If you were fortunate enough to be ship-wrecked on one of National Park Tyrona’s gorgeous beaches, you’d probably hide the flare gun and ignore passing ships offering to carry you back to civilisation, in favour of lingering a little longer to top up your tan. This park certainly ticks all the right boxes for becoming a real life Robinson Crusoe. There’s never been a better excuse to grow your beard long, let the sand exfoliate your bare skin, bathe in crystal clear waters, drink coconut milk and sleep under the stars. So without further ado, turn off the TV, put the newspaper down, hide your mobile phone and prepare to lose yourself in nature’s playground.
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Taganga & Santa Marta – the art of hedonism
11 May
Arriving in the coastal village of Taganga feels something like stepping into the Twilight Zone. A world of contrasts – where brightly painted boats line the shore and fishermen darn their nets as they have done for centuries whilst simultaneously, scantily clad tourists dance the night away in beach front clubs to thumping tunes. This once tiny fishing village has been transformed in just a few years without much concern for the landscape or local heritage. Now proudly one of the most visited places on the Caribbean coast, Taganga has become infamous for its chilled beach culture by day and ‘party like there’s no tomorrow’ vibe at night. It’s a cross between a hippy retreat and a Club 18-30’s holiday! Despite the in your face hedonistic lifestyle, Taganga is a cool little place to spend a few days, and those who visit tend to stay longer than they intended. If you arrive with an open mind and remember the saying: ‘If you can’t beat them, join them’, you can’t help but have some fun!
Paradise found, Playa Blanca
29 Apr
We wiggled our toes deep into fine, soft sand and felt Caribbean waters lapping around our ankles. Small, curious translucent fish darted about our feet and the heat from a golden sun tingled our bare shoulders. True to its name, Playa Blanca is a brilliant white stretch of sand nestled in a wide bay and backed by thick forest and the occasional coconut palm. We gazed out at the unbroken surface of clear turquoise water and knew there was only one thing for it – dive in head first!
The Incredible Galapagos Islands
4 Jan
Imagine waking up in a parallel universe where animals rule the planet fearlessly and humans are consigned to the sidelines – gawping speechlessly with open mouths, only capable of pointing and clicking a camera over and over again. Where animals work in harmony allocating selected beaches for frolicking lava lizards, watery depths for giant manta rays and green highlands for wise, ancient tortoises, whilst humans push and shove over the same small patch of scrub land. Where hungry sparrows dine out on the same plates of food bought by humans, and sealions sprawl on promenade benches enjoying the sunshine. Imagine no further – this is the Galapagos – and these islands are like few other places to be found on Earth.
Huanchaco & Chan Chan
11 Dec
The distances and time it takes to travel on buses in Latin America never fails to astound us. You assume that half an inch on the map will take just a couple of hours but, in reality, your bus ride could take all day or longer. In these situations we’ve found that searching for a place to visit between your starting point and final destination will often form a pleasant break and help to save your sanity. Planning our 30 hour journey between Huaraz, a mountainous region North-East of Lima, to Chachapoyas, a jungle area of the Northern Highlands, we decided that just such an interlude was required.
Chiloe – exploring Chile´s largest island
5 Jun
Chiloe is an archipelago of 40 islands off the coast of central Chile, the biggest of which is Isla Grande de Chiloe. The island is very green and fertile with rolling hills and views down to the sea – for us the island bore a strong resemblance to Wales, especially the rain we encountered! The East and West coasts are very different – the East is sparsely populated and filled with wild sandy beaches backed by dunes and temperate rainforests, while the West is home to the majority of the island´s population with several major settlements, countryside cultivated for farming and many islands and inlets sheltered from Pacific storms. Island life has strengthened cultures and traditions on Chiloe with many local superstitions and elaborate stories of ghosts, fairies and witchcraft being lapped up by the tourists.
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Torres del Paine – the ‘W’ trek
Visitors from all walks of life converge on the small hamlet of Puerto Natales to visit Chile’s and perhaps the Continent’s number one national park – Torres del Paine. Located in the Southern Patagonian ice fields at the end of the Andes, the park offers diverse wildlife and incredible mountain scenery, glaciers, lakes, rivers and […]
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