South America, for 3 and a half months

GrahamThomas

Just looking for a bit of advice/feedback on a trip I have planned for later on this year:

Flying into Buenos Aires on the 1st of September, and then travelling northwards towards Colombia, where I will be flying home from Bogota on the 12th of December.

I'm hoping to visit -
Argentina: Buenos Aires, Mendoza, Salta
Bolivia: Salar de Uyuni, Potosi, Sucre, The Yungas, La Paz, Lake Titicaca.
Peru: Cuzco & Machu Picchu, Arequipa, Colca Canyon, Lima, Iquitos.
Ecuador: Quito (not sure what else in worth a visit!)
Colombia: Cali, Bogota, Cartagena, Tayrona National Park.

Am I being overambitious in what I want to see, and where else might be worth a visit? I'm a virgin solo traveller so any advice at all is very much appreciated.

Cheers!

RATM

Possibly a bit too ambitious, but it all depends on how much you want to see. Argentina is a massive place but your schedule only names three places in it.

If I were doing that trip Id prefer 4.5 or even 5 months but of course there are always limits like money to account for.

Maybe consider leaving Argentina out and fly into Rio instead and do a loop of the other countries that way. Not that Im not recommending Argentina ( its a fab place ) but you may end up rushing through some countries and miss things you'd really like to do/see because you know at the back of your mind you have to be in Bogota by Dec 12.

kraggy

I don't think that's over ambitious at all.

I did everything you have listed there for Peru, Bolivia and Argentina except for Mendoza, Iquitos, and The Yungas in 7 weeks.

p to the e

me and some friends covered a lot of what you have listed in about 6 weeks so you have plenty of time. i notice you left out some places in Chile. there's a place that you can go straight from the salt flats (salar de uyuni) in northern chile called San Pedro De Atacama. it's a slow moving and laid back town that is just full of backpackers. there's tonnes of stuff to do including sand boarding, trekking and i think rafting to name but a few. La Paz was my favourite place. make sure and do the bike tour down the worlds most dangerous road. great craic. there's a place north of La Paz called Rurrenabaque where you can do jungle tours. the pampas ones are the best. Machu Pichu is by far one of the most beautiful places i've ever seen. if you can get flights or something try for Rio De Janeiro. absolutely fantastic place. also on teh border of Brazil and Argentina is Iguazu falls which makes Niagara falls look like a bathtub. also you can take a day tour to Paraguay and Uruguay which would be good to get the stamp in your passport. you're gonna fill out loads of visa cards so be ready. they're not that hard don't worry. just fill it out and pay a samll fee and you're on your way. need any more info let me know by PM

GrahamThomas

Cheers for the advice lads;

I'm only planning to be in Argentina for a maximum of about 2-3 weeks, visit Buenos Aires and then head north taking in a few more places on the way.

p to the e, San Pedro De Atacama definitely sounds like its worth visiting, especially for rafting/sandboarding and such! And depending on time, Iguazu Falls as well. I've been to Niagra Falls and that was absolutely breathtaking, can't even imagine what Iguazu is like.

Zillah

I can´t reccommend Iguazu Falls enough, absolutely extraordinary. Bolivia is also amazing, put aside as much time as you can for it. La Paz is a little dirty but amazing fun. Make sure you exit by..er..Route 36. The best thing I´ve done in Bolivia was a Pampas tour from Rurrenbaque, that was incredible (don´t book ahead, just go to Rurrenabaque and book for the next day, much cheaper). Also, if you´re anyway competant on a moutain bike you absolutely have to do the World´s Most Dangerous Road from La Paz, amazing thrill ride. Gravity Assisted are more expensive than the other companies but they are in a league of their own in terms of equipment and competency.

For the Salar de Uyuni, I´d suggest going straight to Uyuni and doing a three day tour that ends back in Uyuni. We did one from Tupiza to Uyuni for four days, but the extra day was little more than dull travelling. Also, when you´re entering Bolivia, don´t be put off by how filthy and horrible the border towns are, it really is an amazing country. The people are poor, the infrastructure is crap, the internet is slow, but they´re very friendly and fun people and there is so much to do.

I just got back from Machu Picchu and I thought it was a bit meh. The trekking was great fun, my legs are still in agony though. I went with the standard Inca Trail but there are plenty of other trips to take which offer a different experience. Some include a stop over in hot springs mid-trek and some of them include a day of downhill biking as well. I booked the Inca Trail before we even left home and we paid two or three times what some other people did. I´ve met loads of people who just arrived in Cusco and book a cheap tour for the next day.

Final word of advice, don´t book any tours ahead of schedual unless you have to. You´ll get the same trip for a fraction of the price in person.

tuff1

hmmm. spent 3 months in ecuador so some stuff you cud do is:

climb a mountain. there are a good few mountains over 6000 metres and only cost about 150 dollars for a guide and all the gear.

surf. theres a little place on the coast called montanita. its a one street town with a big backpacker vibe to it. big swells and cheap hostels and board hire. pumping nightlife aswel which is always a plus:D.

galapagos. if you can afford it (itll prob be about 400 dollars for flights and about the same for a 4 day cruise around the islands) itll be one of the most amazing things ull ever see.

rafting. white water rafting is good in ecuador, with tena being the hub.

banos. this is a little town about 5 or 6 hours from quito. its has stuff like hot springs, trekking and bridge swinging. and on top of that its set in a beautiful location, surrounded by jungles and mountains.

as for other countries i wouldnt reccommend going to salta. not much there imo. nothing wrong with it jus not a huge amount to do.

in peru i would reccommend going to a place called huacachina (think thats how you spell it) is a mad place. its like an oasis thing in the desert with some huge dunes. buggies bring ya around and you go sandboarding and stuff. its pretty savage.

also if you dont speak spanish if you can at all try to learn some either before you go or just as you get in. in my experiance you get a lot more out of it if you can speak a few words to the locals

anyway thats my two cents worth:D

Neamhshuntasach

I reckon it is very ambitous if you are planning on doing all that overland. Maybe if you flew in and out of each country it would be worth it. Consider that there are lots of 16 hour plus bus journeys included in your schedule. you will def get pissed off moving around. i´ve been in South America 3 months now and i´m only as far as Baños in Ecuador and i started in Colombia. The continent is huge and everything takes longer to get to than planned.

GrahamThomas

Neamhshuntasach wrote: »

I reckon it is very ambitous if you are planning on doing all that overland. Maybe if you flew in and out of each country it would be worth it. Consider that there are lots of 16 hour plus bus journeys included in your schedule. you will def get pissed off moving around. i´ve been in South America 3 months now and i´m only as far as Baños in Ecuador and i started in Colombia. The continent is huge and everything takes longer to get to than planned.

Was planning to take a few internal flights, possibly getting to/from Iquitos and other fairly out of the way places, between Ecuador and Colombia, and probably within Argentina as well to save some time. All depends on my funds to be honest!

I want to concentrate mainly on Peru, Bolivia and Colombia. Argentina (from what I hear) is almost a whole 3 month trip on its own. And Ecuador I want to visit, but if time is an issue might leave it for again.

Balmed Out

can't understand why most people dont go to Venezuela. Its really amazing, so much to do and see there.

Neamhshuntasach

Balmed Out wrote: »

can't understand why most people dont go to Venezuela. Its really amazing, so much to do and see there.

Probably because it has pretty much no tourist infrastructure and the locals make Caracas out to be a war zone and don´t really sell it well to tourists. Granted Caracas is dangerous but no more than other big cities i found. A lot of people don´t even make it up to Colombia. And Venezuela is even less accessable than there.