Author: Danny

Fancy a cuppa? Have you ever wondered what its like to taste a wonderfully fresh organic coffee straight from the Peruvian rainforest? Well, Harry and I were lucky enough to experience it, as we ventured through the wild coffee growing region of tropical Peru. Thanks to Sumak Travel, and their partners in Cuzco, where we stayed for a few days, we learnt …

 
Stepping off the boat onto the floating bed of reeds was a strange sensation and the spongy feeling under our feet didn’t exactly instil confidence that we would stay afloat. We had reached our destination of the Uros Islands in Southern Peru. Floating gracefully on top of  the highest lake in the world are forty or so man-made reed beds …

 
After a brief spell away from our tours with Sumak Travel following our adventures in Argentina and Chile, Harry and I once again found ourselves back on the road in unchartered territory. This time we began our journey at the gateway to the Amazon rainforest, a small town called Villa Tunari in the North of Bolivia, known for its ‘Ethno-Ecotourism’. There was …

 
Sitting at the bottom of the magnificent snow-capped Villarrica volcano in the Arauncanía region of southern Chile is a little village known as Pucón. What was once an indigenous Mapuche stronghold – even the name Pucón means ‘entrance to the cordillera’ in their native tongue – has now become a Mecca for adrenaline junkies or anyone wanting to venture into …

 
Perched on top of the hillside on the windy shores of Lake Budi on the Pacific coast of Chile, there is a wooden dome concealed with straw, with thick smoke streaming out of one end. They are dotted around the green rolling hills of this region not to dissimilar to the English countryside. The straw dome is a traditional Mapuche house …

 
As the famous poet come politician, Pablo Neruda once said of the Araucanía region of Chile in Northern Patagonia, ‘it’s the wild west.’ Often spending his time wandering the sacred forests of the valley where he once lived and became so fond of. Curarreuhue, a charming little hideaway for Mapuche indigenous communities, is nestled in between the mountains just a …

 
We arrived in the wonderfully picturesque town of San Martín de los Andes, where our Mapuche guide Maria Angelica was waiting for us. Mapuche – one of the largest remaining indigenous communities in Argentina – are people of the land, as the name suggests: mapu, meaning land; and che, meaning people in their native tongue. Sadly however, their native Mapuche language has …

 
San Carlos de Bariloche, or simply Bariloche as it’s known to the locals, is a stunningly beautiful town at the foothills of the awe inspiring Andes, straddling lake Nahuel Huapi. The name itself originates from its Mapudungun indigenous past. The word Vuriloche meaning ‘people from behind the mountain,’ and beyond the mountains was exactly where we were heading. Our guide Analia, from …

 
We were greeted with a huge smile as we stepped off the bus at La Asunción, a tiny village in the Mendoza region of Argentina. Our guide, Humberto – an active member of this indigenous Huarpe community – was waiting for us with open arms, tagged along by his energetic son Joaquín. There was an evident sense of relief in …

 
Hello guys, my name’s Danny, a wildlife enthusiast, adventurer, travel writer and basically up for anything outdoors and off-the-beaten-track. Along with my best mate Harry, a writer himself, a multi-linguist and talented photographer and film maker, we are about to go on an amazing trip around South America for the next six months, passing through Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru and …