A few (different) South America questions

themacman

hello all,

im heading off to south america for 6 months in a couple of weeks, hoping people could give some advice.

1. I plan on doing several hikes over there. Is gear generally provided by trekking agency or should i have some of my own?

2. I should book my Inca Trail now right? I was going to go with these guys due to some decent Trip Advisor reviews, any comments? www.aventours.com

3. Does anyone have any experience of Surf&Spanish classes in Ecuador? looks good www.studyspanishandsurf.com Should I go for the Manta one or the Montanita one?

4. I want to book my accommodation for Carnival in Brazil soon - any hostel recommendations? Someone told me to go to Carnival in Salvador instead of Rio, thoughts? Should/Can I do both?

5. Anywhere good to watch the upcoming Ireland soccer matches in Buenos Aires? Head straight for the Irish bar I assume!

6. For Christmas/NewYears Im gonna be in the Peru/Ecuador area of the continent - any recommendations on where to spend the holidays?

7. My (very rough) itinerary is below. Any comments? Am I spending too long/short a time in any particular place?

Argentina (including popping into Chile and Montevideo) - 5 weeks
Bolivia - 3 weeks
Peru - 3 or 4 weeks
Ecuador - 2 weeks
Colombia - 3 weeks
Venezuela - 2 or 3 weeks
Brazil - 4 or 5 weeks

Thanks in advance, and of course if anyone else is hitting Buenos Aires next month drop me a pm

dory

I'll just answer the few I know about.

For hiking gear: I always had my own. Never heard of a company providing more than the stick. Check out the South American Explorers Clb when you're there. Ex-traveller often leave their hiking stuff there and it's sold on very cheap.

Inca Trail: Check out some of the websites offering the tour. I remember at least one of the had the dates on it so you could see how far ahead is booked out. I know when I was there in 2007 you had to book a good few months ahead. But many turned up the day before and did what's known as the alternative Inca Trail through the jungle. It's cheaper, also amazing and no waiting for a tour.

Accom at carnival. If you want the cheapest option try your luck at Couchsurfing. If now, I would book ahead now. I remember with an money or two to go it was over €100 a night for dorm beds. Some lads I met went together and rented a house for €600 for the week, there were 5 or 6 of them so it was cheaper than a hostel.

For Christmas - every hostel would have something going on. And again. SAEC would also. I you'd like a very authentic experience I have some friends in Peru who would love an Irish person to stay with them for Christmas!

Your itinerary looks good. Have fun!

Brianb8802

Whatever you do dont do the course in Manta, not the nicest of cities you'll pass through, whereas Montanita is one of the nicest beach towns you be on the trip.
Your itinerary is fairly spot on, only thing id say is you might want and extra week for Boliva to get it all in without rushing.

darrenh

Your itinerary looks good. Some of the trekking in South America is done on your own. No need for a guide. El Chalten for example and I think the W in Chile. Park fees is all you might have to pay. The best trek I did was the Inca trail. Most definitely not the hardest but an incredible journey. www.llamapath.com They're more expensive but treat their workers the best by a long mile. Peru Treks is another good one as is GAP.
www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Cusco/Inca-Trail/blog-403910.html

Make sure you trek the Colca Canyon. The last day I can honestly say was the hardest of my life. 3 hours uphill. Not one piece of flat. 1200m from an oasis to the top of the Canyon which is situated 3300m(or so) above sea level.
http://www.travelblog.org/South-America/Peru/Arequipa/Colca-Canyon/blog-399575.html

In Cusco the are some other excellent treks. Some reaching over 5500m. I think one was called Ausengate. You hire a dude with a mule and go for it.

If its trekking gear you need for south america here's a few essentials before you go. Most by the way will be cheaper here.
Thermal Vest.
Long Johns
Head Torch.
I bought a Ski jacket in Penneys which was brilliant.
Trekking socks
Trekking Boots (aldi will have a deal in the next while with all this stock, they do every year and it's good quality. It lasted for me)

www.hostelworld.com will help you find Irish hostels for christmas. On another note I never booked through Hostelworld. They take 10% charge off the local hostel for the booking. This is a huge amount for them. I used hostelworld to find good places and then hunted down an email address or phone number for the hostel.


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

Hockney

Re: the Inca trail and hiking gear:

When I did the hike I rented brilliant hiking boots from the travel crowd (I used SAS) which was a great move. They were well broken in and only cost $15 or so for the duration.

I pretty much had to, as I had planned to buy boots out there but couldn't find size 11s for love or money, peruvians have small feet! Since you're doing lots you're probably better off buying when you get there though, but for my one month trip it saved me lugging heavy boots around.

I bought the rest. I did the 5 days Salkantay hike as opposed to classic Inca as I wasn't booking far enough in advance, it was unbelievable! Couldn't recommend it enough.

themacman

Thanks everyone some excellent information there, I really appreciate it! Boards is fantastic for this kinda stuff.

I havent had my planning hat on again since the original post but I will deffo be back with some follow up questions and some new ones altogether, cheers!