South & central America

Notch000

Hi, i am just back from SE ASIA and am terested in goimg away again to South America ASAP. I know i'l be grand once i start moving as i can just join the backpacker trail, Although im a bit in the dark about where i should start from.The only thing ive decided is that i'd prob be going for 3-6months and would def like to see bolivia and Peru (for cheapness).
What is a common route for this trip ?
Anyone got any links for flight deals ???
or recent blogs on their travels
muchos gracis

darrenh

Hey,

Most people travel SA in a U/V shape. It just depends where you start. We went from Rio. It all depends on weather too. Patagonia in southern Argentina and Chile can be very cold after April. SA is a good bit more expensive than SE Asia but Bolivia and Peru are really cheap.

My blog is below.

http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Wanderly-Wagon/Trips/2613

dandm

Hi darren, Im looking at ur blog, nice one, loads of reading for me to do! myself and my bf are going to SA in Feb for roughly 6 weeks, flying into Chile, then Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. Just wondering, did ye guys plan out the whole route of where ye were gonna go and how ye were gonna get there? or did ye just decide on a general route and wing it? im sure ur blog will tell me loads about how ye got around and transport etc, so gonna start browsing through it!

darrenh

dandm wrote: »

Hi darren, Im looking at ur blog, nice one, loads of reading for me to do! myself and my bf are going to SA in Feb for roughly 6 weeks, flying into Chile, then Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil. Just wondering, did ye guys plan out the whole route of where ye were gonna go and how ye were gonna get there? or did ye just decide on a general route and wing it? im sure ur blog will tell me loads about how ye got around and transport etc, so gonna start browsing through it!

We had a route and just winged it from there. We had to be in certain places at certain times so we always had to keep that in mind. Buses are like first class on an aeroplane. We never really booked anything until the day before other than the Inca trail which we booked 5 months in advance. It depends on whether you like to plan or you don't. If you like planning don't stop the urge! I planned a lot out of excitement more than anything. My girlfriend didn't look at one thing. She was happy with winging it in her mind. Enjoy it when you get there!

Notch000

i have now been looking at RTW flights and they genrally want to give me a ticket into RIO/S. Paulo and out of Santiago, Chille. Is 3 month enought time to make this trip across land or would i want another more time, i'l like ot see peru and bolivia.
Would i also need to take some internal flights in South america ?>?

darrenh

Notch000 wrote: »

i have now been looking at RTW flights and they genrally want to give me a ticket into RIO/S. Paulo and out of Santiago, Chille. Is 3 month enought time to make this trip across land or would i want another more time, i'l like ot see peru and bolivia.
Would i also need to take some internal flights in South america ?>?

We did Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia, Peru and Chile in 3 and a half months. We spent a over month in Argentina and Peru, 10 days in Brazil, 3 days in Uruguay, 2 weeks in Bolivia and 2 weeks in Chile. If your not going to patagonia in Argentina (I highly recommend you go see Perito Moreno glacier though) you could take two weeks off for that.

Some people would say you are crazy and you need six months but most do it in three. It depends how you like to travel. In 3 months your not moving that fast and can see all the highlights.

Brazil is another whole different ball game. Its the same size as Europe. We did Rio for 6 days and then Iguassu for 2. It took us 9 days because of travel. Its also very expensive.

v.e.r.b.a.l

In terms of a place to start in South America, it really depends on where you want to go. Most common starting points are Rio, Quito and Buenos Aires. Or Santiago if you're coming the other way. We started SA in Quito and it was good because we got to do Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, San Pedro in Chile, Rio and Iguazu in Brazil, Argentina and onwards to Santiago soon.

It depends how you do South America. When we leave, we'll have spent 18 weeks here. We extended our stay here cos we love it here and there's so much to do and because we're dreading the more expensive Australias and New Zealands to come (although Rio is expensive!) I'd say 3 months is loads to comfortably do Peru, Bolivia, Rio & Iguazu, Argentina and a tiny bit of Chile without rushing, but if you want to get Ecuador in and factor in getting stuck in a place (because you love it or because of strikes - very popular in SA!) then I'd recommend maybe 4 months.

dory

You will get to see a fair bit in 3 months.
Lots of people harp out about needing more time but that's not always possible.
You could fly into Quito and out of Buenos Aires, take in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia then take the bus from south Bolivia to BA. I suggest this because you said budget was a factor.
Brazil, Chile, parts of Argentina and Uruguay really are not cheap. They're not Irish prices of course but still, you'd need a nice budget for 3 months if you're flying into Brazil and doing that region.

Also, if you want another blog mine is http://blogs.bootsnall.com/cybersusst
All the recent stuff is India but you can use the catagories tabs at the side to get to my South and Central America pages.

Balmed Out

lots of options but id recommend planning on fewer places and having the time to enjoy them then rushing from place to place.
Dont automatically do the norm, consider other routes. Ive not been but everyone I know who has reckons Columbia is by far the best experience in South America. Ive been to Venezuela (bring us dollars) and would think its been the most diverse and amazing country that ive been to. That said it cant match the nightlife of more popular tourist destinations like Peru. Central America is also cool. You can fly into mexico city or cancun and travel down as fa as you like. Guatemala (v cheap) is really good and caye caulker in belize has the best snorkelling ive ever done and its scuba aint bad either.
so to finish off id either do ecuador, peru and bolivia / venezuela and columbia / or some of central america.
In my opinion its the best continent to see.