Ben – Gran Viaje

28. December 201924. January 2020

Uruguay

Chuy and Fortaleza Santa Maria

Chuy is a border town where the city is split in the middle between Brazil and Uruguay and a free trade zone. The border between Brazil and Uruguay is also divided – the Brazilian customs is north of Chuy and the Uruguayan customs south. Exiting and entering was quick and easy and Uruguay gives out a one year TIP (Temporary Import Permit) for the vehicle. Therefore many Europeans leave their campers in Uruguay over winter and go back to Europe.

14. October 201914. October 2019

Goodbye Brazil

Sao Paulo to Pico do Parana

After a surprisingly quiet night at the airport parking I got up early and headed towards the beach. Luckily there was barely any traffic and after a shockingly high toll I reached the coast. It was raining for the last week but the weather was now warm and sunny and I found a few nice places to camp and beautiful roads to drive.

13. October 201914. October 2019

Brazil IV – São Paulo II

Ubatuba

We spent 4 weeks mainly to get ourselves prepared to head home. Updated resumes, job applications, and a bit of beach time in between. Not a lot to report from our time other than Ubatuba living up to its nickname – Ubachuva, because of all the chuva (rain).

24. September 201914. October 2019

Top 10 Waterfalls

1. Cascada de Basaseachi, Mexcio

There was nothing not to love about this waterfall north of the Copper Canyon – the surrounding landscape, the rainbow, a hike down to the base and the free camping.

4. September 201924. January 2020

Top 10 Towns of Latin America

There are so many cute towns in Latin America and we will miss exploring them when home. We encountered photogenic town plazas, colorful streets, scenic backgrounds, street food served by friendly locals and so much more. It was hard to just name 10 of our favorites, but each has a unique quality that stands out in our memory.

31. August 2019

Brazil 3 – Rio de Janeiro, City and State

Before we entered Brazil we waffled on whether or not to visit the most famous city here. It has a pretty bad reputation and has one of the world’s most famous slums… so would this be for us? We were drawn into the area by surrounding towns and mountains, so we made a quick stop and got just a touch of that Rio feeling.

30. August 20191. September 2019

Top 10 Hikes – Latin America

1. Laguna de Los Tres, El Chalten, Argentina

A classic in the heart of Patagonia with perfect weather and fall colors. Endless views on the trail and a destination that leaves you speechless. Read more here.

29. August 2019

Brazil 2 – Minas Gerais

After a long drive from São Paulo we arrived in Minas Gerais. The district is about 10x the size of Switzerland and full of hikes, big cities, cute towns, spelunking and more.

12. August 201919. August 2019

Brazil 1 – Pantanal, Bonito and Iguazu

No border crossing is without its headaches. There’s always an element of an unknown going in – and for Brazil, it was the customs office lunch break. We got checked out of Bolivia quickly, received passport stamps for Brazil within minutes and headed over to get the TIP (Temporary Import Permit) for the car. We missed them by less than 5 minutes and had to wait 2 hours. On the plus side, no problems or hassles from authorities on either side.

2. July 201912. August 2019

Bolivia

San Pedro de Atacama

We spent a few days around Backpackers Central in Northern Chile. Tourist towns offer higher prices but often good foods we miss. The highlight of the town was the French bakery with amazing Pan au Chocolat and baguette. We visited a few spots near the town, mainly a couple viewpoints and flamingos. Pretty much all the spots you could wild camp at years ago are now only accessible if you book a tour from the city so it was overall a bit of a dud.