2020 march: Chile/Patagonia Torre del Paine

It was not far from Calafate to the Chilean border, where we switched back to the Chilean part of Patagonia. The destination was the small village of Villa Cerro Castillo on the edge of the Torre del Paine National Park and the starting point for the next 12 days.

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2020 february: Chile - Desierto de Atacama

Arrived in Chile was 2.5 months ahead of me. The plan was to start in the Atacama Desert and drive across the Argentine part of Patagonia to Tierra del Fuego. Then by plane to Quito in Ecuador and on to the Galapagos Islands. From there again to the Ecuadorian southern Amazon. On departure there were already strong signs of the Corona pandemic, although at that time only in China. It was anticipated - I then had to cancel Ecuador because the borders and national parks were already closed at the end of March. However, I was able to finish Chile and Argentina almost as planned.

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2019 October: Colombia – Medellin

The last stop on my trip through Colombia was the metropolis of Medellín. Medellín is in a state of change. Not so long ago Medellin was known for its drug cartel and a very high crime rate. Since then it has developed rapidly and has become more and more a showcase for the whole of Latin America.

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2019 august: Albania - Tirana

This summer, our third and last part of a trip through the Balkan Peninsula followed. After traveling to Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia in summer 2017 and Serbia and Macedonia in summer 2018, Albania and Montenegro followed this year.

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2019 July: Peru - Cusco

Our next destination was Cusco, the historical city of the Inca culture. Cusco is located about 700 km east of Nazca. The day in the car was very long and tiring. The road is well developed, but most of it passes through plateaus and at an altitude of 4300 m with innumerable bends through the mountains. During the day many trucks were on the road and this made it almost impossible to pass them.

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2019 July: Peru - Penisula de Paracas / Isla Ballestas

We left Lima very early with the destination of the Paracas Peninsula. The road along the Pacific coast took us through small fishing villages like Pucusana, where we could see fishermen unloading their night catches at the port. In the early afternoon and after 250 km, we reached the Paracas Peninsula. After the first orientation we drove to the port.

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2019 June: Bolivia Salar de Uyuni

The next place in our itinerary was the salt lake "Salar de Uyunai" for the next two days. The journey there took more than 600 km of a super good asphalt road (of which only the last 100 km were gravel roads) to the village of Salina Garcia Mendoza, which is situated at the northern end of the lake, a super isolated village.

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2019 June: Bolivia Lake Titicaca

Back in La Paz, we visited Copacabana on Lake Titicaca the next day. The lake is the largest freshwater lake in South America and at an altitude of approximately 3800 m above sea level. It is also one of the highest lakes in the world.

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2019 June: Bolivia Yungas y “Camino del Muerte”

From La Paz, 3600 m, the road led us over the “La Cumbre Pass” at an altitude of approx.. 4700 m, before the road fell in many serpentines over steep mountain slopes in Coroico to 1200 m. After a short time we cross several climatic zones, from the cold climate of the Altiplano to the warm and humid climate of the Yungas rainforest. The change is very extreme.

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2019 June: Bolivia La Paz and El Alto

When I arrived in Bolivia, Roberto my driver and partner for the next three weeks was already waiting for me. The altitude of the places to be visited was 80% at an altitude between 3600 m and 4300 m. To avoid altitude sickness, I had already been preparing myself in Germany by temporary acclimatization at home to imitate these altitudes with an altitude chamber, blood oxygen test and the test under load. The evaluations were good, and the risk was negligible. I was well prepared.

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2019 april: Indonesia/Sumatra II - Bukit Lawang, Bohorok, Gunung Leuser NP

After 2016 I flew to Sumatra a second time. The plan for this trip was exclusively wildlife and the Anak Dalam ethnic group in the protected area of ​​the Bukit Duabelas National Park. I had the contact persons addressed via my guide from 2016, Mr Rizal Chan. It has to be said that it is very difficult to get access to the corresponding places in Sumatra. There is a lack of infrastructure and contacts. The fauna is large and varied, but very difficult to access, sometimes impossible. The infrastructure is available from Medan in the north of Sumatra to Padang in the southern central part of...

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