Mariana OrdialesHey! I’m Mariana. A 21 year-old girl from Mexico majoring in environmental sustainability. I’m a passionate traveler and foodie. I spent the past month traveling across South-America with a couple of friends. We went from Mexico City all the way down to Bariloche in the Patagonia. We visited 6 countries, 14 cities and travelled more than 4,500 miles to get to the furthest point in Argentina. It was a once in a lifetime adventure and a unique way to know new cultures.
We started off in Colombia. (Bogota, Cartagena, Tayrona and Santa Marta). My favorite part, Tayrona, is a national park with beautiful virgin beaches surrounded by jungle. This isn’t the most popular destination, but a friend promised it was worth it. The pictures above show two of the beaches in Tayrona, Playa Cristal and Cabo San Juan. I’ve visited a lot of beaches in my life and I can say nothing compares to this. It’s breathtaking. Next, we went to Cartagena. Cartagena was one of my favorites. It’s so colorful and full of life. We visited the Castillo de San Felipe, a castle built on top of a mountain with a 360° view of the city. The beautiful architecture makes it the perfect spot for pictures. The Ciudad Amurallada is not far away and it’s what you usually see in photos. It is gorgeous and unmissable. Go from La Torre del Reloj, to the Portal de los dulces and the Café Del Mar to watch one of the most beautiful sunsets over the ocean. The sunset has so many vibrant colors and and the skyline has beautiful buildings.
We continued our adventure in Peru. Cuzco is a pretty small city where everyone knows one another and you can sense a feeling of warmth. The next 2 days we hired day-trips with a friend’s uncle. The first day we went to the Rainbow Mountain and Valle Rojo. That one was the most exhausting days of the whole trip. The altitude at the highest point was more than 5,000 meters above sea level. The guide recommended us to chew coca leaves and inhale a mix of plants to feel better and to be able to breathe. Still, it was really hard, but worth it. I personally liked Valle Rojo, which isn’t so popular and was less crowded. I felt it was something beyond compare.
The next day we went to Machu Picchu, one of the World’s Wonders. To get there you have to take a train to the bottom of the mountain to a pretty town called Aguas Calientes, and from there you can either walk to the ruins or take a bus. We took the bus since we didn’t want to be tired to explore the ruins. The ruins are spectacular. It’s crazy to think how Peruvians built Machu Picchu when the wind is so strong and it’s an earthquake zone. Our tour guide was amazing and not only she explained all the history and facts but she also told us where the best spots for the pictures were.
The next stop on our route was Chile. Like Colombia, Chile also had beautiful sunsets and was windy. Chile is famous for wine, so we decided to go wine tasting at one of the most famous wineries, Concha y Toro. Since it was winter there, we didn’t see more than branches, but the wine tasting was fun and we could see the Andes from there.
We continued to Argentina: Buenos Aires and Bariloche. Bariloche was the southernmost we went. Bariloche is part of Patagonia and its economy is based on tourism and chocolate. While we were there, we went to Piedras Blancas, a snow amusement park. The five of us agreed it was the happiest day of the trip. We played and laughed like children all day long like we hadn’t in years. It was one of those days you realize the most simple things with the right people are the ones that truly make you happy.
Uruguay was our second to last stop. We only spent half of 2 days in Montevideo. The most remarkable part was our Airbnb, which turned out to be a historic monument called Palacio Salvo in the central plaza. The architecture was really cool and they gave tours right outside the apartment. This was a bit weird and not something we were not expecting to wake up to. Our trip continued in Iguazu. This was a must. It’s one of the Natural World’s Wonders and it’s the border between Argentina and Brazil. We spent two days in the Argentinian side and one day in the Brazilian side. I personally liked Brazil because it felt less man made and like they respected the nature more.
Brazil was our last stop, which made us a little sad. Fortunately, Rio de Janeiro is gorgeous and there’s a lot to do. The beaches are really pretty and they sell all types of food, which made me really happy. Also, the mountains and El Cristo (another World Wonder) were incredible. We spent 4 days there and we all agreed that we could have stayed at least another week. The energy is really high all the time, the weather is hot but not bad, and there are a lot of things to do and places to know.
Overall I feel like we hear all the time on international news that third world countries are really unstable and full of drugs, but we never give them the opportunity to show all of their potential. I feel like some of these places are musts and people have to go at least once in their lifetimes. Once you visit these countries, you won’t want to leave.
