We spent seven weeks traveling Colombia and visiting with family and friends. Stranded in Cartagena with delays to the cargo ship carrying the Land Cruiser, we walked the Walled City and Getsemani so much that Andy had every street memorized and we became “regulars” at our lunch spot. We had a blast with our friends who visited us in Medellin, riding the famous metro-cable, walking the vibrant Comuna 13, and eating the famous “big-ass” ants. Next, we sped across the country to Quindio to visit Andy’s extended family at their farm, where we were greeted by Andy’s mom and the best empanadas we’ve ever had. We ate the most delicious homemade sancocho (soup), sipped on Aguardiente, tried fresh fruit from every tree, and spoke Spanglish until the late hours of the night, while Cooper lived his best life with the farm dogs. Finally, we headed south on Trampolín de la Muerte, a narrow single lane road climbing 5k ft in altitude with landslides, fog, waterfalls and steep drop offs!
COLOMBIA
We spent an action-packed three weeks adventuring through Ecuador. We visited the Tulcan Cemetery, famous for its giant maze of topiaries, hiked Laguna de Cuicocha, and wandered the famous Otavalo market. In Quito, we shakily climbed La Basilica del Voto (I couldn’t look down!) and celebrated crossing the equator with IPAs at a local brewery. We headed to the Amazon Rainforest, where we momentarily lost Cooper in the jungle and Andy fished with some local kids who taught me some new Spanish words. We had our first run in with altitude sickness at 16k feet on Volcan Cotopaxi. On the coast, we camped on crazy cliffs high above the Pacific, tried the local ceviche and bought fresh fish right off the boat. We snorkeled with sea turtles and walked among blue footed boobies at “the poor man’s Galapagos.” In Cuenca, we had the craziest “small world” moment when we shared a taxi with a guy who turned out to be our Airbnb owner from back in Georgia. Our last stop was Vilcabamba, labeled a “blue zone” for having one of the highest concentrations of centenarians in the world. On Cooper’s birthday, we bathed him in the mineral rich waters that are said to make you live forever!
ECUADOR
As soon as we crossed the border into Peru, the rolling green hills and mountains dropped away and we drove through a desert for three days. Garbage was littered as far as the eye could see and political messages were graffitied on every structure. After driving through 36 tunnels in a winding canyon, we made our way to the stunning snow capped mountains and turquoise lakes that Peru is famous for. In the Sacred Valley, we stayed in Ollantaytambo, the only Inca town that’s still inhabited, making it feel like we traveled back in time–and we were in awe when we finally arrived to see Machu Pichu in all its glory. We splurged on the “party train” on the way back where we got to take part in traditional dances while knocking back a few drinks! We explored the major cities of Cusco, Lima and Arequipa. We dune-buggied at top speed in Huacachina, a tiny desert oasis near the coast, and lunched on the famous floating islands at Lake Titicaca. More often than not, the menus included alpaca (which we tried) and “crunchy” guinea pig (which we didn’t try). From the roads, Cooper barked at alpaca, chinchilla, vicuña and Andean condors. We spent most of our month in Peru above 8k feet and reaching over 16k feet in altitude, where the sand turned pink and it felt like we were on mars.
PERU
Our first must-see during our three weeks in Bolivia was Death Road, known as “the world’s most dangerous road.” Winding through waterfalls with steep curves on a giant cliff, it was one of the most beautiful routes of the trip. In La Paz, we had some fun at a traditional dance show, rode the teleferico above the city for hours, and wandered the witches market, where we bought a few “good luck” potions. I also got a tattoo in a bar and Andy met up with the famous “Crazy Dave,” an American who spent 14 years at the San Pedro prison and had some insane stories. In Sucre, we walked among 68 million year old dinosaur footprints. At Salar de Uyuni, we drove for hours across the largest salt flats in the world, where the wind whipped across the flats and the sun’s reflection was blinding—and I surprised Andy with a stay at a hotel entirely made of salt for his birthday! Our only issue in Bolivia proved to be gas. Stations were rare, many ran out daily, and we had to bargain for it every single time. The roads turned very remote on our way to Chile and when I missed a single turn, our lack of gas and Bolivianos meant we had to drive three hours back to the nearest town!
BOLIVIA
Chile was definitely the most similar to the States out of every country we’d traveled to. The highways were pristine and we were shocked at the higher prices, especially gas! We crossed back and forth from Argentina to Chile seven times, always filling our tank first. We were psyched when my parents came down for a visit. The four of us (five, with Cooper) explored Santiago, Valparaiso and the Casablanca wine region–even staying at a boutique hotel with a red wine pool! Further south, Andy and I explored Lake Buenos Aires, San Rafael Park, Bahía Expladores, Patagonia National Park and Torres del Paine. We had days and days of long beautiful drives surrounded by wildlife and not a single paved road. We camped in gorgeous spots with views of the glaciers, surrounded by vicuña, and overlooking waterfalls. Our favorite moment was when the guides at the Marble Caves let us bring Cooper along on our boat tour. Our least favorite moment was when we got into a head-on collision in Puerto Natales, and ended up stuck for three weeks dealing with our crappy insurance. Luckily, Andy found the most wonderful mechanic who basically welded our car back together so we could get back on the road!
CHILE
It’s no secret that Argentina was our favorite country of our adventure. We ended up staying almost five months! The food was the best we’ve ever had: grass-fed beef, sorrentinos (an Argentine rendition of ravioli), empanadas in every flavor you can think of, choripan with homemade chimichurri, and Andy’s favorite, milanesas (breaded chicken). The dialect, Castajano, was tough for me to understand, but everyone was friendly and patient to help me learn. We headed south on the famous Ruta 40, wild camping in epic spots along the way–with no one around us for miles. Andy (and Cooper) fished for trout at every stop. Some of our favorite spots were Cafayate, where vineyards were abundant, Bariloche, where it felt like we were living in a postcard, Buenos Aires, a true melting pot of culture, Punta Tombo, where we hungout with penguins, and Mendoza, where we celebrated my 30th at the vineyards. We spent a week in General Roca, the city that Andy lived in for a few years as a kid, where we were invited to a traditional Sunday asada with his family’s friends.
This adventure was about the journey for us, not the destination… But when we finally made it to the southernmost drivable point in the world, just south of Ushuiaia, we were completely overwhelmed with emotions. WE MADE IT!
