Posted by Kenny536 on January 31, 2010
Please advise me on my trip to South America - I have never done this before (21 years old).
Any advice related for anything to the trip is appreciated.
I am still in the beginning phases of planning out my trip to South America this Summer. I am going to be graduating mid-May. I want to leave late May or early June of 2010, and stay there for 3-5 weeks.
Cost is a factor, but I do not want it to be a deciding factor.
I have a job waiting for me starting July 19th, so I won't mind spending 3-5 grand, because I probably won't have a chance like this for a long while.
I haven't even begun to plan out the logistics - i.e. costs, flight, transportation, living accomodations, visas, other documentation (?), immunizations, exchange rates, weather, what places I should avoid due to crime, what I will need to bring to the trip, etc. (I am probably missing a lot). I am going to be using Lonely Planet's and Frommer's travel guides to help me with some of this stuff, along with internet resources.
For flight, I am thinking of doing it through oneWorld (http://www.oneworld.com/ow/air-travel-options/single-continent-fares/visit-south-america). Is this a good idea?
Here is what I REALLY WANT to see:
(2) Peru - Machu Picchu
(3) Bolivia - Lake TitiCaca ( on the border of Peru/Bolivia), Río Madidi watershed (Parque Nacional Madidi) also (Noel Kempff Mercado National Park)
(1) Brazil - Amazon River/Rainforest/Pantanal/Iguazu Falls/Brazilian Beaches/Rio de Janeiro
(1) Argentina - Iguazu Falls (I hear both sides of the falls are amazing to see.
Here is what I wouldn't mind seeing, but will probably skip due to cost/time reasons:
(4) Costa Rica - rainforests/other activities (ziplining, river rafting, white water rafting, etc.) (this is nice but the rainforest isn't so great compared to the Amazon, right?)
(5) Galapagos Islands (very expensive)
(6) Kaieteur Falls, Guyana - (this place looks beautiful, but again, expense and time).
(7) San Pedro de Atacam in Chile (I don't know how exciting this will be)
What do you think of that list? Is it realistic to do 1, 2, and 3? Should I get rid of (3)? Is it possible to include (4)?
Reply by alazulf on March 25, 2010
Hey!
Ok- here is the deal.... with 3-5 weeks you really DO NOT have a lot of time, especially when you want to spend $1,000 dollars a week. South America is not as cheap as people presume it to be.
I mean just your brazil is more than 3-5 weeks alone. you seriously need to cut down on what you want to see, and not really easy to fit costa rica in there since its central america and the rest are south.
I would fly in and out of Buenos Aires, will be cheapest flight. Easy to get to Bolivia from there(1 week total time to get there, see the salt flats and you can then head to sp de atacama and see it, get back to BA from there), then do an internal flight to Peru to see machu pichu, and maybe another internal flight to iguazu on the arg side(1 day to see it all), then cross the boarder (not really necessary to see the falls from brazillian side, ive been twice) to Brazil and head to rio or floripa by plane or bus (takes longer obviously). Inside BA is great too, bariloche, el calafate (expensive-ish), both cold cause its winter here but if you like snow perfect. you can stop at salta & jujuy on the way to bolivia, cool to see.
I hope this helps, but really with three weeks you're looking at BA, Iguazu, Rio and 1 or 2 stops in argentina, max...