South America Travels

elleechio

Hi - Myself and 2 friends are planning to go back packing around south america for 10 weeks, starting in Rio de Janiero on April 15th and flying out from Ecuador at the end of June. I'm looking for advice & recommendations on the following please,as I'm currently quite clueless on all things SA:

1. What type of weather can we generally expect considering it's coming into winter?
2. What's places are essential must sees?
3. What are roughly the spending costs involved for the 10 week period?
4. Best Inca Trail Operator to use?
5. Is 10 weeks enough considering our route will take in Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador?

Any other advice would be appreciated?

Thanks

bamboozle

for me the musts are
Argentina
iguazu falls
uashuaia
punto tombo (their winter is perfect for spotting killer whales)
Buenos Aires
uruguary
Colonia del Sacramenta
Punto del diable
Chile
Torres del Paine

Balmed Out

Columbia and venezuela far the best parts of south america

krc41

Could anyone reccommend how long is enough to stay in Rio for? There's about 8 of us hoping to fly over to Rio and then on to Cancun in July.

detoxkid

Just back from three weeks in Chile- it was the holiday of a lifetime and I would highly reccomend you go there. Patagonia is remote, beautiful, great place for activities. Lake district is more developed, full of hot springs and active volcanos. Santiago is a great spot for vineyards etc. People could not have been nicer and we felt very safe at all times. Aw I want to go back now Enjoy your trip

Neamhshuntasach

elleechio wrote: »

Hi - Myself and 2 friends are planning to go back packing around south america for 10 weeks, starting in Rio de Janiero on April 15th and flying out from Ecuador at the end of June. I'm looking for advice & recommendations on the following please,as I'm currently quite clueless on all things SA:

1. What type of weather can we generally expect considering it's coming into winter?
2. What's places are essential must sees?
3. What are roughly the spending costs involved for the 10 week period?
4. Best Inca Trail Operator to use?
5. Is 10 weeks enough considering our route will take in Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador?

Any other advice would be appreciated?

Thanks

Sunny and warm during the day. Mid 20´s to 30´a depending on elevation. Will be colder in highland areas and colder at night than during the day. Can rain more in the mountains and coastal areas. South America´s climate differs so much within each continent. Hard to give a definite expectation.

Must sees depend on each person. If you are a culture vulture look for all the must sees that lonely planet list. If you are just up for a good time just listen to other backpackers in party hostels. For me it would be most of Colombia, Ballestas islands, Iguazu falls, Pantanal, Quito, Lima, Cuzco, Buenos Aires. I like a lot of big cities than others never give a chance to.

Well i spend roughly 1000 Euros a month. Granted i have no budget and drink nearly every night. So if that´s not you, take a few hundred off that figure.

To me the actual Inca trail is over rated. The trek itself is boring. I done both going up with a company and going at it indepedently with a few others and i had a better laugh doing it alone. Also saved about 70% of what it costs to do it with a company.

I don´t think 10 weeks is anywhere near enough time to take in 6 countries. Considering Brasil is bigger than Europe and Buenos Airies to Quito is about 90 hours by bus. I´ve been almost 4 months in South America and i´m only as far as Lima having started in Bogota. And i´m doing this quicker than my last trip. There really is that much to do and see here that you will regret trying to be too over ambitious. Not trying to plan your trip or anything but unless you are flying everywhere you will get pissed off taking buses. You might be better off sticking to 2 or 3 countries at most.

And try learning Español. Helps a lot.

Tusky

Neamhshuntasach wrote: »

Well i spend roughly 1000 Euros a month. Granted i have no budget and drink nearly every night. So if that´s not you, take a few hundred off that figure.

This is great to hear. I was budgeting 1000 per month but lots of people were telling me Id need more.