We want to see the world with our own eyes.
We quit our jobs and make our dreams come true. For this time, the targets of our long trip were the locations where were relatively difficult to access without a long vacation: Africa, South America, and Antarctica!
Itinerary
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Departure
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| Dec 1 | Flight from Taipei, Taiwan to New York, USA |
| Dec 2 | Flight from New York to Paris, France |
| Dec 3 | Flight from Paris to Libreville, Gabon |
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[toggle title=”
Gabon
” state=”opened”]
| Dec 4 | Libreville, the capital of Gabon and then moved to Lope |
| Dec 5 | Safari in Lope National Park |
| Dec 6 | Activities in Lope National Park |
| Dec 7 | Moved to Port-Gentil |
| Dec 8 | Port-Gentil |
| Dec 9 | Moved to Loango National Park via Omboue |
| Dec 10 | Safari in Loango National Park |
| Dec 11 | Moved back to Libreville via Port-Gentil |
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[toggle title=”
Zimbabwe
” state=”opened”]
| Dec 12 | Flight from Libreville to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe via Johannesburg, South Africa |
| Dec 13 | Visited Victoria Falls National Park in morning and then moved to Chobe Botswana |
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[toggle title=”
Botswana
” state=”opened”]
| Dec 14 | Boat safari in Chobe National Park |
| Dec 15 | Game drive in Chobe National Park in morning and then moved to Katima Mulilo, Namibia |
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[toggle title=”
Namibia
” state=”opened”]
| Dec 16 | Moved to Windhoek, the capital of Namibia |
| Dec 17 | Moved to Etosha National Park |
| Dec 18 | Safari in Etosha National Park |
| Dec 19 | Safari in Etosha National Park |
| Dec 20 | Safari in Etosha National Park in morning and moved to Long Beach |
| Dec 21 | Moved to Namib-Naukluft National Park and Dune45 for Sunset |
| Dec 22 | Sunrise at Dead Vlei in morning and then moved back to Windhoek |
| Dec 23 | Flight to Antananarivo, the capital of Madagascar |
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[toggle title=”
Madagascar
” state=”opened”]
| Dec 24 | Antananarivo |
| Dec 25 | Moved to Morondava |
| Dec 26 | Morondava |
| Dec 27 | Visited Baobab Avenue for sunrise and sunset and Kirindy National Park |
| Dec 28 | Moved back to Antananarivo |
| Dec 29 | Antananarivo |
| Dec 30 | Antananarivo |
| Dec 31 | Antananarivo in morning and then flight to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania via Nairobi Kenya |
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[toggle title=”
Tanzania
” state=”opened”]
| Jan 1 | Flight to Dar es Salaam, the capital of Tanzania |
| Jan 2 | Moved to Moshi |
| Jan 3 | Moshi |
| Jan 4 | Mt. Kilimanjaro – 1st day |
| Jan 5 | Mt. Kilimanjaro – 2nd day |
| Jan 6 | Mt. Kilimanjaro – 3rd day |
| Jan 7 | Mt. Kilimanjaro – 4th day |
| Jan 8 | Mt. Kilimanjaro – 5th day |
| Jan 9 | Mt. Kilimanjaro – 6th day |
| Jan 10 | Safari in Ngorongoro Conservation Area |
| Jan 11 | Moved back Dar es Salaam via Arusha |
| Jan 12 | Moved to Nungwi in Zanzibar Island via Stone Town |
| Jan 13 | Diving in Nungwi in morning and moved back to Stone Town |
| Jan 14 | Stone Town in morning and then moved back to Dar es Salaam |
| Jan 15 | Flight to Istanbul, Turkey via Cairo, Egypt |
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[toggle title=”
Turkey
” state=”opened”]
| Jan 16 | Istanbul in morning and then flight to Frankfurt, Germany |
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[toggle title=”
Ecuador
” state=”opened”]
| Jan 17 | Flight to Guayaquil, Ecuador |
| Jan 18 | Flight to Santa Cruz Island, Galapagos Islands |
| Jan 19 | Santa Cruz Island in morning and then moved Isabela Island |
| Jan 20 | Snorkeling tour at Isabela Island |
| Jan 21 | Snorkeling at Isabela Island in morning and then moved back to Santa Cruz Island |
| Jan 22 | Diving at Santa Cruz Island |
| Jan 23 | Santa Cruz Island |
| Jan 24 | Flight to Lima, Peru via Quito, Ecuador |
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[toggle title=”
Peru
” state=”opened”]
| Jan 25 | Lima, the capital of Peru |
| Jan 26 | Lima |
| Jan 27 | Lima and then moved to Huaraz at night |
| Jan 28 | Huaraz |
| Jan 29 | Moved back to Lima |
| Jan 30 | Moved to Cusco |
| Jan 31 | Cusco |
| Feb 1 | Cusco |
| Feb 2 | Moved to Aguas Caliente |
| Feb 3 | Machu Picchu |
| Feb 4 | Moved back to Cusco |
| Feb 5 | Cusco |
| Feb 6 | Moved to La Paz, Bolivia via Copacabana |
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[toggle title=”
Bolivia
” state=”opened”]
| Feb 7 | La Paz, the capital of Bolivia |
| Feb 8 | La Paz and then moved to Uyuni at night |
| Feb 9 | Salar de Uyuni (salt flat) |
| Feb 10 | Salar de Uyuni (salt flat) |
| Feb 11 | Salar de Uyuni (salt flat) |
| Feb 12 | Moved to San Pedro de Atacama, Chile via Calama, Chile |
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[toggle title=”
Chile
” state=”opened”]
| Feb 13 | San Pedro de Atacama |
| Feb 14 | Moon Valley tour in San Pedro de Atacama |
| Feb 15 | Moved back to Calama |
| Feb 16 | Moved to Salta, Argentina |
[/toggle]
[toggle title=”
Argentina
” state=”opened”]
| Feb 17 | Free walk tour in Salta |
| Feb 18 | Salta |
| Feb 19 | Salta in morning and then moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Feb 20 | Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina |
| Feb 21 | Flight to Ushuaia |
| Feb 22 | Ushuaia |
| Feb 23 | Ushuaia |
| Feb 24 | Ushuaia |
| Feb 25 | Ushuaia and then Antarctica cruise from evening |
[/toggle]
[toggle title=”
Antarctica
” state=”opened”]
| Feb 26 | Drake Passage |
| Feb 27 | Drake Passage |
| Feb 28 | Drake Passage. At midnight, passed Antarctic circle (latitude 66° 33ʹ south of the equator) |
| Mar 1 | Zodiac cruise and Landed at Detaille Island in morning and then Zodiac cruise at Crystal Sound |
| Mar 2 | Landed at Horseshoe Island in morning and then landed at Stonington Island |
| Mar 3 | Moved to next destination in Antarctica |
| Mar 4 | Zodiac cruise at Pléneau Bay in morning and then landed at Petermann Island |
| Mar 5 | Zodiac cruise and landed at Paradise Harbour (Antarctic continent) in morning and then landed at Neko Harbour (Antarctic continent) |
| Mar 6 | Zodiac cruise and landed at Cuverville Island in morning and then zodiac cruise at Wilhelmina Bay |
| Mar 7 | Landed at Whalers Bay in morning and then landed at Half Moon Island |
| Mar 8 | Drake Passage |
| Mar 9 | Drake Passage |
| Mar 10 | Moved back to Ushuaia |
[/toggle]
[toggle title=”
Argentina
” state=”opened”]
| Mar 11 | Moved to Rio Gallegos |
| Mar 12 | Moved to Punta Arenas, Chile |
[/toggle]
[toggle title=”
Chile
” state=”opened”]
| Mar 13 | Moved to Puerto Natales |
| Mar 14 | Torres del Paine National Park in Puerto Natales |
| Mar 15 | Moved to Chile Chico, Chile via El Calafate, El Chalten, and Los Andigous, Argentina |
| Mar 16 | Chile Chico |
| Mar 17 | Moved to Coyhaique |
| Mar 18 | Coyhaique |
| Mar 19 | Moved to Chaiten |
| Mar 20 | Moved to Puerto Montt |
| Mar 21 | Puerto Montt and then moved to Santiago, the capital of Chile |
| Mar 22 | Santiago |
| Mar 23 | Santiago |
| Mar 24 | Flight to Easter Island |
| Mar 25 | Easter Island |
| Mar 26 | Rental car at Easter Island |
| Mar 27 | Trekking and scuba diving at Easter Island |
| Mar 28 | Rental car at Easter Island |
| Mar 29 | Traditional dance show at Easter Island |
| Mar 30 | Easter Island in morning and then flight to Santiago |
| Mar 31 | Santiago |
| Apr 1 | Moved to San Pedro de Atacama via Calama |
| Apr 2 | ALMA free tour at San Pedro de Atacama in morning and then flight back to Santiago via Calama |
| Apr 3 | Santiago |
| Apr 4 | Santiago |
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[toggle title=”
Return
” state=”opened”]
| Apr 5 | Flight to Tokyo, Japan via Panama City, Panama and New York, USA |
| Apr 6 | Flight to Tokyo |
| Apr 7 | Flight to Osaka, Japan |
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Cost
Summary
The total costs including preparation were US$35,281.97 for two. The tables below were the summaries of costs by category and country.
Costs by category
| Category | US$ |
| Sightseeing | 19,530.17 |
| Food | 1,627.78 |
| Accommodation | 2,234.74 |
| Transportation | 7,427.41 |
| Visa | 660.37 |
| Insurance | 1,635.03 |
| Vaccination | 91.94 |
| Preparation | 1,579.42 |
| Other | 495.11 |
| Total | 35,281.97 |
Costs by country
| Country | Currency | Local Currency |
| Gabon | XAF | 1,541,525 |
| Zimbabwe | USD | 239.10 |
| Botswana | BWP | 3,656 |
| Namibia | NAD | 17,459.27 |
| Madagascar | MGA | 1,473,694 |
| Tanzania | TZS | 3,770,750 |
| Turkey | TRY | 222.5 |
| Ecuador | USD | 1,126.72 |
| Peru | PEN | 2,594.80 |
| Bolivia | BOB | 3,967 |
| Argentina | ARS | 20,745 |
| Antarctica | USD | 14,015 |
| Chile | CLP | 2,119,604 |
*Some costs were charged in USD or Euro rather than the local currencies. Such costs were converted into the local currencies in the table above based on the exchange rate we had during our visit.