It's a Wild Life! – One Year on the Road

One year already. Can you believe it? We sometimes can’t believe it! It feels incredible to look back at our journey. On the 10th of October 2021 we took the plane from the Netherlands to Chile. In the plane we weren’t even sure if we could travel more than only Chile, because the land borders of Chile were all closed at that moment due to Covid. And look at us now already one year on the road (and still going strong) and now in Bolivia. We feel so blessed that we are able to travel, that we see amazing birds, mammals and landscapes and that we’ve met wonderful people. Let’s take some time to look back at our Wild Life:

Countries: 5 (Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia)

Kilometres driven: +/- 41 000 km

Bird species seen: +/- 1400

Mammal species seen: +/- 120

Cheapest gasoline per litre: €0,23 (in the south of Argentina)

Highest altitude: 4881m

Longest period without a shower: 24 days

Nights in our rooftop tent: +/- 50 nights

Amount of cats seen: 26 times!! To know: Jaguar (2x), Puma (14x), Jaguarundi (3x), Southern Tigrina (1x), Ocelot (3x), Geoffroy’s cat (3x)

Most delicious fruit eaten: fresh Papaya

Longest search for a species: 10 days for Darwin Fox and Kodkod (and still didn’t find them)

Punctured tires: 2

Nights slept on the water: 3

Amounts of boats taken: 28

Rarest bird seen: Blue-eyed Ground Dove (see photo below)

Island visited: 5

Best pizza: Hamburger pizza (Rob), Fuguzzeta - a typical pizza from Buenos Aires, Argentina (Romy)

Highest altitude we slept: 3867m

Amount of dolphin species seen: 6

Amount of times hitch hiking: 3

Weirdest animal seen: Patagonian Mara (see photo below)

Number of fines: one (but that's fine;))

Hottest day: 45 degrees (Ibera NP, Argentina)

Earthquake: 1. It lasted 20 seconds, but we slept through it :(

Volcano eruptions: 1 and it was one of the most spectacular natural wonders we’ve seen this year.

Bottles of water bought: 0 (We use Water2Go bottles so we never have to buy waterbottles)

Best drink: Mocochinchi (Romy), Cupuazú (Rob)

Most breath taking views of the Milky Way: Volcano Villarrica, Chile

Books read: 16

Nights in hotel (percentage): +/- 30%

Primate species seen: 27. Excluding ourselves ;)

Amount of times bitten by insects: too many to count!!

Free Wild Camping spots: +/- 200 nights

Stuck with the car: Romy (4) - Rob (2)

Most spectacular hotel: Sanctuary Caraça in Brazil

Most incredible bird seen: Hooded Grebe (see photo below)

Lots of fun facts and memories to think of after a year of travelling. We are curious what our second year will bring. But when we look back at this first year, we can only realize: It’s Our Wild Life!

Do you want to know more about our first year? Ask us anything. We like to hear from you :)!