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Climbing in Brazil: A Journey through South America

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Brazil is the 5th largest country in the world and it makes up over 47% of South America, it is also the world’s most biodiverse country and is home to 60% of the Amazon. Contrast that with the fact that São Paulo is the 6th largest city in the world and that Rio de Janeiro has the world’s largest carnival and you can begin to understand how enormous, diverse and beautiful Brazil is. For rock climbers, Brazil has pretty much everything you could ever want, tens of thousands of sport and trad routes, big walls over 1,100 meters and endless boulders. There is sandstone, limestone, granite, conglomerate and many others – all of extremely high quality. Steep, slabby, safe or scary, you will find routes of literally every kind in Brazil. The best thing of all about climbing in Brazil is the locals, who are the friendliest climbing community we have ever met. They will do absolutely anything to help you and make sure you have a great time in their country, you will make many new friends and it is very hard to leave!

Climber reaching into chalk bag on a steep and overhanging gneiss cave with flat plains in the background.
Amazing steep gneiss on ‘Fecha a Cara Pra Falar Comigo’, 7b, Itatim

During our 3 months in Brazil, we did loads of climbing at many fantastic crags, but we only scratched the surface and there are still many places we didn’t visit, that we would love to return for. There is so much to climb in Brazil that even if you stayed for a millennium you wouldn’t climb it all! We began our time in Brazil by crossing the border from Paraguay at Ciudad del Este and finished by departing Salvador airport. This marked the end of our journey through South America, having travelled more than 17,000 kilometres overland through 6 countries, starting in Colombia.

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Climbing in Paraguay: A Journey through South America

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When it comes to climbing in South America, there aren’t many countries that receive as few visits from climbers as Paraguay. In fact, many climbers are under the impression that there is no climbing in Paraguay, which is definitely not true. As well as a few nice existing climbing areas, Paraguay has a surprising amount of rock waiting to be developed, and often the rock is high quality sandstone. Aside from climbing, we found Paraguay to be a really wonderful country, with some of the friendliest and kindest people in all of South America. Paraguay also has some of the best and most unique food on the continent, and a fascinating blend of indigenous Guarani and Spanish colonial culture. We began our time in Paraguay by crossing the border from Bolivia at Cañada Oruro/Infante Rivarola and finished by crossing the Friendship Bridge to Brazil in Ciudad del Este.

A climber chalking up on a tall orange, pink and dark grey sandstone cliff covered in flake formations and an undercut start.
Enjoying awesome rock on ‘New Laces’, 6a+
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Climbing in Bolivia: A Journey through South America

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Bolivia is less known for rock climbing than many of its neighbours, but despite being less popular, Bolivia is home to several great climbing areas and holds the potential for many more. Climbing aside, Bolivia is a country with rich culture and diversity – it has the highest percentage indigenous population in all of the Americas and is renowned for having some of the best preserved indigenous languages and traditional dress in the region. There are lots of beautiful and unique landscapes in Bolivia, it is worth visiting for that alone, and there is also more than enough rock to keep climbers interested. We began our trip in Bolivia by crossing the border from Peru at Kasani, by Lake Titicaca, and finished by crossing into Paraguay at Cañada Oruro/Infante Rivarola.

Climber on orange, overhanging volcanic tuff arête with barren mountains in the background.
Awesome steep climbing at Estancia Churata
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Climbing in Peru: A Journey through South America

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Peru was one of the most impressive stops on our journey through South America. The quality and quantity of beautiful climbing areas is vast and we had expected this to mean it would be very busy with climbers, but that was not the case at all. In fact, we often had some of the country’s best crags, like Pitumarca, all to ourselves! Peru is one of the most touristic countries of the continent, however, the nature of the mass tourism is very honeypotted. For example, Cusco or Ollantaytambo will be heaving with tourists, with authenticity a distant thought. However, the good news is that when you get away from the tourist areas, in places like La Unión, you can experience the real Peru, its wonderful culture and friendly people – and you’ll probably be the only ones around! We began our time in Peru by crossing the border from Ecuador at Macara and after 7 weeks of fantastic climbing we finished by crossing the border into Bolivia at Kasani, on the shores of lake Titicaca.

Climber in blue fleece tackling a steep, yellow and grey limestone cliff, in the background are tall, grey limestone cliffs set upon the hillside.
Awesome steep tufa pulling on ‘Coco-Drilo’, 7a+, at Pitumarca
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Climbing in Ecuador: A Journey through South America

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Ecuador is one of the smaller countries in South America, however it massively punches above its weight when it comes to quality climbing and stunning environments. Ecuador is often dubbed the country of four worlds due to its diversity, which is very impressive. Climbing wise Ecuador has loads to go at and the standard is very high. Ecuadorians are very friendly and local climbers will go out of their way to help you, surprisingly there are very few foreign rock climbers visiting Ecuador – we only met one in a month! We started our journey in Ecuador by crossing the border with Colombia at Rumichaca and snaked our way down the Andes crossing from one side to the other as we went, eventually crossing into Peru at Macara.

Climber chalking up on a steep section of volcanic rock wall.
Chalking up before the awesome crux section of ‘La Bella’, 7a
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Climbing in Colombia: A Journey through South America

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Colombia is a big country with a vast amount of variety, with everything from mountains over 5,000 meters to Amazon jungle and Caribbean coast. The climbing opportunities are just as varied and there are many excellent crags throughout Colombia to tempt you, with beautiful sandstone, amazing limestone tufas and high quality granite all in abundance. With that in mind, Colombia seemed like the perfect place to start our journey through South America, which after arriving in Bogotá, would mean travelling entirely overland, primarily by bus. Needless to say, Colombia delivered exactly what we had hoped for and we thoroughly enjoyed our time there, both for the country and the climbing.

Climber on delicate hand move on steep grey granite wall above the forest.
Superb granite climbing at La Peña Abejorral
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Climbing in Zimbabwe: An Uncelebrated Land of Rock

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Zimbabwe is not as well known to climbers as other African countries, so it may come as a surprise to some that Zimbabwe has loads of excellent climbing. The amount of rock in Zimbabwe is really impressive, the potential for first ascents is huge and in some areas of the country there are beautiful large granite domes & kopjes extending as far as the eye can see. In general, the rock quality was very high and there are some superb walls to enjoy. Aside from climbing, we thought Zimbabwe was a wonderful country, the people are incredibly friendly and welcoming. We spent three and a half weeks in Zimbabwe, but we could easily have spent much longer, there is so much to do we would love to return one day and experience more of what the country has to offer.

Climber on a smooth blaze orange boulder, pulling on small granite crimps.
Excellent rock in the East Matopos
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Climbing in Angola: A True African Gem

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Angola is somewhere we had wanted to visit for a few years, ever since we first saw pictures of Pedras Negras and all the other amazing landscapes in the country. When the time came for a trip to Sub-Saharan Africa, it was right at the top of the list as somewhere that had awesome climbing, amazing variety, lots of culture and the chance to have an authentic adventure. Angola delivered all of what we had hoped for and more. The climbing was world class, the people were wonderful and you can have a genuine travel experience, without a tourist in sight. We spent four weeks in Angola and as well as being a highlight of our time in Africa, it is right up there as one of our favourite countries we’ve ever visited.

Tall rock monoliths rising from the bush savanna.
A tiny section of the vast and otherworldly landscape of Pedras Negras
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Climbing in Namibia: Desert Adventures

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Namibia is one of the world’s most sparsely populated countries, renowned for its harsh but beautiful desert environments. For climbers, Namibia is one of the better known countries in Africa, with several climbing areas to choose from. Whilst Namibia is a fairly large country, the climbing areas are mostly quite close together, in the central part of the country, on a plateau sandwiched between the Namib desert to the west and the Kalahari desert to the east. We enjoyed 3 weeks in Namibia, spending almost all of that time camping in the desert, which is a really great way to experience the stunning natural environment. One of the best things about the country is you will be outdoors virtually the whole time, it is a great destination for nature lovers.

Large, golden granite domes with huge boulders scattered across the steep slopes.
A beautiful view of Große Spitzkoppe from the Sugarloaf
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Climbing in South Africa: A Country of Contrast

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South Africa is a vibrant country, the Rainbow Nation is a place of incredible diversity and contrast in every way, both good and bad. The ever changing landscape and distinctive cultures make South Africa one of the most amazingly varied countries on earth. The gulf in living standards is the harsher side of South Africa that shouldn’t be forgotten.

Climber silhouetted against the blue sky and a towering sandstone cliff, with the green mountainside, blue sea and city below
The unreal position of the mega classic ‘Jacobs Ladder’, 16

For climbers, South Africa is nothing short of world class. There is everything from spectacular multi pitch sandstone and superb tufas to immaculate granite slabs and bullet hard quartzite walls. The locations, environment and quality of the climbing is absolutely stunning. Despite all this, South Africa doesn’t seem that popular with international climbers any more. We only met one other pair of foreign climbers on our whole trip, and that was in Rocklands, the country’s most famous venue.

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