Solo Female South America

cclittlec

Hi all,

I'm a 26 year old female who is due to travel to South America at the end of May for 2.5 months. I'll be travelling solo and, whilst I've travelled solo before, this will be my first big trip alone and I'm quite nervous about it. My (rough) itinerary is as follows:

Peru:
Lima, Paracas, Colca C, Nazca, Arequipa - 1 week
Cuzco - 1/ 1 and a half weeks
Puno, Lake Titicaca - half a week

Bolivia:
Copacabana, La Paz, Rurrenabaque - 1 week/ 1 and a half weeks
Potosi, Uyuni salt flats - 1 week

Chile
Atacama - 1 week

Argentina
Salta, Buenos Aires, Iguassu - 1.5 weeks/ 2 weeks

Brazil:
Bonito, Paraty, Ila Grande 1.5 weeks
Rio - remainder

I'm fairly flexible to be honest, this is a rough idea of what I want to see but I'm very willing to change my plans if needs be.

I was wondering:
a) If there are any other boards.ie solo (or not!) travellers heading this direction at the end of May? Might be an idea to travel together, even for a portion of the trip?
b) I'm concerned about my safety. Are the guided tours (G Adventures etc) worth the extra money?
c) How safe are Brazil and Argentina?
d) I'm considering going on Peru Hop and Bolivia Hop buses/tours as they seem v safe and are a good way to meet other backpackers. Has anyone used them before?

Any other advice re: tours (e.g. Lares trek/ Salt flats/ amazon etc) and tour companies is very welcome!

SenorCarlsberg

Hi there,

I was through alot of the locations you mention from January through March this year.

i would recommend Peru Hop - my 2 friends and I travelled from Lima to Cusco over a week with Peru Hop and it was great craic. Some good group activities along the way and its quite reasonable all things considered. The only negative would be the overnight journeys on regular coach seats, even if they provide you with a blanket.

We did Bolivia Hop too, but we only did 2 days on this and there isn't enough time to get to know some of your fellow Hoppers during this time. Once again, its good value for money and you can do the Floating Islands and Isla del Sol tours with the group too.

Seeing The Salt Flats is cool, but you are out of there after day 1 and the other 2-3 days are spent mostly travelling in the 4x4 to other sights in southern Bolivia. I would only do the 1-day Salt Flats tour from Uyuni if I was to do it again.

I'm only new on this and can't post a URL, but if you DM me, i'll pass on the link to the blog that the 2 lads and I kept on our travels through Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Argentina and Chile.

Browney7

cclittlec wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm a 26 year old female who is due to travel to South America at the end of May for 2.5 months. I'll be travelling solo and, whilst I've travelled solo before, this will be my first big trip alone and I'm quite nervous about it. My (rough) itinerary is as follows:

Peru:
Lima, Paracas, Colca C, Nazca, Arequipa - 1 week
Cuzco - 1/ 1 and a half weeks
Puno, Lake Titicaca - half a week

Bolivia:
Copacabana, La Paz, Rurrenabaque - 1 week/ 1 and a half weeks
Potosi, Uyuni salt flats - 1 week

Chile
Atacama - 1 week

Argentina
Salta, Buenos Aires, Iguassu - 1.5 weeks/ 2 weeks

Brazil:
Bonito, Paraty, Ila Grande 1.5 weeks
Rio - remainder

I'm fairly flexible to be honest, this is a rough idea of what I want to see but I'm very willing to change my plans if needs be.

I was wondering:
a) If there are any other boards.ie solo (or not!) travellers heading this direction at the end of May? Might be an idea to travel together, even for a portion of the trip?
b) I'm concerned about my safety. Are the guided tours (G Adventures etc) worth the extra money?
c) How safe are Brazil and Argentina?
d) I'm considering going on Peru Hop and Bolivia Hop buses/tours as they seem v safe and are a good way to meet other backpackers. Has anyone used them before?

Any other advice re: tours (e.g. Lares trek/ Salt flats/ amazon etc) and tour companies is very welcome!

La Paz has a bad rep and the altitude can make you dopey but if you stay in the party hostels no need to venture out at night! Potosi I feel is underrated. Can do tours of the mines and found the people there to be sound (between taxi drivers, guest house workers, tour operators etc).I found uyuni to be a total dump of a town from the 4 hours I was there. Get there and get a salt flat tour out of there would be my advice. You can get a tour from uyuni and finish in San Pedro Atacama. Lots to do here - sandboarding, star gazing, illegal desert raves etc. You can get to salta from there. Long 8/10 hour day bus though. Would recommend going to a ranch in Salta to do a bit of horse riding.

As regards safety, if you keep your wits about you in the cities you'll be grand. You wouldn't walk up O'Connell St pissed with a camera around your neck talking on your Iphone so don't do it here.

Can't comment on Peru. Rio has a great buzz about it and the view from Christ the redeemer is second to none. If you go out in Rio just bring the cash you'll need for the night. Solves the problem of getting your phone and purse pinched. Ihla Grande is beautiful as is Paraty.

Enjoy, you'll love it. Learn a bit of Spanish too!

cclittlec

Thanks for the replies - I really appreciate them!

I'm too late for the Inca tour but should I book another tour (lares etc) in advance or wait until I get to Cuzco? They seem quite expenaive online but I'm worried I might miss out if I don't book in advance.

Are they worth it or would I be just as good going straight to MP myself?