South America

A collection of 45 posts

Food

Beers Of South America

Beer is a passion of mine. For me, setting foot on a foreign continent, country, or city isn't just about soaking up the culture and seeing the sights — preferably at a jog, since I'm a keen runner — it's also about sampling the local food

Food

Beers Of Colombia

Fancy another stop on my beer tasting tour through South America? After Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina and Uruguay, it was time to point the bombilla… sorry, the bottle opener… at Colombia. And what a country to do it in. Colombia has it all. The mountains, the rainforest, the beach. From

Music

An Excursion to Argentinian Punk and Rock

When travelling in South America you get to a point where you simply get too much of Romeo Santos and his Merengue compañeros, and to be honest my pain threshold isn't that high, so this happened very fast. So what better idea as to hide in your headphones

Statistics Featured

A Boy On The Road - The Story So Far (Update)

It's the 3rd of August 2015 and I'm still on the road, time for me to look back and [update]((http://aboyontheroad.com/2015/04/21/a-boy-on-the-road-the-story-so-far/) my travel statistics. So far I traveled to eight countries: Uruguay,

Travel

Bogotá - The Final Leg of the South America Trip

My trip through South America comes to an end. The final leg couldn't be more fitting then the wonderful city of Bogotá. It's the second-highest (~ 2,600 m) capitol city in South America after Quito. It's a true megacity, more than twelve million

Travel Featured

Cartagena, Santa Marta and Taganga - The Caribbean Coast of Colombia

My travels through Colombia continue: From Cali I took the shortcut by plane to Cartagena, from where I explored the caribbean coast of this beautiful country. The city of Cartagena counts around 800.000 inhabitants, making it the second largest city in the region. Its colonial walled city and the

Food

Beers Of Ecuador

The South America beer test continues. So far there were no big surprises, sadly, the only exceptions being some fine craft beers, read up on that here: Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru. And if you want take a closer look with me at the beers of Ecuador keep reading. 🍻Here&

Travel

Ipiales, Popayán and Cali - The South of Colombia

From Quito I went to explore Colombia. I entered the country at the border crossing of Tulcán (Ecuador) and Ipiales (Colombia) and continued by bus to Popayán and then further to Cali. See the following map for an approximation of the route. The south of Colombia is not the safest

Travel

Quito - A Weekend in the Capital of Ecuador

Quito is the proud capital of Ecuador. It lies at about 2,800 meters above sea level and is home to around two and a half million people. Due to the high altitude and the location within the mountains the city has a cool climate. Start your weekend on Friday

Travel Featured

Galápagos - A Tale of Endemic Creatures and Seasickness

It's difficult to put the beauty of the Galápagos Islands into words. I'm no writer, and even if I would be, I would have my doubts if I could do so. Therefore I won't try it here. I think that pictures are better suited.

Food

Beers Of Peru

Let’s be honest: South America isn’t the first place that comes to mind when you think of rich brewing heritage. As I boarded my flight to Montevideo, I half-expected to spend the entire trip longing for a crisp Czech pilsner or wishing I’d packed my own

Travel

Guayaquil - Heat and Humidity

My next stop was Guayaquil in Ecuador. Finally! I was somehow looking forward to Ecuador for a long time, but that is part of a future blog entry. Guayaquil is the most populous city in Ecuador, more than 2.5 million people live in the city and the surrounding areas.

Travel

Trujillo, Huanchaco, Chiclayo, Piura and Máncora - Conquering the North of Peru

From Lima I made my way up North towards Ecuador. Slowly, embracing the warmth at the Pacific Ocean and in the desert after too much cold weather in the mountains. I opted therefore to miss out on such pearls like Huaraz, something to discover the next time I visit Peru.

Food

Beers Of Bolivia

It's becoming a thing! This is the fourth beer evaluation. After taking a look at the beers of Uruguay, Argentina and Chile, read up if you missed them, I take a look at the beers of Bolivia. 🍻Here's the full ranking: Cerveza Popular 1. Paceña 2.

Travel

Lima - Modern Birdcage

On April 21st of 2015 I made it all the way from the South of Peru to Lima. So far I stopped in each capitol of every country I visited, Peru being no exception. Here are the facts: Lima is the largest city of Peru and lies at the Pacific

Travel

Nazca and Huacachina - Of Figures and Oases

Fancy another stop on the Gringo trail? Nazca and Huacachina are approximately fourteen hours by overnight bus north from Cusco and about four hours south of the capitol, Lima. Both towns are located in the Ica region of Peru. The Ica region borders the Pacific Ocean to the west and

Travel Featured

Cusco and Machu Picchu - Following in the Footsteps of the Inca

The first "proper" (Puno doesn't count) stop on my travels through Peru was the city of Cusco, the starting point for every tour to Machu Picchu, I opted for a three-day tour called "Backdoor Machu Picchu". Surely the highlight of every visit to

Food

Beers Of Chile

Here comes the third beer evaluation of my trip, this time I'm going to have a look at the beers of Chile. If you were lazy before and missed the blog entries from Uruguay and Argentina click here and here in order to catch up. 🍻Here's

Statistics Featured

A Boy On The Road - The Story So Far

On the 8th of April 2015 I crossed the border from Bolivia to Peru. Time for the boy on the road to stop for a moment and take a look back. So far I visited four countries: Uruguay, Argentina, Chile and Bolivia. I spent roughly two weeks in Uruguay and

Travel

Bolivia - A Round Trip

If you followed my trip so far on this blog you read how I entered Bolivia via Oruro, then took the train to Tupiza and from there did an amazing tour across the Altiplano, ending in Uyuni. But what went on from there? Keep reading to find out about my

Travel Featured

Bolivian Altiplano Tour

Welcome to the Bolivian Altiplano! This means on the one side: an average elevation of 4.000 meters, cold temperatures in the night (because of the high altitude), no heating, no warm water, limited electricity, limited cellphone coverage, no Internet, no paved roads, no street signs, no shops and probably

Food

Beers Of Argentina

The inevitable beer evaluation continues, and this time I take a look at the beers of Argentina. What is the most popular beer in Argentina you might wonder? It's Quilmes (up to 75% market share) but there are other and in total I was able to sample three

Travel

San Pedro de Atacama to Tupiza - The Hard Way

What is the easiest way to get from San Pedro de Atacama in Chile to Tupiza in Bolivia? Actually a quite short two and a half hour ride with a 4x4 will do the trick. But I had other plans, keep reading in order to hear about the whole, slightly

Travel Featured

Adventures in the Atacama Desert

My "101 Chile" continues in the Atacama Desert. To be honest, I moved quite fast through this amazing country, mainly because to cut costs. In general the living/travelling costs in Chile are almost the same as in Europe. That said, San Pedro de Atacama, one of the

Travel

La Serena and Vicuña

Here is my quick and dirty travel guide to La Serena and Vicuña! La Serena Why go? - La Serena is a beach town in the Coquimbo Region. It has a population of around 200.000 and is located 500 kilometers North of Santiago. Go there to enjoy the sand and