Free to Roam Wild

From left to right: In Pucon with Volcano Villarica; Mountains around Puerto Ibanez; Talia and I kayaking the marble caves of Puerto Rio Tranquilo

From left to right: Rainbow bagel in NYC; First sunset in Pucon; Volcano Villarica at night (check out the lava!)

From Pucon we flew to Coyhaique where we rented the car for the Carretera Austral. While on the road we didn’t book out accommodation more than a day in advance that way we had the freedom to stay wherever we liked for as long as we liked. This worked out best for us as we ended up extending our stays in Puerto Ibanez and Tortel. We spent on night in Chile Chico after finishing the Carretera Austral so that we could cross the border into Argentina first thing in the morning. I would HIGHLY suggest this, the border lines can supposedly get out of control long which I can easily believe. Gobernador Gregores was our first stop in Argentina and we really weren’t a fan. We only stayed there because we needed to break up the drive to El Chalten. We absolutely loved El Chalten and would have happily stayed longer. Looking back we both would have cut days off of our time in El Calafate and added it to our time in El Chalten without a doubt. 

The only reason why we spent so much time in Punta Arenas was because this all happened around Christmas, we weren’t sure how the holidays might impact the border crossing so we wanted to do it beforehand. We ended up crossing on Christmas Eve without any issues and then holed up in two cute apartments in Punta Arenas. I absolutely adored the first apartment we stayed in where we popped some sparkling apple cider we found with Santa’s face on it just because we could. Our time in Puerto Natales before the O trek was the perfect amount of time in town. The only reason why we stayed for two days after the trek was because the bus to Ushuaia only runs on certain days. 

From left to right: First day on the Carretera Austral; Pisco Sour by the glacier Jorge Montt near Tortel; Us with the views on the way to Chile Chico

Talia and I both ended up loving Ushuaia. I easily could have spent more time there. On the listed itinerary above you’re only seeing the amount of time I spent in the city. Talia stayed longer because she went on a shorter Antarctica cruise. We reunited on the last night listed in Ushuaia. I would definitely go back and do some camping in Tierra del Fuego. As far as Antartica goes, I loved it. If you can go, go. I know I haven’t written a full blog post on it but I will soon. 

Then came Buenos Aires, the dates listed overlap with the dates I was in Rio and the dates we both went to Iguazu. We decided to keep our Airbnb while we were in Iguazu that way we wouldn’t have to shlep our big bags with us as well. I used the time that Talia was working in Buenos Aires to visit Rio since she wasn’t interested in going. 

From left to right: Talia and I on a helicopter ride in Ushuaia; King Penguins in South Georgia; Standing on Continental Antarctica

From Buenos Aires we took the ferry across to Montevideo. While based in Montevideo we also visited Colonia for the day. From Montevideo we took the bus up to Ponte del Diablo for a few days. We ended up taking the budget ferry back to Buenos Aires which is a story within itself. There’s definitely a blog post to be written about the various ferries between Uruguay and Argentina.

Before we left Buenos Aires the first time Talia and I made some decisions on how to spend the next couple of months. We both loved Buenos Aires so much that we decided to come back for a week instead of spending another week in Uruguay (to be fair we made this decision before we went to Uruguay… turns out we both love Uruguay as well). 

From left to right: Talia and I at an empanada and more cooking class; Talia and I at Iguazu falls; On the beach at Ponte del Diablo

From Buenos Aires we flew to Paraguay. One of the caveats I had about spending an extra week in Buenos Aires was that I really wanted to spend a week in Paraguay. I’m so glad we did, I ended up falling pretty damn hard for the jungles of Paraguay. We split our time between Asuncion while Talia was working and doing a ‘safari’ of sorts in the Chaco.

Paraguay is where we learned how stupid flying in South America can be (no offense to the continent I love it but the flight paths make no sense 75% of the time). The best flight path for us was to fly to Sao Paulo for one night and then flying to Bolivia from there. Sao Paulo is incredible and I want to go back some day. The street art is just *chefs kiss.*

From left to right: Sunsets in Paraguay; The roads of the Chaco; Street art in Sao Paulo

We flew into La Paz after a chaotic layover in Santa Cruz trying to obtain visas. We only spent a couple of days in La Paz so Talia could work before we ended down to Tupiza. We ended up doing a 4 day tour from Tupiza to Uyuni instead of the classic 3 day tour of Uyuni to Uyuni. This tour takes you around the Bolivian topography that surrounds the salt flats before also taking you to the flats (which were breathtaking). We spent a couple more nights in La Paz before moving on.

From La Paz we both flew to Bogota but we split up in Bogota for just under a week. Talia headed to Cartagena while I flew a bit farther north to Providencia. I spent just under a week scuba diving on the island before flying to Cartagena to meet Talia. I easily could have spent more time in Cartagena but we wanted to get to Medellin for Talia’s birthday. 

From left to right: Pretending to be a flamingo around a laguna in the south of Bolivia; Sunset at Salar d’Uyuni; the streets of La Paz

We spent the last week of our trip in Medellin before Talia and I said our goodbyes. After 5 months together it was time for us to move on to our own things. Talia started her journey home while I flew to Peru to finally see Machu Picchu. 

Peru was incredible and everything I could have dreamed even if I had to fly from Medellin to Panama to Lima (see what I mean when I say the flight paths are questionable)? I easily could have spent more time in Peru but when I originally booked this leg of the trip I didn’t know how the unrest was going to be so I had made the decision to leave Peru and head somewhere else for my last few days in South America.

I ended up going back to a place that my soul had fallen in love with – the Chaco aka Paraguay. I was desperately hoping I would get to see a Tapir before I had to leave this continent I’ve taken to calling home for the last 5 months. On my last night luck turned in my favor and I saw one. That made leaving just slightly easier.

From left to right to bottom: Flying into Providencia; Scuba diving with grey reef sharks; Talia and I did a painting class in Cartagena; Our last photo together at Guatape, Colombia; Rainbow Mountain in Peru; Machu Picchu in Peru