We even went out for dancing with Xabine and her husband in one of the most famous Salsa clubs Tin Tin Deo in town. Not only could we try to show off what we learned in our Salsa class in Germany the year before, but it was also a place for professional Salsa dancers to really show off their skills. It was impressive!

Besides this we enjoyed the time with the family there and got also to know the whole bunch of kids of her other cousin Claudia, which was a lot of fun. We even dared to try and take a family picture with all of them, but after several tries we gave up. They just have too much energy to stay still :). After 3 days we left for our actual road trip with uncle Ciro. First we went south to see Popayan a lovely town with an intact historical center. After strolling around a bit we left earlier as planned, because the police had warned us that the main road back towards Cali might be blocked due to a massive strike of the local people.

So we made our way back towards Cali with the plan to just pass by and go further north and spent the night at cousin Claudia’s Finca. Traveling on the Colombian roads by car is somehow exciting and partly scary. At first it goes constantly up and down and it is curvy like hell when we went across the mountains. Second not all traffic participants stick to the rules we know from Europe So it took us some time to relax in the car and get used to the style of driving that would make up most part of the next few days. We arrived in at the Finca in the evening when it was already dark. When we woke up the next morning fully recovered, we were stunned by the view. The Finca is situated at Lake Calima and you have a perfect view of the lake from the terrace and living room!

As we did not have so much time, we drove on directly after getting up. We drove further north to visit the Cafetero zone, which is well known for their coffee plantations. The drive through the mountains and past the coffee and fruit plantations was just beautiful. In Salento we stopped to have a stroll in a lovely back leaned coffee town and enjoyed a delicious cup of coffee. The landscape there is beautifully green and covered with banana and coffee plants as far as you can look.

The next day we started early to visit a local coffee producer in the region around Armenia. We learned how the coffee is farmed and the process of coffee making from the beans into the cup. It was really interesting and we got to see a lot of beautiful tropical birds along the way. We of course took the chance to dress up in the local „Campesino“ clothes and try our luck at picking coffee beans. What do you think, we don’t look to bad, or?!

Our next stop was Medellin were we met more family: Natalie’s aunt Carol and more of her cousins. Her cousin Adriana and uncle Ciro showed us around. Medellin is the second largest city in Colombia. With its surrounding area that includes nine other cities, the metropolitan area of Medellin is the second-largest urban agglomeration in Colombia in terms of population and economy, with more than 3.5 million people. There are a few places in Medellin from where you have a great view over the city and it is really amazing how it has expanded and grown within the boundaries of the Andes.

We also found some time to prepare our return to normal life as we used the excellent shopping opportunities to buy some clothes and souvenirs. We both had not bought any clothes for 2 years except the functional clothes for the trip. It was great fun and Medellin is the destination for it. Natalie is so hot in her freshly bought jeans ;).The other highlight was a family organized cooking class with her aunt Carol. She invited us into her house one morning and taught me and Natalie how to cook a proper Colombian Sancocho.

We left family and Medellin after 4 days towards Santa Marta at the Caribbean Sea. A big thanks to all of them for their time and passion to show us around. In particular to uncle Ciro who took a couple of days off to drive with us up to Medellin.

Our last part of the world trip should bring us to the northern end of South America. The wild and rough peninsula La Guajira! From Santa Marta we took 4 more different buses and collectivos and reached Cabo de la Vela in the evening after more than 20 hours on the road again. It is so far north and there is not much tourism there yet, that there are not direct connections to get there. As we were going there it somehow crossed my mind that we closed the circle there.

We had started our last big section of the world trip in the very south end of South America in Ushuaia in Argentina and now after countless kilometers and hours in the bus it would end on the other side of the continent in Cabo de la Vela in Colombia. We had not only traveled around the world, we also had traveled South America almost completely by bus from South to North. I felt satisfied because of all the amazing things we had done and seen, but also a bit sad that it would be ending so soon.

Cabo itself is a place where there is not much to do except eating fresh and tasty lobster or enjoying a good book and the great view at the aquamarine blue caribbean sea from your hammock right on the beach. So we did! We even slept in our hammocks only sheltered by a simple wooden roof on the beach. I have to say it is defenitly more romantic in films and books at it is in reality without being used to it. But thanks to our uncounted nights in buses, tents, at the airport on benches etc we mastered this as well :).

We left Guajira one day earlier as planned though, because the wind, which comes from the desert inland, was unusually strong bringing the sand everywhere. So the way back through the desert was actually our last real adventure. Our driver picked us up in his 20 year old Dodge pickup truck falling almost apart with 500.000 miles on the clock. At some point our driver even started to hold the front console to prevent it from breaking loose. Not to mention the windshield, which looked like it is going to break any minute. Luckily our hostel had reserved us the only two front seats. All the other passengers had to sit on the 2 benches on the back of the truck.

The sand storm which haunted us constantly in waves reminded me of documentaries I had watched about the Sahara, but this was just Colombia. I do not know how the other passengers survived the 2 hours in the open back of the truck. But even we ate tons of dust in the cabin as our driver left both side windows open ;). Even better, from time to time our driver lost track, because the visibility was close to zero :). At times we were just driving to a thick cloud of dust not seeing at all where we were going! Somehow we made it through the dusty desert and a couple of buses and collectivos later we finally reached the National Park Tyrona in the early evening.

We stayed there for one night in a hammock again. Quite different to La Guajira, Tayrona is the opposite of a desert landscape. Tropical beaches lined the coast lines with many secluded little beaches and massive boulders everywhere. It was a little bit like the caribbean version of the Wilsons Promontery National Park in Australia. It was so peaceful and beautiful there! There are lots of opportunities to camp or sleep in hammocks.

As it stretches almost all the way from Cartagena to La Guajira, it is a perfect place to spend more time here. Unfortunately we only had 1 night and 2 days, but next time we will come again we will spend more time here. For our way back we hired 2 horses and a guide and rode back to the main gate through the thick jungle. My first horse ride, as an adult ever, and for Natalie the fulfillment of one of her wishes for the world trip :).

In the evening we traveled from Santa Marta further south the coast the our last destination in Colombia, the most beautiful city in the Caribbean: Cartagena! Natalie had chosen a nice hotel with a double room. Somehow at the end of our travel we both did not like to go into dorm rooms anymore. In Cartagena we celebrated the end of our epic trip with amazing seafood and some cocktails and enjoyed the charming colonial center.

It is still surrounded by the massive wall the Spaniards had built back in the 16th century as an answer to the attack of the legendary pirate Sir Francis Drake, who had almost destroyed the city in his hunt for gold. We also did a day trip to some surrounding beaches, but instantly missed the peaceful atmosphere of Tayrona. As a main tourist destination for locals and Americans, the beautiful beaches here are crowded with people selling stuff and hundreds of plastic blue and red sun covers that ruin the romantic beach view, at least for us.

Instead we then rather went back to the city and enjoyed our last Colombian jugos and delicious seafood, while the city was full of life and excitement. All over the historic centre the annual film festival was taking place and people were enjoying free open-air cinema everywhere. We left Cartagena, Columbia and the continent of South America on the 15th of March after 4 incredible months in South America and almost 12 month since we had started our world trip. Now our journey home would start, stopping first in New York to visit Natalie’s brother and his family.

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We left and took the speed boat to North Seymour Island, which is famous for having many sharks and especially hammerhead sharks around. I was as hoped totally fine on the trip there, just a  bit nervous. When we arrived, the dive instructor first stopped at a spot on the open water where the experienced divers could go down to 30 meters. As it turned out, we would take our turns, as the instructor would go diving with each group for safety reasons. So me and 2 others, who were still beginners, had to wait in the boat for 40 minutes. And this is when the ordeal began. While I was fine during the boat ride, I became incredibly seasick as the boat was being shaken around by the strong waves on this open water spot. I felt terrible and after about 20 minutes I could not hold it anymore. I had to throw up badly. Luckily there was lots of water around and I did not make such a mess. I threw up twice during these 40 minutes, while we were waiting.  The couple who were waiting with me in the boat where really sweet as well and cared for me. They gave me water and sweet and asked every few minutes if they can do anything. Of course they could not, I just had to go through this now until the trip was over. My only concern was if I could still go diving in this state.

After 40 minutes the first group came up and was totally impressed. They had not only seen many, many fishes and white-tip sharks, but also hammerhead sharks. This was the highlight for any diver here on the Galapagos. We had actually seen two from the boat shortly as they came up for a few seconds, but I would not see them on my dive in the water, as I would not go deep enough on my first dive. Next, we drove a bit further to a more shallower spot, so the couple who were beginners could go diving. The woman had however an incredible fear of sharks and while her man was really sweet and tried to calm her down as much as he could it did not help much. After 2 minutes under water, she had to come up again and wanted to go into the boat. She was too afraid and could not relax and breath properly. Now, you have to know that white-tip sharks are totally harmless to humans, but she could not overcome the fear in her head.

That meant I was next! I felt a bit better now, as in the shallower water the boat was not shaking as bad. So I put all the gear on and was impressed by how heavy it all is. They sat me on the rim of the boat and while I was expecting to get a short lesson of what to do now, my lovely instructor just said to me: ¨All you have to do is breathe, I do the rest.¨ And with that he literally threw me backwards into the cold water! I have to admit I shortly panicked. The equipment was so heavy and I tried to breathe through the mask, but it felt like I could not breathe properly. It took me a few minutes to realize that you have to breathe out properly in order to breathe in without effort. Would have been nice, if he had told me that before Once I knew how to do it, I practiced breathing under water for a few minutes and then we already went down. He knew that I was seasick before and did not feel to well, so we went down very slowly.

What was sweet was that he actually hold my hand the whole time and did not let go. I actually felt quite safe like this and really enjoyed diving very much! It is so, so different to just snorkelling. You really feel like you are on the same level as the sharks and fishes and not just looking down on them. And I was, I was actually swimming with sharks and rays on the same level and was just an arm length away. It felt much more intense than the experiences we had snorkelling with them. The first dive was about 25  minutes. Then I could feel my throat getting very dry which must have been from all the throwing up before.

We went up and I just took a few minutes floating in the water breathing without the mask. In the meantime I saw that the couple had come into the water as well, but just with snorkelling equipment and that the man had a surprise ready. He had a banner with him and proposed to his love under water. It was so sweet! As I later learned, he is actually a very famous TV star and producer in Ecuador (Richard Barker) and if Wikipedia tells the truth, this will be his third wife :). They were so sweet together though and so kind to me. He did not behave very much like a snobby star, even though I later realized how all the local people on the peer greeted and looked at him excited.

After that I went diving again with my instructor for another 20 minutes, before going back to the boat. I think we went up to 5-6 meters for these dives. Next, it was the turn for the other group again and we drove back to deeper water again. Another 40 minutes of waiting and another 3 times of me throwing up. The boat was shaking even more than before and I could just not control it. By the time they came up again, I had already changed into my normal clothes. I did not feel like diving anymore and just wanted to get back onto land. I had a fantastic first experience and was very happy with it.

Now I know I will do it again together with Mathias this time and we will find a place where we will actually get a bit more instructions. When we got back to the agency, Mathias was already waiting for me. He had spent the morning at Tortuga Bay again, enjoying this beautiful peaceful beach. We went home for a short recovery nap for us both and then treated ourselves to a lovely dinner with grilled fish to finish our time on Santa Cruz. In the morning, we would leave for Isabella Island.

In the morning we took the local ferry boat to Isabella. It is basically a large speedboat with 3 massive Yamaha engines and space for up to 25 passengers. The ride is about 1,5 hours and depending on the sea quite bumpy and rough. This time I prepared myself with seasickness pills and did pretty well.

When we reached the small little habour on Isabella we were welcomed by a bunch of sealions, rays and penguins swimming the boats in the shallow turquise water. Blue-footed Boobies were diving into the water in big swarms to catch fishes. Unbelievable but true, the habour area was completely in the hands of the Galapagos animals, while we as humans were just tolerated by them as guests. No wonder some budget travellers skip snorkelling tours on Isabella and just do it right there. We took a taxi into town to our hostel, which turned out to be only a 5 minute ride. We instantly felt the good vibe of this cute little place. Tourism is only 10 years old on this island and the streets around the main plaza are still unpaved. There are just a handful of food places and tour agents around and the local folk is welcoming and chilled. There is a complete absence of hectic and stress, which we both loved.

I got the name of a local family owned hostel in town from our cruise guide Ruben and the place was just perfect for us. Mathilda and her husband rent out 5 cute little cabins in a wonderful green and flowered garden. A great place and acutally the best we had on Galapagos. After we had moved in we went to book our day tours. All went smoothly and quickly this time and within a few minutes we had arranged our tour for the afternoon, the next day and the day after. Money is always going quickly out of your hands on Galapagos, but so far it was worth every penny.

Our afternoon tour brought us to the close island of Tintoreras which is the best place to see a big marine iguana colony nesting there. We saw hundreds of them including small baby ones on the rough lava rocks and in the mangrooves when we walked the visitor path with our guide. We even could see them building their nests. The females dig a hole into the ground where they lay the eggs. After our walk we all were ready for some cooling down action, as it was quite a hot day.

Luckily the second half of the tour was reserved for snorkelling off the boat around the island. The water was full of massive turtles and we enjoyed snorkelling with them. Watch the turtle video to see for yourself. We filmed it right there. The guy in the background in the beginning is actually Mathias :).

When we came back from our tour a sealion group had conquered the mooring and chilled on the planks and benches. They are very social and love it to sleep next to each other. Sometimes they almost look like humans, especially when they put their paws on each other while sleeping

We slept like babies in our cabin and started totally recuperated into our day trip at 8:00 in the morning. We took a small speed boat again and our captain stopped on the way several times to show us Manta Rays feeding on the water surface. You can see them jumping out of the water a bit and at one point I even saw one jumping out completely!! It was one of the best sights I had seen on the Galapagos. Unfortunately it was while we were speeding along the water, so there was no chance to take a picture or video.
Our day trip brought us to the inofficial highlight of Isabella, the famous „Los Tuneles“. It is a lava field along the coastline. Thanks to erosion it is rugged and full of open old lava tunnels, which can be explored by swimming and snorkelling. The density of the sealife there is just outstanding. In the shallow water we snorkelled with giant sea turtles again, swarms of fishes were everywhere we looked and the water was full of uncounted colourful reef fishes.

We were lucky to see white-tip sharks resting under water caves and rays flying like birds through the water just an arm length away from us. You can see both of this as videos as well. Our captain supported our guide as he swam in front of our group and spotted all the special sealife. On our second snorkelling spot he even found us a Seahorse. We all would have missed that, but since he is a former fisherman, he knew where to look and did an amazing job during the day. On the same trip, we also got to see penguins again and this time they were right next to us on the rocks enjoying the sun, not moving a centimeter! When we swam over there, they did not care and we could take pictures and admire them without problems.

In the end we had a short walk on these unique lava tunnels and even there we saw turtles swimming in the water around us every few minutes. When we went back we both agreed that this was the most amazing snorkelling experience during our stay on Galapagos.

On our last day on Isabella we decided to do something else other than snorkelling and did a small hike up to the volcanoe Sierra Negra. It is actually the volcanoe on Galapagos with the most recent erruption, which happened only in 2005. It was a 5 hours hike back and forth, but luckily it was a bit cloudy that day and not so hot. The first stop brought us to a massive crater, which is actually 10km wide. We had the same feeling as in El Calafate, when we stood in front of the glacier. Our eyes were not really processing what we actually saw. We had needed a car or something similar on the crater grounds to really understand how wide the crater is.

We then continued walking and came to a lava field that reminded us a little bit of the Tongariro volcanoe field in New Zealand. It was completely deserted and dry and yet so full of colour shimmering in red, yellow, brown and black tones. It was a beautiful sight! We felt like being on a different planet again. It was a great change of scenery to our days before and rounded up the diverse picture we had by now from the Galapagos. In the evening we took the ferry boat back to Santa Cruz to catch our flight to Quito the next morning. We both feel blessed to have had the chance to come to this unique place and truly hope that the Ecuadorian government will continue protecting it properly in the future.

It is of course not perfect and they struggle with the same problem any place has once humans live there: what to do with all the waste? There are lots of things that can still be done to improve the situation and we do hope that it will be done and kept just as untouched when future generations go to visit.

We had already done a bit of research of course and knew that Galapagos is not a cheap destination. So we had put some extra money aside for this trip. In the very beginning, we thought about just booking a cruise like most people do. However the cost usually starts at 1500 EUR per person for just 3 or 4 days when you book it abroad before. During our research we came across travel blocks though, where people said you can easily discover the Galapagos on your own by directly going to the main islands and doing day trips from there. Several travelers we had met by then had said the same, so this is what we did in the end. We flew from Guayaquil to the main island Santa Cruz and had 10 days to spend on the Galapagos islands.

We landed just before lunch and already the landing was spectacular. Just look at the pictures I took from the airplane. The colour of the water, the many different islands in different shapes and sizes. We were excited!! The plane actually lands on Baltra island, which is a small island just 10 minutes ferry ride away from Santa Cruz. So took the small ferry board over to Santa Cruz and we instantly felt like being in a unique paradise. Just on this 10 minutes ride we saw hundreds of small fishes in the shallow water, several pelican birds diving down into the water to feed on them and the some smarter birds trying to steal it from them. We just stood there amazed and watched happily for some minutes until our bus would leave to take us to the main port and town area Puerto Ayora.

What a start. After a 45 minutes bus ride across the island, we then arrived in Puerto Ayora. It is the main settlement on the Galapagos Islands and the main tourist area with all agencies, restaurants and hostels around. This is where we went out to find our luck, a good deal on day tours or maybe a cruise. I was still a bit torn between just doing day tours and going on a cruise, as I had also read many experiences in the meantime where people said a cruise is the only real way to experience Galapagos. There are in fact quite a few islands that can only be visited on a cruise as they are too far away for the normal ferryboats. And it is indeed these islands, which have no human settlements and are completely untouched. So we spent the day going to several agencies and asking for last minute cruise deals. We had also read that this is normally easy in Puerto Ayora directly, as cruises often have free spaces that want to get sold short notice. So we were kind of expecting to get many different options from economy class ranging up to luxury class. As it turned out though, we had unknowingly picked the carnival weekend in Ecuador to arrive on the Galapagos Islands. So there were many people visiting and there were no spaces free.

There was only one cruise that was offered to us from every agency, interestingly to a different price every time. So after having spent over 4 hours going to different places we decided to just go for it and book it. The cost was 1000 EUR cheaper per person compared to booking it in Germany, so it was quite a good deal. When we finally went back to the office with the best offer to book it, they told us it was just sold out! A few minutes earlier 4 people in Quito had booked the last spaces. Oh no!!! We ran to the other agencies to see if they had a different answer for us, but they all said the same. Too late now. Oh, I was really disappointed. I had already dreamed about going on this cruise ship and now we missed our chance. So that night we went home, planning our 10 days on Galapagos just doing day tours on the main islands. At the end of the evening we had actually quite a good plan that would allow us to still see most of the unique animals, but we would still miss out on some and could not see all the different terrain that defines some of the remoter islands.

The next morning we were full of motivation though to start discovering the place around us. We first went to the Darwin Research Centre. On our way there we saw many marine iguanas lying on the sidewalk and small lava lizards curiously looking at us. It was a first impression of what will later become clear anywhere we went: these islands belong to the animals, not to the humans. They own it, it is their home, they do not move and they are not afraid of humans. We are allowed to visit as a guest, but respect their space and home. It really feels like they own this islands. What a beautiful feeling this is!

The Research Centre was thus a nice start, as it is all about conserving this place. A big team of dedicated scientists and naturalists work to conserve the population of the endangered famous giant tortoises that are endemic to Galapagos. Each year they go out and collect the tortoise eggs from the wild to bring them in and incubate them until they hatch. Once the tortoises are big enough to not get eating by cats, dogs and other introduced animals that do not belong on the Galapagos Islands. It is a very important work and the team has managed to already prevent some species from going extinct. For a few tortoise species however the work was started too late. They also do the same work for all other endangered species on the islands, but the tortoises are the biggest project.

After that we walked back to the port to book some of our now planned day tours. On the way there we passed the area where the fishermen sell there freshly caught fish to the locals. And what we thought just made us laugh. There were pelicans and sea lions lining up behind the sales person waiting to get some leftovers. How smart these animals are! Another sea lion was waiting in the water directly next to the boat and fighting it out with some more pelicans. Who would get the leftovers first? Well, the sea lion won as far as we could tell ;).

When we arrived back at the agency who had made us the best price the day before. Once we walked in the lady had a big surprise for us though. The 4 people who had booked the cruise had cancelled that morning again and they now had space for us. It did not take long to make a decision and we booked it on the spot. WOW! How lucky and what a chance in our plans. The cruise would leave the next day already!

So we had to change our plans again and hurry to still see a few things we wanted on Santa Cruz. We directly went into the highlands then to see the giant tortoises in the wild. It was nice to see them in the research centre already, but seeing them in the wild enjoying the grass on the farm lands was just a different thing altogether. It was obviously paradise for them, as it is an all-you-can-eat buffet where they do not need to move around much ;). And they are so big!

Next we walked to Tortuga Bay, which we read is the most beautiful beach on the Galapagos and by chance situated on the main island Santa Cruz. The tourist guide did not exaggerate. We suddenly found ourselves on a white paradise beach, which again the animals claimed their own. There were marine iguanas swimming in the ocean or sunbathing on the shore, pelican birds and herons where fishing, a sea lion was swimming with the tourists, sally crabs were eating their dinner and we even saw baby sharks swimming around our feet. It was almost too much to take in. So much untouched beauty and no food stalls, vendors or anything else around that you normally find on paradise beaches by now. We were really touched deeply and felt so thankful to have been able to see this place. We went home with a big smile on our face and packed our bags. It was time to go on a cruise!

The cruise boat we went on was called Aida Maria and was classified as a tourist superior class. We spent 4 days and 3 nights on the boat, visiting the islands Genovesa, Bartolome, Santiago and some remote protected areas in the north of Santa Cruz. I already knew that I would probably get seasick from our sailing experience in Australia. So I had bought a pack of motion sickness pills and had already taken two before we even went on the boat. It did not take long so after we started cruising and I could tell this is not going to be a worry free cruise for me. I started feeling a bit sick already. Without going into too much detail, I basically felt sick every single day on this cruise, despite taking sometimes the maximum of six tablets a day.

The first 2 nights were the worst, where we cruised for 7 hours to the remote island of Genovesa. The boat was shaking so much and I felt so sick, I did not sleep at all, while Mathias was happily dreaming of the next day. Luckily the tablets at least prevented me from throwing up. Another girl on the cruise was not so lucky. She was hugging the toilet all night long. Anyway, I was happy every time we left the boat to go on land or go snorkelling and the beauty of the islands and underwater world made more than up for all the trouble. I would do it again anytime!

Every day would consist of a few snorkelling trips and some land walking tours. The first day we stopped at Bachas Beach on the north side of Santa Cruz. It was another beautiful beach that is used by sea turtles for nesting. We could see the big wholes the turtles had made for their nests and we could see traces of the turtles walking from the wholes back to the water. Unfortunately at the time we were there they were all out in the water somewhere. As we walked further along the island a bit we saw some more marine iguanas and crabs, a lagoon with flamingos and herons, and other beautiful birds.

Afterwards we went snorkelling by the beach, but could not see much. The weather had been rough and the water was not clear at all. So we stopped after a short while and this is when it happened! Or rather, realized what had happened. I broke our camera, on the second day on Galapagos!!! Oh no!! It was an underwater camera as you know and I had taken it into the water for the snorkelling trip. Somehow the secure lock to seal it waterproof must not have been in place properly, as water had gotten into the camera. And it did not turn on anymore. I was devastated for that day. Mathias did not know how to cheer me up. We were on Galapagos, and now had no camera anymore!! Let alone an underwater camera for all the snorkelling activities!! Oh… it hurt! It took me all night to get over it and only accepted the next morning that we now had to make do with our camera on the tablet without zoom and ask people from the cruise with underwater cameras to give us some pictures later. This is why you will notice different colour tones in the pictures sometimes. They are a collection of probably five different cameras. Luckily on land we could manage with the tablet quite well, as the animals were often just an arm length away and did not move.

Thus, when we left for our first trip on the second day, I was full of excitement for the day ahead again. It was the highlight of the cruise trip: a visit to the remote Genovesa island. The island occupies about 14 square kilometres and has a volcanic caldera whose wall has collapsed, forming the Great Darwin Bay, surrounded by cliffs. This island is known as Bird Island, because of the large and varied bird colonies which nest here. Thus, Mathias as a newly discovered birder by now, was really excited. So was I though. I could not wait to see the famous red-footed Boobies!! I just love these birds with their blue beak and red feet. And the magnificent frigate birds with their red gular pouch.

Genovesa is one of the few islands, where these two specific birds can be found nesting. There are also an abundance of Nazca Boobies (Mathias´favorites), Swallow-tailed Gulls, tropicbirds, Darwin´s finches and Galapagos Mockingbirds. We saw them all, most of them just an arm length away. They were sitting on the branches or in their nests, not impressed by us all and not moving. We saw adults and young chicks in their nest. It was fabulous. And when we landed on the island we were greeted by some sea lions sleeping in the sun and a two young baby sea lions lying around and playing with the crabs. It was so peaceful!

Afterwards, we went snorkelling right there and had our first swim with a sea lion! Yes, you read correctly. They jumped into the water and had fun swimming around us as we snorkelled and were probably laughing at our poor swimming skills :). Watch the video that we uploaded to the website as well.

After lunch we went to another part of the island called Prince Philip’s Steps. It is an extraordinary steep path that leads through a seabird colony full of life, up to cliffs that are 25m high. At the top, the trail continues inland, passing more seabird colonies in a thin palo santo forest. The trail also provides overviews of a rocky plain. It is also home to the only Galapagos owl (apart from the barn owl). They are hard to spot as they blend in perfectly with the terrain. Luckily our guide found one lonely owl for us. It was simply an amazing day, and worth all the trouble of another 7 hours of night cruising and no sleep for me.

On the third day we visited Bartolome and Santiago island. Bartolome is a volcanic islet just off the east coast of Santiago Island. It is one of the younger islands in the Galápagos archipelago and offers some of the most beautiful landscapes. The island consists of an extinct volcano and a variety of red, orange, green, and glistening black volcanic formations. It is famous for its Pinnacle Rock, which is the distinctive characteristic of this island, and the most representative landmark of the Galápagos. So of course, we got our photo taken there as well!

Around the landing area we also saw some Galapagos penguins swimming, but unfortunately they were too quick for the camera there. However we also went snorkelling around Bartolome and not only swam with sea lions again, but also swam with penguins this time. They are so fast though. They shoot past you like a rocket! Watch the video to see for yourself. And we also saw the cute little fur seals sleeping on the rocks nearby. They are also a unique and unfortunately endangered species to the Galapagos Islands. Their beautiful fur has been very famous and got sold for lots of money in the past. They are protected now, but the population is low.

Afterwards we visited a lava field on Santiago island which is only about 20 years old. It was very interesting to see the lava formations and how it folded in or cracked getting cold.

On the fourth and last day of our cruise we visited the Black Turtle Cove on the northern side of Santa Cruz Island. We left in the early morning ours on the zodiacs amd drove to the cove. The area looks actually a bit like the Everglades with mongroves everywhere. It is a famous spot for sea turtles and we saw many swimming around in the cove. We even saw them mating in the water!

But not only turtles, also rays and sharks swam around our boats. It was a wonderful morning trip and so peaceful. It is a protected area and it is not allowed to snorkel or dive there. So we just spent an hour on the zodiacs there and later went to another area to go snorkelling again. Next to lots of colourful tropical fish, we saw rays, sea lions and sharks this time. All allowing us to swim with them, as if we are just another fish in the ocean. Afterwards we went back to the boat to cruise 4 hours to our next destination. For me that meant, back to bed to close my eyes and survive the trip again ;).

Our next stop was Dragon’s Hill. It is another remote area on Santa Cruz that can only be reached by boat. It got its name from the many marine iguanas and also land iguanas that live there. We had seen many marine iguanas by then, but had only seen the colourful yellow land iguanas in the Research Centre so far. Our guide proofed to be perfect for the job to spot them. We walked around the island looking for the land iguanas and he found them for us hiding under bushes not making a single sound. We would have walked past every single one if he had not pointed them out to us. We also saw many Darwin finches on this island. Mathias especially had fun identifying the different species together with Cliff, a passionate birder and naturalist who came to the Island with a long list of birds he wanted to identify. I think he managed to see around 60 birds from a list of 75 or so. Not bad, he? Unfortunately the finches where often to quick for the camera, so we only have very few pictures of them.

And this was our last trip on the cruise. Afterwards the boat went back to Puerto Ayora where we and some others went off the boat. The next morning new passengers would arrive and the boat would continue cruising to other islands. For us it was worth every penny and we were so happy to have gotten the chance to do it. Despite all the sea sickness problems, it was one of the most incredible trips we have done. Seeing this untouched nature was simply priceless. It was a fantastic first half of our time on the Galapagos Islands. The second part will follow soon.

The reduction in altitude at this part of the continent is more than exciting and brought us from 3400 m in Cuzco to less than 200 m altitude over sea level in Puerto Maldonado. From there the River Madre de Dios (and later the Amazon) has still more than 2000 km to go to its final ending in the Atlantic Ocean. This makes an average descent of not even ten cm per one km riverbed. But enough with number crunching, we both were pretty excited and full of hope to see the unique wildlife over there. As with some other places in South America we were here on recommendation of our dear friend Wulfi, a big thanks again to him at this point.

We left the super tiny airport through the main door and were directly welcomed by a friendly smiling young man who turned out to be our guide Paolo for the next 4 days. He was born in Puerto Maldonado and had spent a lot of time in the jungle since he was a kid. We instantly liked this humble guy as he introduced himself and gave us a short wrap up of the next hours.

Our home for 3 nights and 4 day would be the Sandoval Lake Lodge located on the high shore of the equally named Sandoval Lake about 1 hour down the river, 2 hours by foot through the jungle and finally another hour per paddle boat through the flooded forest and across the lake.

We enjoyed our lunch package from Paolo, the fresh air around our nose, the sun and the view from the boat while we were shipped down the Madre de Dios river over to the trail head. Paolo told us that we were actually the only guests in the lodge, only the next evening 5 Americans would make their way to the lodge as well, but they would have their own guide, which left us again in the unbelievable position to have a guide just for the two of us :).

When we asked why it was so quiet at the lodge, Paolo told us that during rain season only a few brave guests would make their way there, as it could be rainy all day which would make trips more difficult and also reduce the chance to spot the full range of animals as they almost humanlike would hide and try to avoid to get soaked :).

By now we three were hopeful as the weather had been bad the entire week before and we just hoped that Petrus would run out of water for the next days or would reduce the amount of rain because we are just nice people :).

At the trailhead we got to know one of the local porters. He would carry our duffel bags to the lodge, while we would, almost Inka trial like, have to carry only our daypacks. His name was Juan Carlos and he belongs to the local family which lives around the lake since a long time. Juan Carlos has not only a proud name. He also would play a major roles within our upcoming jungle and lake trips.

At the trailhead we put on our rubber boots, got a hiking stick and started to make our way into the jungle. We realized instantly why. The mud on the trail was at some parts more than knee dept and we followed Paolo as close as possible in order to keep at the surface. We took it slow as our group was so small and encountered the first 2 out of  6 different monkey species that live in that part. Furthermore the muddy trail attracted a lot of amazing butterflies in all different sizes and colors. Unfortunately they were too quick for the camera and we only managed to take a picture of one. Luckily, the leaf ants that we saw were easy to photograph.

The highlight at the end was our trip with the paddle boat. First we passed a small channel through the thick all year round flooded forest, which led us directly into the Sandoval Lake from where we crossed over to the lodge. Paolo told us the lake was a cut of meander from the main river. It was created by a flood during rain season and provides home and food to many birds, fishes, insects, reptiles and mammals for some hundred years. In the end the lake will die at some point when it is filled up with too much dead organic material and turn into a swamp.

Finally we reached the lodge in the late afternoon. It seemed more than spacious for the two of us (it offers space for 65 guests) . The high palm leaf covered roof and the absence of concrete outer walls created a somehow airy atmosphere. There was a constant fresh air flow around the house only filtered by the almost invisible anti mosquito mesh.

But the best place inside was without a doubt the hammock area with view over the lake where we would spend our siesta time after lunch until 4:30 pm.

After we had settled down and the day as turned into night before dinner, we went for a night walk with Paolo. Equipped with headlights and torch we chased the night active section of the wildlife around our lodge. Within a few minutes Paolo found us huge and hairy tarantulas, an impressive chicken spider, which is called that way as it can eat prey up to the size of a small chicken.

Also impressive was a mantis and her groom on a date of a leaf. Most probably he was waiting for dinner and did not know that he was actually the main course for her. Some big eyed night monkeys hushed through the trees around us, which we got told is the only night active monkey species on earth. In the strong light of our torches bats took advantage of the high concentration of flying insects and shot like stealth aircrafts around our heads. Even a little frog showed up to say hello :).

When we went to bed afterwards, we slept literally in the jungle, even though we had a nice room and a comfortable double bed. With almost no outer walls every single noise of even the smallest creature in the forest could be heard. I was totally fine with that while Natalie plugged in her earplugs to escape the noisiness. For me it was more like a well trained orchestra. It made me feel relaxed and I fell asleep not long after we had stretched out.

The next day started early at 4:30 am. We had some tea and coffee and then left with Paolo and Juan Charlos to go onto the lake with a paddle boat. Our goal was to find the giant otters out there. When we had discussed the offers from several lodges in the Amazon before, a good chance to spot these beautiful and unique animals was one of our high selection criteria.

We paddled along the shoreline of the lake. Everything was touched in the warm morning light and the lake around us was so peaceful, it looked like a mirror. But the otters were not around, at least not in the part which we overlooked. Instead we saw the Hoaxin again. A strange sounding and looking bird, spread around the branches around the lake.

We already saw him the day before. Its very bad flying skills are credited to heavy bones and body. It can only flatter a few meters from branch to branch. When it does so, it sounds like it suffers from a heavy asthma attack. Because of this it is also called asthma bird. Its third nickname is stink bird. It feeds only on leaves and three stomachs are needed to cultivate some sort of bacteria which turn the cellulose into something digestionable. This makes its meat, let’s say it pretty, not really best tasting for us. I would say this is probably the main reason why this unique bird is luckily on earth since a couple of million years :). It is the most ancient bird in the Amazon. A real living fossil!

We also got very close to many other water birds of the lake. The snakebird, (a kind of a cormorant), the huge Tiger heron and the Green Kingfisher came along. When we went back for breakfast the colorful red and blue Macaws had finally started into their day and flew in pairs or families across the lake to get some breakfast. They are so beautiful and elegant. For Natalie and me this is somehow the first picture which comes into mind when we think about the Amazon. And their bird call would accompany us throughout the day. Unfortunately it was very difficult to take a picture of them, as they were so high up in the trees most of the time. We only have one that shows two red and blue Macaws just before they fly away.

After breakfast we had a day jungle walk with Paolo. He explained us that many people in that region live of Brazil Nuts collection, which can not be cultivated and only grow wild in the jungle. The simple reason for that is that they depend on bees which live mainly of the nectar of some tree orchids. They transmit the pollen from the big Brazil Nut trees actually just by accident, but without them the Brazil nut tree would never have nuts.

He also told us that he works in this business when there is no guiding job for him. He would leave to collect these nuts after we left to earn some money on his off-days during the low season. We asked him a thousand questions about the why and how and we got first hand answers from someone who does this since many years. He would leave for a couple of weeks to work for a landowner who owns the Brazil Nut trees somewhere in the Amazon.

It is a very hard and dangerous job as the heavy nuts fall down from a reasonable height. The nuts scattered around the tree attract all kind of mammals which feed on these nuts and these attract a bunch of extremely poisonous snakes like for example the 5m Bushmaster snake. Many collectors are bitten every year and for some it is just a verdict to death.

In a second step the collectors have to open the Brazil nut fruit with their machete to get the nuts. While doing so, it is not uncommon that they cut off parts or complete fingers when they are too exhausted or unfocused. I tried myself on one of the nuts we found that day. It took me14 minutes and I was pretty exhausted at the end. Paolo needs only 3 minutes.

If you are still not convinced that this might be your future dream job, think about camping in the jungle for a couple of weeks with Malaria and some other jungle fevers waiting around the next tree and a salary of 20 Soles per collected 100 kg bag (which has to be carried back on your shoulder from the jungle camp to the landowner). A strong and trained collector can make 1,5 bags per day. This leaves him a daily salary of around 7 EUR!!! Paolo told as further that in one season he did not even get paid for two months work by the landowner. There is no written contract for this kind of work and sometimes they just disappear when it comes to pay the salary. We both have the greatest respect for him and his colleagues! Next time you eat this nut around Christmas time, think about the work that has gone into collecting these!

On our way back Paolo showed us a strange looking tree. With sort of legs instead of classic routs, my first thought was this tree looks kind of mobile. And unbelievable but true, it is named ‘walking tree’! Why? Because it is able to leave its position in the forest when it has a lack of nutritious soil or sun. It does so, not very fast, by growing new “legs” in the favorite direction and cutting of “legs” on the opposite side. Pretty clever, he :)?

After lunch and siesta time in our hammocks we went for a sunset paddle boat ride with Paolo. The main goal again was to find the otters, but it was clear pretty fast that they were still not around. I was happy nevertheless, because Juan Charlos absence allowed me to take over the paddle :).  So I shoveled us over the lake into a beautiful beginning sunset.

Instead of the otters, Paulo found us a sloth peacefully hanging from one of the trees. And even better, a Tucan then showed up. The same as everybody in Germany knows from Haribo Tropical Mix. It showed its massive bill and sang his bird song while sitting not far from us at the top of a tree. How amazing :)! I could not believe it. Since we had been in South Africa and had seen a couple of Hornbills there, we were in love with these long bill birds.

The sunset was spectacular in as well. The blood red fire ball sank down and disappeared behind the flooded forest on the other end of the lake. The sky with some wild scattered clouds reflected all kinds of red and violet colors until it was almost dark. Paolo took out his torch and started to look for some reflecting eyes in the lake which would belong to the largest predator in the lake the Black Caiman. These guys grow all their life and there are specimens with reach a total length of up to 6m.

He found us Coco, which usually hangs around the mooring of the lodge. Coco is only 2,5 m long nevertheless impressive when she approached our boat. Paolo had touched the water surface with his flat hand just 3 times and there she was curious to find out if there was something to eat around. Natalie somehow took it personal and was scared like hell when Coco was just a half a meter away from her and looked her straight into the eye. She even placed her snout gently on the paddle which Paolo had positioned in front of her.

We both were happy and sleepy after we came back from our tour and went to bed straight ahead. The next day we would get up at 4:30 again.

We had another try with our otter family on the lake in the early morning. Well they did not show up, but Coco did not yet finish its night shift and was still curious around the mooring. It was as beautiful and quiet as the first day and again somehow magic to see how everything comes to life.

Some Cormorants were already warming up in the sunlight and we saw a pair of swallows sitting on a death tree in the water. We decided to stop at the rangers surveillance tower to have a better view over the lake. Once up there Paolo discovered a python right between the roof and the wooden structure. I was happy that we found one as a reptile lover, while Natalie was not so sure about her feelings about that :).

After breakfast we went out again for an excursion into the flooded swamp forest. We were lucky when a group of monkeys came along jumping from tree to tree. Even though they are two different species they live together in symbiosis. We watched them for almost 15 minutes. It was so much fun!

The main attraction for me that day, were however 5 super size fig trees which we visited during our walk. They are the largest trees in the Amazon. Up to 40m in height they tower over any other tree. The indigenous people call them mother of the forest. They are an important habitat for uncountable plants and animals. Their size is simply impressive.

While we walked through the swamp almost knee deep in water, I was hoping to see an Anaconda snake as well. Unfortunately, Natalie did not find that very funny :). I am so proud of her walking with me through the swamps in the Amazon. I do not think many woman would do that.

Before dinner, we also went onto another boat ride looking for the otters. However, the otters were still not around. Instead Paolo and Juan Carlos agreed to fish some piranha for us. Juan Carlos fished us 6 piranhas. Their jaws and teeth are so impressive. We then also had the chance to try them for dinner. Very delicious, they taste a little bit like dorade.

It was a great finish to our time in the Amazon. The next morning, before we left for the airport, we went out onto the lake again for one last try to find the otters. But they were still not around. The lake actually has some parts that are not accessible to the public. It is a protected Refugio for the otters so they can be undisturbed if they want. We had learned in South Africa, not to expect to see all the animals, just because you are there. It is still a gift every time if they choose to show themselves. So we were very happy anyway with our time here, despite not having seen the otters. We saw so many other animals in just 3 days, and had yet again another great guide that made all the difference. Thanks so much for everything Paolo!

When we contacted several tour operators to get a quote and weather information for the trail, they told us though that the trail is too muddy and not walkable at the moment due to the heavy rainfall. So what then? They offered us different alternative treks that can still be walked, but they did not lead to Machu Picchu. We would still have to take the bus up in the end. And they of course also offered us the Inca Trail as an alternative, as the trail is mostly made out of cobble stones and thus not so muddy. It was as expected more expensive than the other trails, but in the end I could convince Mathias to walk the Inca Trail instead of any other alternative. I had been keen on walking this historic trail since the start and was just hoping that not so many people chose to walk the trail in the rainy season. We researched a good tour operator and booked the trail with Alpaca expeditions.

When we arrived in their office for our briefing the evening before the trail start, they surprised us with the information that no one else had signed up for the tour. Normally they would only do the tour with a minimum of 5 people, but since we had booked it already and were there, they made an exception and still would go ahead, meaning we had a private tour! The size of our crew also was a big surprise to us then, as we got told we would walk with 5 porters, 1 chef and 1 guide all there to make this the most memorable experience for us. We were a bit overwhelmed and asked if we really needed 5 porters just for us two people, but we got told that this is how the organization runs and the amount of people they need to carry up all the equipment. We got send home with two duffel bags to pack our sleeping stuff and warm clothes into it and then got picked up at 4:30 am the next morning. We drove 2 hours through the night close to the town of Ollantaytambo from where the Inca Trail starts. When we arrived and got out of the van, we had our first experience of how the next few days would look like. We got told to relax and walk around a bit while the crew prepared breakfast for us.

So we walked around and took in the beautiful mountain scenery and sunny weather. When we got back to the van we felt like being in a movie or dream about a nature expedition. There in the middle of the car park stood a table full of fruits, pancakes, bread rolls and marmelade. And two chairs for us to sit down. There were also two bowls of warm water and soap to wash our hands. We enjoyed the delicious breakfast with our guide Reynaldo and then started towards the check-point of the Inca Trail. All the while, we asked our guide why there were no other people here, since we heard the Inca Trail is so crowded. He said that most of them will arrive later and that we would always start early to try and be on our own. We liked that approach very much and by the time we got to the check point, they were only two other Canadians with their guide and a group of six Americans who arrived shortly after us. We started full of hope that maybe this would not be so crowded after all! Once we were through the check point Reynaldo told us to start walking and he would catch up with us a bit later since he had to wait for our chef to go through the check point as well.

So we did and as we walked, we could see the train pass by in the valley below us which takes all the lazy tourists directly to the closest Machu Picchu town Aguas Calientes, from where buses run every few minutes up to the entrance of Machu Picchu. We would need 3 days to get there and were not thinking about that yet. Instead we enjoyed the beautiful scenery and weather. The first day would lead us mostly through farmland, where locals still live along the Inca Trail. Reynaldo caught up with us after almost one hour in the end and told us he was surprised we already got so far. It was the first taste he got of our walking habit and speed. The nice thing about the guided tour was that Reynaldo would not only explain the Inca history to us as we walked along, but also pointed out the differences and uniqueness in the flora and fauna. We would walk through different vegetation every day, starting with farmland and ending in the jungle.

We would also pass several Inca sites on the way, which got bigger, more sophisticated and more impressive the closer we got to Machu Picchu. We loved that actually, as it gave us a better understanding of the development of the Inca sites and showed us better how their expertise grew over time. Rather than seeing the highlight and most sophisticated site Machu Picchu as the first Inca site. When we got to our first lunch spot, we were once again overwhelmed by the work and service our crew offered and actually felt a bit ashamed and uneasy in the beginning. In front of us was a tent ready for us to sit down in, two bowls of hot water to wash our hands and a smaller tent with a separate chemical toilet just for us. We got a welcome drink and then shortly after we got served a three course lunch! And as we would experience in the next days, we would get a three course meal every day for lunch and dinner.

It always started with a warm soup, which was different every single time. The soup was accompanied with garlic bread, salsa and another starter like avocados with vegetable cream for example. The main course would then be four different big plates of warm dishes, always including different vegetables, meat or fish and rice, pasta or potatoes. You will just have to look at the pictures to see all the variety that we were served. Our chef Walter basically cooked every single Peruvian dish that exists in these days for us and made the impossible happen. From broccoli soufflé to roasted filled pork roll to pizza and cakes. Dished that are already difficult to make in a normal kitchen, he would magically cook on two camping stoves. And it did not stop there, for desert we got flambéed bananas or cakes! And before every dinner, we had our “happy hour”, which consisted of a variety of teas, coffee or hot chocolate and freshly made popcorn! And the attention to detail needs to be mentioned as well. The napkins were always folded into nice flower shapes and the food was decorated with the smallest details that you would normally only see in an upper class restaurant. After lunch they then rolled out two mattresses for us to lie down and have a siesta!

Half an hour later, we would start walking again with our guide while the crew packed everything up and left the place as if no one has ever been there. It took us the first whole day to get used to that luxury and accept the “no” of the crew when we wanted to help somehow. It was their pride to give us the best time possible and they did!! We have so much respect for these men, who each carry a 25kg backpack on their back and walk the whole trail as we walk them, but even quicker. They would always stay behind and pack up when we started walking again with our few 3-4 kg on the back, and by the time we got to the next lunch or dinner spot they had already overtaken us and had set up our tent and were preparing the food. Only when our guide told us that these are all farmers without education that earn more money doing this job than they do with their farming, we started to accept the situation and relax a bit without feeling ashamed. They were happy about every tourist that did the trail and thus gave them this job.

Luckily, we had chosen a good company that treated their porters well and with respect and also equipped them with proper hiking clothes and shoes that kept them warm. During our walk we had seen other porters from companies that offered the trail cheaper, but we now know where they saved the money. These porters were partly not even equipped with proper clothes let alone shoes. We saw porters who walked the trail in sandals without socks despite the rain and cold temperatures. Some had backpacks that were broken or loaded to the maximum of 30 or 35 kg with was actually forbidden by regulations. But these companies did not care and just thought about making as much money as possible and the porters needed the job. So if you ever think of doing the Inca Trail, do us a favor and choose a respectable company that treats the porters with the dignity they deserve and pays them a respectable and adequate salary for their hard work.

So, at the end of our first day it started raining a bit for the first time, but we were extremely happy with the day so far and glad we had chosen to walk the Inca trail. Throughout the day, we had not seen the 2 Canadians anymore and did not see them at our campsite in the evening. The only other group that camped at the same camp site was the group of 6 Americans with their crew. Our guide told us that the other tour operators chose a different itinerary and would not walk so far on the first two days, as we did. Instead they would make the third day their longest day, while for us it was the shortest day. We could not believe it. Did we really have the trail for us these 3 days? The Americans always started a bit later than us and also walked slower, so that Mathias and I actually really had every single Inca site that we reached to ourselves! No one would believe us had we not our photos as proof. It made the whole trek even more special for us!

The second day started with a blue sky at first but quickly turned into a cloudy day the higher we walked. We got told that the second day is the hardest, as we would walk from 3300m up to 4200m to cross the first mountain pass in the morning. In addition most of the walk was not on a normal trail. After the first hour the trail turned into Inca stairs and we had to walk up steps for 3 hours non-stop. After that it would go down similar steps for 2 hours non-stop until we reached our lunch spot. After lunch it was again 450m up, just walking steps again and then 400m down again. It really did sound exhausting, but Mathias and I were surprised how well trained we still were from our treks in Patagonia. We walked the first part up in just 2 hours instead of 3, and kept that speed throughout the day.

Luckily, our bodies had also already adapted fully to the higher altitude the last 10 days and we had no problems at all with the altitude anymore, not even Mathias.  Throughout the day it started raining now and then, but we did not mind at all. We were so impressed with the flora and fauna, the beautiful humming birds and the Inca sites we passed, we actually thought that the clouds made the whole atmosphere feel quite mystic. At times it looked like the Inca sites were built into the air, when they were just surrounded by clouds and the mountains had disappeared.

At the end of day two we reached the Inca site “Sayaqmarka”, which our guide told us was a religious site for the priest and pilgrims who had walked the Inca trail. It was built onto a cliff, which was however not really visible because of the clouds. Because it was only 30 minutes away from the campsite for the night however, our guide told us we could walk up the next morning again if the weather was better. Before we left the site to go to our campsite, our guide surprised us with a rope he had made out of grass. He said the Incas used to make their strong ropes like this that was used to tie materials together and keep them tight. For us, he used it has a “wedding band” and declared us husband and wife in his name on this Inca site :). How sweet! This would now always be a special site for us.

When we woke up the next day, we indeed had a blue open sky and thus decided to walk back to the site again. It added another hour of walking to the day, but since it was a short day that did not matter. And it was so worth it! When we reached the site again, we could see how it overlooked the whole valley. It was really stunning! The Incas were so impressive people. How much work this must have been to build this site on that mountain cliff. And we could now also clearly see the smaller Inca site below, which was a sleeping facility for the runners and pilgrims who had not the status and privilege to stay in the religious site. After 15 minutes or so, the weather started changing though and clouds appeared again. The closer we got to Machu Picchu, the more the clouds got stuck in the valley around the mountains.

The third day brought us through dense mossy jungle forest and passed the most stunning sites we had seen so far. The Incas had built whole terraces into the mountain, always building with the landscape and not changing it. At times we just stood there and were speechless. It was very difficult to comprehend the extent of what they had created. Especially the last site of the day “Winaywayna” impressed us beyond words. They had built the whole site as an agricultural testing site to find the best crops for the high altitude. They filled each terrace with fertile soil that they had transported to this place from the sacred valley more than 70km away. They planted different crops in each terrace and tested and developed different varieties. The site was already so big the way we saw it, but our guide told us that it actually is much bigger as there are more terraces that are hidden by the forest. The Peruvian forest ministry however is in a constant fight with the cultural ministry to keep the forest untouched to save the living environment for all the animals that live there. So until now the cultural ministry did not get the permission to unearth the rest of the Inca site.

It was a spectacular ending to the day. We walked back to the camp site and were already excited for the next day. We had finally almost reached Machu Picchu. The next day would only be a 2 hour hike until our feet would touch the grounds of Machu Picchu. Before that our crew surprised us with a final dinner celebration however and congratulated us on the great hike. They had even decorated the tent and our guide proudly showed me a balloon that even said “Honey Moon” on it! Incredible, they were simply the best crew ever. Walter, our chef, had magically made another stunning cake and delicious dinner for us. We could not have chosen a better company. After dinner it was time to say goodbye to the crew, as we would wake up at 3:00 am the next day to start queuing at the final check point with our guide. It would open at 5:30am and then all the hikers, who had by now reached the final camp site at the end of day 3, would make their way up to the famous Machu Picchu Sun Gate.

It was a 1 hour hike away, walking up steps again. Since Mathias and I had had the Inca Trail literally to ourselves up to then, we did not want that to be any different on the last kms to Machu Picchu. So we sprinted away the first meters and almost run along the trail to get enough distance between us and the crowds. After only 45 minutes we made it to the Sun Gate and had it to ourselves again for 10 minutes. When the first other people arrived we continued on to Machu Picchu. It was another hour away and on the way there we suddenly saw people coming towards us. It was then that our guide told us that we had no chance to be the first and only ones at Machu Picchu, as the first bus that drives people up the mountain reached the entrance gates at 6:00am. Well, it would have been too perfect :). In any case, the morning was very cloudy and we had not been able to see Machu Picchu from the Sun Gate. When we finally reached Machu Picchu grounds it was almost the same.

It was almost completely covered by clouds and only slowly appeared in front of our eyes as the clouds slowly moved away. Somehow we did not mind though. We had had such a fantastic last three days and all the Inca sites in the way to ourselves; we were totally relaxed about having Machu Picchu to our own. Instead we enjoyed our breakfast in peace and then slowly walked through the grounds as our guide gave us a two hour tour. It is just unbelievable what the Incas had created there.  The site seemed endless no matter where you looked and so far developed in architecture it was hard to believe they had created this without any tools and technology as we know them. Considering they had built this in the 15th century, it is simply impressive to see a stone wall with a perfect straight line and evenly polished stones or carved out stone elements that served as handles or fire torch holders. And all of this on a steep mountain slope surrounded by massive mountains and a deep valley.

After walking around in the grounds for two hours it was time to climb some steps again. We had bought tickets for Huayna Picchu, one of the surrounding mountains, from which you were supposed to have a stunning view over the whole of the Machu Picchu site. When we started walking up, it was however so cloudy that we did not expect to see anything at all. Many people who came down as we walked up confirmed that as well. We walked the 45 minutes up anyway, since we had paid for the tickets. When we got to the top we indeed could not see much in the beginning. We met an American couple however who had been waiting there for an hour already. They said that there had been a gap now and then in the clouds that enabled them to see more of it. So we waited with them and sure enough after 15 minutes a big gap appeared and the whole site of Machu Picchu revealed itself. WOW! What a view! Only then did we realize how big Machu Picchu really is!! Crazy, don`t you think? We were so happy to have had the chance to see it. Our trek could not have ended better!

They way back to Cusco was then really relaxed. We took the bus down to Aguas Calientes town and then the train back to Ollantaytambo. From there our company drove us back to Cusco in their company van. This time we also had the chance to enjoy the beautiful countryside, as it had been dark when we drove this way four days ago.

WOW, what should I say?! It was a very, very special trek for us and we are so happy we decided to walk the Inca Trail. For anyone who wants to do it as well, we can only recommend to go in the same time of year as us and choose a good company. Maybe then you will also have the Inca trail to yourselves.

The second dinner was served on the bus straight after boarding in parking position. Why? The stuart explained to us that in the next 3 hours we would not be able to eat properly because of the rough road conditions. I should have realized that in the moment I had seen the ground clearance of our bus plus the extra strong almost off-road style bus tires

The night was rough as expected and I am sure our bus driver broke the company intern record for speeding from Uyuni to La Paz. They should consider to let him participate in the next DAKAR ralley!

Our connecting bus to Copacabana left only 2 hours later and we were happy to get on, as many locals from La Paz left the city for their favorite weekend escape. What it means to be booked on a bus in Bolivia instead of Chile was made clear to us when we boarded our bus. It was already full! Somehow the company had sold more tickets than they had seats on the bus.

After back and forth with the staff we decided to take the bus whatever it would cost, as it was only a 3,5 hours trip. We could have taken a bus half an hour later, but we wanted to get going and not wait any longer. Natalie took the co-driver seat and I placed myself on a pillow between her and the bus driver.

It was a big mistake, as it turned out only a few driving minutes later. Several main roads were blocked due to a huge running competition throughout the city. And then he was suddenly there, Mr. Bolivia, El Presidente, Senior Evo Morales! While we were lucky to drive a few meters between two road blocks, he and the who is who of Bolivia stood waving on a tribune to honor the athletes. We stopped several times and our bus driver tried almost desperately to escape the massive traffic jam by shifting our bus through minor streets of La Paz. I thought somehow La Paz did not want us to leave without a sight seeing tour

After a nice bus ride through the Bolivian countryside, where we could see how probably most of Bolivians really live, and an interesting lake crossing on small wooden ferries, we finally reached Copacabana after 6 hours. My buttock did not exist anymore, but we had successfully crossed Bolivia by bus. We treated ourselves to some fried Titicaca lake trouts and enjoyed the sunshine while walking through the center of the town.

Hereby we discovered the lovely Basilica of our Lady of Copacabana, which is a famous place for Bolivians to get married, baptise or just to honor the Lady of Copacabana, as we learned. It was a Saturday and many families had come to Copacabana to celebrate weddings or baptisms.

Our hotel was also a great treat, a real king size double bed, hot shower and big chilled breakfast. Unbelievable after 4 days non-stop travel by jeep and bus.

The next day we took a boat to visit the famous Isla del Sol. Our actual plan was to stay there for the night and hike around the island, before we would leave by boat again. We reached the island at perfect weather and started straight ahead to climb up the steep stairs to get to our planned hostel. But unfortunately Natalie struggled suddenly with a bad diarrhea during the ascent. Once she made it to the hostel, which of course was at the top of the island, she could not walk anymore and needed some rest. So we changed planes and enjoyed the beautiful view of the wide and deep blue Lake Titicaca from the lovely garden terrace of our hostel.

Later we got a bit hungry and went out for dinner. As Natalie still felt weak, we walked slowly up to the ridge of the south part of the island where most of the food places are located. We do not know why, but Pizza is the most famous food you can get there. So we sat down in one of the lovely little family run business and ordered pizza while the sunset was getting more spectacular minute by minute.  We both were surprised how delicious and thin the pizzas have been.

The next day Natalie felt a bit better. We took it slow and left late for a short walk to the old Inca ruin Temple del Sol after a long breakfast. Luckily the weather did not follow the forecast and treated us with lots of sun again. Even though we walked just a little bit, every step up made us breathless due to the high altitude of almost 4000 m.

It is needless to say that we had enormous respect for the hard working islanders in particular the women, who always carried their babies during all kind of work, even when carrying long steel pipes from the bottom of the island to the top. Impressive!

We made it safe back to Copacabana in the evening and finished our short but intensive trip through Bolivia with a sunset dinner at one of the many food stalls along the shores. Of course we had trout again.

The next day we traveled on to Peru. Thank you Bolivia, you are so colorful!

When we left San Pedro in the morning, it started already exciting for me. Our transfer bus to the border was by chance on the same road as the famous Dakar Ralley going to Salta in Argentina this morning. While Natalie did not really understand why I was about to freak out, I could not wait enough for all the fat-tired off-road trucks passing by with an incredible loud sound and speed. It was a bit of a dream of my childhood come true

After 1,5 hours we left from the paved road of the Jama pass into the desert. It did not take long and we could already see what the next 3 days would all be about: dust, desert and the legendary Toyota Landcruiser jeeps.

Around 20 of them were parked around a barely to spot Bolivian border office. Obviously all different tour operators changed drivers here, passengers and supply goods. Somehow I had the feeling that the sketchy border office was just set up to allow the Bolivian tour operators to get the people easily from Chile to Bolivia in the middle of nowhere. Furthermore the Bolivian border officers there did not look much different from  the casual dressed jeep drivers. Even more they seemed to be “part of the business” and everything went quickly considering all folks who were queuing for the entry stamp.

After that we were pretty lucky to share our jeep only with Denise and Carolina from Chile plus our Bolivian driver Adelio, as most of the other jeeps where loaded with 6 plus driver.

When we finally left I recalled the altitudes which we were supposed to pass the first day. From 2500 m in San Pedro up to the highest point today of almost 5000 m and down to 4200 m for the night stay. Last time  I really struggled with the quick ascent when we came in to San Pedro, so I still was full of respect  of what was ahead of us. Luckily somehow all the other jeeps disappeared in the vastness of the desert and we were just for us most of the time.

What we saw during the next 3 days is hard to put in words. The best is to go through our pictures, even though again we think it is impossible to catch the full vastness of this beautiful shaped and colored landscape in any of the pictures, but it is still stunning to look at them.

Just the first day we passed several lagoons which are named after their unique color. They all have their own story. Languna Blanca for example is white because the main mineral is salt. More interesting, but deadly if you would drink the water of Laguna Verde, which is green colored because the main minerals are based on Arsen and Copper.  Most stunning in my point of view, the diva under all the lagoons we visited, Laguna Colorada. It thanks it red and white color to a specific microorganism which causes the deep red color. Laguna Verde and Colorada have one thing in common. They are just white in the early hours of the day, as the microorganism and the minerals in both are heavier as water and sink to the bottom during the night. Only the wind and the raising temperatures during the day cause the necessary circulation in the water that brings up the tiny parts  to the surface. Cool he ? We did not name the pictures, so maybe you try to identify Laguna Blanca, Laguna Verde and Laguna Colorada on your own

Another beautiful spot we visited the first day were the hot springs in front of a lagoon at almost 4500 m surrounded by desert mountains. Some travelers used the welcoming warm water to relax a little from the off-road driving. We just enjoyed the stunning view and kept our white as snow bodies protected under the cloth as the sun on this altitude can deliver you a lovely sunburn in a few minutes.

At the highest point we stopped at some mud bubbling and smoking geysers which made us breathless for the sheer altitude and the stunning view of the area  The sulfur smelling smoke made it even more difficult to breathe but we just could not get enough from this toxic place.

When we finally reached our accommodation for the night, I already felt the altitude. I had a little man in my head who was hammering against my forehead from inside plus an unresistable desire to vomit, although I had tried almost everything which is recommended to avoid altitude sickness. I had drunk a lot of water, which made me pee almost at every stop, had drunk no alcohol, had stayed away from caffeine, had eaten mostly carbohydrates  instead of meat and had chewed coca all day long.

Luckily Natalie insisted that I had at least some noodles for dinner. It helped me to survive the night and the next morning I was almost fine again. Then I realized my environment fully. The people live there mainly to run the accommodations for the tours. They had served us simple but hearty food and made us feel at home at 4200 m altitude.

Our second day was amazing as well. As one of my favorite sights I have to name the stone tree which we visited in the morning.  This formation is carved out by wind and rain and stands among other rocks in a plain desert area which was beautiful enlightened in the golden morning sun. We traveled the whole day across the endless desert. Unbelievable but the color of the landscape, the shape of the mountains, the lagoons changed with every meter we drove and every hour of the day light. I felt like travelling on another planet.

At the end of the day we reached the region around the Uyuni salt lake. Thanks to some rain some little agriculture is possible here, mainly quinoa, beans and farming of llamas, but life there is harsh.

We spend the night in one of the salt hotels around the lake which are, guess what, built out of salt bricks.  Even the interior as the tables and the chairs were made out of salt bricks and from the window you could already catch a glimpse of the “Great White”: the Salar de Uyuni. It is the world´s largest salt lake with 10.000 sqkm. It was created around 10.000 years ago when a huge lake dried out. There is still a river ending in it, which means there is water under the up to 30 m thick salt crust which allows even buses and trucks to drive on the lake.

The next day we started early when it was still dark. Adelio drove us straight onto the Uyuni salt lake to see the sunrise from the island Inkahuasi  in the center of the lake. At first I was scared when I realized that Adelio drove without sight in the dark. He had switched of the car lights and followed just the GPS, but this gave us a fantastic view of the lake and the stars above while the night was fading away.

After a stunning sunrise and tasty breakfast on Island, we did the obligatory photo session on the vast salt lake. What looks like ice and snow is pure salt, almost endless in every direction. It was another incredible sight during our tip. A place somehow out of this world.

Later we visited the by now closed salt hotel on the lake. They had a serious problem with the dumping of waste water into the lake, which led the local government to close it, so now it is just a museum. After that we drove to a saline run by locals close to the shores of the lake. They still produce household salt the old fashioned way by shuffling some salt on small piles to led it dry in the sun.

After another tasty lunch made by Adelio in the small salt producing village we had our last stop at the cemetery of trains close to Uyuni town. It is basically a place where the old mining companies parked their trains in the desert after they were taken out of business. They used the trains to transport ore and minerals from the center of Bolivia to the Coast. It was an amazing end of our trip which was unique and exciting everyday. If anyone ever considers going to the Salar de Uyuni as well, we can only recommend to do the 3 day tour! It gives one such a better idea of the region than just visiting the salt lake for one day on its own. It was definitely one of the best and unforgettable tours on our whole trip!

We were both feeling unwell and had a headache. Welcome altitude sickness. We had a little bit to eat and started drinking lots of water. We hoped that we will be through border control quickly, but unfortunately this border was not well organized at all. We actually had to wait 2 hours until they asked our bus to get through the border and then it took another hour for the whole process to finish, as they checked every single bag. I laid down on the benches while everyone was waiting and took a 30 min nap. When I woke up, I was feeling totally fine and I had no problems any more. Mathias however kept feeling really bad and was almost close to throwing up.

Even when we got to San Pedro de Atacama 3 hours later, he still had a headache and felt bad. We then got told to chew coca leaves or drink coca tea and everything will be fine. So we went into town to buy the coca leaves, which are of course totally legal here, and then went on to book our tours around the desert and also decided to book a 3 day tour that would bring us to the salt lake in Bolivia and drop us in Uyuni at the end.

So, highly motivated, Mathias started chewing leaves and drinking tea and it actually help! Or so he says. We still took it slow the next day to get accustomed to the altitude and only went onto our first tour in the late afternoon. We had decided to visit the so-called Moon Valley (Valle de la Luna) where we would also watch the sunset over the desert. We had read good reviews about it before and we have to agree, it was just unbelievable at times. It has various stone and sand formations which have been carved by wind and water. Combined with an impressive range of color and texture, it makes you feel like you are walking on the moon.

We have never seen something like it and where once more impressed how many different landscapes and places this planet earth has. The valley is also considered one of the driest places on earth, as some areas have not received a single drop of rain in hundreds of years!  We spent a good few hours discovering the desert and also went to a salt cave, where the walls were covered with crystallized salt from the inside. In the end, we drove to a lookout over the valley and witnessed a stunning sunset!

The day had started with many clouds and it had actually cooled down the desert during the day, so that it was not as hot as we had expected. For the sunset it meant that we had a very dramatic and beautifully colored sky enlightened by the sun. And the evening sun turned the whole desert into a wonderful red-orange color. We very so happy! We had missed our sunsets from South Africa and finally here we were given another stunning one.

We went to bed extremely happy and very excited for the next day. We rose early and went on another tour to see the Los Flamencos national reserve and its salt flat – Salar de tara. It was a tour that would drive us 2 ½ hours into the Atacama Desert towards Bolivia and we would drive up to 4860 meters above sea level. Mathias was a bit anxious and curious at the same time. Would he experience altitude problems again, or would he survive by chewing coca leaves all day? But before we even got to this high point, we had an incredible drive through the desert with the Andes mountain range and its volcanoes always on our sides. Most of the desert is composed of stony terrain, sand and sand dunes and incredible rock formations that have been created through erosion and carved out by the wind.

We tried to capture the vastness of the place, but looking at the picture it does not do it justice. It is just endless!! And lifeless most of the time, until you pass mountain lamas that graze in areas where grass grows or live near the salt flats. One such salt flat was our first stop on the trip, where we had our breakfast. It was really strange to see water and green grass in the middle of the desert and the flamingos made it even more special. This place was however only a small salt flat and was only a preparation of what was to come later.

We drove on and then passed the so-called Pacana Monks. These are stones formations that were created by erosion over time. Apparently there is no mystic history to it, just simple science. They are called monks however, as the wind seemed to have carved faces into the stones. And it really does look like it. I just loved it! By that time we had reached the highest point (4700m altitude) and Mathias was keeping up quite well. He only had a tiny headache. I did not feel anything, so when the car stopped and the guide said we have 20 minutes to walk around, I jumped out of the car and started almost jogging to all the different stone formations to try and get the best pictures with the sun. When I turned around and saw Mathias standing close to the car, I first just thought he does not care so much about seeing all the different stones. But after the 3 stones, I could feel my heart pumping so hart it felt like it would jump out of my body. So I calmed down and walked slowly on. When I got to Mathias and smiled at me and said, he just walked a few meters and was already out of breath. How on earth was I able to run through the desert at this altitude?! Well, I did realize I went a bit too quickly, but once I slowed down all was fine again, so maybe my Colombian genes are coming through here.

Anyway, I really loved these stone formations. Who needs to go to the Easter Island, when you have this! Afterwards we drove on to our highlight, the salt flat called Salar de tara. We were already totally impressed by the whole scenery all day and were not quite sure what more to expect. When we arrived it almost felt like seeing a fata morgana at first. There in the middle of the desert was a big salt flat with flamingos enjoying the water, birds flying from one green plant to the other, a small hamster like rodent coming out of his whole to get some food, and everything was surrounded by snow covered mountains in the back and a massive rock formation and sand dunes to the sides.

It is impossible to describe this place properly, and again the pictures do not do it justice as even the panorama picture miss to capture the scene correctly. Believe when I tell you it felt magical. And the best thing was, it was only our group of 8 people there. Our guide prepared a delicious lunch and we just sat there enjoying the scenery and peaceful quietness of this place. I am so happy we came here!! There are so many different tours offered when you get to San Pedro de Atacama, from geysers to swimming in salt lakes or hiking up mountains. But this was really different and unique and an image we will never forget. It was a wonderful ending to our time in Chile.

When we got back to town, there was another surprise waiting for us. We met Petri and Sanna again, a Finish couple we have met for the first time in Patagonia on our hike in Torre del Paine and later again at the Perito Moreno Glacier. And now again! It made us laugh so much J. And we will probably meet them again, when we are at Lake Titicaca in Bolivia, as they are heading there for the same time. You are never alone on travel, but that is actually a nice thing sometimes.

This country really had some nice surprises waiting for us. It is definitely something special and we have only seen so little of it. We will be back! Now it is time for Bolivia. We are heading to the world´s largest salt flat – Salar de Uyuni.

The next day started early for us, when we got our volcano climbing gear and were driven into the volcano surrounding national park up to 1400 m of altitude. The top of the volcano was located at 2800 m which would require to climb about 1400 m in total height. From the head of the trail we had the option to take the lift to cover the first 400 m of altitude or do it the old fashioned way by foot.

There was no question for us we would walk instead of letting us lift up the first steep section. At this point the mayority of our group took the lift and we were left with only a handful strongly motivated others who were willing to challenge the volcano without short cuts.  Up to 2000m we made our way up through loose volcano ash and gravel. From there we started into the beautiful snow covered area around the summit. Thanks to our vast hiking adventures down in Patagonia we both were in great shape.

On our way up we constantly passed much slower groups and I kept our guide motivated when I asked him several times if we could go a bit faster. However we were really lucky with our group as everybody seemed to keep up with the speed. After 4 hours we finally reached the smoking top and enjoyed our well deserved lunch. In front of us was the huge smoky crater and behind us the stunning view into the surrounding landscape with lakes and other snow covered volcanos in Chile and Argentina. Unfortunately there was a bit too much smoke to see completely down into the crater, but it was still stunning. The average duration for the hike up is actually 5 to 6 hours. We reached the top before the groups which had taken the lift in only 4 hours.

The way down was not less fun, as we more or less slided down the snowy slopes for 1,5 hours on our buttom. It was fast like hell in some sections and we were all totally wet at the bottom but it was so worth it!

The next day we treated ourselfs to rest and recover with a picknick in the park and walked around town to see the volcanic sand beach and try some local ‚German‘ chocolate. It was better than other chocolate we have tried so far in South America, but still a bit too sweet.

From Pucon we left to Talca, which is around 7 hours north to celebrate New Years! While Pucon was more resort style, Talca was refreshingly down to earth and our B&B a great treat.

Consisting out of a couple of wooden huts around a lovely garden it was cosy, perfectly well maintained and quiet. The three older ladies who were running the place really made us feel at home and created a „I am on visit at my auntie’s garden“ atmosphere. As almost everything was closed for New Years Eve, we decided to stay at home for the night’s celebration. With fresh fruits and food from the supermarket we created our own buffet and used the 4 hours we were behind Germany to skype with our loved ones.

For New Year’s day Talca was still shut down. The friendly lady at the reception told us that almost the complete town was down at the beach, which was 3 hours away by bus. Without saying a word to each other we knew in the super sunny New Years morning that we would not go anywhere that day. It was just too perfect. Sitting on our little terrace on the sofa, shaded from the trees, surrounded by the beautiful garden and refreshingly cooled by a light brise.

For the next day we had already a bus which would bring us to Santiago in the evening. This left us enough time to visit the surrounded wine region. Our first vineyard we visited was Balduzzi in San Javier just 30 minutes by bus from Talca. It turned out we were a bit too early for the tour in the afternoon, so we started to explore San Javier first. After a hearty Chilenean cazuela this time (which was a soup of beef and veggies) at the market area, we hired a friendly taxi driver to bring us to another vineyard called Gillmore.

It turned out that he was also very well educated about wine and wineries around. Besides the very tasty Rosé we tried during our obligatory tasting, the vineyard itself was picturesque almost like an antique hacienda. It is also a very famous wedding location for Chilenean people

Back at Balduzzi we had one of the most privat wine tours and tastings during our entire travel. With just another couple from Switzerland the grand son of the vineyard founder Senior Baluzzi showed us around. We tried more than 8 tasty wines, although the tasting was actually limited to 4 wines and chatted in relaxed atmosphere for more than 1,5 hours. Somehow it felt more like visiting a good friend instead of being on a wine tasting.  With a bottle of Balduzzi’s Sauvignon Blanc Grand Reserva we left more than happy and caught our bus to Santiago.

Feeling the sunshine through the window on my skin, I get up, realizing it is a beautiful day outside, that we have a skype date with Austria for 9:00 am and that I promised Mathias to bake a fresh bread for our picnic later that day. While I do all that though, I can feel my stomach still complaining or rather, I think it is my liver complaining. So once the bread is in the oven I lay down again not feeling too well. Mathias asks me several times when I am ready to go for our walk and picnic, but I cannot motivate myself to get up yet. I think in the end it is almost 2 o’clock in the afternoon, when he finally convinces me that going for a walk might help. And at the thought of a picnic in the sun with a view over the lakes, my energy seems to come back.

Mathias has already prepared everything for the picnic and so we leave the house quite quickly in the end. We walk towards the lake and then into the forest that runs around the lake. We got told that there is a beautiful lookout about a 2 hours walk away that however is not that easy to find, as the trail is not marked and there are many crossroads. Thinking it cannot be that difficult if we just stay close to the lake all the time, we head into our adventure.

I already feel much better from walking and we get first beautiful views over San Martin and its lake. We continue on and of course get lost at some point! I am not really surprised though, as we often think there is a trail when there isn’t one or that a trail that looks like the main trails turns out to be a dead end after some time. So after about I think 1 1/2 hours we find ourselves at a dead end without a major view. Above us seems to be a trail though, so we start climbing a bit and yes end up on a trail again. After about 20 minutes we reach a dead end again ;).

This time the view is stunning though and Mathias wants to stay here for the picnic. I cannot see any proper space to sit down, but a few minutes later I see Mathias above me with a big smile saying he found a place. Well, I would more call it a big rock, but it is good enough as I am actually feeling hungry again. A good sign! Perfectly prepared, Mathias takes out a blanket for us to sit on. While I sit on the left, already taking pictures of the amazing view, Mathias carefully prepares the picnic board. So when he finally turns around, holding the board full of food into the sunlight smiling at me, I do not realize at first what is going on.

I just keep on taking pictures and tell him ‚hold it a bit more to the left or to the right‘, so I can get the best sunlight on it for the picture. When I finally put the camera down and look at the board with fresh bread and our dinner left-overs, I see an oyster shell on the board. First I am thinking, that is strange, I didn’t see any oysters in the supermarket yesterday. But than I can hear Mathias say: ‚Schatz, I want to ask you something‘ and me saying ‚Oh my god!‘. The coin has dropped. He is asking me. And as I look at him and here the question leave his lips, I am speechless and cannot say a word because I am trying to hold my tears back. When he looks at me not saying anything anymore, I realize I have to answer.

So I let the tears come and say ‚yes of course I do!‘. And in my head I am thinking, it is all I ever wanted from the moment I first put my nose on your neck on the dance floor and your scent wrapped me into happiness like a drug. And so we are both drunk with happiness, enjoying the moment and the stunning view. I hear myself asking him a question now and then, how he managed to get the ring and when and where the shell is from, but mostly I am just happy and smiling inside. He wants to keep it all a secret anyway, just tells me that he collected the shell on the beach when we were in South Africa.

When I look at the ring I am amazed. Not only about how he managed to get it, because we spent almost every second together and I am counting every cent we spent, but mostly that he found the perfect ring for me. I never wanted a ring that is too big or has a big stone. And whenever we walked past a jewellery store and he did ask me once in a while which ring I liked, I never saw any that I did. Just always rings that were too big for me and even the ones with a little stone on the top where just too high for my taste or the stone socket around it made it look big again. So finding a thin silver ring with my favourite coloured stone, a turquoise gemstone, delicately worked into it impresses me beyond words. I don’t know how he does it, but I am incredibly grateful that he somehow knows what jewellery I like and what suits me. Makes me look forward to all the birthdays and Christmases to come ;).

When we finally walk back down, we stop at the first crossroad and Mathias carves our initials into a tree at the corner. This way, we will hopefully find our way back to our special own lookout, when we return to this place one day. What a special day with a very special man. So looking forward to every single day together yet to come!