SA trip suggestions

jobless

Hey all,

Am planning another trip to south america this summer and i'm looking for advice on some of the countries we didnt make last time, specifically Brazil, Chile, Ecuador and Columbia...
Its looking like we will have 5-6 months over there so i'm just for any advice from people who've been there and what their highlights were in each country.
For example, we'd love to go to the galapagos but heard they are super expensive, if we didnt go is ecuador worth visiting?
Is Chile only worth visiting for the Atacama Desert?. etc

Basically any info is welcome, from the last time i went away i got a huge amount of information from people on boards so looking to pick your brains again!

cheers

HankScorpio1985

Brazil: Rio, Islha Grandhe, Iguazu Falls and the Pantanal are must dos.
Chile: Santiago is a really nice city to wander through. A bit like BA. Valpariso just outside it. San Pedro de Atacam as well for the desert. Sandboarding at night is an unbelievable experience. How are you getting around cos it takes at least 24h from Santiago to San Pedro so if you're not going through Bolivia, Peru to get to Ecuador, I'm not sure if it's worth it.
I haven't been to the other two but I'm very jealous about Colombia. I'm planning on going there this summer....hopefully.

jobless

hey hank...
we'll be mainly busing it but the plan itself is wide open... i'm not overly sure about visiting Chile as ive heard its more expensive... apart from Santiago and the dessert is there much else to see?. i guess i dont want to be lugging myself down that far to just visit another city. Do you see much else of the country?.
thanks for the info on Brazil.... i saw iguazu two years ago..its amazing... i've heard great things about the pantanal area... was it expensive to visit?.

HankScorpio1985

How are you going to bus it from Brazil to Ecuador? I presume you'll have to take a flight there. There is a bit to do in Chile but it was probably my least favourite place after Paraguay. There's also the Patagonia region, Tierra del Fuego, Pucon and if you have enough money....Easter Island. I'm definitely going to go there one day. But the journeys are very long and there's not much to see in between. But I'd say you're used to long bus journeys if you've been to South America before.
The Pantanal wasn't that expensive to visit but it was hard to get and back from but that's half the fun. It was definitely worth it. Also, you have to see Iguazu falls from both sides.

jobless

yeah i saw the falls from both sides... i'm so glad i did as it was a big highlight of the last trip... havent so much thought of how were going to get from place to place but i'm sure we'll have to do some flights alright.
Hadn't really thought about the patagonia region but must look it up....
i assume easter island is expensive to visit also.

thanks for all the info

doriansmith

I really enjoyed Chile, spent about 3 weeks there last year. Pucon is worth a visit, it's a really scenic alpine-style town, expensive though as it's very touristy. There's lots of great hiking in the area & an active volcano there that you can hike if you're into that sort of thing. There's smoke billowing out of it all the time & if you climb it in winter/spring you get to slide back down after on all the snow which is great fun.

La Serena is good for astronomy tours - they have the clearest skies in the world. Looking at the moon & Jupiter through a massive telescope is pretty cool.

I haven't been to Tierra del Fuego/Chilean Patagonia but it's supposed to be great. I was in the Argentinian side of Patagonia which was amazing so I'd say the Chile side is worth a visit too.

Ecuador, I only went to to go to the Galapagos. Was only in Quito & Guayaquil on the mainland. In Quito you can go to the equator which is good. Didn't really like the city though. Guayaquil is a kip.

Haven't been to Colombia but met lots of people who loved it