El Cañi: a mighty day on a mighty hike
Pucón has many hiking spots, big and small. My first hike there went up in the El Cañi sanctuary. It’s a private park with a lot of endangered araucaria or monkey puzzle trees. I got there with the first micro that left at 8.15am, to have plenty of time today.…
An encounter with Patagonian wildlife
Here I am in Punta Arenas. Almost in the most Southern part of Chile. I arrived by plane and had to go through all the taxi offers. There is no bus or group shuttle, so I found a shared taxi. After dropping off my bag I went for a walk…
Vicente Pérez Rosales National Park
I only had a couple of days in Puerto Varas, so I decided to explore this German heritage town and the nearby national park. My base was the beautiful MaPatagonia hostel. It’s a historic house, surrounded by other wooden buildings first built by German settlers who arrived in the 19th…
The birdman tradition
The Rano Kau volcano used to be the scene for a very special Rapa Nui tradition. Every year the people gathered here for a fierce competion. Each clan would send one competitor in a race for the first egg of the Manutara bird. In this race they had to get…
Walking Easter Island
I had my mind set on hiking the North coast of Rapa Nui. However, since you now need a guide for most parts of the island, it would be an expensive walk. I tried to ask around for prices or group trips, but it wasn’t a popular activity. In the…
The moai of Rapa Nui
Rapa Nui, or Easter island, is an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It’s over 3500 km from Santiago de Chile, the only city from which you can fly there at the moment. Rapa Nui is part of the Polynesian triangle including New Zealand and Hawaii and shares…
Camping on Easter island
You’d think I’d know by now how to take a flight. I arrived at Santiago airport with the boarding pass LATAM had sent me. No need to check in. They do it for you! So I walked to the baggage drop, but it didn’t work. I had to get the…
Barcelona’s Montjuïc
A few monts ago my airline decided to cancel my flight to Barcelona, which was meant to connect to Santiago de Chile. They offered a flight 2 days later, but I found a flight earlier that morning so that I could make it to Santiago as planned. So now I…
Magdeburg and the myth of the old town
Doing an online master was hard. I spent days sitting behind my laptop, reading articles and writing assignments. There were no classes. There was no building to go to. There was none of the stuff that usually makes studying more interesting. But I did get to meet a few fellow…
Getting to know Vigo
During my coastal camino I planned a rest day in Vigo. I had no idea about Vigo, but it is a bigger city and in a good location for a break before the last stretch to Santiago. My research had shown me the gorgeous Cies islands, with supposedly one of…