Travelling in South America 2/3 months on own?

metafora

Hi,
Couple of questions that you may be able to help me on. Im thinking of going travelling in South America from June for 2 to 3 months.
Can someone give me a good basic plan that takes in all the major spots. I dont have a problem taking internal flights to avoid 12hrs bus jouneys etc.

The other thing is that i will be travelling on my own and im a little apprehensive about it. Early 30's male and was wondering is there good travel groups that you can recommend or will it be fine meeting people once i get there.Have a feeling that they will be much younger than me for some reason.
Have done a lot of travelling before but usually with others so maybe thats why im a little apprehensive.
Advice appreciated

Tikkal

Lucky You. First and foremost become familiar with Spanish. When you are off the beaten track there will be no English spoken so even pidgin Spanish and the ability to count to at least 20 will suffice until you 'assimilate' yourself into SA life. I travelled on my own with little preparation. Depending on where you are travelling to the weather will dictate what you bring in your backpack. Thermals are a must down South.

Check out a guy's website who I know, he covers quite a bit of SA:-

http://www.motivate-u.com/

Being a solo traveller, in my opinion, opens up loads of possibilities, people approach you/you them and things usually fall into place, if not then go with the Flow, sometimes it even turns out to be very exciting. Overall the SA are very hospitable.

If I was going to Machu Pichu I would do the day trip out of Cuzco (Ollantaytambo beautiful area) don't return to Cuzco, jump ship and wait there until the late train takes you up to Machu Pichu, spend the night there and travel by local bus at 6.30 up to the site. Do Salt Plains in Bolivia, I hitched the Carretara Austral (bit dodgy but turned out to be magnificent and very gung-hu), environmental trip in the Pantanal in Brazil, falls in Arg/Brazil, the list is endless.

Look at reputable Tour Agencies, study their itineraries for each Country you wish to go to, decide what appeals to you and take it from there.

BTW, I'm female, had crap Spanish and a wonderful time. Will go back...

Tusky

I'm going for 3 months at the start of June. Our rough plan is

Rio - Sao Paulo - iguazu falls - Buenos Airies - Salta - Salt flats/mines - Santa Cruz - cochabamba - La Paz - Lake Titticaca - Cusco - Machu Pichu - Amazon - Lima - home

I may have got some of that wrong and I'm sure theres plenty of spelling mistakes. We are open to suggestions if anyone has any!

metafora

Thanks for for the pointers guys.
Gives me something to go on. May start doing some research as i dont think ill be getting a job anytime soon!

Tusky

Another point worth mentioning - if you are thinking of going in June you should be getting your vaccinations very soon. Youre supposed to get them 4-6 weeks before travel.

www.tmb.ie for appointment.

coddle

I did it the opposite way to Tusky - ie La Paz via the same routes and ended up in Rio for Carnaval (which you obviously won't be around for!) taking 3 months. It flew in timewise!

Anyway, I'd recommened adding in Salt Flats in Bolivia as well...thought you'll spend lot of time getting there, the experience alone is worth it.

Some tips to add to to Tikkal's:
I'd factor in at least a week for BA - I was actually there 2 weeks and LOVED it.

Most of the travelling is done in the middle part of your trip and if you're going near Iquazu I'd take the time out to go to Trinidad or Asuncion in Paraguay - they are mad into their Karaoke in Trinidad!

I got away with barely any Spanish (dos cervexa was all I could muster at the start!) but I got by with no trouble at all EXCEPT in La Paz.
I went on my own for a bit and was quite nervous but you will end up meeting loads of people if you intend on staying in hostels. You'll find you meet the same faces in some places, and all the hostels I stayed in were really well organised and welcoming. Hostelworld is good for reviews. I met some people in a lot of places who did tours with Tucan Tours or Komika (I think?) from Quito to Rio for the Carnival, and while they said they weren't as bad as they thought, the close confines with the same people did seem to be getting to them by the time I saw some of them in Rio!

I was also surprised at the age groups of people I was meting as well. I thought it would be mostly younger/straight out of college age, but I was pleanently surprised to meet loads of people my (and your) age group metafora!

If you are into sport try and get to as many football matches as you can. I got to one in every major city and it was a great way to see the locals and interact with them.

If you need anything more specific, feel free to ask. You'll have a ball. I also have every intention of returning and doing Patagonia to Colombia this time - with a week in BA first to get back into things of course! (Seriously, I can't recemmend this place highly enough!)

Neamhshuntasach

Go for it you´ll be grand. I´ve been the past 5 months in South America by myself. Well never really by myself. I´ve never taken a bus journey or crossed a border by myself. There are always plenty of people to meet. Only thing i would say is don´t be too ambitious in trying to see everything. And you´ll soon become sick of the so called must see spots full of travelers. You´ll manage without Spanish. I´ve traveled with people who had no spanish at all. They just relied on me to talk. So you´ll always find someone although it does open up doors if you speak the language. Especially for not getting ripped off and meeting local girls. Just book it and go and worry about everything when you get there. It´s the best way because you can never plan trips like that in too much detail. You will never stick to it.

Tikkal

Tuksy, I take it you have only planned your trip. Your plan is feasible and will be rewarding. A mistake newbies make is flying directly to La Paz or Cuzco (via Lima) and acclimatising, it will take a few days believe me, but you will be used to a slower pace of life by the time you reach these spots. I deter from advising on itineraries as each to their own - I favour out and about with the cowboys/mountains/lakes/nature to city life (go to Europe for that) - so I really think each to their own - there always is a bus waiting to take you somewhere else.

Just few things come to mind that I think caused me less stress by doing so (a) have several color photocopies of your passport. When someone (hostel owner, transport company etc etc) insists on you displaying/holding onto your passport show them the passport photocopy and tell them to take that, they will hum and haw but they will accept it. Under No Circumstances ever ever give your passport to someone else, no matter what the reason may be. The only people who should see your passport are the custom officers/police (don't lose your entry visa in Chile, I did and they wanted me to return to Santiago and I was way way down south (1000s Kms), luckily my name was similar to a very famous Irish man in Chile so they let me off!)

(b) bring 100% deet, albeit I favour the au natural type they don't work in a mozzie infested area, believe me, and I've had malaria (but not from SA)

(c) in Cuzco mind your money. A lot of transactions are made in USD. Inspect every note. I was once given a bunch of USD notes from a curio shop, looked perfect until I held them up to the light, hillarious, the water mark was upside down! Owners were blabbing open mouthed when I showed them, as if they didn't know what they did! Thought I was an eejit, yeah right. Just be aware of things like this.