5 months in South America

mac123

So im planning on spending 5 months in SA next year, leaving around September.

I like to travel at a relaxed pace and only on a basic route that I can always change as I go. If I really like a place I usually end up staying longer than intended so I like to leave enough time to easily cover everything that I want to see.

With that being said, would I have enough time in 5 months to do a loop in this order or the reverse starting in Venezuela and including Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina before finishing in Brazil?

I feel like that would really be pushing it but im open to opinions...this brings me to my next question, If that is not comfortably doable then what countries are least attractive as they all look pretty sweet to me!

Also what would be a realistic budget for that amount of time? Would $1000 per month cover it?

Any advice appreciated!!

Cheers

v.e.r.b.a.l

It's definitely doable in 5 months, but it depends what you mean by a "relaxed pace". We did Northern Ecuador, a lot of Peru, a lot of Bolivia, tiny bit of Chile, lots of Argentina, tiny bit of Uruguay and a tiny bit of Brazil in just over 5 months. Saying that, we didn't do it at a "relaxed pace". But it wasn't rushed either. It all depends on how much you want to see in each country and how you're planning to travel around. Flights are quite expensive in South America and some bus trips can take 24 hours or more!! The buses are amazing though (with the exception of Bolivia).

If you're looking for a guideline on how much time, this is what we did:

3 weeks in Ecuador (incl. Galapagos Islands)

4 weeks in Peru

3 weeks in Bolivia

2 weeks in Chile

5 weeks in Argentina

2 weeks in Brazil

1 week in Uruguay

those are rough amounts of time. we were in south america for about 5 and a half months in total. I did find that when you're travelling around, time seems to slow down a bit. Spending 7 nights in Rio seemed like an eternity (but I didn't want it to end!!) and we averaged 3 or 4 nights most places. Very approximate amounts of time, but just something to consider!!

I can't remember the prices of things exactly, but Ecuador was averagely cheap (they use the dollar, so everything's rounded up), Peru was very cheap, Bolivia was so cheap it was difficult to spend money, Chile was quite expensive as was Argentina and Brazil was almost as expensive as back home!!

Saying that, €5,000 for 5 months probably sounds right. But for each person!! Don't take that as gospel though, I'm trying to remember the prices of things from my very bad memory... :rolleyes:

Gone West

1k a month is living like a total broke ass backpacker. Forget about seeing gems like the galapagos, and eating out in the best places. For that youre eating street food and staying in hostel dormitories, and roughing it. Its a great trip, best to do it just one way, no need to loop around. Drop venezuela, they are not fond of any foreigners these days anyways, not a lot to do there, and the country can be very expensive for non residents.

And don´t let any Colombian person see you spell it with a U, thats a pet hate of theirs!
Good luck and be safe, its a great place.
But please be careful and dont take risks, I´ve seen first hand gringo backpackers murdered by crazed homeless crackheads in South America.

doriansmith

I don´t think 1k a month is enough personally. I´m in SA at the moment, been here 3.5 months & I´ve spent close to 5k already I reckon. Bolivia´s really cheap but I spent about 2k in a month in Argentina. And that was not drinking much. But stuff like buses, tours really add up if you want to see all the sights. I´ve been staying in private rooms all along though, dorms would obviously be cheaper

bribren2001

1k a month is fine, i was in SA for 2 years and was spending roughly 800quid a month. Hostels,an odd tour here and there , a heavy night once a week and cooking in the hostel.

If you want a holiday spend the 5K in Barbados for 2 weeks and pamper yourself in the Hotel. A lot of people get mixed up with "Travelling" and "Holidays"

Travelling is not easy, its uncomfortable and very tiring.

Venezuela..... dont go there.
Colombia....... not to be missed.
Equador..... nothing really there only the galapagos
Peru........not to be missed.
Bolivia....ye you cant spend your money because theres nothing there to buy. A lot of people love it, for me, it was ok.
Chile......nice but nothing there that would bring me back like some of the others.....Expensive aswell!
Argentina and Brazil...amazing

Amazing place! Enjoy

dory

Just remember not to take everyone's recommendations too seriously. Everyone has different opinions on every country.

For me Bolivia was far and beyond the best. I could take or leave Brazil and Argentina. I loved Peru and Chile (although it's so expensive).

Just go and see what you like!

mac123

Thanks for the comments!

Well ive decided to scrap Venezuela from the list, not too many ppl seem to have gone there/enjoyed it and according to the guide book its super expensive.

In terms of money I understand that you have to slum it a bit, ive done it plenty of times and for decent periods of time. Sleeping in dorms and eating street food is not an issue for me and I think its an experience in itself.

I am travelling with my gf though so I will probably get the occasional private room.

Also on accommodation, are there any hut style rooms in beach areas like the ones you can find in Asia? Or is it all hostels?

I think il be flying into Colombia now and out of Brazil, any tips on good companies for a round the world ticket?

Also in terms of safety I hear mixed reports, I assume that once you dont stand out much and mind your own business you should be relatively safe? Any tips in that department?

Id like some info on areas in certain countries too, and feel free to add must see places to the list!

Colombia: Cartegena, Providencia, Tayrona National Park, El Coquy National Park

Equador: First of all the Galapagos, are they worth the price? Im thinking of passing on them...but feel free to tell me otherwise!
The quilotoa loop looks pretty cool? Montanita(I like to surf)

Peru: Lake Titicaca, Mancora, Machu Pichu

Bolivia: Salar de Uyuni, Sorata, Copacabana, Torotora

Argentina: Iguazu Falls, Buenes Aires, Glacier Porito Moreno, Mendoza, Lake District

Il get back to you on Chili and Brazil!

Wild Rover

mac123 wrote: »

I think il be flying into Colombia now and out of Brazil, any tips on good companies for a round the world ticket?

I'm doing a similar trip next year except flying into Argentina and out of Colombia. I priced it up with Trailfinders but their price was very expensive i.e. nearly 1500 quid. Then I went onto the Air France website and selected 'multi-destinations' as my search, and got a return flight for 1000 on the exact same flights. You can do the same for flights on the Iberia website. Worth checking out

Hockney

Wild Rover wrote: »

I'm doing a similar trip next year except flying into Argentina and out of Colombia. I priced it up with Trailfinders but their price was very expensive i.e. nearly 1500 quid. Then I went onto the Air France website and selected 'multi-destinations' as my search, and got a return flight for 1000 on the exact same flights. You can do the same for flights on the Iberia website. Worth checking out

Wild Rover you may just have been unlucky with your dates.

I went into Trailfinders and priced Dublin - Bogota (mid Oct) and Rio - Dublin (mid May), and ended up getting flights for E900.

The price was almost identical between Air France and Iberia, but Iberia allowed changing departure date for E125 (provided the new flight you want isn't wedged, in which case you'll pay the balance), but Air France dates couldn't be changed if needed.

OP I'd recommend doing this, you'd never know if you might need to come back early for emergencies, or late because you don't wanna leave!

FYI a 1-way flight out of South America to Europe will cost as much as the return.

mac123

Im not actually flying return to Dublin. Il be flying to Colombia from Canada and from Brazil to either New Zealand or Australia before I come home so thats why im looking into a round the world flight.

Hockney

I looked into RTW flights too, I couldn't find one which allowed going from North America directly to South (only tried USIT and Trailfinders).

The reason was that RTW flights only cover a combination of existing Quantas or British Airways routes. Neither Quantas or BA have a NA - SA route.

There's some other "One World" company doing RTW tickets but they're far more expensive (over 4 grand :eek:)

Could be a very expensive way to go. Would love to take that route myself though and get a few months snowboarding in Canada, then head straight for South America!

If you do find a RTW solution post it! Best of luck....

darrenh

Hockney wrote: »

I looked into RTW flights too, I couldn't find one which allowed going from North America directly to South (only tried USIT and Trailfinders).

The reason was that RTW flights only cover a combination of existing Quantas or British Airways routes. Neither Quantas or BA have a NA - SA route.

There's some other "One World" company doing RTW tickets but they're far more expensive (over 4 grand :eek:)

Could be a very expensive way to go. Would love to take that route myself though and get a few months snowboarding in Canada, then head straight for South America!

If you do find a RTW solution post it! Best of luck....

You can snowboard in Argentina (bariloche) Not sure what time of year you'll be there though.

Kevcol

Hey. Just wondering if you went for the Galapagos trip in the end. My girlfriend and I are going travelling next year and are trying to decide if it's worth the price.

v.e.r.b.a.l

Kevcol wrote: »

Hey. Just wondering if you went for the Galapagos trip in the end. My girlfriend and I are going travelling next year and are trying to decide if it's worth the price.

Kevcol, I can guarantee you that the Galapagos is worth every expensive penny. It's like nowhere else in the world. If you have a chance to go, don't miss it!

Kevcol

v.e.r.b.a.l wrote: »

Kevcol, I can guarantee you that the Galapagos is worth every expensive penny. It's like nowhere else in the world. If you have a chance to go, don't miss it!

Thanks for that. Would we be looking at a price of €1500 each for everything all in there. As in including flights too. Really want to go but not keen on spending 10% of years travelling budget on one week. Think if we were clever everywhere else that I could get away with it but could do a lot of other things with that money. On the other hand, I'll never be back there again