Travelling to South America

don't:
don't expect anything to run on time- leave plenty of margin or you'll miss every flight & bus. don't use a tour company, you won't see anything other than the inside of a bus and it'll cost you 10 times more. don't use a guidebook, especially not lonely planet or you'll end up on the same gringo trail as every other backpacker. stay away from lima- it's a pus hole. don't plan too much or rely on advice, better to find out for yourself when you're there

do: get yourself lost, follow your gut, learn some spanish & portuguese. go to patagonia in summer.

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LateStarter said..

I'm looking at heading over there next year for a month or two with a few mates. Its not a surf trip, more of an adventure type of holiday.

For you guys that have been, did you plan the trip yourself or go through a tour company?

Anything you highly recommend doing or avoiding?

Cheers in advance.

1.- Buy coke in Peru... it's the cheapest in the world and if you asked for the good stuff it's good.
$50/gr for the good stuff.
$25/gr for the ~crap stuff.
But you can usually try before u buy.

2.- Eat beef and drink wine in Argentina... it's good and cheap. Oh and dinner starts at 22:00hrs.

3.- Diving at Wolf Island - Galapagos is awesome.

4.- Take US$ cash, and don't get change cos there's a lot of fake US$ and it's quite hard to tell the difference... I'm pretty sure an ATM dispensed my fake $20's

5.- Rent a motorcycle and do the Inca trail... and when you pass the hiking fools drag your feet to kick up dust.


Food in Ecuador is crap.

I'm going to get flamed for this but DO NOT take buses unless it's to/from the airport. Seriously they cost almost as much as the regional planes and there's fark all to see a long the way so you end up reading a stupid book or playing with your phone like the other gringos. They're slow, winding up, down and around for ages, they run late. Do you catch a bus here? Then why do it in a less developed country.

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southace said..

One word! Latino women!

That's two, here's another 3; Ain't Nothing special.

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FlySurfer said...

LateStarter said..

I'm looking at heading over there next year for a month or two with a few mates. Its not a surf trip, more of an adventure type of holiday.

For you guys that have been, did you plan the trip yourself or go through a tour company?

Anything you highly recommend doing or avoiding?

Cheers in advance.

1.- Buy coke in Peru... it's the cheapest in the world and if you asked for the good stuff it's good.
$50/gr for the good stuff.
$25/gr for the ~crap stuff.
But you can usually try before u buy.

Ha! You got ripped off man...

bugger it !im not taking the wife or kids next time

I worked out it was cheaper to fly to LA and then down to Panama, instead of flying to BA or Santiago. The flights to LA are more common so are cheaper.

I flew Copa Air from LA as they seem to link up with a lot of south america and their fares don't change so much.

If you want to learn Spanish at all, Guatemala (Xela) is very cheap, and means you could work your way down to South America afterwards. I think spending a week in a school would be good as at least you get an idea for basic language if you have none.

I would have to agree with FlySurfer, in that the buses between countries would be slow and flights are much better. If you are hopping from country to country and staying at each for a while they would be okay, but if you are trying to get from Mexico to Panama, you will end up paying for hotels anyway and wasting your trip on a bus.

My trip was pretty basic, but I think you can plan it all yourself, although if you are in a rush, maybe a travel agent would be able to plan it better.

Spent 10.5 months there a few yrs back - best time of my life. Its a very big place so be aware of this and if you are going for a short time use planes - I was on a budget and spent 258 hrs on buses! Saved me nightly accom though a few times You need to work out what you want from your trip and plan around it. If you want to party there are some great places, scenery wise lots to chose from, adventure - lots of options as well and if you just want to laze around there is no shortage of places. My fav place was Chile - in the north - amazing waves and friendly locals I hated Peru - never really felt that safe there and got sick of being viewed as a 24/7 ATM. I did the Inca trail and got some amazing waves but it was my least fav place. Brazil is wonderful but can be expensive. Make sure you spend some time in Rio - its like no other place - hard to do the day and night time adventures in one go - there are also some amazing small islands just off the coast worth visiting......in the South of Brazil you will meet the most beautiful girls you have ever seen or are likely to see - I can promise you that. Uruguay is often overlooked - very cheap place to hang out and the surf can be amazing if you are in season. Argentina is incredible - its worth going there just for a food holiday. It can be very cheap. Mendozza as mentioned above is a great spot - spent my birthday there.. The mountains down south in places like Bariloche are unforgettable - as is the Punta Arenas area. You can catch a boat up from the deep south through to Santiago - its one thing I wish I had done. Check it out - takes about 4 days from memory and will set you back over a $1k. I was too tight. Chile is the land of long long left hand point breaks if you do not mind the cold water. Peru also has a few of them. The trip form San Pedro de Atacama through the salt plains into Bolivia should not be missed or a mountain bike trip down one of thew worlds most dangerous roads - keep your eye on the road and not the scenery!! There is a place Monta??ita in Ecuador that I will never forget. That place is just wild. So many options - you will have an absolute ball. Language wise make sure you get some skills - it will help you out in the evenings a lot If you are like me and poor at picking them up start now - flag Portuguese and just learn Spanish - everyone over there speaks it and its a lot easier to pick up and understand. Well worth the investment in time.

Just make sure you go for as long as you possibly can as you will not want to come back