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South America

Hi I am looking to travel SA for 2 or 3 months, I have a budget of about 3k. Just wondering if anyone has any advise on countries to go to or avoid. I was thinking of maybe going to Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia and possibly Columbia. I would also love to go to Brazil but dont think its feasible.

All advise would be much appreciated.

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  • Ask the same question here
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  • We went for 3 months in 2001, wish it had been 6 or even more, so much to see and do, don't miss the 4x4 wheel treck from San Pedro de Atacama to Uyuni, it's the best way to go from Northern Chile to Bolivia.
  • edited April 2013
    I went for 4 months in 2010. Allow at least a grand a month, and if possible book to somewhere northern/southern, then home from somewhere southern/north. I had to fly back to Rio from Bogota which cost almost as much as my return to Rio.

    Stay in the right hostels and you'll have the best times of your life, crap can happen out on the street in certain places but that's all part of the fun. I went to 7 countries so could ramble on for absolutely ages here if you want, though you get tips along the way. Football is easy to do in most cities as well!
  • thanks for the advise. Would love to play some street football in Brazil! How many countries do you recommend visiting in 3 months. I dont really want to rush through so dont want to bite of more than I can chew?
  • edited April 2013
    Some hostels in Rio offer trips into favelas to play the kids but I didn't do that. I love Brazil but it's tough on a low budget and a bit out the way.

    Err, say you fly to BA. You can then get a quick boat over to Colonia/Montevideo and tick off Uruguay. There's not much to do apart from football but find a good hostel crowd and you're sorted.

    I'd say allow 3 weeks for those 2 countries, 4 for Bolivia and 2/3 for Peru, then maybe fly home from Lima. I didn't go to Chile but if you're going for 3 months that'd also leave time for there.

    If you can, then go to Colombia. That's pretty much the holy grail once over there, you'll hear a lot of stories, both good and bad. Medellin is an absolutely crazy city.
  • Any thoughts on visiting Argentina? Went to Buenos Aires in 2009 visiting my girlfriends family and had a great time.
  • I spent three months in SA and saw Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil. I did a guided tour for most of it with Tucan Tours, but independently in southern brazil, Uruguay, Chile and Argentina. The tour was excellent, as travel isn't always easy, but it was expensive.

    Macchu pichu in Peru is a must see, and you can get the train up without having to do the Inca trail (which is meant to be cool as well). Lake Titicaca is awesome, and so are La Paz and Sucre in Bolivia. If you go to Bolivia, go to Potossi and go into a mine. You get to play with dynamite. It's the most dangerous day I've ever had. Bolivia is pretty cheap. I did an amazon trip in Peru, if you don't fancy Brazil (it's so vast, hard to get anywhere!). If you do go to Brazil, I recommend the Pantanal and Bonito (snorkelling a crystal clear river? best day ever!)

    Argentina is an amazing country, but increasingly more expensive (dirt cheap a few years ago because their economy failed) worth going to Iguaçu falls, Mendoza (can do anything there... skiing, white water rafting, or just getting hammered as its where they make all the malbec!) and Buenos Aires. you get the best food and drink in south America there.

    I could rattle on all day so please DM me :)

    Regarding football, we played the locals on an island in Lake Titicaca. At 4000m above sea level, its no wonder Bolivia always win at home. I couldn't breathe!
  • McBobbin said:

    I spent three months in SA and saw Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil.

    Did you meet any Charlton fans over there? I only had the one in BA, but he'd also been to Yeovil in the rain which made for some good drunken chat.

  • RedPanda said:

    McBobbin said:

    I spent three months in SA and saw Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil.

    Did you meet any Charlton fans over there? I only had the one in BA, but he'd also been to Yeovil in the rain which made for some good drunken chat.

    Yeah, some guy in Che Guevara's house in Cordoba! Also met one in Philip island in Australia!

    Bizarrely, I met some guy in Thailand who claimed to have started the massive brawl amongst the away fans in an FA cup match at the Valley. I think Brentford but I could be wrong.

    The curator at the football museum in Montevideo supported Bolton...
  • Interesting. In deepest, darkest Sumatra, one of the few places in the world to see orang-utans my forest guide was a err, Leeds fan.

    Any landmarks or places you wanted a photo to keep I made sure I was in a Charlton shirt. Left this in the Maracana as well:

    image
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  • Planning on going in December for 3-4 months.
    How did people get by with the language barrier?
    Doing some online lessons to learn the basics at the moment.
  • Buenos aires. The paris of South America. It's a must go. A steak in las cabreros will be the finest steak you will ever taste. Was involved with a charity called todos juntos.They are always looking for people to help out and get involved with some charity work whilst out there. If you want to go where all the beautiful people hang out then you must visit San Domingo restaurant. Wow wow wow.
  • Planning on going in December for 3-4 months.
    How did people get by with the language barrier?
    Doing some online lessons to learn the basics at the moment.

    I can only speak regards Brasil, my wife is from there and I have been loads of times.

    In both Rio and Sao Paulo, a few people speak English. Outside of these two cities, as rare as a Charlton victory.

    The Brasilians are friendly dudes but there is no escaping the 'less well off' there. I never wear jewellery etc BUT I don't feel threatened, just have your wits about you.

    The crumpet is alright as well.
  • Btw, 5 reais to the pound means a cheap holiday.
  • I went to Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Brazil, Argentina and Chile in a few months... A bit if Spanish and Portuguese will help, just a smattering, otherwise there's a lot of smiling and pointing.

    Learn the Portuguese for "if you put 10 spoons of sugar in that coffee without asking, I'm not paying for it"
  • My parents are from Argentina so comes highly recommended from me. If you go to BA, make sure you check out the Bonbonera. Same as what most have said on here in terms of BA, you can't really go wrong, food and drink is excellent pretty much everywhere. Just make sure you don't walk past the Malvinas memorial with your England shirt like I did!

    Family has rental property business in Patagonia so if you're planning to head down there, give me a shout.
  • jamescafc said:

    My parents are from Argentina so comes highly recommended from me. If you go to BA, make sure you check out the Bonbonera. Same as what most have said on here in terms of BA, you can't really go wrong, food and drink is excellent pretty much everywhere. Just make sure you don't walk past the Malvinas memorial with your England shirt like I did!

    Family has rental property business in Patagonia so if you're planning to head down there, give me a shout.

    Ouch... What happened when you walked past the Memorial in your England shirt?
  • My brother went for 6 months. He loved Argentina. The more you can explore there the better. He really liked Brazil but only saw Rio and Say Paulo.
  • Went to Ecuador in June - only 15 days. Most beautiful country - volcanic yet you can descent from 16000ft to the amazon jungle in half a day. Few tourists - friendly and interesting ethnic mix of people - very proud and industrious. Highly recommended.
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