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G-Hawk
Dec 15, 2003

Leopold Stotch posted:

I'm in Puerto Lopez for just under 2 more weeks taking spanish lessons. I love it here, it is quiet and dusty as gently caress. Lots of dogs and roosters sounding off at night, but you get used to it / earplugs.

My evolving plan is to go to Banos for 4 or 5 days before I leave. Are there any practical alternatives to the buses from the coast? I figured I'd have to take one back to Guayanquil, and then a second to Banos area? And why so bad, just long and cramped?

yeah, its a solid 12 hour travel day. worth it, though. Bus theough guayaquil is it.

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Smeef
Aug 15, 2003

I posted my food for USPOL Thanksgiving!



Pillbug

TheImmigrant posted:

Stayed the night at Piste, adjacent to the ruins? There's not much going on there. Valladolid is much better, if you can arrange early transportation (not that difficult).


CUN is usually a painless experience, although they don't always manage the flow very well. Any specific favorites to Mexico City? How was the pollution while you were there? Any misadventures with taxis?

Yep, stayed in Piste. Valladolid looked nice when we were passing through.

After 4 nights in Havana, DF's food was a godsend. We did [url=http://www.goodfoodmexicocity.com/a-culinary-stroll-in-the-centro-histoacuterico.html#/offtopic/]this food walk[url], and it was the best food we had, even better than high-end restaurants. Pollution wasn't bad at all, and the weather was very mild. We mainly used the metro and used Uber when we were tired, so no problem whatsoever with taxis.

Kase Im Licht
Jan 26, 2001
Inca trail question. Short version, how good is the Inca trail, and do you think doing an alternate hike (probably Salcantay, maybe Laras) is a reasonable alternative that we would not regret doing instead? And if you had 3-4 days after the trail was done to see one other area, where would you go? Everyone is new to Peru, though not South America.

Long version: Been pushing a group of my friends to do an Inca trail trip for a couple years now. We narrowly declined it two years ago to do a Europe thing, now it's made it's way to the top of the list. I've been trying to get dates set for months now but of course we're just now getting to that. Also, a couple friends have decided that the only way they can do this is if they fly down after work on Friday, which limits when we could start the trail, and apparently permits are already sold out for the particular dates we could do it in early June. There is availability later, but then some of our people can't go so pushing to July/August isn't really an option. I think this is silly and people should just suck it up, take a few days off work, and go for a longer trip and stop limiting departure dates, but not getting much traction on that so far.

So now the organizer is pushing alternative trails which don't have the limited permit issue. Salcantay seems to be getting more looks than anything else, so it would probably be that. But it's an extra day hiking, 12 more miles, less ruins, and you don't get the whole walking through the sun (fog?) gate into MP. We're all in good shape, so it's not like we can't do 12 more miles, but that's a 50% increase in mileage (at significantly higher altitude), so it turns it into something that feels like a lot more work and the trail just doesn't seem as interesting.

I'm ambivalent between the two alternates and really want to do the Inca trail. Maybe that's just because I've been focused on it for so long, but maybe it is just the best option. There's a reason it's the most crowded right? I can go on a beautiful hike through nature on any continent on Earth, I feel like if you're in Peru you do the hike Peru is famous for. It would be easier if I'm wrong though. Any insight?

Some folks have jobs with limited-ish leave, so the date issue is so that people can fly down Friday night on a red-eye, two days in Cuzco, hike Mon-Thurs, spend a day in some random spot, then fly out Saturday. I think rushing through the country doesn't make much sense and we should all be spending at least 3-4 more days so we can see more of the place. If I can get everyone on board with this, it gets them off the 9 day weekend to weekend schedule so we have more flexibility on trail dates. So what's the best option to use to market a longer trip?

edit: And actually June looks almost entirely sold out now. This question may be irrelevant as we're either stuck with July or an alternate trail. Or doing a better job of this next year and I just go to Africa this summer instead.

Kase Im Licht fucked around with this message at 19:04 on Jan 30, 2015

Knitting Beetles
Feb 4, 2006

Fallen Rib
Just got back from a month a bit in Panama and Colombia. I'll skip the things that I did in Colombia because I spent two weeks on Spanish classes (4 hours a day is a lot) and the rest just hosed around and got drunk in cities seeing only the most obvious tourist sights.

From Panama to Colombia I took a small sailing boat for $550 to take a tour in San Blas and sail on to Cartagena. It's part of the tourist trail for people moving between Middle and South America because it's one of the few ways to get across the Darien Gap. Alternatives are a flight, a 1000+ passenger ferry (cheapest) or a speed boat along the coast ($375, but you end up in some shithole on the Panama/Colombia border and spend another day on boats/buses to get anywhere).

There's a few booking agencies online that take care of everything but it's very hard to figure out in advance which boat you can take and on top of that they seem to fill up quickly so booking close to departure will be a crapshoot as well. I heard some bad stories from other travelers including a 25 passenger boat that sank on a reef right when we were making the crossing and generally got the impression I was fairly lucky getting on a boat with a good captain. Separating the good and bad is pretty hard as well because they're all part of the same cartel booking agency.

The main concern is crossing the Caribbean sea because it's long, boring and depending on the weather pretty rough. Supposedly the wind always blows in the direction of Panama so going from Cartagena is easier than the reverse. We had a bad weather forecast so the captain offered to stay another 2 days in San Blas to wait out the worst. After that it was about 24 hours of rough sailing (15 ft waves in a 30 ft boat) out of 60 total. Those first 24 hours were pretty miserable, your choices are to lie down or sit outside and get wet and doing just about anything else is bizarrely difficult. Luckily the sea sickness pills made me really sleepy so I could sleep most of the time.

San Blas really is beautiful though, especially on a small boat where you can just drop anchor and go to the little uninhabited ones. Snorkeling is OK, lots of reefs but not a whole lot to see (too shallow maybe). Normally it's about 3 days in San Blas and 2 to make the crossing, I spent 5 in San Blas and about 8 days in total. We were 7 passengers total on a tiny boat which is no problem when they're laid back, with an rear end in a top hat or two it might be very different. Lonely Planet keeps fawning over the local Indians who live there (so fierce!) but all I've seen them do is charge tolls, drink beer and turning the islands they live on into trash heaps.

Have some photos:





Sad Panda
Sep 22, 2004

I'm a Sad Panda.

Pvt Dancer posted:

From Panama to Colombia I took a small sailing boat for $550 to take a tour in San Blas and sail on to Cartagena. It's part of the tourist trail for people moving between Middle and South America because it's one of the few ways to get across the Darien Gap. Alternatives are a flight, a 1000+ passenger ferry (cheapest) or a speed boat along the coast ($375, but you end up in some shithole on the Panama/Colombia border and spend another day on boats/buses to get anywhere).

I did that back in the summer of 2013, so I guess it might have gone up since then, but the speedboat down the coast option totalled around $140 and involved changing in Carpugana, which is one of those MUST GO HERE Lonely Planet beaches. Seemed pretty, but I arrived at sunset and was on the boat to Turbo at sunrise.

TheImmigrant
Jan 18, 2011

Sad Panda posted:

I did that back in the summer of 2013, so I guess it might have gone up since then, but the speedboat down the coast option totalled around $140 and involved changing in Carpugana, which is one of those MUST GO HERE Lonely Planet beaches. Seemed pretty, but I arrived at sunset and was on the boat to Turbo at sunrise.

I did that trip in reverse in 2010, traveling from Medellin to Panama City. Taxi from Medellin to Turbo, overnight in a fetid hotel near the docks, speedboat to Capurgana where I spent a couple of days, walk across the border to Puerto Obaldia where I was stranded for three days trying to arrange onward passage (after missing the last flight out before the airport shut down for several months), outboard launch from Puerto Obaldia to the roadhead at Miramar via Panamanian military checkpoints at Mulatupo, Playon Grande, and El Porvenir. Total cost for transport was about $100, not including accommodations. Turbo is a festering dump. Capurgana and Sapzurro are really cool little beach towns without cars. Puerto Obaldia is possibly the most forlorn shithole I've ever visited, and I got stuck there.

HolaMundo
Apr 22, 2004
uragay

sponge would own me in soccer :(

Kase Im Licht posted:

Inca trail question.

Last April I wanted to do the Inca trail but since tickets sell so fast I had to look for other options.

I ended doing a 4 day trek to Choquequirao which is a ruined Inca city which is still partially (more than 50% if I remember right) buried. It was an amazing experience and would recommend it to anyone who doesn't hate the idea of hiking.
Salcantay was an option but decided on Choquequirao because of the ruins. From what our guide told us Salcantay trek is much more hardcore, though I guess it might depend on routes.

Thesaurus
Oct 3, 2004


TheImmigrant posted:

possibly the most forlorn shithole I've ever visited

Let's have discussion of Latin America's many shitholes. Who has been to the worst one?

Additionally: worst places you've stayed.

I got bitten by thousands of fleas after sleeping on a straw mattress in a derelict hospital in rural Bolivia. It was only a night, but for the next week or so I would wake up every day with dozens of insanely itchy new bites all over my legs and hips. Every day I looked as hard as I could and never found a single bug :confused:

Thesaurus fucked around with this message at 15:28 on Feb 4, 2015

Animal
Apr 8, 2003

La Ceiba in Honduras. What a dump.

Hashtag Banterzone
Dec 8, 2005


Lifetime Winner of the willkill4food Honorary Bad Posting Award in PWM
Puerto Barrios in Guatemala was a pretty big poo poo hole. I'm not even sure why I went there.

TheImmigrant
Jan 18, 2011

Animal posted:

La Ceiba in Honduras. What a dump.

La Ceiba is pretty cool. I've gotten laid every time I've been there.

Brimmy
Jan 13, 2006

"Never gonna give it up, Adrian."
Anyone have any experience on living in Buenos Aires?

Been offered a job that would have me on a base salary of 11,000 pesos a month but there's commission etc involved. How far would this get me in a moderately decent apartment, living expenses etc with money left over? I see the ESL jobs are much lower but I know Argentina is not a country you pick for the money in ESL so not sure if the 3,000 or so is significantly more or not.

Animal
Apr 8, 2003

Brimmy posted:

Anyone have any experience on living in Buenos Aires?

Been offered a job that would have me on a base salary of 11,000 pesos a month but there's commission etc involved. How far would this get me in a moderately decent apartment, living expenses etc with money left over? I see the ESL jobs are much lower but I know Argentina is not a country you pick for the money in ESL so not sure if the 3,000 or so is significantly more or not.

That's not a lot of money. It would depend on how much you would get from the commissions.

And Buenos Aires is a kickass city.

Hadlock
Nov 9, 2004

Last I heard you can typically sublet an acceptable 1st world standards apartment for about $400-500/mo usd which is approx half your salary of $1300 usd. That might be off though because Argentina's currently in the middle of a currency panic.

BA is loving rad I'm looking at going again sometime soon hopefully this year.

Saladman
Jan 12, 2010

TheImmigrant posted:

I don't know your nationality for Brazil. If you are US citizen, you can cross over for the day without a visa. (Normally you need a visa before arrival, if you're a US citizen.) There is local transport that crosses dozens of times a day.

Also bear in mind the airport fee for EZE (international airport for Buenos Aires). I think it's up to $160 USD if you are US citizen, and is not figured into the ticket price. If other nationality, it varies. You'll want to confirm this, but last I knew there was no fee to fly into Montevideo, and usually fares into MVD are comparable. The Buquebus makes frequent crossings of the Plata, and Uruguay is worth visiting anyway.

I think your info is out of date? I'm almost positive that any entry into Argentina with a US passport requires the $160 fee. e.g. https://www.lonelyplanet.com/thornt...-at-all-entries

Same deal, are you sure about crossing into Brazil at Iguazu / have a link for that? Everything I've read in the past couple years about this says yes you need a visa and I can't find anything post-2013 that says otherwise. We're thinking about heading there at the end of September, but paying for a Brazilian visa and arranging it in advance sounds like a PITA when we're not planning on going to Brazil, and it seems kind of silly to go to Iguazu Falls and not go to both sides (maybe?).

E: Not to be a dick but you should probably edit both of those bits out of your old post in case anyone takes it as canon. http://wanderingtrader.com/iguazu-falls/brazil-visa-for-the-iguazu-falls/ http://www.thisbatteredsuitcase.com/getting-a-brazilian-visa-in-iguazu-falls/ http://www.fodors.com/community/south-america/visa-for-brazil-side-iguaz-falls.cfm

maybe some tour operator would be willing to smuggle you in but it seems not worth the risk.

Saladman fucked around with this message at 14:34 on Feb 6, 2015

Brimmy
Jan 13, 2006

"Never gonna give it up, Adrian."

Animal posted:

That's not a lot of money. It would depend on how much you would get from the commissions.

And Buenos Aires is a kickass city.

Hadlock posted:

Last I heard you can typically sublet an acceptable 1st world standards apartment for about $400-500/mo usd which is approx half your salary of $1300 usd. That might be off though because Argentina's currently in the middle of a currency panic.

It certainly looks like a great city which is what makes it tempting. The commission is up to double the monthly salary and is "achievable" but I wouldn't bank on that completely, especially not in the first 3 months or so while learning the ropes. The base is adjusted for inflation 3-4 times a year, how fast changing is the currency crisis there? I'm heavily leaning towards not taking it because there are other contributing factors (they wont cover my initial flight). How much would one roughly spend in a given month, say eating out 2/3 times a week and drinking on a Saturday? Nothing too fancy, regular normal restaurants and bars, no clubs or anything.

Hadlock
Nov 9, 2004

Brimmy posted:

The base is adjusted for inflation 3-4 times a year, how fast changing is the currency crisis there?

:laffo::laffo:



http://dolarblue.net/historico/

Hadlock fucked around with this message at 01:29 on Feb 7, 2015

unsanitary
Dec 14, 2007

don't sweat the technique
I'm going with family to Cabo for a week pretty soon for a touristy vacation, but I'd like to spend a day or two doing non-touristy things around the area. Anyone have any good recommendations?

Hashtag Banterzone
Dec 8, 2005


Lifetime Winner of the willkill4food Honorary Bad Posting Award in PWM

unsanitary posted:

I'm going with family to Cabo for a week pretty soon for a touristy vacation, but I'd like to spend a day or two doing non-touristy things around the area. Anyone have any good recommendations?

There really isn't much non-touristy stuff to do in Cabo. San Jose del Cabo is a bit less Spring-breaky, but that's just because its mostly old ex-pats that live there. Todos Santos is also touristy but more relaxed.

I was just in Cabo in January. Best part of the trip was swimming with Whale Sharks in La Paz, but you might be too late for that. There's a turtle hatchery in Todos Santos you could check out http://www.todostortugueros.org/hatchling_releases.html Cabo Plumo reserve is supposed to have really good snorkeling, we didn't make it because the wind was too strong. Whale watching is also a good bet. Though all of those things are rather touristy.

Destroyenator
Dec 27, 2004

Don't ask me lady, I live in beer
Salkantay is pretty nice, worth going if you want to do some trekking. Nice scenery, mountain passes and cloud forest. It's possible to book in person a couple of days out. You do spend the last night in Aguas Calientes and go through the main entrance the next morning, rather than the Sun Gate.

With either trek you should all try to spend at least a couple of nights in Cusco beforehand to acclimatise a bit.

edit: I think with Lares you aren't actually anywhere near Machu Picchu when you finish, they bus you to AC on the last day. I haven't spoken to anyone who's done it though.

If you want to be sold: Salkantay is really nice, it does follow old Inca trails, just not the official one. It follows a river along a valley to see MP high up on the mountain on the last day which is pretty cool. It's a lot less busy, you aren't ever going to be pushing past other groups, you will probably share campsites though. There is a section where they may put you on the back of a truck though after coming down from the pass to skip a bunch of road walking. I've done it twice and really enjoyed it both times.

Destroyenator fucked around with this message at 14:31 on Feb 17, 2015

Blinkman987
Jul 10, 2008

Gender roles guilt me into being fat.
You can also walk from MP to the Sun Gate if you really want to see it.

Brian Fellows
May 29, 2003
I'm Brian Fellows
I recommend walking up to the Sun Gate even if you don't enter from it - it's not as covered in tourists as the main part of MP is after the earliest part of the morning. It's a pretty cool place to sit and look at the landscape around you.

Also I'd recommend hiking up Putucusi if you're adventurous. It's higher than MP, so you can see MP from an angle not many people see it from. The 100 foot wooden ladder climb also rules.


____________________________________________________________________

Not sure if this is thread-related, since Mexico, but I'll try anyway:

I've been wanting to get SCUBA certified, and a lot of people have recommended Cozume in Mexico for this purpose. I'm about ready to pull the trigger on doing that in the end of May. I've got a week of vacation I was HOPING to spend somewhere else, but that kind of fell through, so I'm looking into making a week vacation out of Mexico.

I'll be in Cozumel for two days, three nights for sure, but I'll have the rest of the week and weekend around the Yucatan. I'm thinking I definitely want to get out to see Chichen Itza and probably one of the other ruin sites (probably rent a car and drive), but other than that I'm totally open to what I'm going to do. Can anyone make a suggestion on whether I stay in Cancun or Playa del Carmen, and maybe where within the city?

I'm not necessarily huge on beaches, and all inclusive is basically the opposite of what I like doing. I tend to like to wander around and find good places to eat, random bars to hang out in, get lost among the locals (yeah, I know both areas are huge tourist areas, so that may not apply). I'm open to doing whatever if I make new friends, but for the most part I'd be more interested in the area (and maybe history, if there are good museums) than the beaches and lazing around.

Thesaurus
Oct 3, 2004


Does anyone have advice on finding work with private/international schools in Latin America? Specifically looking for a way to make a living. I know that there are fancy pants schools scattered throughout major LA cities for rich/foreign kids, but I don't know the best way of researching and acquiring these kinds of jobs.

Hashtag Banterzone
Dec 8, 2005


Lifetime Winner of the willkill4food Honorary Bad Posting Award in PWM

Brian Fellows posted:

Not sure if this is thread-related, since Mexico, but I'll try anyway:

I've been wanting to get SCUBA certified, and a lot of people have recommended Cozume in Mexico for this purpose. I'm about ready to pull the trigger on doing that in the end of May. I've got a week of vacation I was HOPING to spend somewhere else, but that kind of fell through, so I'm looking into making a week vacation out of Mexico.

I'll be in Cozumel for two days, three nights for sure, but I'll have the rest of the week and weekend around the Yucatan. I'm thinking I definitely want to get out to see Chichen Itza and probably one of the other ruin sites (probably rent a car and drive), but other than that I'm totally open to what I'm going to do. Can anyone make a suggestion on whether I stay in Cancun or Playa del Carmen, and maybe where within the city?

I'm not necessarily huge on beaches, and all inclusive is basically the opposite of what I like doing. I tend to like to wander around and find good places to eat, random bars to hang out in, get lost among the locals (yeah, I know both areas are huge tourist areas, so that may not apply). I'm open to doing whatever if I make new friends, but for the most part I'd be more interested in the area (and maybe history, if there are good museums) than the beaches and lazing around.

I would definitely stay in Playa if you want to try different restaurants and bars. It's touristy but nice and has a more sophisticated vibe than Cancun, especially the northern end of av 10, which has a more European feel. Playa is expensive but you can find cheap hotels and airbnb rooms that are in between the highway and av 10 and are still walkable. Or you can splurge and stay in between av 10 and the beach.

Chichen Itza is ok, but I wasn't too impressed after seeing Tikal and Copan. I've heard good things about Ek Balam. Valladolid is a nice town to stay a night. Tulum is also worth checking out, Great Cenote near there was beautiful. Cenote Chaak Tun near Playa is also really cool. Merida is a real city but it's pretty far away.

yaffle
Sep 15, 2002

Flapdoodle

Thesaurus posted:

Does anyone have advice on finding work with private/international schools in Latin America? Specifically looking for a way to make a living. I know that there are fancy pants schools scattered throughout major LA cities for rich/foreign kids, but I don't know the best way of researching and acquiring these kinds of jobs.

Try reading the international schools reveiw, don't bother registering, just read the forums. The times educational supplement also carries adverts. Latin/central america generally does not pay as well as asia and the middle east, and some countries are surprisingly expensive to live in...

Yggdrassil
Mar 11, 2012

RAKANISHU!

Brimmy posted:

Anyone have any experience on living in Buenos Aires?

Been offered a job that would have me on a base salary of 11,000 pesos a month but there's commission etc involved. How far would this get me in a moderately decent apartment, living expenses etc with money left over? I see the ESL jobs are much lower but I know Argentina is not a country you pick for the money in ESL so not sure if the 3,000 or so is significantly more or not.

Im Argentinian and live in BA man :) if you guys want to ask me anything (or practise spanish :)) don't hesitate on sending me a message!

Regarding living expenses, 11.000 pesos with comission is not bad at all, you will be able to rent a 2-3 bedroom apartment in a good neighbourhood (think Belgrano, which is pretty good) and pay normal expenses + food. If you spend your money wisely, you could have 2-3k spare each month for going out, buying stuff, or saving. Bear in mind that most apartments are rented unfurnished, so you will have to try and save for this.

Brimmy posted:

It certainly looks like a great city which is what makes it tempting. The commission is up to double the monthly salary and is "achievable" but I wouldn't bank on that completely, especially not in the first 3 months or so while learning the ropes. The base is adjusted for inflation 3-4 times a year, how fast changing is the currency crisis there? I'm heavily leaning towards not taking it because there are other contributing factors (they wont cover my initial flight). How much would one roughly spend in a given month, say eating out 2/3 times a week and drinking on a Saturday? Nothing too fancy, regular normal restaurants and bars, no clubs or anything.

Eating out 2/3 times a week and drinking on a Saturday would probably drain you off 300 - 400 pesos a week depending on where you go. So about 1300-1400 pesos a month. If you go to a restaurant, you will usually pay no less than 100 pesos for a good meal and drinks. Of course, if you want to go cheap you can get a pizza for 25 pesos, a 6-pack for 30 pesos and party at your house :P

Keep in mind that Argentina is an "economical changeling". poo poo happens almost everyday, and there is political and social controversies and conflicts every other day. Which, related problems aside, makes it a very interesting place to live in :P

Yggdrassil fucked around with this message at 16:59 on Mar 2, 2015

Positive Optimyst
Oct 25, 2010

by FactsAreUseless
Thanks yggdrassil,

I'm going to choose to travel to Mexico (which I've travelled overland 20 years ago, or Argentina (which I've never been to.

All in all, the total costs will probably be the deciding factor.

USD 1: 8.7 to the Argentian Peso (need to research the blue rate)

USD 1: 15.52 to the Mexican Peso

Positive Optimyst fucked around with this message at 15:36 on Mar 10, 2015

Yggdrassil
Mar 11, 2012

RAKANISHU!

Positive Optimyst posted:

Thanks yggdrassil,

I'm going to choose to travel to Mexico (which I've travelled overland 20 years ago, or Argentina (which I've never been to.

All in all, the total costs will probably be the deciding factor.

USD 1: 8.7 to the Argentian Peso (need to research the blue rate)

USD 1: 15.52 to the Mexican Peso

Blue rate for the peso is between 12-13 right now. Beware of appearing too naive/touristy to the "arbolitos" (the guys that buy/sell at blue rates) so they don't trick you.

Positive Optimyst
Oct 25, 2010

by FactsAreUseless

Yggdrassil posted:

Blue rate for the peso is between 12-13 right now. Beware of appearing too naive/touristy to the "arbolitos" (the guys that buy/sell at blue rates) so they don't trick you.

Thanks for the advice. I have to be very aware. My Spanish is intermediate. One of my goals is improving my Spanish, and I'm looking into Spanish language schools as well.

At 12-13 with the blue rate, I wonder if my daily budget (I'm low to mid budget traveler to maximize time and experiences) can have me spending a total of $30 USD per day, in general?

Eat and sleep simple. Enjoy drink on occasion.

Positive Optimyst
Oct 25, 2010

by FactsAreUseless

Leopold Stotch posted:

I'm in Puerto Lopez for just under 2 more weeks taking spanish lessons. I love it here, it is quiet and dusty as gently caress. Lots of dogs and roosters sounding off at night, but you get used to it / earplugs.

Leopold Stotch,

I studied Spanish at the Clara Luna Spanish school in Puerto Lopez about 2 years ago.

I stayed in Las Tunas (small village 20 minutes by bus to the south) for a couple of months.

I enjoyed Puerto Lopez. The old defunct pier, dogs, and bars on the beach.

Yggdrassil
Mar 11, 2012

RAKANISHU!

Positive Optimyst posted:

Thanks for the advice. I have to be very aware. My Spanish is intermediate. One of my goals is improving my Spanish, and I'm looking into Spanish language schools as well.

At 12-13 with the blue rate, I wonder if my daily budget (I'm low to mid budget traveler to maximize time and experiences) can have me spending a total of $30 USD per day, in general?

Eat and sleep simple. Enjoy drink on occasion.

It depends on where you are staying, but you should be fine with $30 per day.

Positive Optimyst
Oct 25, 2010

by FactsAreUseless

Yggdrassil posted:

It depends on where you are staying, but you should be fine with $30 per day.

Cheers. I'll do a lot of homework and research. I'm very interested in Argentina.

Cuatal
Apr 17, 2007

:dukedog:
What are some safe places (I'm very white) to live and learn Spanish while maybe doing some work (tutoring, teaching, etc) on the side?

I already speak pretty good Spanish so I don't mind diving right into somewhere where nobody speaks a word of English and would actually prefer that as it would be better for my Spanish.

Animal
Apr 8, 2003

Cuatal posted:

What are some safe places (I'm very white) to live and learn Spanish while maybe doing some work (tutoring, teaching, etc) on the side?

I already speak pretty good Spanish so I don't mind diving right into somewhere where nobody speaks a word of English and would actually prefer that as it would be better for my Spanish.

There's tons of options. Where do you live right now? What can you afford? What style of place do you wanna live in (beach, city, countryside, etc)

duralict
Sep 18, 2007

this isn't hug club at all
I'm in Santa Marta, Colombia right now, and have a week left before I have to catch a return flight home from Bogota next Monday, and I'm planning on flying down there on Saturday at the latest so I'll have time to at least see the city. Has anyone been to Minca, Tayrona or the northern coastal desert? Do I have time to see all three at a reasonably laid-back pace?

Engin3
Mar 5, 2012

duralict posted:

I'm in Santa Marta, Colombia right now, and have a week left before I have to catch a return flight home from Bogota next Monday, and I'm planning on flying down there on Saturday at the latest so I'll have time to at least see the city. Has anyone been to Minca, Tayrona or the northern coastal desert? Do I have time to see all three at a reasonably laid-back pace?

I've been to Minca and Tayrona, but not the penninsula. I heard the penninsula was gorgeous, but boring and difficult to get to and uncomfortable to be in. It's super remote and on the expensive side for Colombia.

I loved Minca. It's really a place to chill, do some hikes, and hang out. I camped at Casa Loma and loved the overlook of Santa Marta. You can hike/mototaxi higher into the mountains for Casa Elemento. They have a 6 foot by 6 foot hammock hanging off the edge of the mountain. You can hike through some pretty rad wilderness and canyons and even forage your own fruit. Call ahead though, they do fill up to capacity occasionally. I spent a week around Minca. But you can easily cover all of it in 2-3 days depending on your pace.

Tayrona is gorgeous. I can't say that enough But the currents are really strong so you can't swim at most beaches in the park. I only spent a night there. I wish I just did a day trip to fool around and take pictures because the facilities are packed and miserable and dirty. Rancho Relaxo further down the road is nicer for the beach life.

3 or 4 days in Minca and Tayrona/carribean whatever should be good.

Footnote: I still wish I got out to that peninsula

Cuatal
Apr 17, 2007

:dukedog:

Animal posted:

There's tons of options. Where do you live right now? What can you afford? What style of place do you wanna live in (beach, city, countryside, etc)

I'd be pretty happy with anywhere, so I guess I'd probably go with whichever is considered the safest, with cheapest being the second most important condition and internet speed (NERD) being the third, though I don't expect too much in this department.

Thesaurus
Oct 3, 2004


Cuatal posted:

I'd be pretty happy with anywhere, so I guess I'd probably go with whichever is considered the safest, with cheapest being the second most important condition and internet speed (NERD) being the third, though I don't expect too much in this department.

I wouldn't stress too much about safety. Maybe stay out of major urban areas in Central America. I don't hear much good news out of Venezuela these days, either.

I studied spanish/volunteered/travelled in Sucre, Bolivia, and would recommend it. Not sure the internet is very strong there, though. Definitely cheap.

I'd steer clear of major tourist areas (Cuzco, Peru comes to mind) if you don't want to hear much English. This will also make things cheaper.

But yeah, most of Latin America falls within the scope of your search, so you might want to think about specific countries, regions, climates, etc.

I wouldn't go to a Carribean Spanish speaking country (the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and probably the coastal parts of Colombia/Venezuela) just because their accents are more difficult and ideosyncratic.

People make claims about Colombians speaking a "pure" Spanish that helps learners, but that's always sounded like BS to me. With cetain exceptions (e.g. the caribbean, parts of Argentina/Uruguay/Chile), the Spanish accents of most countries are pretty viable. Those areas are certainly viable, too, provided that you have a regional/cultural interest in living there (which it appears that you don't).

If you're just trying to speak with the locals as your main form of learnings, it would help to live somewhere where people are particularly outgoing. As a very broad stereotype, Latinamericans are generally pretty outgoing, but less so in the Andes (and areas of indigenous heritage) and more so in El Caribe.

Edit: if you want to teach (English, I assume), then you'll probably need to choose a city or at least sizable town or something so that you can find the demand.

Si estuviera yo en tus zapatos, me iría de una vez para una ciudad de Colombia o tal vez Chile (aunque el accento te hará la vida un poquito más difícil)

Thesaurus fucked around with this message at 17:05 on Mar 16, 2015

Sad Panda
Sep 22, 2004

I'm a Sad Panda.

Thesaurus posted:

I studied spanish/volunteered/travelled in Sucre, Bolivia, and would recommend it. Not sure the internet is very strong there, though. Definitely cheap.

Bolivian internet is awful. Uyuni is basically as good as dialup was, and even in La Paz/Oruro/Sucre/Potosi it was barely passable.

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duralict
Sep 18, 2007

this isn't hug club at all
Colombian internet (and infrastructure in general) is exceptional. Better than most of the US, anecdotally. Bogota's also possibly the most socially-outgoing major city I've ever seen. I did have a really hard time with their accent though.

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