards we drive to lake Myvatn, having another lunch inside the car, too windy outside. Myvatn is a very pretty lake in the northeast, with lots of things to do and see around it. We get to see two more waterfalls on the way, the mighty Dettifoss where you get to have a shower in […]
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Seydisfjördur to Myvatn part 1
Best morning in Iceland! We drive from our fjördur to Borgarfjördur Eystri. It’s a super tiny village (luckily though including a petrol station, it would have been a long way to push the car back to town) with about 30’000 pairs of nesting puffins. There is a small harbor with a viewing platform where you […]
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Skaftafell to Seydisfjördur – part 2
To avoid the rain in Skaftafell we drive another 8km and pitch our tent in Svinafell, another nice campsite and without rain. The weather is very local here, especially close to the glaciers. Luckily it stopped raining in Skaftafell overnight and we get back there in the morning for the walk to the Skaftafellsjökull glacier […]
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