A year ago began the adventure of this blog… a mosaic of emotions in the deepest heart of the American continent. We have interiorized a magical world, sometimes so complex to be hardly understood. From United States, thinking head of the world as it is nowadays, we have learned to leave aside preconceptions and replace them with curiosity. Mexico has donated to us the immense joy of the travel, endless horizons and the beauty of nature, but also the inexhaustible resistance of a people seduced and then abandoned. Guatemala, wonderful and moving, fertile land of the Mayan world, the search for a better future, that we joined through our cooperation as volunteers. Colombia, an oceanic and magnificent country, so wild to escape everyone’s look; the surprise of an electrifying ferment of lives. Ecuador, synthesis of the whole latinoamerican style, a luxuriant nature and pleasant people: the encounter with the Amazonian rain forest and its peoples, the eternal fight against the exploitation with no rules of the natural resources. Peru with its archaeological beauties, in the undiscovered northern Andean region; the emotion of the “suiza peruana” (Peruvian Switzerland), Huaraz and the Cordillera Blanca. Now we fall asleep on the last day, an ethnic mosaic of faces and looks smiles to us, the importance that they have had and they will have in our life, the promise to meet us another time, one day…

We added a terrific interactive tool from flickr, enabling to show all our photos in a slideshow. Just follow this link (Nomadic travel’s Slideshow page) and remember to leave some feedback, whether you think this is a good idea! Shortly we will return with new and adventurous travel stories about Latin America and especially South America…

• Nomadic Travel’s Mosaic
• Towards Ecuador, goodbye Colombia
• Ecuador-Perú, via Zumba
• Chjonte Guate
• A wall, the last frontier of Latin America

• Nomadic travel’s Slideshow
• Towards Ecuador, goodbye Colombia
• Ecuador-Perú, via Zumba
• Chjonte Guate
• A wall, the last frontier of Latin America

The last American week, once more and so short to seem already ended: the travel through Peru, fantastic but perhaps lived less intensely regarding the adventures in the other Latin American countries. Coming from the uncovered coast of the Pacific Ocean, Lima appears as an enormous and dusty strip of desert, at first sight quite unattractive. The traffic congests this big city reducing the historical center (around Plaza de Armas) to a funnel of smog, nothing romantic. People shout in order to sell goods of any type, from food to the most unthinkable objects. An old man shows us his product, saying “asì me gano la vida“, the Manual del Pendejo, that is expired daydreams and holy water… life in Latin America is never banal neither sweet, just demands a lot, maybe too much creativity.

The Yuyanapaq.Para recordar museum (in memory of the two decades civil war, 1980-2000), remembers through an intense audiovisual exposition, that tragic period in Peruvian history and the sad genocide of the Andean people, a season of ideological contrasts that kicked up a big wave of terror in the country. As always, those who paid the worst price in this war were the indigenous people, particularly in the region of Ayacucho. Overwhelmed by a spiral of violence and terroristic actions, the country lost the conscience and suspended its own history.

• Trekking in the Cordillera Blanca
• Travel from Chachapoyas to Cajamarca
• Nomadic travel’s Slideshow
• Nomadic Travel’s Mosaic
• Mazatlan and Mexican friends

The Semana Santa (Easter) is coming up and Huaraz begins to animate for the beginning of the season of trekking and mountaineering in the Cordillera Blanca. This splendid mountainous chain, that extends along 180 kilometers in the National Park Huascarán, includes the highest peak of Peru (Huascarán, 6768 meters) and one of the most beautiful mountains in the world (Alpamayo, famous for its north-western pyramid shaped face). Beside the most popular circuits, Santa Cruz trek (5 days between lagoons, snowy sloops and passes up to 5000 meters of altitude) and Lagunas de Llanganuco (see photos), exist numerous footpaths for trekking of varied difficulty, among which: Laguna Churup trek, Quilcayhuanca trek and Ishinca trek. All offer wonderful sights of the snowcapped peaks of the Cordillera Blanca. There are also numerous options of ascension to the summits of the mountains, without forgetting the neighbor Cordillera Huayhuash (Huayhuash trek). For further information on trekking and mountaineering in the region of Huaraz, a good starting point can be the Asociacion de Guias de Montaña de Peru. For the best sights of the Cordillera Blanca, cover the numerous paths of the Cordillera Negra, by foot, mountain bike or horseback.

• Cañon del Pato, towards Huaraz
• A dawn in Huaraz
• Travel from Chachapoyas to Cajamarca
• Nomadic travel’s Slideshow
• Nomadic Travel’s Mosaic

A dawn in Huaraz is worth the show of 30 snowcapped peaks coloring themselves of the flush transported by the icy wind. A dawn in Huaraz is worth the smile of a trembling old woman, crying aloud “¡Tamales!”. A dawn in Huaraz astonishes up to make you scream that you have conquered the roof of the world, or just the destination along the travel. A dawn in Huaraz takes your breath away, leading you where the lonely Andean condor can get. A dawn in Huaraz is worth 10 months of nomadic travel and many adventures, it’s the joy of time and the enthusiasm to discover every day new horizons. Now the day with its colors, the rural market and the women laughing, the shy smiles of the children, a horseback-ride or a long trek towards the lagoons of emerald (Llanganuco and Churup)… and many small stories to remember.

• Trekking in the Cordillera Blanca
• Cañon del Pato, towards Huaraz
• Travel from Chachapoyas to Cajamarca
• Nomadic travel’s Slideshow
• Nomadic Travel’s Mosaic

It’s dawn when the desert of the Peruvian coast, starkly desolated, is awakened by the first sun beams, that wearily play with the fog. In our mind Trujillo and the Moche ruins of Chan Chan, one interminable night at the bus terminal of “America Express”. The dream vanishes accompanied by the smell of iron and fish of the port of Chimbote, a place of frontier and maybe pretty picturesque. We choose the most spectacular way to return towards the Andes, travelling along the Cañon del Pato. The bus limps hardly along the dirty road, numerous staggering bridges slows down the way. The abyss under us grows constantly, the river in flood roars on the bottom of the valley. A system of narrow galleries forces us to long waits when we intercross other means of transporting but, after hours of traveling, finally the horizon opens on the Cordillera Blanca, one of the most spectacular places of the world, with its numerous snowcapped mountains (Huascarán, Alpamayo, Huandoy, all beyond the 6000 meters). Along the Callejon de Huaylas from Caraz, Yungay and Huaraz, we enjoy a landscape that takes our breath away…

• Trekking in the Cordillera Blanca
• A dawn in Huaraz
• Travel from Chachapoyas to Cajamarca
• Nomadic travel’s Slideshow
• Nomadic Travel’s Mosaic

We wake up early in the morning, our first unforgettable week in Peru ends with an incredible travel: towards the past, the sky, a hard but authentic present. The road that connects Chachapoyas to Cajamarca is a pebbly and dusty way, that vanishes inexorably swallowed by abandonment and nature. We join the procession of hundreds of campesinos who, in the day of the market, head towards the pueblo of Yerbabuena (Rio Utcubamba); trading on every available means of transporting (camiones, horses, bulls) or by foot. It rains and the damp confuses colors and flavors of the market, shouts and mud sketches. In this atmosphere the millenarian exchange between the products of the Altiplano and those of the forest happens. We continue towards the archaeological site of Revash, an interesting example of Chachapoya architecture. The road follows a splendid green valley until Leymebamba, where we visit the museum “Centro Mallqui”, approximately 200 Chachapoya mummies are guarded together with numerous finds discovered near the Laguna de los Condores. Now we go up firmly, the vegetation disappears and we reach an altitude of 4000 meters. We catch up the clouds and we enjoy an impressive horizon, during the sunset.

Quickly we return down, until we touch the waters of Rio Marañon, near the village called La Balsa (500 m.s.l). While we have dinner, the waitress tells us that various armed robberies recently took place along the road for Cendelin: a wearing discussion with our driver rises, but the decision is to continue. In the fog we reach the objective of the day (Cendelin), it’s late in the night. We all (Michael and Lukas, our travel companions, too) are exhausted. The following day we complete the distance from Cendelin to Cajamarca, hours and hours of up and down by bus again. A one-shot adventure, a travel in the most authentic Peru.

• Kuelap and Chachapoyas
• From the border to Chachapoyas
• Trekking in the Cordillera Blanca
• Nomadic travel’s Slideshow
• Nomadic Travel’s Mosaic

This is the third highest waterfall in the world, second only to the Salto Angel in Venezuela (972 metres) and the Tugela Falls (South Africa, 948 meters). Considering the two falls it’s 779 meters high, really spectacular… We got there along a hard trekking through what remains (unfortunately not so much) of the Peruvian mountainous rain forest.

• Travel from Chachapoyas to Cajamarca
• Kuelap and Chachapoyas
• From the border to Chachapoyas
• Trekking in the Cordillera Blanca
• Nomadic travel’s Slideshow

The Chachapoya was one of the most mysterious and independent Pre-Incaic cultures. They lived in the isolated and hard valleys around Chachapoyas, capital of the Amazonas department. Iquitos seems so far from these places, but the immense rivers indicate us the direction towards the Amazon. The Chachapoya had been able to adapt to a hostile environment, building fortified cities (Kuelap) and necropolis of sarcophagi on the impressive slopes of the mountains (Karajia). The numerous mummies that during the last few years have been discovered, following the crescent interest for this civilization, tell us a history of warriors (“Guerreros de las Nubes”), skillful farmers and architects. Kuelap, the fortified citadel of the Chachapoya, is an example of their ability, second only to Machu Picchu for majesty, still nearly undiscovered. Kuelap was erected in about 700 d.C, on a steep slope at 3000 meters of altitude and still shows in all their greatness the defensive walls, hundreds of meters long and till 20 meters high. Manuél guide us in the Chachapoya world and their houses with circular plant and tapered thatch roof. Complex ceremonial rituals, planning the sacrifice of animals (llamas), venerated the figure of the god Sun.

• Travel from Chachapoyas to Cajamarca
• From the border to Chachapoyas
• Trekking in the Cordillera Blanca
• Nomadic travel’s Slideshow
• Nomadic Travel’s Mosaic

When our German friends wake us up, soon in the morning, we begin the travel from Vilcabamba towards the frontier between Ecuador and Peru. Our route, passing through the village of Zumba, follows an off the beaten track. After a pass that dominates the valley of Vilcabamba, we begin a long descent through the mountain jungle of the Podocarpus National Park. The bus makes frequent stops, often in ghost villages, but there are always people who wait for our arrival; shortly we are swept up by a mass of people, goods and animals. After approximately 6 hours of travel we reach Zumba, the first half of our itinerary. Nearly 2 hours of camioneta separate us from the Peruvian border, but a bridge swept in a blaze by the river forces us to wade: the adventure gets more and more interesting! It’s already evening when we get our passports stamped, by the international bridge of La Balsa. 2 more hours of colectivo (dispelling any doubts of other travelers: 12 soles, negotiable till 10) and we arrive in San Ignacio, tired but happy… We leave Ecuador, a very small Latin American country that has given us many unforgettable experiences and the hope that there can be a future, when people have the courage to fight for their own rights. Now Peru, a giant for beauty and history, the crib of the Inca civilization.

• Vilcabamba, the eternal youth
• Nomadic travel’s Slideshow
• Nomadic Travel’s Mosaic
• Tungurahua, bloqueos and Ingapirca
• Trekking in the Cordillera Blanca

After a short staying in Cuenca, third city of Ecuador and famous for its university, we go on with our travel that is everytime more nomadic and itinerant. Now our goal is Vilcabamba, a very small pueblo next to the Southern border with Peru. The mystery which wraps this village from the eternally vernal climate, it’s the longevity of its inhabitants. Effectively we are astonished to meet so many old and brilliant men, but as the record of Vilcabamba is on everyone’s lips, probably many people declare more years of their actual age… Meanwhile we spend a nice Sunday with music and “malabarismo” (juggling) performances, by the group of artists Pacha Feria.

• Ecuador-Perú, via Zumba
• Tungurahua, bloqueos and Ingapirca
• Towards Ecuador, goodbye Colombia
• Tena, a look to the Amazon
• Nomadic travel’s Slideshow

Sarita and Carlito accompany us through this experience, teaching the language of a world we didn’t know before, the keys in order to understand and respect the forest. They design in our minds the symbols of nature: the anaconda (amaru), the boa, the sangre de drago (dragon blood, a medicinal resin), the butterflies, the curative plants used by the community and the shamans. Ayahuasca (the word which means “vine of the spirits” in Quechua language) or yagé, is a traditional psychotropic infusion considered sacred by the indigenous peoples in all the river basin of the Amazonian forest. It comes prepared by the shamans or curanderos in infusion and it’s consumed by night, as an instrument to expand their own mind and perception of nature. In the Napo region, Equador, it’s known with three different names:

• Ayahuasca de las Mujeres, visions of flowers.
• Ayahuasca de los Hombres, visions of boas.
• Ayahuasca de los Fantasmas, visions of spirits.

• Tena, a look to the Amazon
• In Quito
• Ecotourism in the Amazon
• An Amazon indigenous community
• Towards Ecuador, goodbye Colombia

Sinchi Sacha means “strong forest” in the Kichwa indigenous language. Carlito, our young guide, knows every centimeter of his world, the forest; with his machete opens a way that knows by heart, he follows the “songlines” traced by his ancestors. While we listen to the fascinating lesson on the animals, trees and medicinal plants, we exceed crystalline water torrents, vine forests, mariposarios (humid cliffs where the tropical butterflies flock together) and we reach fabulous cascades dipped in the luxuriant jungle. After walking for hours we lose the orientation: the snazzy colors of the flowers, the infinite shades of green, the cries of the animals, the sound of the rain falling on the leaves, the humidity smell that every minute becomes deeper and wilder… an outbreak of emotions that take shape and dissolve in the palette of a painter, in the symphony of a single artist: the nature in all its strong creativity.

• Tena, a look to the Amazon
• Ecotourism in the Amazon
• Towards Ecuador, goodbye Colombia
• Last shamans of the Amazon
• Maiz vs oil: Latin American mirages

Now we are really in the Amazon basin… to make it clear, there are the curious smiles of the children who run towards the bus. In their black eyes and smooth like silk hairs, it’s hidden all the mystery of these wild places. Here humans continue to be just simple appearances, while nature shows itself exuberant and tenacious. Therefore, it’s a world that comes out from ancestral memories: we caress a boa and we perceive its uncontrollable power, we play with some monkeys and we perceive their likeness. Our friend, Gabriel, is a sturdy but pleasant man, son of the forest, born in a Kichwa (Quichua) indigenous community: he seems to have many stories to tell and a slight nostalgia for a world that inexorably goes away and refuses him. Tena is a city which denies the idea itself of the Amazon rainforest, even though it’s totally embedded in the jungle. Meanwhile it’s raining, raining and raining…

• Ecotourism in the Amazon
• An Amazon indigenous community
• Towards Ecuador, goodbye Colombia
• Last shamans of the Amazon
• In Quito

Exactly in front of the bridge which is the entrance gate to the city of Latacunga, a young boy tell us to go up on its rickety bus. It’s early in the morning, we begin the travel towards the covered by snow and perfectly conical top of the Cotopaxi volcano. The road rises inexorably: three, four, five thousand meters, the landscape becomes even more impressive. The silence owns these windy places, lived by the only animals have been able to adapt to the hard Andean climate (alpacas, condors, pumas, wild horses). For a moment we dream to go up till the top of the Cotopaxi crater to dominate an exterminated horizon, but climbing the highest active volcano of the world is not an adventure that could be organized in five minutes… some horses, pride of their freedom, follow us suspiciously while we walk around the Limpiopungo lagoon. Three big condors of the Andes caress the lost in clouds peak of the Rumiñahui volcano, where a warm and blinding sun (the god Inti in the Incaic culture, indeed) tries to open itself the way in the foggy cover.

On the way back we pass near Saquisili, a village which is center of one of the most colored Ecuadorian markets, every Thursday.

• Baños hot springs
• Vilcabamba, the eternal youth
• Tungurahua, bloqueos and Ingapirca
• Towards Ecuador, goodbye Colombia
• Tena, a look to the Amazon

The Andean landscape becomes extremely variable in the northern part of Ecuador: from semi-desertic valleys to impressive green hills. After hours of roller coaster we reach Otavalo, a village where one of the most important Ecuadorian indigenous markets takes place. We continue towards Quito, the capital, a gem suspended between the snowed peaks of the Andean volcanoes. We are literally conquered by the socio-cultural ferment which enlivens the city, in a few days we know many people, artesanos and people of the street, we talk with NGOs about cooperation, voluntary work and with cultural foundations. We enter in contact with new friends who hopefully will help us to trace a good itinerary towards the eastern Amazon region. We accidentally discover the ethnographic museum managed by the organization Mindalae, an interesting mosaic of the Ecuadorian cultures. From the African influence of the north-western region to the indigenous groups of the forest (Shuar, Siona and Secoya, Achuar, Huaorani), skillful craftsmen of the nature, without forgetting the Andean culture (Quechua).

• Towards Ecuador, goodbye Colombia
• Tena, a look to the Amazon
• Last shamans of the Amazon
• Vilcabamba, the eternal youth
• Tungurahua, bloqueos and Ingapirca

From Tierradentro the unpaved road goes down to the the bottom of impressive valleys, towards the pueblo of La Plata. The heat increases, entering in the department of Huila: after Garzon and Pitalito, two dusty cities, we reach San Agustin, the “archaeological capital” of Colombia. Reputation due to the traces left by a mysterious Pre-Colombian civilization, clearly related with the cultures of Ecuador and Peru. The monolithic statues narrate the history of a people who underwent the cultural influence of the Andean world and the fascination of the gorgeous Amazonian nature, thanks to the strategic position of San Agustin. Here, the most diffused means of transporting is still the horse, while the typical Colombian chivas transport merchandise and campesinos in unbelievable number, during market days.

The return travel towards Popayan is a a hard trip in camioneta, crossing fields, paramo and forests, flanking tired volcanoes and swallowing kilos of powder… we dream a shower, but what a privilege to visit such remote places.

• Vereda Monquirá
• Towards the Caribbean Sea
• Towards Ecuador, goodbye Colombia
• Parque nacional Tayrona
• Nomadic travel’s Slideshow

The archaeological site of Tierradentro is an impressive and mysterious artwork, from an unknown but refined civilization. Located in the esplanades of Segovia, El Duende, El Tablòn, Alto de San Andres and El Aguacate, the hipogeos of Tierradentro are oval burial chambers, with a deepness that reaches nine meters. A winding staircase, built using volcanic stones, leads to the entrance, while two columns support the circular vault inside of each tomb. The walls are richly decorated with geometric and anthropomorphic figures, using red and black (life and death respectively), on white background. Nearly nothing was found in the chambers when they were discovered, because of the thieves activity (guaqueros), but what remains gives a clear idea of how incredible were these architecture artworks, able to resist the tremendous earthquakes that periodically hit the region of Tierradentro.

A friend, beyond that many beautiful photos, left trace of our nights in San Andres Pisimbalà, follow this link: www.flickr.com/photos/mariusencolombia.

• Cauca valley, towards Tierradentro
• Vereda Monquirá
• Towards the Caribbean Sea
• Towards Ecuador, goodbye Colombia
• San Agustin

In a day of movements with buses and camionetas we cover the whole Cauca valley, from Armenia (eje cafetero) to Popayan, passing through the lively city of Cali. Our goal is the region of Tierradentro, an archaeological site, almost unknown by tourists for problems of security, but particularly interesting for the presence of underground burial chambers, unique example of Pre-Columbian art (V-VII sec D.c.). The village of San Andres Pisimbalà is a charming place, inhabited by extremely nice people, belonging to the Paèz indigenous community. It remembers to us Chiapas and Guatemala, where we lived unforgettable experiences. To reach this pueblo an entire day of travel on unpaved roads is needed, but just for this reason the region conserves its authentic beauty. Here, the nature is wild and strong, leaving no satisfactions to the campesinos, nevertheless you can breathe an incredible peacefulness. We stay at Doña Marta’s casa familiar: she’s a nice old woman who loves cooking us the best arepas of Colombia.

• Tierradentro
• Towards Ecuador, goodbye Colombia
• Vereda Monquirá
• Towards the Caribbean Sea
• San Agustin

Rising towards the peaks of the Nevado Ruiz, we discover the small village of Salento, a island of peacefulness in the middle of the wonderful Colombian coffee growing region (eje cafetero). A pueblo lost in the past and dominated by the rhythms of nature, that shows its most impressive side here. In direction of the Andean nevados in fact extends the “Valle de Cocora” (Cocora Valley), an Alpine-like valley, where the wax palms, a biological species heading towards extinction that catches up considerable heights (until 80 meters), grow numerous. Dipped in the mountain jungle, we find the ideal place to go for a walk, trek and horse-ride.

• Vereda Monquirá
• Towards the Caribbean Sea
• Towards Ecuador, goodbye Colombia
• Tierradentro
• San Agustin