My 77-day trip through South America came to an end!
This was a more eye-opening, breath-taking, and self-reflecting journey than I ever imagined…
I had traveled in the past on longer trips, and sometimes I had some sort of expectations to know myself better or to discover something… but this time… I went there just being very excited to finally see Patagonia (after waiting half of my life for this) and worried about the high altitudes from Atacama and Altiplano (I had never been higher than 3200m, and now I was about to reach 5000+).
Never had I imagined it to be such a journey. I feel like a changed person after this trip... Experiencing traveling in two ways, first month in the company of my good friends and later solo, reminded me also and proved that I feel very comfortable and good with both types of travel.
Passing through Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and Brazil, spending almost two months in the Andes mountains…learning about the Incas’ civilization and the wild animals, meeting a puma in Patagonia, dealing with altitude sickness in the Atacama Desert and North Argentina…. I went from admiring the glaciers of the Patagonian Ice Field, seeing the Milky Way reflection in the water of Salar de Uyuni, watching sunsets over the driest desert on Earth… to exploring the jungles of Amazon and watching the unique wildlife of Galapagos islands… My jaw has dropped a million times on this trip… by rediscovering the beauties of our Planet.
All the dreams built in childhood after watching so many documentaries about animals and nature came to life… I saw the wildlife and the places in front of my eyes. As an adult, I never paid enough attention to how big these dreams were. It was more overwhelming than I thought…
One important thing that this journey has given me is a greater love for nature, a stronger sense of connection to it, and a deeper desire to protect it as much as I can in the days to come.
I felt a lot of admiration for the Incas and the indigenous people of these lands for their love and respect for nature which stayed with them for centuries no matter the conquests of other civilizations and the evolution of technology. My wish for all of us is to be more aware and stay more connected to the magical nature that surrounds us.
For more photos from my trip, check out my albums in chronological order.
