Sipping tereré in Paraguay
Tereré on a hot day Gran Chaco is the second least accessible part of South America (preceded by the Amazon jungle). We pass this giant uninhabited area with a passenger and smuggling bus. The bus is definitely overloaded, there is a crowd in the aisle, lots of bags and boxes with unknown contents cramped all…
Read MoreTierra Caliente in Bolivia
Chatting by the table In the beginning I must admit that the last few weeks spent at over three thousand meters made me feel a bit tired. This feeling is accompanied by longing. I miss early morning sun which warms up my tent and wakes me up. I also miss these pleasant evenings, sitting outside…
Read MoreWork in hell
Sixteen-year-old miner in Potosí, Bolivia I have seen hell nearly five kilometers above the sea level. Working conditions and safety of Bolivian miners in Cerro de Potosí make it one of those places on our planet where loss of health is a direct consequence of commencing work. This is not an air-conditioned room, but 40…
Read MoreThe surreal world
A bus in the Bolivian wilderness I see an endless white space ahead, which unites with the blue sky, far at a distant horizon. After a while I find myself having forgotten that I am still on the same planet. In fact, I am in the middle of a giant salty desert. Delving into the…
Read MoreThe magic of Huayna Potosi (6088m)
Dreams come true Observing vast waters of Lake Titicaca, on that day the air seemed to be much clearer. I walked to the hotel terrace on the Isla del Sol, where I spent the last night and I looked ahead. Far away, almost on the horizon I saw the snow-capped peaks of Cordillera Real. Initially,…
Read MoreThe Death Road
World’s most dangerous road Camino de la Muerte ("The Death Road") is a notorious transportation route in the of Yungas region, going from La Paz (Bolivia’s capital) to the town of Coroico. This 61-kilometer long stretch initially rises up to La Cumbre pass at a height of about 4650 meters above sea level, then it…
Read MoreBackpacking through southern Peru
Laguna de Huacachina An altimeter goes crazy just as a seismograph would register an earthquake. Once again something blows my eardrums and a half-empty bottle of water in my backpack contracts itself. An overnight trip brings me back from a height of more than three thousand meters directly to the sea level. Backpacking through southern…
Read MoreEmoliente street vendor
A stranger on a street energetically removes pulp of a plant resembling aloe. His swift and graceful hands adds some mysterious extracts from bottles arranged in a row. Then he scoops a cup of hot herbal brew out of a massive pot and starts blending all the ingredients with a spoon. Yet still the drink…
Read MoreGuinea pig for dinner
Peruvian cuisine Once in the Peruvian province of Amazonas I decided to look for traditional Peruvian cuisine . Half-intentionally half-accidentally I find a restaurant called Sabores del Peru in the town of Chachapoyas. A welcoming chef and the restaurant owner Seńora Violeta invites me and my friend Camille to her kitchen. We are able to…
Read MoreAmazonas in Peru
A resident of Tingo village The crowds go wild, there are fireworks (but more modest than in other parts of the world) and the loud music is coming from several different sources. The countdown begins: diez, nueve, ocho, … tres, dos, uno! New Year has just reached a Peruvian town of Mancora. We take off…
Read MoreNotes from Ecuador
The panorama of colorful Las Peńas and central Guayaquil Traveling through Ecuador I visit some interesting places. Guayaquil is a vibrant and modern city, which despite its size (its bus terminal could easily compete with many international airports in Europe) has a few nice spots captivating with ambience. One of which is Parque Seminario, a…
Read MoreSurfing in Ecuador
Montańita I see vast desolated areas and complete desert. This is a coast of Ecuador. I get to know a few fishermen and observe how an everyday life looks like in a fishing town Manta. I spend the afternoon in a bar trying to understand a bunch of drunk Ecuadorians and it is not easy.…
Read MorePopayan, a white city in Colombia
A girl dancing on a street, Popayan Popayan is a small town perfectly capturing the atmosphere of Colombian province. The mild climate has attracted merchants and sugar cane plantation owners, who settled here looking for a quiet place away from overpopulated and sweltering Cali. The city started to develop in sixteenth century and has maintained…
Read MorePablo Escobar and his empire
Escobar had the biggest private zoo in the world The head of the world’s biggest cocaine cartel in Medellin, a local patriot and philanthropist, but also a ruthless criminal. This is Pablo Escobar, a drug baron, who publicly sentenced to death politicians having intentions to curb his power. He always kept his word and often…
Read MoreSnapshots from Colombia
A colorful group of street musicians There are some questions at the Venezuelan-Colombian border. “You speak Polish in your country, right?" – I nodded – “So where did you learn Spanish?” – “By traveling and reading books". Questions become less formal, “How do you say “Buenos Dias" in Polish?” – I answer that “Dzien Dobry”,…
Read MoreVenzuela and the Northern Andes
A resident of the Apartaderos area I arrive to Merida, an Andean city of southwestern Venezuela. Currently there is temporada baja, which means low season. In fact, there are nearly no tourists at all. This encourages exploring the area on your own, but still it is very difficult to try a more demanding hiking trail.…
Read MoreVenezuelan cuisine
Arepa and perrico I take a look at Venezuelan cuisine and do my best to experience it. Luckily most of the time I stay with people who are natural-born enthusiasts and experts in this field. Altogether including some extra street culinary experiences, I would like to present a sample menu. It is a list of…
Read MoreA glimpse of Venezuela
U.S. made school bus A small Caribbean Airlines plane quickly gains altitude. Shortly after the takeoff it performs a rapid turnaround in a surprisingly limited space. Twenty minutes after leaving Trinidad I notice scattered islands, green hills and large, two or three thousand meters high peaks on mainland South America. These are the remote territories…
Read MoreTobago, the spirit of the Caribbean
Grocery store in Plymouth, Tobago Arrival to Tobago proved to be fairly simple. At first, I did not believe that my luggage would so easily find its way along an intricate route. I grab my backpack shortly after leaving the plane. The immigration officer asks, “Do you have a return ticket?”, my straightforward answer –…
Read MoreBack from the far north
Kavringtinden (1289m), Lyngsalpene This is another adventure with the yellow bus. The bus has already reached the tip of Portugal, it survived the Norwegian winter at -40°C and this time it reached a few hundred kilometers north of the Arctic Circle. I spend a few days with friends in Tromsø and enjoying the charms of…
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