26 Days In The Cities, Indigenous Towns and Treacherous Volcanic Mountains of Ecuador

Last week Holy Patte took us on a tour of their journey through Colombia - and the week before that Costa Rica. This time around, though, they give us a glimpse of their incredible 26 day long journey through the cities and treacherous volcanic mountains of Ecuador. From the capital city of Quito, they made their way to the indigenous town of Otavalo and then to the mountainous peaks of Laguna de Mojanda. Their last adventure in Ecuador takes them to the Cotopaxi volcano, which is still very active and is becoming more and more agitated everyday. Stay tuned until next week when we feature Holy Patte's tour through Peru. Be sure to follow @autrevoyage on Instagram to stay up to date. 

Follow The Incredible Journey of Amaury and Chloé On Their Magical Journey Through South America

View fullsize

The story of Parisian couple Amaury and Chloé is a real life choose-your-own adventure story. At the end of 2014 they graduated from university. At that moment, the realization that they had to get a real job began to sink in, deeper and deeper, like quicksand. That’s when they decided to drop everything and travel to South America, to discover “…The beautiful, the weird and the funny in this world.” Both extremely appreciative of handicrafts and anyone that who works with his or her hands, Amaury Laparra and Chloé Chausson decided to not only travel, but also to seek out those craftspeople in the deep jungles and mountain climes – “to discover their ‘savoir-faire’ and philosophy of life.” To document the trip, they created a blog – called Holy Patte, which is a combination of “patte de l’artiste” (a French expression that translates to ‘the artist’s hand’) and “holy moly.” Holly Patte a hybridization of cultural colloquialisms that would perfectly sum up their entire four-month trip – yes, four months! Fortunately, Autre discovered their blog and decided to collaborate with Holy Patte to reach a broader audience for their incredible and rare photographic journey that started in Costa Rica and ended in Chile. It should be noted that Amaury is the firestarter, driver and photographer and Chloé is in charge of getting lost, translation and writing. Their documentation is an astounding record of some of the rarest and strangest landscapes in the world. Click here to see the first leg of their trip in Costa Rica. 

22 Days In Costa Rica

Take a magical, strange and exotic journey to Costa Rica, Holy Patte's first stop in their four month long journey through South America, where they spent a total of 22 days. 22 days of lush tropical landscapes, volcanoes, thorny trees, camping on the beach, smiling cows and more. Near their outpost in Huacas, which is not far from Tamarindo, they witness the nightly controlled burns that light up the night sky. People set their gardens on fire as a method of cleansing: "The rainy season here is so strong that every tree once destroyed by the fire grows back." 48 hours was also spent deep in the Northern National Parks with "white-throated monkeys, huge dramatic trees, burning sun, some shade and very little drinkable water." Another two days was spent amongst the volcanoes in Arenal where they crashed in a tent and awoke to a number of curious cows on a farm that produces fresh milk (click here to see Holy Patte's in depth tour of the fresh milk farm deep in the Costa Rican mountains). Holy Patte's second handicraft discovery was made at the studio and home of ceramicist and artist Pefi (click here to see an in-depth tour of her home and studio). Their last stop was the Osa Peninsula where they hiked and camped among the snakes, spiders and dolphins and the extreme biodiversity that exists in the area's thick jungles. Click here to see more from their journey the Osa Peninsula and learn more about their tour guide Tico who is currently photographing the last of the area's rare jaguars. Follow Holy Patte on Instagram (@HolyPatte) to stay up to date with their adventures and incredible handicrafts discoveries. Every week, Autre will be presenting highlights from their incredible journey.