Best of Venezuela and...one more month to go!

More than 2 months have passed since my last post, but what should I do? Life is sometimes faster than my capacity to communicate about it. Anyway, here I am now, trying to summarise in a few lines the many events from the last weeks.

I had an amazing time in Venezuela! Here some of the highlights:

• a 6-day walk to the oldest mountain of the world, the Tepui Roraima. I will never forget the breath-taking views from the top, especially the 800-meter deep abismo!
• swimming in the warm water of the Caribbean sea! A dream coming true!
• walking in the Andes again. 5 months after saying goodbye to the Andes in Bolivia, it was such a pleasure to meet the Cordillera again :-)
• Venezuelan people! They are fantastic: friendly, open-minded, really interested in politics. Hospitality is so important for them, I was treated like a king AND a friend from the first moment! For this my eternal "gratitud, de corazon!"

I am in Medellin, Colombia, right now, Heading to Cartagena tomorrow. I have exactly 4 more weeks on the road and I want to dedicate them to explore the northern coast, with its wonderful beaches!

At the same time, I am really happy to be back in Italy soon and I can already picture the moment where the arrival door at the Milan airport will open: my parents will be there to receive with a smile and thousands hugs...and I will be the happiest person in the world!!

Best-of-Venezuela: 50 pics

Spectacular view from the Tepui-Roroaima

the Caribbean sea, blue and warm!!

Venezuelan Andes

Adeus Brazil!

On September 12th I left Brazil after spending there 3 months. It was difficult to cross the border and leave this wonderful country.
I have so many memories from these epic times I really would not know where to start from. So I choose not to say anything, and to let the pictures talk for themselves.
Still, I want to say a few things:
- THANK YOU to all my hosts and friends in Brazil for their hospitality and friendship
- THANK YOU to my mum for visiting me
- THANK YOU Brazil, I am coming back as soon as possible!

Even if I am still a bit sad for leaving Brazil, I am really happy to be in Venezuela now. The first 10 days here were simply fantastic and I celebrated one year on the road with a 6-day hike to the oldest mountain of the world - the Tepui Roraima. Today it is time to pack my stuff again and to go on. Next destination: Caracas!

Best-Of Brazil 2012

Sand dunes along the Parnaiba delta

Water paradise in Raposa

 

 

 

 

With machete in the Amazon forest

A special visit from Italy: my mum!!!

From 3^rd to 22^th July I received a very special and most welcomed visit from Italy: my mum!! After being apart for more than 9 months, I was so looking forward to seeing her again and to spend time together. So, when she arrived at 5 am at the airport in Rio de Janeiro, I could not hold my tears and I cried like a little baby while hugging her :-)

It was the first time in our lives that we travelled „alone“ together (meaning without my father, who did not want to travel so far and stayed at home) and we had an amazing experience. We stayed in Rio during the first week, discovering the „Cidade Maravilhosa“ and having a lot of fun. Even if my mum was very sceptical at the beginning, I made it: I convinced her to try out CouchSurfing! And it was GREAT, thanks to the exquisite hospitality of our host Paulo (eternal thanks to him for hosting me during the Rio + 20, with my mum and after she left, for a total of 20 nights!).

After Rio we went (by bus, it took us 24 hours) to Iguacu to see the waterfalls, both the Brazilian and Argentinian side. There was much more water than during my first visit in February and the views were simply spectacular. After a short break in Sao Paulo just to show my mum how a huge metropoly (unfortunately) looks like, we went to the quieter old colonial town of Paraty, with a wonderful historical center. The following highlight of the trip was the 3-day stay at Ilha Grande, a real tropical paradise with breathtaking beaches and cool walks in the forest.
Sad but true, the departure day arrived very quickly, and it was time to say goodbye again. I did not cry this time, because the prevalent feeling was happiness for the unforgettable time we shared. I deeply thank my mum for her love and patience and for supporting such a crazy son like me. In around 4 months I will be back to Italy, and I can't wait to see her and my dad again!

Pao de Açucar in Rio

Iguaçu Falls

Jeep excursion in Paraty

Sustainable Couch at Rio + 20

15th Sustainable Wave-Letter: Sustainable Couch in Rio

1. Rio + 20

The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, "Rio + 20", was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on June 20-22, 2012. With the slogan "The future we want", around 100 presidents, prime ministers and delegations from 193 nations gathered in the city to discuss topics such as "green economy", global governance and sustainable development. Even if a final document was approved by the assembly, the results are unfortunately very poor and lack of concrete commitment. The civil society, reunited in the "Cúpula dos Povos" (People's Summit), clearly said it does not feel represented by the final document and called the conference a big failure, giving it the name of "Rio -20".

                       

2. Massi's experience at the Cúpula dos Povos

Massi was in Rio during the Rio + 20. Even though he could not participate to the official conference (where accreditation was needed) he took part to the Cúpula dos Povos and here he shares his memory of this event.

"On 14th June I came back to Rio, my favourite city so far in my South America trip. Being part of the People's Summit was an amazing experience and here are some of my personal highlights:

• participating to two huge street demonstrations with ten thousands of people, peacefully fighiting for a better world
• presenting Sustainable Couch and the eco-project "Eco-Sistemas" together with Albert at a workshop during the People's Summit
• meeting cool sustainable couchsurfers like Dave and Annabelle,
  "(the "Permacyclists")
• listening to inspiring speeches from Marina Silva (former Minister of Environment in Brasil), Vandana Shiva (world famous activist from India) and Yann Arthus-Bertrand (photographer and director of the wonderful documentary film "Home") and from other outstanding personalities

                     

The list could be much longer, but I will stop here. The memory of these incredible days will always stay in my mind, and in my heart. The results of the official conference are very disappointing. But I personally feel more optimistic than before, because I felt the energy of the civil society and of the people. WE believe more than ever that a better world is not only possible. But it is already existing, or it is arising right now. The will and the energies are available. The time is ripe. TOGETHER we can do it. "El pueblo unido jámas será vencido" is not an empty phrase, this is our guideline!"

My hightlights in Bolivia

The month I spent in Bolivia was simply fantastic!
Here are my personal highlights:

• "Recovery time" in Copacabana. I felt really sick during my last days in Perú, so I arrived to Bolivia with the need of resting and revovering from stomach ache. Copacabana was the perfect place for that. I spent two days in this wonderful city, enjoying the warm sun - even at 4000 meters a.s.l! - and two unforgettable sunsets on the beact of the Titicaca Lake
• Salar de Uyuni and Lagunas: one the most spectacular places of the world, no doubt about it! An infinite salar with an island full of cactuses in the middle and the wonderful lagoons with different colors, populated by hundreds of flamengos. The nights were freezing cold but it was definitely worth it!
• Being hosted by great people: be it in La Paz, in Oruro or in Sucre, I had three amazing cs-hosts in Bolivia and I am really grateful I had the chance to get to know them and to spend time with them!

Now I am back to Brasil, it is already three weeks. I participated to Rio + 20 and I will post about it soon.

My mum is coming to visit me in a few hours, I am so excited!
Ciao from Rio!


Pics Best-of Bolivia

Copacabana, not in Rio, but in Bolivia!

Salar de Uyuni

The wonderful Laguna Colorada

One month in Perú: the highlights

Time flies...oh yes!! The 4 weeks I spent in Perú went by so quickly! At the same time, I had so intense, spectacular days in this wonderful country that it is difficult to describe them with words.
Once again, I will just list a few of the most memorable moments I spent there, then I will let the pictures speak for themselves.
I spent the first days in the wonderful Parracas, a desert coastal area with amazing views and the astonishing Islas Ballestras, called "the Galapagos of the poor", where I could see thousands of birds and many Humboldt penguins and sea lions :-)
I then enjoyed a beautiful week in the capital, Lima. Hosted by two amazing couchsurfers, I got very active in the local CS group and together with other people I created a Free Box. We presented that during the weekly meeting and it was a great success.
From Lima, which is on the coast, I moved to Cusco, 3500 meters a.s.l. I spent q0 unforgettable days there and in the Valle Sacrado, crowning this experience with the visit to the magnificent Machu Picchu!
The last days were at 4000 meters on the Peruvian side of the lake Titicaca and I will never forget the beauty of the Amantaní Island.

Altogether, a spectacular month which I really enjoyed. Thanks to all the people who hosted me and I hope to be able to visit also the north of Perú one day!

Here you can the: Best-Of Perú: 50 pics

The wonderful coast of Paracas

Free Box in Lima

Machu Picchu

One month in Chile: the highlights

Another month has passed extremely quickly, and I notive that basivally every post in my blog is starting with this sentence ;-))

The 4 weeks I spent in Chile were extremely interesting and variated.
In Santiago I basically spent all the time visiting museums, doing yoga and eating in vegetarian restaurants
In Valparaiso, I just substituted one of the three above activities: instead of visiting museums I walked a lot and swam in the Pacific Ocean for the first time (and I experienced the first earthquake of my life!)
In Vicuña and La Serena I enjoyed the company of two great CS hosts and also had a great night in an astrological observatory: what a wonderful sky!
The highlight of my Chile trip was definitely San Pedro de Atacama, as the place is absolutely incredible. Desert, dunes, salars, geysers and much more: nearly one week in a amazing place and many breathtaking landscapes.

All in all, also the 4th country of my trip (after Brasil, Uruguay and Argentina) revealed its best side to me and I am very happy I visited it.
Thank you yo all my cs hosts and the many friends I made in Chile!
Here a collection of photos: Best-Of-Chile: 50 pictures

Valle de la Luna, San Pedro de Atacama

Incredible but true, the same Valle de la Luna of the previous picture

Landscape near Vicuña

6 months on the road and many more to come

I left Argentina on March 16th after spending an amazing time there and I have reached Chile, the 4th country on my trip.
I celebrated 6 months on the road in Santiago (St. Patrick's day in an Irish Pub :-)
the week I spent in Valparaiso I reflected a lot on my trip and was impressed by the statistics of the first six months: more than 16.000 km travelled by bus, car, boat and train. And many incredible memories from all the places where I slept so far: 128 nights hosted by 28 CS hosts (thanks again to all of them!!), 21 nights in a hostel, 12 nights in a camping, 12 nights woofing, 9 nights in a bus.

To conclude: I am perfectly happy with my trip, I love being on the road and I have plenty of energy and motivation for the next months.

I wish you all Happy Easter, I will celebrate in the desert of Atacama!

the wonderful Salinas in the north of Argentina

Wonderful Cerro de los 7 colores, Uspallata

February on the road: the north of Argentina

It has been a long time since I last wrote in the blog, exactly one month. So many things have happened in February: I will try to shortly depict them here.
First of all, I received my 1st visit from Europe. My dear dear friend Julia came to visit me and we spent more than 3 weeks together in Argentina!
The beginning of February was dedicated to the discovery of Buenos Aires: great couchsurfing experiences, many museums, concerts, pizzas and ice-creams :-)
After that, Julia and I moved north to Puerto Iguazu. The waterfalls and the Iguazu national park were an absolute highlight! Combined with the camping in the wonderful "camping ecologico" and the delicious food we cooked, we had an amazing time there.

Graffiti in Buenos Aires

The wonderful waterfalls

The following days were also fantastic: while Julia moved to Tucuman, I went to Cordoba for the "Cosquin Rock 2012", a music festival with over 100.000 people during the weekend - Friday to Sunday. It was my first festival outside of Europe and I loved it: great bands (my favourite: Calle 13, la Vela Puerca, Charly Garcia, Los Pericos), great rockin' atmosphere and a lot of dancing & fun.
Afterwards...I felt ill for one day - probably a consequence of too much jumping during the gigs ;-)
I moved to Salta to rejoin Julia and 2 relaxed days in the city helped me to recover.
We then spent 15 days in the provinces of Salta and Jujuy. More specifically, we first visited Tilcara and Purmamarca, enjoying the breathtaking landscapes and the craziness of the carnival. Then, we moved to Cachi, where we spent a few relaxing days walking, swimming in the municipal pool and eating a lof of quinoa and empanadas :-)
So it quickly came the time to say goodbye. It was not easy, it is never easy. But the strongest feeling was not sadness, it was gratefulness, for the great time we spent together.
I am in Mendoza now, ready to enjoy my last weeks in Argentina, before moving to Chile probably around Midmarch.

Here you can find many pictures of my life on the road in February :-)
Pics Puerto Iguacu
Pics Tilcara
Pics Purmamarca y Salinas

Julia and I at the carnival in Tilcara

Purmamarca

Patagonia trip: 3 weeks in the nature!

Hi from Buenos Aires!
I have just come back from my 3-week Patagonia trip, which was simply amazing! Amazing is actually such a limited word to describe the incredible experiences I had...and the breathtaking beauty of the nature: lakes, mountains, woods...
I spend the first week in Bariloche and thanks to Mario, my CS host, I had a bike for 2 days to ride around and discover the place.
Here you can see a few pics.

Here the whole photo album from Bariloche.

After Bariloche, I moved to El Bolson, where I "woofed" for 2 weeks in an organic farm, collecting raspberries, cutting wood, etc. I had a wonderful time in the "Granja Los Pinos", together with four other volunteers: Alice and Angus from England and Patrick and Theresa from Austria! Incredible but true, they are old friends from the Vienna time and it was such a huge surprise to suddenly meet in Patagonia! So the days passed quickly, I did not even try to reach Ushuaia (soo far away) and came back to the capital with the feeling of being really close to nature and very motivated for the next part of my trip: north of Argentina in February!
Here the whole photo album from El Bolson.

My life in Uruguay

It has been a while since I last wrote in my blog and many things have happened since then.
Last time, while writing my love message to Brazil, I had just arrived in Uruguay. Now, nearly 3 weeks later, I already left the country. I am in Buenos Aires right now. Tomorrow I will start a 3-qeek trip to Patagonia and I am really excited about the endless landscaped and the breathtaking nature I will see there.

But before starting my new part of the trip, I want to say goodbyw to Uruguay, a big small country :-)
I arrived knowing little or nothing about it, and I must say that after a few days - when my saudade for Brazil diminished a little - I started liking the country a lot.
Some of the highlights:

• Meeting people in the street in Montevideo having a Free Box exactly the same as in Vienna, only they call it "Gratifiera" :-)
• Surfing for 9 days in a container! Alex, my host, has a wonderful farm 20 km from Punta del Este, but no space for me in his house, so I had a lot of fun feeling me at home for more than a week in a container. I heloed collecting rucola in the morning, spent the afternoon at the lonely beach against from the tourists of the city
• Visiting an eco-village near the city of Rocha, hitchhiking to get there and back to "civilisation". I climbed the highest "mountain" there, a hill of 500 meters and enjoyed a magnificent view
• Seeing the last sunset of 2011 and the first sunrise of 2012. Two unfogettable moments I spent alone thanking the sun for all the energy I received and will receive from it :-) Between the two suns I spent hourse dancing with other couchsurfers. I eventually concluded my Ner Year´s Eve celebration at 4 pm!

Well, these were some of the best moments in Uruguay, but I have many more memories.
Here you can find a pic collection:
Uruguay, 18.12.2011-03.01.2012

And now it is time to go, Patagonia is calling!!!

Gratifiera in Montevideo

The first sunrise of 2012



Me and my container :-)