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Hidden Gems of South America

By Witt Sparks on May 23, 2016

Sometimes travel is all about expectations. If you go somewhere because travel websites or guidebooks talked it up and you’re expecting amazement, beware – it may not be all you’ve built it up to be!

Here are some places that for us were just the opposite – we stumbled on them because we happened to be nearby or someone mentioned them to us in passing. You probably wouldn’t fly all the way from North America or Europe to visit some of these spots, but if you’re in the area they’re worth a detour!

Salinas, Ecuador

If you Google Salinas, Ecuador, you’ll get images of a seaside resort city billed as the “ultimate retirement destination.” I’m sure it’s nice there, but that’s not the place that I’m talking about. Search instead for “Salinas de Bolivar” or “Salinas de Guaranda” and you’ll find a tiny hamlet nestled in the highlands of Central Ecuador.

Many of the locals here work in cooperatives making cheese, chocolate, and salami. There are no campgrounds in town, so we camped in the parking lot of the cheese factory, and the next morning saw the farmers from the surrounding countryside delivering milk jugs strapped to donkeys and llamas. The factory offered a variety of yummy European-style cheeses. Some have even dubbed this town “The Cheese Capitol of Ecuador“.

Morning milk delivery

Chocolate is also made in Salinas, and we stocked up on several bars of dark chocolate for about half the normal price.

Instead of going back the way we came, we continued on the dirt road as it climbed higher into the Andes, eventually crossing Highway 491 to enter Chimborazo National Park. This was a pretty drive, even though it was an overcast day. On a clear day the views of the volcano would be spectacular.

Villa de Leyva, Colombia

Located a few hours from Bogota, Villa de Leyva is a popular weekend destination for people from that city. With a sunny, cool high altitude climate and lots of nearby attractions including hiking in a nearby national park, mountain biking the back roads of the valley, and several cultural and paleontology attractions, Villa de Leyva is a great place to unwind for a day or a month.

Villa de Leyva is set in a rural valley, surrounded by mountains with great hiking as well as cultural attractions.

The Salt Cathedral — Zipaquirá, Colombia

This mine has been actively exploited since pre-Columbian times, and is still in production today using modern automated techniques to extract salt from the underground rock structure. In colonial times the work was done using traditional methods, and miners began carving altars and crosses out of the rock to help increase their likelihood of surviving this dangerous occupation.

Over time these carvings became more and more elaborate, and eventually evolved into the tourist attraction that it is today. The underground setting is spectacular, and the lighting makes the whole thing a stunning underground tour.

The cross in the background is 170 feet high.

Colonia, Uruguay

Just across the river from Buenos Aires, Uruguay is like a diamond in the rough. High fuel prices and an apparent relative lack of corruption mean the highway quality is consistently top-notch.

The town of Colonia is a great place to visit for a day or two. A well-preserved walled city in the center features shady, cobbled streets, waterfront restaurants and lots of museums. It’s the kind of place that invites an afternoon of strolling the streets taking in the sights and wondering at the inexplicable derelict cars from the fifties and sixties that dot the roadways.

The streets of Colonia feature sidewalk restaurants, shade trees, and classic cars

Urubici, Brazil

We spent a few rainy days here, and enjoyed ourselves none the less. Located in the highlands, this region is one of the few parts of Brazil that receives snow in winter, and people visit here just to have a one-in-a-lifetime chance of seeing the white stuff, even if it is just an inch or two of heavy wet snow.

Even if folks from the US, Canada, and Europe might scoff at the snow, Urubici is still worth visiting for its great hiking in beautiful scenery.

This overlook is near the highest point in Brazil. It was foggy and overcast, but beautiful nonetheless.

San Martin de Los Andes, Argentina

This was one of those places that just felt like home to us. Located in the mountains of Central Patagonia along the Argentina’s famous Ruta 40, San Martin, according to locals, is what Bariloche was 30 years ago.

With a ski area nearby, hiking trails, and judging by the number of bikes for sale, lots of mountain biking, San Martin would be on our short list of places to visit again.

With mountain biking and skiing, San Martin felt just like home.

The Carretera Austral, Chile

Stretching 770 miles through rural Patagonia, this mostly unpaved route passes through some of the most picturesque scenery found anywhere. The area is remote and very sparsely populated with farmers and ranchers who must be largely self-sufficient due to the long travel times in the area. There are fantastic camping opportunities everywhere, and numerous hikes access alpine lakes and glaciers.

The area is also known for as a world-class fly fishing destination, and an handful of high-end lodges cater to foreigners on fishing holidays.

If you go, budget at least 10 days to explore this amazing region!

Between the rough roads and the nonstop photo opportunities, progress was slow, but it gave us time to enjoy the amazing scenery.

Trinidade Beach, Brazil

We originally planned this as a one or two night stopover, but between the beautiful beach and enjoying time with our friends from Adventure Trio, it quickly stretched into four days.

We believe that this section of Brazil’s coastline is littered with many more beautiful beaches, but we couldn’t pull ourselves away from this one to find out for sure.

One afternoon we walked to a restaurant and enjoyed a 3 hour meal with our toes in the sand.

Casa Nacional de la Moneda — Potosí, Bolivia

Potosí has been a silver mining town for hundreds of years, and it’s said that enough silver was pulled out of the mountain there to build a silver bridge all the way to Spain. Coins minted at the Potosí mint found their way to all corners of the globe.

Today co-op miners still risk their lives to pull out enough ore to support their families, but the mine’s heyday is long past. One of the best museums that we visited in South America pays tribute to that heritage. Located in the building that formerly housed the mint, the giant mule-driven silver pressing machines can still be seen. An excellent guided tour explained the regions history in detail.

This museum makes a trip to the otherwise somewhat bleak town of Potosi worthwhile.

This complex wooden gearing is a mule-driven press dating back 250 years. It’s still in the same location as when it was constructed.

Parque Cretácico (Dinosaur Park) — Sucre, Bolivia

Sucre, just a few hours from Potosi, is a much nicer place to spend time. It’s the constitutional capital of Bolivia (La Paz is home to most government administrative functions) and is the source of most of the political activism in the country. With a sunny climate and markets featuring a variety of fresh foods, Sucre is a good place to relax for a few days.

Dinosaur footprints were discovered during excavation at a local cement factory just outside the city, and a museum was built to showcase this amazing find. The story goes that roughly 70 million years ago, a flat muddy plain was traversed by all types of dinosaurs, including the gigantic brontosaurus. As layers of mud covered previous tracks, new tracks were laid over the old ones. Eventually geological forces folded this plain, and today visitors can stand at the bottom of a 300 foot high vertical wall and visualize dinosaurs walking across the ancient mud flat.

This is the rock face where the footprints are. Imagine this as a mud plain 70 million years ago with dinosaurs walking across it. Then through geological movements it was crushed into a V shape. There’s no telling how far down it goes, and the other half exists somewhere nearby.

This entry is filed under Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador. | 1 Comment

The Best of South America

By Witt Sparks on April 17, 2016

This post was prompted by someone filling out the contact form on our website. It always makes us feel good when we hear that other people find our travels interesting, especially those planning their own trips!

So without further ado, these are some of the highlights of our travels in South America

Galapagos Islands

Wildlife so thick they have to stack it.

Investigating whale bones

Yes, it was a lot of money (about three months worth of our normal budget) but it was so cool. I’ve never been anywhere before that you had to be careful where you walk because you might accidentally step on the wildlife. From arid moonscapes of hardened lava covering entire islands to lush, cloud covered volcanic peaks, the archipelago is justifiably famous.

We lived aboard a smaller tour boat with about 10 other guests for a week. It was great to relax and not have to worry about shopping and cooking for a little while, and the tours on the islands were varied and educational.

Quinn enjoyed a week out of the van, and the other guests on the trip were very friendly and welcoming toward him. It’s definitely a part of the trip we’ll always remember fondly!

Traveling with Friends

Time with friends and family is precious

Long term travel can be lonely at times, even for a family. We treasured the times we were able to spend time with new friends, meet up with old friends, and especially when our families made the extra effort to join us for a part of our journey.

Patagonia

We weren’t the only ones enjoying the views.

Being from Colorado, we love the outdoors. We’re most at home in the mountains, hiking, biking, or just soaking the alpine sun and fresh air. You’d think that when the time comes to take a vacation, we’d want to do something we can’t do at home – go to the beach or experience city life. On the contrary, some of our most enjoyable vacations have been when we travel somewhere to be in the mountains.

It’s no surprise, then, that we loved Patagonia. With another beautiful lakeside camping spot around every turn and small mountain villages that made us want to rent a house and move in, Central Patagonia reminded us of home. And perhaps that’s what we needed after two years away.

Peninsula Valdez, Argentina

Another sunset from our campsite.

One of the best things about overlanding is the ability to camp in remote places – you never have to get back to your hotel at the end of the day because your hotel is with you all the time. And some of the best places are wild camps. Just find a level spot on the beach and call it home for the night. Or for the week.

Peninsula Valdez is one of our favorite such spots. Somewhat remote and desolate, its numerous sheltered bays serve as home to mother whales and the calves while the babies are taught how to be whales. We spent four fantastic days camping on a beach on the peninsula. We played in the rocks, went for walks on the beach, and yes, watched the whales.

Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

With the cold air and the white salt, you'd be forgiven for mistaking it for an actic landscape.

With the cold air and the white salt, you’d be forgiven for mistaking it for an arctic landscape.

“Like nowhere else on Earth.” That’s the official tagline for a destination I’ve heard advertised on TV. But that’s exactly what comes to mind when you experience the world’s largest salt flat. Let your 7 year old drive? Sure. Leave your car in gear and jump out to walk alongside it? No problem. Get a 4 ton van up to 85mph? Yep – It’s the smoothest, flattest surfaced we’d driven on in months.

When the sun begins to dip below the horizon, the cold bites at your nose, and all you can see for miles is salt plus the occasional hill rising from the plain the scene looks like nothing so much as a frozen lake with islands in it. Bundle up in your down and walk out onto the salt to marvel at the bright red sunset, then retreat into to your cozy sleeping bag. It’s a harsh, yet spectacular environment.

Rio de Janero, Brazil

The view from the top of Sugarloaf Mountain makes it obvious why Rio is considered one of the world’s most beautiful cities.

Set on Brazil’s coastline and justifiably famous for it’s amazing beaches and backed by thousand foot jungle-clad cliffs, Rio is stunning. Views abound from the many lookouts including the famous Christ the Redeemer statue and Sugarloaf Mountain. On the subway it’s common to see people clad in business attire alongside beach-bound surfers. Topped off by a wide variety of international food and yet maintaining it’s laid-back atmosphere, Rio should be on every traveler’s hit list.

Iguazu Falls, Brazil/Argentina

$This is a small fraction of the falls.$

This is a small fraction of the falls.

Off the beaten path it is certainly not, but there’s a reason why Iguazu is considered one of South America’s biggest tourist attractions. It’s not one single waterfall, it’s thousands of them covering a huge area. We spent two days there – one on the Argentina side and one on the Brazil side. Sure it was crowded and touristy, but we’re very happy to have seen this natural wonder for ourselves.

Cheap Wine

Aging at Domaine Bousquet

Last but certainly not least is the abundance of cheap wine in Chile and Argentina. Sold in the grocery stores everywhere, we quickly got used to a new price scale. Everyday bottle of good, drinkable wine? Less than $5. Want to splurge on a nice bottle of reserve malbec? $7-8. We visited the Domaine Bousquet vineyard outside of Mendoza and bought their grand reserve for about $10 per bottle after the case discount. We looked it up online while we were there, and a those bottles go for $24 in the States. I was at a liquor store this afternoon and bought an Argentinean bottle on sale for $12 that I paid $3.50 for there. Sigh. Enjoy it while you are there!

Jen and I discussed this post for awhile over dinner this evening and we agree that “best of” memories are very dependent on the situation. A ho-hum place can yield a great experience just by meeting a bunch of really cool people and having a good time together. A place that gets five stars on trip advisor might be the worst experience of the trip if you happen to get ripped off there.

We also, of course, came up with some great experiences that I missed here, including some specific museums and other places we visited. Stay tuned – that will be the subject of an upcoming post!

A big thank you to all of our readers, and especially to Diana who is planning her own trip and was the inspiration for this post! If you have a topic you’d like to see covered here, please let us know in the comments.

This entry is filed under Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador.

So How Was the Trip?

By Witt Sparks on November 30, 2015

Whenever you come back from a trip everyone always asks, “How was your trip?” I’ve been thinking about this for awhile, trying to figure out how to answer it, and realized I can’t. When you go on vacation you and all of your friends back home have the expectation that the vacation will be “Great” or “Awesome.” That’s why you went on vacation, right? Because you want a break from the routine, a short period of time where every day is amazing.

When you’re away for longer than a month or so, every day can’t be amazing. The “trip” starts to become “life.” There are highs and lows, good days and bad, just like at home. So how was the trip? It was life, differently. Or as another group of travelers called it, “Life Remotely.”

What I can say is that over the past two and a half years we’ve covered over 40,000 miles in our van. That in itself isn’t amazing – the average car in the United States travels almost the same distance. What I think is cool is that almost none of our miles were ever the same twice. During our life pre-trip, they almost all were. That means that most days we were seeing or doing something new, going somewhere we’d never been before. So yeah, that was pretty amazing.

Enough waxing philosophical, time to get on with the show – our last road segment in South America!

On the way down the pass into Argentina we stopped to look at what we call “Old Train Stuff.” This was a snow plow for clearing the line that once ran over the pass.

Looking back at the Andes from the East

Sunset from our campsite in the town of Uspallata

The next day we drove to Mendoza and spent a day there just relaxing – we realized it had been a couple of weeks since we’d stayed in the same campground for more than one night. We couldn’t leave Mendoza without visiting a winery. There are so many you could spend a lifetime and not see them all, so on the advice of our friends from Buenos Aires we choose Domaine Bousquet, one of the few organic vineyards in the region.

Wine tasting (and train drawing) at Domaine Bousquet

From there it took about three more days to reach Buenos Aires. We spent an afternoon driving around looking for the parts we needed to build the security wall in the van for shipping, then headed for Herman Zapp’s house where we’d stayed way back in June. Herman and his family have been traveling the world in a classic car for the past 8 years and are currently in the Middle East. Eduardo and Clarita, who live in and care for the house for the Zapp family, organize parties for a living and since it’s they’re busy time of year they unfortunately were away from home during our stay. But they generously allowed us to use their house which made it much easier to pack up for the transition from “van life” to “backpack life” and to get the van ready for shipping.

On a Monday we said a sad farewell to the Sparksmobile, our home for the past two and a half years, as we left it sitting a the port in Zarate waiting for a boat to take it to Jacksonville, Florida.

Now toting our backpacks, we took a bus to an apartment we found on Craigslist in the Recoleta district of downtown Buenos Aires. It was nice to be able to visit a city without the stress of trying to find a place to park the van!

This two hundred year old rubber tree provides welcome shade for a plaza.

We tried again to visit the BA train museum. It was closed again, this time to repaint the floors. Fortunately there was one engine outside that we could look at.

We took the metro to the end of the line at the town of Tigre.

The train station in Buenos Aires reminded me of European stations.

Tease: After ordering a sampler at a local microbrewery, I decided on a pint of the IPA. Sorry, only enough of the IPA left to serve samples. What!?

One of the main tourist attractions in Recoleta is the cemetery. Argentina’s rich and famous are buried there, including the famous former first lady of Argentina, Eva Perón.

The cemetery features ornate marble structures. Each tomb houses caskets from an individual family.

We visited a couple of children’s museums in Buenos Aires. Quinn learns to be a checker at a grocery store.

Or maybe a McDonald’s employee is more to his liking. All the french fries you can eat!

After a few days in Buenos Aires, we boarded a plane for Santiago, where we would spend the rest of our time before heading to Philly for Christmas. The flight was KLM, and it was great! Plenty of leg room even in the cheap economy seats, on demand in-flight entertainment, and OJ imported all the way from Holland (and probably made with Spanish or Moroccan oranges)!

Instead of staying in the city of Santiago, we decided to rent an apartment through AirBnB in Valparaiso on the coast. Our apartment is on the 17th floor giving us an amazing view of the city and the harbor. Valparaiso is a funky town and we’re looking forward to exploring it for the next couple of weeks.

This entry is filed under Argentina, Chile. | 8 Comments

Fun with Friends in Central Chile

By Witt on November 16, 2015

It was over a year ago that we first met Rick and Letitia from California in Colombia. We enjoyed a Superbowl party with them in Ecuador before parting ways as we continued South. After spending more time in Ecuador and exploring Peru, they are now heading for Southern Chile to explore the Carretera Austral and Southern Patagonia. Our paths crossed once again in Villarica and we got a chance to meet up once again.

We spent a few days catching up with them as we explored the lakes and mountains of the region camping in Villarica, Pucón, and on Lake Caburga. It was great to spend time with friends once again, and although our time together was brief, we were grateful for the opportunity to share a few dinners and laughs with them.

Steam powered contraptions are always a great place to stop for lunch.

Fields of rapeseed plants (the source of canola oil) create a vivid yellow carpet.

Enjoying a yummy treat in Villarica

Camping with Rick and Letitia on the shore of Lago Caburga

Rick grilled up a yummy salmon fillet for dinner one night. The local cats thought it was great too.

We spent a relaxing afternoon at one of the area’s many thermal pools.

After saying goodbye to Rick and Letitia, we drove to Conguillio National Park.

We’d hope to drive all the way through the park, but late season snows kept the road closed and we were forced to backtrack.

On the advice of a couple we met in the campground in Pucón, we decided to visit Villa Baviera. Formerly known as Colonia Dignidad, it was started by a group of German immigrants in the early 1960s. It has a dark history and is the subject of the recently released film Colonia.

On our way north along Ruta 5, we happened to cross paths with Peter and Lesley from the UK who we first met a few weeks ago in the lakes district. We told them of our plans and they decided to join us.

The colony is only now transitioning from being a closed, secretive community led by the autocratic Paul Schäfer, to a venue for weddings and events. When we arrived we were greeted by people wearing traditional European clothing. This wasn’t something put on for tourists, this was how they dressed. Everyone spoke to each other in German, and it felt much more authentic than the other European influenced regions we’ve visited.

The five of us toured the beautiful property with a guide from the community.

Our next stop on our way North was at the Siete Tazas (seven cups) waterfalls.

After driving around the city of Santiago, we camped at a truck stop. We sat on top of a pile of rocks as the sun set trying to break pieces glass by throwing rocks at them. Not your typical family together time — we pull out all the stops when it comes to Quinn’s education!

The switchbacks on the way up to the pass separating Chile from Argentina are numbered – over twenty of them!

Near the top of the pass is the ski resort of Portillo, popular with ski teams from all over the world as an off-season training ground.

We also got to see the highest mountain in the world outside of Asia – Aconcagua

This entry is filed under Argentina, Chile. | 1 Comment

The Lakes of Northern Patagonia

By Witt on November 5, 2015

Thanks to Debbie for the idea for the Google Maps screenshot to provide a reference of where we’ve been! I should have been doing this for the whole trip. Oh well, better late than never. This map leaves off at Puerto Pirihueico, because Google apparently hasn’t heard about the ferry we took across the lake to Puerto Fuy. So we made it a bit farther than is shown on the map, but this gives a good idea of where we’ve been.

If the Carretera Austral reminded us of the Pacific Northwest, as we’ve gone north we feel like we are at home in Colorado. Gorgeous mountain lakes are framed by the now capped peaks of spring, and remote back roads offer stunning lakeside campsites.

One of the many crystal clear rivers we crossed. This one was on the northern end of the Carretera Austral near Puerto Montt.

Puerto Varas was the first city we’d seen in some time. It’s set, of course, on a beautiful lake with a view of the nearby Osorno Volcano.

Lesley and Peter are from England, and we ran into them for the second time in the village of Petrohué. We chatted over drinks in an upscale tourist lodge before returning to our vans to spend the night. Yes, overlanders are cheap.

The view of Volcán Osorno from our campsite in Petrohué. The piles of sand in the foreground are actually volcanic ash.

A different volcano erupted in April, covering the area with over two feet of ash. This is one building that hasn’t yet been dug out.

Playing on the beach during a lunch stop at, you guessed it, another lake.

We crossed into Argentina to explore Bariloche. We didn’t like the city much, but we found a great campground on the lake that let us use their kayaks.

An ibis at the campground in Bariloche.

The view of Bariloche from the top of a nearby hill.

It’s getting warmer as we go North!

Relaxing after a tough day traveling.

Not a bad spot to enjoy a cup of joe…

The drive north through Argentina’s lake district was amazing, with beautiful scenery around every turn.

Another lakeside campsite

If I had to pick one place to live that we’ve visited, this would probably be it. San Martín de los Andes, Argentina. It’s got lots of hiking, mountain biking, and even a small ski area right out the door. Yes, I know, it looks like it could be in Colorado. Funny how that seems to happen!

From San Martín, we found a combination of dirt roads and a ferry across a lake that we could take to re-enter Chile. Here we’re waiting at the ferry terminal in Pirihueico.

Crossing the lake took about an hour and a half.

On the other side we were greeted by yet more amazing scenery.

If you haven’t been following along on the Sparks Tracker, take a look at it. The points on the map are almost all places we camped or stayed for the night. If you zoom in on Southern Chile and Argentina, you’ll see that our points are very close together. The conversation goes something like, “Oh, look, we could camp on that lake! Yeah, but it’s only noon. That’s okay, we’ll just hang out here for the day.”

We’ve decided that part of the reason we’re enjoying this part of the journey so much is more than just the natural beauty. We know that our trip is coming to a close (only two weeks before we ship the van back! Yikes!) and we’re trying to savor every minute that we can. It’s going to be cold in Colorado when we get back there in January!

This entry is filed under Argentina, Chile. | 13 Comments

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