You&meTraveling2

Costa Rica The largest national park in Costa Rica, Corcovado National Park, is, according to National Geographic, the “most biologically intense place on Earth in terms of biodiversity". The park conserves primary forest as well as one of the few remaining bigger areas of lowland tropical rainforest in the world. A huge number of species live in Corcovado, among them endangered ones like Baird’s tapir. It’s possible to spend several days in the park and camp in designated areas but reservations must be made in advance as there’s only limited capacity. How to Visit Corcovado National Park? We planned on spending two or three days in the park but February is high season and there was no space anymore at the camps. So we had to look for another option to visit the park. In Puerto Jiménez, the main town on Osa Peninsula, there are lots of tour operators that offer different tours in and around the park. Just ask around until you find a tour that seems right for you and your budget. W...

 Panama What if there was an archipelago in the Caribbean with an island for every day of the year (and a few spare ones)? With white sand beaches and turquoise water, where you could let the days pass by swinging in a hammock underneath palm trees, drinking from a coconut, and not worry about anything? What if I told you a place like that exists and that it’s called San Blas? How to Get to the San Blas Islands San Blas sounds magic and the images Google shows make you want to pack your swimsuit and find a way to get to the islands. Right now. The way there isn’t long but it’s rough. From Panama City it’s a 2.5 hour drive in a 4WD and the road through the hills to the Caribbean side of the country goes up and down and left and right and sometimes all at the same time (I know it’s not possible, but that’s how it feels like). And the drive is just the first part of the journey. The driver drops you off at the port from where the boats to the islands depart. At the hostel they told us...

 Traveling in Argentina Barbecue While traveling through Argentina, we met a lot of amazing people and visited fantastic places. There were also some curious and interesting things about Argentina we'd like to share with you: Due to an apparent shortage in coins and two peso notes, everything can work as a substitute for small amounts of money up to five pesos: teabags, sweets, apricots, apples,...  So it's perfectly normal to pay with 100 pesos notes in the supermarket and to get back your change plus some teabags with the words, "I don't have any small change, I’m sorry, I hope some tea is fine for you." Sure. I love tea. For reasons unknown, most locks in public bathrooms are either broken or completely missing. Keys in hotels and hostels are another issue: Most times you spend about five minutes trying to lock or unlock a door because the old-fashioned key doesn't really fit into the lock. Afternoon is siesta time: Don't expect to find a lot of (or any...

 Six days on the arid high plateau in Argentina's northwest Have you ever run down a white sand dune at 3500 meters above sea level? Or stood at the rim of the biggest known volcanic crater of the world? Looked into fanta-colored arsenic water holes? Found algae below a thin layer of salt in a salt pan in the middle of the desert? Sat in the tunnel of a sulphur mine at 5200 meters? No? Then it's time for a visit to the Puna. We made it! 5230 meters above sea level! How to Get to the Puna Every year we have a calendar called "Reise" ( travel ; harenberg-kalender.de/reise-2016/), where every day of the year there’s a different picture of any place in the world. In 2014 or early 2015 there was a picture of Cono de Arita, a mountain in the Salar de Arizaro, a salt pan in northwestern Argentina. As soon as we saw this picture we knew: one day we'll go there. So when we started planning our trip and knew we'd be going to Argentina we knew we had to go to the Puna, t...