Laguna Colorada

This trip is usually a private one of 3 days and 2 nights (this is the agency I used) , and makes stop in some of the most isolated places (and hotels in the world), that are Tayka de Sal and the amazing TAYKA DEL DESIERTO.

Tayka del Desierto is the highest hotel in the world, at roughly 4,600 meters of altitude. Built with the surroundings volcanic rocks, it’s the only settlement in the Siloli Desert, part of the Atacama one, regarded as the most arid desert in the world.

Hundreds of kilometers separate this place for the nearest village, and it is probably the closest mars-like environment that can be found on Earth.

The sunset in this place has been one of the best of the travel, and I’ve witnessed the most incredible cloud of my life.

And if you are a stargazing lover, this is definitely the place, although you have to bear the below-zero freezing temperatures in the night.

Desert encounters includes foxes, like this beautiful one that got close to our vehicle.

Scenery in the natural park includes Laguna Colorada, a pink lake full (of course) of flamingos. After sunrise, a mist rises from the lake, making the walk around the lake shores a magical experience.

If you are in luck, along the way you can meet a group of vicuña, an endangered species (similar to lama and alpaca) that has the most expensive and precious wool in the world. Luckily they are protected, and roam freely in the Andes.

Another popular spot is Sol de Mañana, a geysir and geothermal activity spot just along the road.

After the sightseeing, you might choose to relax in this natural thermal spa “Termas de Polques”, an open air pools facing the mesmerizing landscape.

Next stop on the way is the Laguna Verde, a lagoon with an almost phosphorescent green colour, due to its toxic and chemical composition, that makes it devoid of life.

The itinerary ends with crossing the Chilean border, after which you can get to San Pedro de Atacama, a nice (very) touristic town which serves as homebase for excursion and day trips do Atacama desert.

We got only an afternoon there, so we did an half day trip to the Moon Valley, the highlight among the attractions nearby.

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In my opinion. the most beautiful city to visit in Peru, with an authentic colonial charm and among the best sightseeings of the country.

Cusco Sacred Valley

The Sacred Valley extend from the outskirt of Cusco city to Machu Picchu town (Agua Calientes), and it is recommended as first stop after landing in Cusco: that’s because it is at a lower altitude than Cusco and it will help you with acclimatization.

Among the top sights, I recommend the Salinas de Maras: they are ancient salt ponds on the side of the mountain, dated to inca civilization, and used to extract salts. The view is nice, you can into account 1 hour or less to visit them.

Another stop, straight from a documentary, is the archeological site of Moray: it was used for cultivating crops at a controlled humidity and temperature, using circular depressions. An architectural wonder of Incas, you can read more here

Machu Picchu, one of the Seven Wonders of the World

One of the most famous sites in the world and one of the new Seven Wonders of the World, there is not much to add about this Inca hidden city.

I visited this site on August (the busiest month of the year), where you can expect HUGE crowds, so just a few tips to share:

• buy your tickets 6 months before to be sure
• you can also choose (and buy the specific ticket in advance) to hike Mountain Picchu or Hyena Picchu, which is the high mountain that you see in all the photos behind the city. Mountain hike is medium-hard, Hyena is very hard and steep. Do it only if you are a fan of hiking, from a photography point of view I didn’t find it worthy (I did mountain Picchu)
• if you wanna see sunrise, get in line for the bus at 4.40 am, to be among the first to enter the site: the sun will light the city at around 7am anyway

Rainbow Mountains of Palcoyo

Not many knows that Cusco has two rainbow mountains, part of the same group: the most famous Vinicunca (where 99% of instagram shots come from) and the much lesser known Palcoyo.

I have chosen Palcoyo over Vinicunca for many reasons:

• the trekking in Palcoyo is a super easy less-than-one-hour walk, that you enjoy at no hurry, versus the over three hours of Vinicunca
• Vinicunca is OVER-CROWDED, while in Palcoyo it was just us two and maybe 5 more people
• at the same price, Palcoyo is a private tour in a car, leaving Cusco at 6.30. Vinicunca a packed bust leaving at 5.00 am

While flying with the drone, the view is spectacular: I have also spotted a group of lamas crossing the colorful peaks

What you see in this shots is what you actually get in this landscape.

You can add visiting the Amazon or the Lake Titicaca to complete your trip in Peru!

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It has been on my destinations’ dream list since the 90’s movie Rapa Nui, that really impressed me as a kid (even it has HUGE history mistakes).

Rano Kau crater

The island is home to the Moai, huge head statues that can be found all around the island, that create the myth and the mystery about the (extinct) population that lived in this remote place.

Ahu Tahai

Why visit Rapa Nui?

Visiting Easter Island is above all an experience: you are visiting one of the most remote places on Earth.

The attraction is around the (lost) Rapa Nui civilization and the history behind the Moai, that represents the main and only archeological attraction of the island.

Rano Raraku

Ahu Tongariki

There is no wildlife here, and even if Easter Islands has one of the most-transparent waters in the world, also the marine wildlife is quite scarce. Snorkeling and diving are quite popular, despite the quite frequent bad weather.

Ahu Tongariki drone view

How to get there

There is only way in Rapa Nui: with a flight from Santiago de Chile.

There is also (weekly) another way out, that goes to Polinesia, if you want to go the other way on the planet.

Ahu Tahai

An example of how humans destroyed an ecosystem

What I found most interesting about Easter Island is how it is a modern example of climate change consequences.

When the first aboriginal people arrived from Polynesia, it was a lush island, abundant of wildlife, palms and fishes.

In few centuries, Rapa Nui people destroyed and consumed everything: they kill all animals for food (including fishes, whales and dolphins) and cut all trees.

This caused a change in the micro-climate of the island and basically the end of their civilization, which ended also in cannibalism.

If this is not a lesson to be learned, I do not know what is!

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They are artificial islands made of reef, a plant that grows abundantly in the lake, by the indigenous population of Uros.

Their ancestors fled the mainland to escape the violent tribes surrounding puno, and started to use the reeds to build small islands, living a simple life of fishing and catching birds.

Nowadays, the Uros community lives entirely on tourism, and the natural resources of the lake have become very scarce.

What is indeed abundant is the plastic waste the floats on the shores of the lake: that is indeed precious for the Uros, and it is used as a “floating building material” both for boats and for stabilize the islands.

How to visit Uros islands

Puno is well connected to the rest of Peru, and it has also an airport in the nearby town of Juliaca, one hour away from Puno downtown.

Remember that Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world, with an altitude of 3,810 meters above the sea level.

I strongly suggest you to visit AFTER have spent few days in Cusco and get yourself acclimatized with the altitude.

There are several bus connecting Cusco to Puno, with an average trip time of 7 hours (without sightseeings stops). I have used TRANSZELA and I had a good experience.

Once in Puno You have two alternatives to visit uros islands:

1. You can join a day trip from Puno to the islands: you will join a group and likely see the main islands nearby the entrance to the archipelago;
2. You can spend a couple of night (or more) in one of the many islands that serve as lodges.

I strongly recommend the second options: lake titicaca is a paradise on earth, with some of the best sunsets I have seen of my life, and living a couple of days on the floating islands is an experience per se.

Just make sure about the heating availability on the lodge you would like to visit: in August the temperature span from 20° – 25° in the day time and just below zero in night time, so make sure that they have heaters or very, very warm beds.

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How to get to Uyuni from La Paz

We reached Uyuni from La Paz, and there are mainly two way:

1. overnight bus: on the way in we took an overnight bus from La Pax from a company called TODO TURISMO. I found it extremely comfortable, safe and cheap
2. direct flight: there are direct flights from La Paz airport to Uyuni airport, of less than 1 hour.

When to go to Salar de Uyuni

There are two completely different scenario to visit the salt flat, which changes completely your experience:

1.  dry season (june – september): this is the season we visited Salar de Uyuni, so all the shots taken in this article are from august. It is best for actually visiting the flat and the surrounding areas

2. wet season (january – march): the most famous shots with the mirror-like flat are taken during dry season, and that is the reason to visit Uyuni in this period. BUT you have to be very lucky in getting the right day, wet enough to have water in the salt flat (and create the mirroring illusion) but not raining so you can’t go out on the 4×4 cars.

The Experience

Visiting Salar de Uyuni is an out of this word experience, an endless white desert with some rare water pools, where amazing reflections can be taken.

The “entrance” of the salar de uyuni is marked by this monument from the car race Dakar.

A lonesome railway crosses the limit of the flat, going straight to Chile.

Just outside the limit of the salt flat, tiny rock villages emerges, that looks almost abandoned.

Best part is creating these funny photos: no photoshop here, just the extreme “flatness” and a game of perspective! For once I was in front of the camera, and not behind!

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The Amazon basin extends in more than one country of South America, including Peru.

There are two main points for visiting the Amazon Forest in Peru, one is Iquitos, in the north of the country, and the second one is Puerto Maldonado, off the province of Cusco.

Both of them offer a lot of amazing lodge in the forest, and a true amazon experience. I found one main difference between the two locations.

Iquitos is actually on the Amazon river, while Puerto Maldonado is not: this means that in Iquitos you may see the Amazon Pink Dolphins, the only sweet water (and pink) dolphins on Earth, and that is why we chose Iquitos over Puerto Maldonado.

Also, I would add that Iquitos is a little easier to reach, since there are several direct flights from Lima itself, making it an ideal first stop of a trip in Peru.

Where to choose the Lodge in Iquitos

Once you reach to the town of Iquitos, not so beautiful itself, the best way to experience the Amazon Forest is getting to a lodge as far as possible from the urban area, so you can increase your chance to spot local wildlife, instead of being annoyed by motorboats all day long.

We chose the Muyuna Lodge, which is located two hours and half of speedboat south of the city. This place is very isolated, and it maximize the possibilities to spot wildlife.

The package of 4 nights include all the activities, which are one in morning, one in the afternoon and one in the evening, more than enough to fill your days.

What wildlife will you see

You have to remember that a trip to the Amazon is not like a safari in Africa, so you won’t see for sure all the animals, and for sure not so easily. It is more about being surrounded by endless forest that creates the magic, and you will explore your surroundings mostly by navigating the channels around the main amazon river.

Expect the best sunsets of your lifes, and a night covered in stars.

This is an overview of the animals you can expect to see during your staying.

Iguana

Hawk

Pygmy marmoset

Squirrel monkey

Squirrel monkey

This is the bullet ant, The Insect With the World’s Most Painful Sting

Bullet Ant

And the cayman, which is very, very difficult to spot, since it is nocturnal and it camouflages extremely well:

Cayman

About the pink dolphins

Pink dolphins are amazing creatures that lives in the main Amazon river. Boat drivers and guides know where to bring you to see them, and I believe that there are good possibilities to spot them.

Seeing them is a completely different thing that photographing them: consider that to do the spotting you will stay in the amazon river (which is HUGE) waiting for them to pop up to the surface to breath air. So the could pop up everywhere around you, and whatever distance, making it very, very hard to take a shot of them.

On top of this, consider that at the opposite of sea dolphins, I have noticed that pink dolphins stay on the surface for max 1 second of time. So, as you can image, it is very difficult, I have spend hours waiting in the boat, in two different occasions, but I was able only to take a shot of their back, not a frontal one… maybe you will be luckier (or better) than me in this!

amazon forest river iquitos pink dolphin

The “regular” dolphins are actually less shy, and easier to take a photo of.

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If Long Island (which I showed you before in this article) has probably the best beach overall, here you can do something extra than sunbathing and snorkeling.

Swimming Pigs (in Pigs beach)

Pigs Beach (or Pigs Island) is an uninhabited island in the Exuma Cays, actually called  Big Mayor Cay, made famous for a colony of pigs that lives here.

It is one of the major attractions of Exuma, and, even it is a very, very very touristy attraction (in the negative sense of the world), I have to admit that is very fun see this (huge) pigs swimming around in blue waters trying to get some food from tourists.

You can get here only with a boat trip from Exuma or from one of the main islands of Exuma Cays: try to get here as early as possible, since the beach gets REALLY crowded with tourists.

If you have the money, rent your own boat in order to have enough time and freedom to experience pigs beach (and after swimming with the sharks).

Remember that these pigs are not small and domestic ones: some of them are HUGE and they are only looking for food from you, not hugs. If you have food (or even if you haven’t) they will follow-run-swim towards you and to avoid them you’ll have to show them your empty hands.

Please, don’t be stupid like so many models-instagrammers that got bitten by them! Like what happened recently here.

Swimming with the Nurse Sharks in Compass Cay

Compass Cays is a private island in the Exuma Cays, open to the public for a small fee of around 10 USD, where you can swim with nurse sharks. This is usually combined in tours with pigs beach.

You can bring your camera on the island but no drones and no big camera. For reasons unknown, I couldn’t bring my dome for go pro, but just the go pro itself.

I have to say that it is pretty amazing to stay in shallow waters surrounded by sharks and touch them. The downside is that this place is SUPER CROWDED, so, unless you’re coming here with a private boat, you’ll share the waters with many, many tourists.

But again, touching a shark (and keeping your hand) it is amazing: these sharks are maximum around 1.5 meters, and they are beautiful creatures.

The basic rules are of common sense like not pulling their tails, not putting your hand in their mouth, don’t spread your fingers in the water like bratwurst… Seems easy right? Unfortunately, models still manages to get bitten (check out here).

Feeding the Stingrays at Chat n Chill in Stocking Island

Chat n Chill is a very popular place to hang out in Stocking Island, reachable by private boat or a cheap water taxi from the pier in George Town. It is a kind of hut-restaurant on a very nice beach, where to relax and hang out.

What I loved of this place it that there are stingrays that are kind of domesticated, so they keep swimming around the shallow waters next to the beach looking for some snacks offered by tourists. You can get some chopped fish from a shack in the beach and serve it to these beautiful animals (please don’t throw them your sandwiches or other type of food, don’t be that kind of tourist).

Boat trip into the Exuma Cays

Exuma Cays are a group of tiny island north of Exuma main islands. There are countless day trip by boat that will bring you there from Exuma, usually combining swimming with pigs, nurse sharks in Compass Cays and a snorkeling trip to the  Thunderball Grotto (from the James Bond movie):

exuma cays thunderball grotto

Plus you get some time in a sandbar, which really looks like paradise. You can walk in this tiny strip of white sand, surrounded by pale blue water. Amazing!

Check out the aerial drone video below on stocking island and the exuma cays sandbar:

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Long Island is one of the many islands of Bahamas, and it is ideal if you are looking for nature, amazing beaches and very little crowd.

Not famous like Exuma or Nassau, Long Island is home of one of the best beach in the whole Bahamas (and among the best in the world): Cape Santa Maria Beach.

Besides being absolutely beautiful, you will find very very little crowd here, which makes it particularly special.

Cape Santa Maria Beach by drone

You can get here only by car or by shuttle bus from your hotel. There is only one resort on this beach, and it’s the stunning Cape Santa Maria resort, at the northern part of the beach, at roughly 350usd per night.

Santa Maria Beach by drone 2

I honestly wasn’t expecting to be the only 2 persons in so many kilometers of beach, especially on such a beach, which I consider one of the best I’ve seen in the world (only few of the Seychelles can compare to this one).

Cape Santa Maria Beach by drone 3

And besides having white powder sands and blue waters, Cape Santa MAria is also an amazing spot of snorkeling, especially in the southern part of the beach. Here a look from google maps.

I strongly recommend you to go snorkeling at sundown: I did it and had the best snorkeling of my life, hands down. Here some shots, taken with Sony A7R and a Meikon underwater case.

Dean’s Blue Hole: one of the deepest abyss in the world

The second best reason to visit Long Island is the Dean’s Blue Hole, in the southern part of the island. With 200 meters of depth, it is the second deepest of the world, after the Dragon Hole in China.

It is very easily accessible from the beach, and swimming above it really takes some courage.

Snorkeling and swimming on it is not dangerous, but another matter is diving on it. A recent death proves that you can’t joke with these abysses.

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This is a dream come true!!!!

Teotihuacan means ‘the place where the gods were created,’ and that’s the exact feeling visitors have when they walk along the Avenue of the Dead at this Mexican archaeological site.

This pyramid was dedicated to the god of Sun, and I found it mesmerizing how the rising sun in the picture conquered just half the image, while the other half is in the shadows.

I have always loved archaeology and ancient civilizations, so I couldn’t wait to visit Mexico and explore the remains of the pre-Columbian civilization.

I planned my visit to Teotihuacan at sunrise, to get a combination of golden sunlight, play of shadows, and few crowds around.

I flew my drone to see if the image I had in my mind was really out there:luckily for me, this frame was just waiting for my camera!

Here some media coverage!

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I will try to give you an overview of the main Mayan City ruins, starting from Palenque (which technically is Chiapas, not Yucatan).

Palenque is well known for its well-preserved palaces and architectonical details, and it is a very crowded site. I strongly suggest to visit it right at the opening time around 8am or 9am, most of the tourists will start to flow in around 11am, besides an extreme heat that will make the visit not so pleasant.

After the visit (which could take 2-3 hours), don’t miss the museum, where some amazing art pieces are conserved, which is 10 minutes walking from the entrance.

Palenque Mexico Enrico Pescantini 3

Palenque

The main attraction is Pakal’s Sarcophagus lid, one of the more amazing archeological findings of Mayan World.

Pakal’s Sarcophagus lid

After Palenque, we wanted to visit Calakmul, one of the most remote mayan sites, hidden in the jungle. We were able to find an organized day trip from and back to Palenque, the only one existing, that you can find here . You will leave at 5am and come back at 9pm, but Calakmul is one of the best ones, and you can’t miss it.

Calakmul Aerial view by drone

Bring 3 liters of water per person: there are no shops on the site, the humidity and temperature are very strong! Besides, it is one of the few site where you can climb up and down the structures, which is amazing…but also very very intese!

No other ruins is surrounded by jungle like Calakmul, which makes it very unique!

The endless jungle surrounding it is a national reserve, and you see green until the horizon.

After the jungle, let’s see the only mayan ruins on the sea, at Tulum! This site is quite small, but on the bright side has also a wonderful beach where you can rest after your visit. Best seen from a boat, as you can see in the shot below.

Tulum archeological site ruins from the sea

From Tulum we move to one of the seven wonders of the world, the world-famous site of Chichen Itza, here see from the sky:

Mayan Age of Empires – Chichen Itza by drone

Chichen Itza by drone

The site is very, very crowded, so I strongly recommend to visit at the opening time. El Castillo or Temple of Kukulcan is the main attraction, and its fame is well deserved.

Chichen Itza Yucatan Mexico

Chichen Itza Yucatan Mexico

The scary sculptures of skulls and human sacrifices are actually not mayan, but Toltecs.

Before our last Mayan site, let’s dip in some Cenotes! We tried to find the less known one, in order to experience them (almost) alone. First one is Cenote LOL-HA, half an hour driving from Chichen Itza. It is in the middle of nothing, and you get in from a very tall and scary iron ladder. But you will be alone.

Cenote LOL-HA

Another one, famous to locals, is Yokdzonot Cenote, which has also a very nice local restaurant.

Yokdzonot Cenote Yucatan Mexico

Cenote Chihuán is more a cave-cenote, quite small, but since it is on the road to Merida, worth it to pay a visit.

Cenote Chihuán Yucatan Mexico

Cenote Kankirixche is south of Merida, and again a cave-type one. Quite nice and big, but very, very popular among locals, so quite crowded.

Cenote Kankirixche Yucatan Mexico

Cenote Kankirixche Yucatan Mexico 2

But the best ones are the Cuzama Cenotes, also called the three cenotes of Cuzama. If you get there around 9am, you will probably be the only one to visit them. After you park the car, you will get into this chariots on rails, pulled by horses, which will take you straight in the jungle. Quite an experience!

We were completely alone here, and this has been probably one of the best experience I had in the world. Words, and neither images can describe diving in this blue water underground. The first one is the biggest:

Three Cuzama Cenotes

Three Cuzama Cenotes

Second one is like a huge cave:

Three Cuzama Cenotes

The last one is literally a hole in the ground, where you can crawl in and visit this underground cave.

Our last ruin is Uxmal: if you are thinking to give up on archeological sites, since you’ve already seen a bunch of them, don’t do it! Uxmal has the best preserved sculptures of all of them, and it not crowded like the others.

Uxmal Yucatan

Uxmal Yucatan Mexico

Uxmal Yucatan Mexico

Uxmal Yucatan Mexico

Uxmal Yucatan Mexico

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