Yesss the time has come.. these are the days for the end-of-the-year lists. And a word of gratitude. Our previous years in the tropics were already quite amazing, but this year has perhaps been the best, so far. Even during my student days I didn’t experience the amount of freedom that I was able to enjoy this year.
I started the year in the Netherlands, finally visiting friends and family again after being abroad for quite some time. Although the first months of the year are the usually the months that nobody likes in Europe, I immensely enjoyed the snow and ice that February brought into the game. With a couple of breaks in Germany and a skiing trip in Switzerland, there’s little to complain about anyway.
Doubting about either starting a new life in Berlin (I impulsively applied for a writing job after a trip and got it) or a big trip I took a leap of faith and chose for the latter. A couple of weeks later I was sitting in a plane towards Peru. Ever since I’ve been travelling the Americas; south, central, north and central again, with Costa Rica as a focal point. And I’m still in the area!
Before I went I was strongly doubting to bring our dog Chapo along the road. I’ve been torn about it as I knew I would otherwise not be able to see her for a while. At the same time, bringing her to Holland was already rather difficult – paper wise – and I was very afraid she would be detained at some point, at one of the borders. Heck, I could barely get into the United States myself this time. All in all I was pretty grateful that she found a stable home for the time being with my parents.
When I flick through the pictures I can’t even grasp all the things I’ve seen, even though I have been travelling rather slow this year. I added some big breaks to the itinerary (to digest it all, personally and website wise). My absolute highlight was my big solo road trip through the west of Canada. I’m not sure if there’s an even prettier country on this earth, especially when it comes to wildlife and green, vast territories. Give me a call if you find it.
While enjoying all of the trips we made once more in my head, I picked a couple of shots. Like last year, it’s not so much a selection based on quality, but one that also brings back fond memories. I wish it would already be the year 2050 or something, because I had a tough time deciding.
Here are my 18 of ’18!
February – Berlin, Germany
In the beginning of the year I made a trip to Berlin, visiting friends. Chapo went along. The first day we hit some highlights, as it was her Grand European Tour after all. Here’s that iconic mural of the East Side Gallery. Next to her nose you see the Russian word for ‘love’ and the German for ‘survive’. Yes that’s cheesy, but she couldn’t have been a better poser.
April – Salkantay mountain, Peru
I started my trip in the beginning of April in Peru. The absolute highlight over there was both our 2-day hike in the Colca Canyon ánd the 4-day hike along the 51 km / 31 miles of the Camino de Salkantay: a savage trekking perfect for those who aren’t afraid to push their limits a little, enjoy gorgeous mountainous and tropical landscapes and love chewing coca leaves :).
This picture was made right after the start of the trekking. The scene boded very well for the rest of the trip.
April – Colca Canyon, Peru
Colca Canyon is nestled in the Andean highlands of Peru and is the second deepest canyon of the Americas. If you think that the Grand Canyon in the USA is impressive, you’ll for sure love the views on Colca Canyon; the canyon is nearly twice as deep.
The landscape is very diverse, greener than I expected it to be and just keeps on changing with every bend you follow. Though some of the paths are very steep it’s all worth the effort. Fields of cacti, snow capped mountains in the backdrop, hot springs next to the river that runs amidst it all, an epic waterfall that suddenly springs from the rocks, stunning miradors, tiny villages, Quechuan designs ↑ and traditions that go back for centuries, flowers all around, condors flying above your head (see the top image of this article), herds of llamas and alpacas; what’s not to like in here. In this canyon the journey really is the destination itself.
This lady was just shuffling with her music, plants and typical Quechuan hat in the fields and I loved it.
April – Salt Flats, Bolivia
If water is life, then you’ll find the absence of both in the lip-chapping dry area of Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia. The famous salt flats nearby Uyuni were created when a prehistoric lake dried up and left a very salty crust behind. With its 10,582 square kilometers (4,085 square miles) it’s also the largest salt flat in the world.
For many adventure lovers, the Salar de Uyuni is the sole reason for planning a trip to Bolivia. I guess everyone over there wants to take those funny pictures. But I was surprised that apart from the salty, white crusty terrain, the desert has so much more to offer. The diversity and the colours just keep on changing, and once you’ve left the white plains, amazingly enough you can even find a lot of nature and wildlife.
I made so many pictures of the gorgeous landscapes, but I like this one in particular. Close to the border with Chile, we were having a break at this hot spring. My fellow travellers were right behind me soaking in the warm waters, and I thought it was funny to see how these flamingos loved the temperatures as well!
May – Quebrada de Humahuaca, Argentina
Cruising the northern area has been a personal favourite in Argentina. At the foothills of the Andes in the province of Jujuy, nearby the deserts of Chile and Bolivia and far away from the green pampas, it feels like a bunch of artists has been colouring the area of Quebrada de Humahuaca with a non-stop effort throughout the ages.
Every mountain, every hill and every rock is painted in bright red, yellow, purples and green – sometimes all of them together striped side by side. On top of that, the cacti are never far away, gracing the barren 96 mile / 154 km valley with that wild wild west feeling.
We were able to see this magical Cerro de los 14 Colores (‘Mountain of 14 colours’) from the picture at sunset. Just a quick look at the mountain range (at 4300 m / 14000 ft also quite high) and you feel like you’ve ‘discovered’ something rather spectacular. Giant shark teeth shaped rocks align one after another, with each ‘tooth’ is another colour. For every minute that passed another light was reflecting on these multi-coloured rocks.
June – Easter Island, Chile
Such a dream came true last June – we set foot on Easter Island! Also named Rapa Nui by the Polynesian, this tiny island is nothing but a drop in the Pacific Ocean, but such a magnificent one and famous for its enormous moai.
We dwelled on the island for five days which is quite a lot of time if you consider Easter Island’s size is only 164 sq km (63 square miles). But at gave us the change to see all of the highlights, during all the different weather conditions. We discovered that the weather does change super fast in here, sometimes it even felt more like we were driving around Ireland rather than a Polynesian island. But on the plus side, from time to time we could capture both rainbows and moai!
June – Easter Island, Chile
Another shot at Easter Island. I had no idea, but apparently there are many lava tunnels meandering through the earth right beneath your feet on this island. We explored a couple of them!
I even lost a tiny tip of one of my fingers in these caves, when I tried to catch our drone from the air (say whatttt!). As you’re quite remote from a decent hospital in these Polynesian waters and handling blood isn’t really my forte, I can’t say it was my strongest moment 🙂
June – Cahuita, Costa Rica
We all know now there’s a reason why men live shorter lives, right? My husband made this picture. He came so close to this venomous yellow eyelash viper (perhaps without realizing it because of the lens) when we were hiking in Cahuita National Park that I didn’t dare to breath anymore, let alone shout to him he had to back off.
So anyway, just because he’s still alive I’ll just put the picture in here. Also, of course I just MUST include a Costa Rica picture.
July Rocky Mountain National Park, USA
As I’d just finished my trip in Latin America – one that led all the way along the Andes- I was quite excited to start a new mountainous adventure in the States in July – this time along the Rocky Mountain range. Starting at Rocky Mountain National Park I later on followed the rockies onto Teton and Yellowstone. With an in-between stop at the west coast I’ll encounter the rockies again in Canada in September.
Though slightly terrified for going on my own into the ‘wild’, I was immediately rewarded in Rocky Mountain National Park with an overwhelming sight of wildlife when I drove into the park. A couple of bighorns basically jumped in front of my camera.
This picture was made on the first day when I drove up the mountains, on the Trail Ridge Road. Something went wrong with the settings (I was driving at the same time – don’t try this at home), but I quite like it!
July – Rocky Mountain National Park, USA
From alpine tundra viewpoints, epic mountain peaks, mirror like lakes, aspen covered valleys to thundering waterfalls – Rocky Mountain NP has quite some epic spots.
This shot was taken at Sprague Lake. I basically came here because of the name (I just love Prague), but got surprised when I saw this moose, a bit after golden hour. The lake was painted in green hues and the mountains were still reflecting some purple and the scene was just magical. Moreover it was my first moose I’d ever seen in the wild. However, if you’ve seen my pictures lately you’ll have noticed this was just the start of a giant moose collection!
September – Grand Teton National Park, USA
Leaving the many wonders of Yellowstone behind, we decided to stay another three days at its southern neighbour: Grand Teton National Park. Compared to Yellowstone this national park – wrapped around an epic mountain range on the western edge of the scenic valley known as Jackson Hole – is a lot less popular, which makes it all the more exciting to explore the area. Plus you see so much more animals in here compared to Yellowstone! This coyote for example, he was just walking on the road like a lonesome cowboy in the very early hours of the day, reminding me of Chapo.
September – Grand Teton National Park, USA
Peek-a-bear! We encountered three of them during our last days in the Teton Range – our very own bearmuda triangle.
I was kind of afraid to encounter them, so kept being noisy throughout the trail, but it didn’t prevent us from seeing some – both far away and from up close. Luckily they seemed to care little about us. And that’s always a healthy wildlife sign.
September – Redwoods, USA
Potion anyone? I’m available every Monday for all your witchcraft and wizardry in the magical forest of Redwoods.
Gorgeous camping outfit by the way right :)?!
September – Jasper National Park, Canada
My cutest mommy and me moose shot of the year.
I think I saw something like twenty to twenty-five moose in Jasper National Park, some of them the same probably. I sat in the snow for hours observing them which caused a bladder infection on the side, but the pictures were so worth it. I think they just have this very intelligent look and their behaviour is slightly wary, which is kind of adorable. Especially the little ones are both curious and cautious when they see a human. Also, the babies have the cutest expressions when eating. Check out my abundant collection of these long-legged beauties in Jasper if you can’t get enough of them either.
October – Peyto Lake, Canada
Oh what a blue Canadian winter it was.
When I arrived in Jasper from Vancouver a huge snowstorm had already locked in the little town on both the east and south side. It wasn’t possible anymore to drive the famous Icefields Parkway (one of the most gorgeous highways in Canada) to Banff and temperatures had already dropped to -15 C at night.
I wasn’t really prepared for thát amount of snow. Usually, around this time of year, the Rockies are still experiencing an ‘indian summer’, but in the end I was so so happy that I didn’t miss out on the many snowy views. A couple of days later the roads were cleaned up again and I was finally able to drive the Icefields Parkway and see its many peaks and lakes, like Peyto Lake above. How lucky I was.
October – San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
For some kind of reason usually you only see women wearing stuff on their heads. Especially in Guatemala and Ecuador I saw all kinds of things coming by; pots, pans, chairs, plants, flowers, palm trees. You name it. They wear it on their heads.
But here in Mexico it was finally a guy lifting the goodies. So hats off to you mister!
Here some more pictures of the charming town of San Miguel de Allende, the city that won the election of ‘the best city in the world’ by travel magazine Travel + Leisure for two years in a row!
October – Mérida, Mexico
Do you recognize these gringos from the afterlife?! On Día de los Muertos we were ready to step inside Michael Jackson’s Thriller clip?!
I was super excited to visit Mexico during the days leading up to the Día de los Muertos (‘Day of the Dead) and soak up a bit of the festive vibe. We painted our faces a couple of times and although this wasn’t even the best looking ‘skull’ (I’m basically resembling a panda in here, the artist in Mexico City took the painting job way more seriously), this day in Mérida surely was a fun one!
November – Punta Gorda, Belize
I was waiting at a paper-napkin, plastic-chair kind of joint for my boat ride to Guatemala, when I saw this guy reading a book and having a smoke across the street. Reminded me of my student days. Cat (his name, an acronym of his (sur)names – everyone in Belize seems to have a nickname anyway) was reading about the British royal navy and how the Caribbean was conquered (“they’re still doing the same these days, but now with planes”). I asked if I could also make a close up shot, but he said I’d to come back for that in 25 years (he’d be 95, the age he’s aiming for). He’d look much cooler by then ??
December – Copán, Honduras
When I was studying Russian one of my fellow students asked our teacher in agony why Russian language is so damn difficult. She (both as feared and loved as a Soviet dictator) promptly replied that the people in the tundra back in the days had nothing to do but to perfect (read complicate) their language?. Witty woman. I had to think of it when I was in here in Honduras, as this creativity rule of remoteness definitely can be applied in Copán. These Maya ruins are so farfetched from everything (even nowadays), that you wonder how they did it, building such a detailed city centuries ago. This civilization did not like things plain and simple!
This last one was a little bonus by the way ( #19 hehe, bet you didn’t noticed)
So that’s it! And here’s where I’ve been last year! ↓
