2-4 months in South America itinerary

bosco12345

Hi all. Looking for any recommendations / suggestions for an upcoming trip to South America. Myself and a group of 3 other guys will be travelling to South America this autumn for roughly 2.5 - 4 months (We are flexible in regards time duration of trip) . We are starting our journey in Bogota Colombia and working our way down and finishing in Brazil. Our general interests for the trip would be hiking / partying / nature, culture, a bit of everything really. We are in a mid to late 20's and all fit and willing to experience as much as we can.

The route is the following (subject to change of course..) Bogota - Cartagena - Santa Marta - Tayrona National Park - Lost city trek - down to Medellin, Salento, Cali. Cross the border into Ecuador, Quito, Cotapaxi, Banos, Galapagos Islands (Maybe, very expensive?), Guayaquil, Cuenca, Machala. Peru - Mancora, Lima, Cusco Machu Picchu, lake titicaca, Arequipa. Bolliva - La Paz, Sucre, Uyuni (Salt Flats) - Chile (Maybe, possibly a flight to Santiago), Patagonia, Argentina - Cordoba, Mendoza, Patagonia, Buenos Aires, Uruguay - Montivideo, Brazil - Iguazu, Florianopolis, Sao Paulo, Rio, Bonito, possibly finish in Salvador. This is the general route we will take, however, we are flexible and can change route at any time.

For transport, we intend to take about 70% buses and 30% flights (mostly internal to keep transport costs down). We realise there will be many gruelling 15+ hour bus rides.

Activities planned so far include - Lost city trek Colombia, Machu Pichuu (Salkantay Trek), Amazon Rainforest in Bolivia, Galapagos Islands (Maybe), Cycling death rode in La Paz, Salt flats in Uyuni, Surfing in Mancara, Wine tours Northern Argentina, Patagonia (W Trek), Possibly hire a car and explore the Patagonia region, Soccer game in either Argentina or Brazil, Iguazu falls (both Argentinian & Brazilian side), Sky diving, PADI course in Colombia (maybe), Carnival in Rio

We will mostly be staying in hostels, with the odd luxury Air BnB or cheap hotel thrown in. My own personal budget is about €15000, although I only want to spend no more than 10k if possible.

Any recommendations / suggestions on the above? Is this too much in this amount of time / Anywhere else we should go? Any general tips about travelling in South America would be greatly appreciated, thanks for reading!

bren2001

I did Peru and Colombia solo in January. I met a friend for a portion of Colombia and went back to see them in May.

Medellin (easily the best city), Cartagena, and Santa Marta are all must visits. To be honest, I would skip Bogota and Cali. There is nothing in either worth seeing and was the advice I got from everyone after visiting them. You can fly Madrid - Cartagena which is where I would start. I wouldn't rush Medellin, the night life is excellent and there are decent day trips to Gutape, the salt mines etc.

In Peru, have you considered Peru Hop? It is a very easy way to get from Lima to Cusco. The buses are good and you are likely to meet a lot of like minded travellers. They organise 99% of things for you, the ticket is cheap but you can do it cheaper yourself if you want. You definitely want to add Huacachina and do the sand boarding etc. Its a genuine oasis in the dessert.

With the length of your trip, I would look into finding a Shaman to do Ayahuasca. Met a few people who did it (takes like a week) and they described it as life altering.

You want to do Lake Titicaca from the Bolivian side not the Peruvian side (I'm told). Give yourself a bit of time to adjust to Cusco, I got the runs on Day 2 of the Inca trail. Again, I'd budget a decent bit of time for Cusco. It really is like a European city with really good restaurants, good nightlife, and good atmosphere. If you're looking for party hostels, its the Wild Rover in Peru. They own Peru Hop and are Irish so nice to support an Irish business.

The only other thing I would recommend is possibly book a fancy restaurant in Lima. I went to Maido, 7th best restaurant in the world for a 13 course tasting menu. Cost around 150 in total and it was some of the best food I've ever eaten. In Medellin, I went to El Cielo. That was really **** good if a bit weird (an entire course was pouring chocolate on your hands and licking if off). It was fun and really really good food but I was on a date so maybe enjoyed it a bit more than it was (not a first date, thank god). If you can get a reservation in Central in Lima, its supposed to be unbelievable but pricey. Maido is more accessible and unreal.

If you have not booked Machu Picchu, the cheapest I saw was 250e for the Saltanaky trail booked the day before by a couple I met. I paid 700 for the Inca trail.

bosco12345

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119631566#Comment_119631566

Didn't realise you could fly Madrid to Cartagena, definitely would of done that if we knew about it before booking flights.

Yes we have heard of the Peru hop before, definitely something we will utilise. Forgot to mention Huacachina in my original post, its something we have plan seeing for sure! Personally I do intend to try Ayahuasca somewhere in South America, just have to find somewhere reputable. Think we will be in Cusco over Christmas & the New Year for around 2 weeks

I've made notes of them suggestions, thanks a mil for that, much appreciated!