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Just wanted to say: awesome choice. The Galapagos Islands are absolutely amazing and are probably the best place I've ever been to. Make sure you choose a longer cruise - over 7 days, preferably even a couple more. Definitely not the 3-4 day ones as you hardly get to go anywhere. Smaller boats are better, but the rooms are obviously smaller and maybe not so romantic for a honeymoon. But the advantage of having only a small group outweighs any disadvantages. I went on the Samba with https://www.angermeyercruises.com and highly recommend it. (Hot showers, oh so nice!) I highly recommend seeing Isabela and Fernandina. Take lots of suncream as the sun is really strong, even on overcast days. Also, I'd highly recommend a waterproof camera, I used an Olympus one that took some great shots of turtles and penguins while we were snorkelling. It even survived being dropped onto the shallow floor of a volcano cone (Devil's Crown) and just lurked there until I realised and swam back to pick it up. Quito is alright. Some nice churches to see. There's the old town and the new town. Definitely stay in the old town and go for a little wonder. I probably wouldn't spend too long there, but if you did want to add in another day, you can always go visit Mitad del Mundo - the equator site (which is actually in the wrong place, but there's another site actually on the equator).
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Jan 13, 2009 10:52
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I very recently decided to try to backpack South America with some friends. My family has raised concerns about 4 women traveling alone in South America. I'm pretty sure they've been watching too much cable news, but I don't know how to convince them that there are perfectly safe countries in South America. Am I wrong? Do you all have any suggestions for convincing tactics?
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Jan 14, 2009 05:07
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Savahontas posted:I very recently decided to try to backpack South America with some friends. My family has raised concerns about 4 women traveling alone in South America. I'm pretty sure they've been watching too much cable news, but I don't know how to convince them that there are perfectly safe countries in South America. Show them that you guys are prepared. Write up a detailed itinerary (where you will stay, what you will do each day, etc.). Make sure you tell them about how you will purchase travel insurance, how you will register their trip with the embassy, etc. Write up a FAQ that explains how you guys would act in certain situations (i.e. you get your passport stolen). Write up a budget showing all your estimated expenses. Accompany those things with an emotional but logical letter explaining how important this is to you. If you do this all correctly and they still reject your plans, then just don't listen to them (assuming you do not still rely on them financially). Heck, I am a 20 year old male currently backpacking alone in Colombia...and this is my 3rd solo backpacking trip. If I can do it, anyone can.
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Jan 14, 2009 05:14
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Thanks, that's a good plan. Plus, that is excellent advice for planning a trip in general, even if my family wasn't acting so strangely. Are there any places that I should DEFINITELY avoid? (Since I already have some excellent advice in this thread from where to definitely go  ). e: It occurs to me that was a pretty broad question. But I'm honestly just in the beginning stages of trying to plan this, so if it's too vague to answer, I understand. I'd really like to see ruins and waterfalls. And the Amazon. Just some basic googling found me: http://www.travel-amazing-southamerica.com/south-america-ruins.html and the wikipedia article about the Amazon basin. wikipedia posted:Amazonia is not heavily populated. There are a few cities along the Amazon's banks, such as Iquitos, Peru and scattered settlements inland, but most of the population lives in cities, such as Manaus and Belem in Brazil. Do you all have any advice about Amazonian cities? Savahontas fucked around with this message at 05:56 on Jan 14, 2009 |
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Jan 14, 2009 05:32
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Hey, I didn't do the Amazon, but I did cover bits of 6 countries in South America. I'm a girl and I travelled with my mum - at the time aged 20, mum aged 49. We never felt threatened or in danger. The worst we got were a lot of stares, what with us both being so pasty white and having blue eyes. It's quite a macho culture, so it wouldn't be surprising if a guy yelled "hey beautiful" at you, but that's about it. The only advice I'd give is the same I'd give for any place in the world: don't flash your cash or valuables and try not to wander into any really dodgy looking areas. Also, try to learn some of the language - it improves the experience by an unquantifiable amount. It'll be a fantastic experience! If you're not going to the dorms route, bear in mind that many places will only manage two, maybe three beds to a room, so you'll probably have to split into two. I'd also advise that you are really sure that you can bear spending X amount of time with all of your companions. The good thing about a 4 is that you split into two twos, but try to make sure that you all have common ideas about what you want to get out of the trip. If one of you wants to visit all the good museums and the others all think it's deathly boring, then that's a potential problem. (Bit off topic, but from one girl to another, I would HIGHLY recommend that you and your friends get on one of the contraceptive pills that you can take consecutively. Having your period when you're travelling about all over the place is a bit of a nightmare. It's also inconvenient having to worry about packing all that stuff, as it's unlikely that you'll find your favourite brand or style in the shops over there.)
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Jan 14, 2009 18:52
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That is fantastic advice, thanks. I would NEVER have thought of that birth control trick.
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Jan 15, 2009 06:08
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Adnar posted:More or less on a whim I today booked a ticket to Brazil for a month. That's really awesome. The city itself is amazing, you could probably spend your entire visit here. But if you want to step out, there is Angra dos Reis, which is to the west (with fairly easy bus access from Rio). It's got amazing beaches. From there, you can take a ferry to Ilha Grande, which has some nature preserves and more awesome beaches. You could bus inland to Minas Gerias for nature/historical buildings, or south to Santa Catarina for more beaches. Further south there's Iguazu falls, further inland you get to Mato Grosso and the Pantanal. But you'd probably want a longer trip todo those things. Don't know anything about the north of Brazil. Savahontas posted:Do you all have any advice about Amazonian cities? Manaus is, from what I've heard, filled with child prostitutes. Since you're all women, you might not have to face it. But it sure as hell would ruin any chance of me enjoying my stay there. To be fair however, there are social issues almost anywhere you go in South America, so perhaps it's best not to take that into consideration. You might look into visiting the Pantanal if you're going to be in Brazil, it's supposed to be amazing. And from there you could go south to Iguazu falls, which are supposed to be some of the best in the world (and from there go into Argentina). Edit: What's the appeal of favela tours? It's a slum. A slum created by a myriad of social issues, and ruled by fear and greed by very violent men. Bobo the Red fucked around with this message at 03:23 on Jan 19, 2009 |
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Jan 19, 2009 03:17
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I live in the US but am from a country for which all South American countries require a visa. I am planning an SA trip in late 2009, and plan to cover four countries (Ecuador,Peru,Colombia,Brazil). Is there an easier way of getting all the visas, other than applying to each of them separately? I think it'll take an inordinate amount of time that way. JohnnyGuadalupe, DustingDuvet: Thanks a lot for all the info! I'm really excited about this trip after reading this thread.
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Jan 19, 2009 22:01
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Emmy Noether posted:I live in the US but am from a country for which all South American countries require a visa. I am planning an SA trip in late 2009, and plan to cover four countries (Ecuador,Peru,Colombia,Brazil). Is there an easier way of getting all the visas, other than applying to each of them separately? I think it'll take an inordinate amount of time that way. That is great you have decided to vacation in South America! You will need to apply for a separate Visa for each country. There are many Visa Service company's that will let you mail them all of the documents needed so that they can file them at the embassy in person. But you will still need to file for 4 separate Visas. Sorry.
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Jan 19, 2009 23:06
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Savahontas posted:Do you all have any advice about Amazonian cities? I've traveled throughout the Peruvian Amazon, spending a little over a year there in total since 2005. The population is very sparse, but there are many great spots. I recommend you check out the following: Tarapoto -- You can fly from Lima to Tarapoto for around $120 on LAN Peru. This is the largest city in the province of San Martin, with around 120,000 people. There are a number of discotekas and the nightlife is great. There are lots of tourist spots around the city -- waterfalls, indigenous communities, etc -- and everything is fairly cheap. From here, you can take a private car ($30) and go to Yurimaguas. Yurimaguas -- Awesome small town on the Huallaga river. From here you can travel up the Paranapura river in a peki-peki (long boat with a small 15hp motor) and visit Chayahuita indigenous communities (i.e. Balsa Puerto), or hop in a lancha (large boat with 3 floors, like a river cruise ship...) and head down the Huallaga, visiting other communities along the way. Lagunas -- The next "city" down the Huallaga from Yurimaguas. Lots of interesting things here, one of the centers of shamanism in the region. It's about 13 hours in boat from Yurimaguas. Nauta -- Another city, closer to Iquitos, on the Maranon river. Small town vibe, but lots of fun. It's about 3 days on a lancha from Yurimaguas. You can then take a private car from Nauta to Iquitos. Iquitos -- The largest city in the Peruvian Amazon, with about 500,000 people. There is a ton to do there, lots of discotekas and tourist spots. There are also quite a few indigenous communities surrounding the city that you can travel to. However, compared to the other cities above, it's quite costly to stay in and there's a lot of crime. Still, I recommend it if you're traveling through the region.
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Jan 21, 2009 19:42
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Bobo the Red posted:What's the appeal of favela tours? It's a slum. A slum created by a myriad of social issues, and ruled by fear and greed by very violent men. Because you are a tourist and are traveling to see/experience things that are different. It's interesting to see how a huge population of Carioca's live and its much different than the slums you would see most other places in the world. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa...tBody;col1
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Jan 31, 2009 05:15
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I lived in Brasil for almost 8 months. I spent most of my time in Fortaleza, Ceará, which is in the Northeast (poorest) part of Brasil. It's not a bad city to stop by in, but I wouldn't plan on staying more than just a handful of days. To the guy going to Rio, have a great time. I've been there twice. Rio is a VERY wild city... Niterói is right across the bridge and has a nice Oscar Niemeyer museum... To the woman asking about Amazonian cities - the only one I know is Manaus. I was there for a few days in May, during this time it was extremely humid and the rain came and went randomly. It's basically a poor shithole (like pretty much most places above Rio and SP) - but if you do go there, check out the opera house. If you guys have any questions, feel free to ask them =) roflcopter thief fucked around with this message at 23:42 on Feb 5, 2009 |
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Feb 5, 2009 23:39
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DustingDuvet posted:Because you are a tourist and are traveling to see/experience things that are different. It's interesting to see how a huge population of Carioca's live and its much different than the slums you would see most other places in the world.
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Feb 5, 2009 23:41
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I'm planning on moving to a country in South America and live there for a year or two while studying Spanish (not full time) but still. How much would it cost me to live in one of the major cities? Bogota, Buenois Aires etc. 1. A one (or two) room apartment + internet and shower. (In a relatively safe area) 2. Food every day (obviously cooking your own food would be much cheaper, but I wouldn't mind eating all of my meals outside aslong as it doesn't cost too much.) 3. Spanish lessons a couple of times each weak (at a language school, university or private teacher? You tell me!) I don't need any super accurate answers. I just need some "feel" for how much things will cost. I would be happy if I could "surive" on less than 1000$ per month. /Thanks in advance for your help! Constantine fucked around with this message at 02:12 on Feb 6, 2009 |
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Feb 6, 2009 02:10
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Constantine posted:I'm planning on moving to a country in South America and live there for a year or two while studying Spanish (not full time) but still. A friend of mine and myself are thinking the same ( costa rica) Goonventure?
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Feb 6, 2009 03:17
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Constantine posted:I'm planning on moving to a country in South America and live there for a year or two while studying Spanish (not full time) but still. You can definitely do that for under $1000 in any country in South America besides maybe Brazil or Chile. Here are some rough costs for Bogota: 1.$300-$450 2. $1.50-$6 3.$5-$10/hour or probably more if you decide to study at a university
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Feb 6, 2009 16:26
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DustingDuvet posted:You can definitely do that for under $1000 in any country in South America besides maybe Brazil or Chile. I did Chile for under $1,000 a month. Rent was like $250 a month and my play money was like $450 and I was playing 4 days a week, but yeah, Brazil and Chile are both pretty expensive (by S.American standards).
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Feb 7, 2009 00:01
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Hi peoples, I am in Valparaiso currently (loving AWESOME, by the way). On March 1, we're supposed to be in Cuzco for the Inca trek thingie. So far, we are going to La Serena for three nights tomorrow. We would like to see the salt desert up north. What are your suggestions of places to see on our way to Cuzco? We might dip into Bolivia and back, sounds like a good idea? Should we head into La Paz or stop closer to the border?
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Feb 9, 2009 16:39
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DustingDuvet posted:Because you are a tourist and are traveling to see/experience things that are different. It's interesting to see how a huge population of Carioca's live and its much different than the slums you would see most other places in the world. Article didn't work since I took too long to notice your reply. The real problem I have with it is that well, the money you're paying is going to someone. And it's probably not someone who should be getting your money. I mean, it kinda bugs me that you're going to gawk at other peple's mysery, but there is something to be said about raising awareness. But giving the drug dealers that run those places more money to play with does bother since you're not the one who has to deal with the consequences. Does that make sense? I'm not trying to be antagonistic, and if I'm way off about who ends up getting paid for those tours, then I apologize. From what I understand, the tours are actually really safe, since they don't want to lose their income.
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Feb 9, 2009 21:12
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Planning a trip for a couple months this summer, just sketching out the raw stuff right now. I'm planning on flying into Bogota because it's dirt cheap and direct from here, but anyone have a suggestion for where to fly out of from more southern South America for cheapish? To Orlando, if that matters. I've been trying to find something like Kayak's Buzz, but in reverse, to no avail.
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Feb 11, 2009 02:51
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kalicki posted:Planning a trip for a couple months this summer, just sketching out the raw stuff right now. If you have a few months and only traveling by bus, than the furthest you will probably get is Peru, depending on how fast you like to move from place to place. But that is perfect because Lima, Peru is one of the cheapest places to fly to/from. There is also Caracas which is very cheap to fly to/from is you are interested in Venezuela.
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Feb 11, 2009 12:29
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A group of 8 of us hired a private guide and the services of a boat for an eight day cruise down the Amazon from Iquitos. Since everything's private, we can create any itinerary we want. Can anyone suggest must-see sights/activities along the Amazon and its tributaries starting out of Iquitos? We'd like to see wildlife, obviously, and also do some jungle adventuring, culture stuff.
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Feb 18, 2009 12:53
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Looks like my thread didn't work out too well, so I'll just ask here. I'm visiting Peru in April. I'll spend about two weeks there. Here's my current travel plan: Land in Lima. Visit my friend, the Museo de la Nación and the Museo de Oro. South to Paracas. Visit the Reserva Nacional de Paracas and get a boat tour of the Ballestas Islands. South to Nazca. Get a flyover tour of the Nazca Lines. East to Cusco. Take a train to Aguas Caliente station, get a tour of Machu Picchu and a tour of the Sacred Valley. South East to Juliana or Puno. Visit Lake Titicaca/Floating Islands of the Uros and the Reserva Nacional Titicaca. Return to Lima. Visit the Indian Markets. Is this feasible in two weeks? Are there any other places I should absolutely not miss?
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Feb 22, 2009 15:26
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I lived/volunteered in a small mountain town in Peru (Ayacucho) for about three months these holidays, so I got to see a bit of the country. My views are probably a bit different because I lived there, but, I'd highly recommend skipping the Nazca lines and spending less time in Lima in favor of trekking the Colca Canyon in Arequipa, it's a very very very cool place. (The second deepest canyon in the world I think.) Arequipa is only a few hours bus from Puno. Whereas seeing the lines is expensive, you go up in a little plane which a lot of folks get quite sick in, and I didn't think it was particularly thrilling. Also, don't do an overnight tour of the floating islands - Lake Titicaca is really beautiful but the islands (uros especially) are very exploitative and touristy, it's not a very 'authentic' experience staying on the islands for any length of time. I think there were better islands on the Bolivian side of the lake but I'm not sure if you'd have time for that - Copacabana is a lot nicer place than Puno though. And watch how much you spend in Aguas Calientes - it's a real tourist trap I don't know if two weeks is enough time for this though - I can't really judge from my experiences because I saw these things over the period of a few months and had a pretty lax attitude towards travelling, taking night buses to save money etc. I'm guessing you'd fly back to Lima from wherever you finish up?
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Feb 23, 2009 22:52
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Well, looks like I'll be going to Peru for all of August, if my work gives me clearance for more time off then I'll plan to visit Chile and Ecuador as well. Mainly I'll be visiting family in Lima for a week or so then I'll be visiting Cuzco and Iquitos to just adventure around, time to get fit!
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Feb 27, 2009 07:11
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Has anyone done any diving in Colombia/Ecuador, or gotten open water certified there? I'm looking for a good, cheap place to do it.
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Mar 2, 2009 21:41
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Molotov Yogurt posted:Has anyone done any diving in Colombia/Ecuador, or gotten open water certified there? I'm looking for a good, cheap place to do it. Taganga (15 minutes away from Santa Marta) is the cheapest place to get the PADI in Colombia. A good company to do it with is http://www.poseidondivecenter.com R2ICustomerSupport fucked around with this message at 22:03 on Mar 2, 2009 |
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Mar 2, 2009 21:58
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Has anyone gone to/from Lima to/from Cusco through the more northern route via Huancavelica and Ayacucho and whatnot? I'm planning on taking the bus the normal route via Arequipa with various stops either to or from Cusco, but I'm trying to decide if I want to fly the other leg, or take that other bus route. Opinions I see on other forums have a lot more to do with a straight overnight 24 hourish bus ride via the northern route, which I'm not interested in. Basically, how feasible is this route, and how cool are the places it passes through? Time isn't much of a concern, I could spend up to a week or so doing that route if it's worth it.
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Mar 3, 2009 05:06
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I did that route a couple of times, I lived in Ayacucho for two months and would definitely recommend spending a day or two there - just to hang out and experience a nice little peruvian town for a day or two, as opposed to the hustle and bustle of cusco or arequipa. There's some ruins called Wari an hour or two away by a collectivo, though in my time living there I never bothered to visit them so I can't really offer any advice on that. Anyway, the bus from Lima - Cusco takes anywhere from a day and a half, to three days depending on how you want to do it. The best bus from Lima - Ayacucho is a company called "Ayacucho express", which is locally owned and cheap too - 25 soles for semi-cama, and 40 soles for cama. The trip is about ten hours. Then from Ayacucho - Cusco it's a 24 hour trip. The bus leaves Ayacucho at either about 6.30pm or 6.30am, and the best company is called Celtour on passaje caceres (that's the name of the street.) Across the road is Expreso los chankas, but their buses were pretty loving awful. You should be able to haggle them down to 55 soles for ayacucho - cusco, but make sure the guy gives you the ticket for both ayacucho-Andahuaylas and Andahuaylas-cusco, because the bus stops in the middle for an hour or two. You could stay in Andahuaylas for a day if you like, but it's a bit of a shithole and I wouldn't recommend it. I think the night bus from Ayacucho is the way to go, because the first half of the road is pretty dodgy (think cliffs with no barriers, dirt tracks through forests etc) and I didn't want to look out the window at that. Then from Andahuaylas in the morning you start out going through some nice forests, then through a few really beautiful canyons and mountain ranges to Cusco, arriving in the evening so you can see all the lights of the city spread out all over the city, it's really nice. Anyway I'd go this way if I were you, the 12 hours from Ayacucho-Andahuaylas are horrible but you'll have a cool story to tell your friends about dodgy Peruvian bus rides and see some cool stuff on the way.
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Mar 3, 2009 07:23
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Has anyone who has been to Argentina recently been able to take more than $300 pesos out of an ATM?
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Mar 3, 2009 17:20
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Yeah, you can get up to around 700 at a time I think, from the atms of local banks, just make sure the atm has the visa logo (or whichever credit card you use.) There's smaller atms though called "Global net" or something like that, they're yellow and I think are made to appeal to tourists but have smaller limits and cost more for transactions.
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Mar 3, 2009 20:10
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MC Scrillz posted:Has anyone who has been to Argentina recently been able to take more than $300 pesos out of an ATM? I am currently in Buenos Aires using a Visa debit card on the plus/star networks and am able to take out a maximum of 600 pesos.
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Mar 4, 2009 00:15
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Really? I can take out up to $1000 but I set the limit to $300 just in case.
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Mar 4, 2009 06:17
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hecko posted:Really? I can take out up to $1000 but I set the limit to $300 just in case. DustingDuvet posted:I am currently in Buenos Aires using a Visa debit card on the plus/star networks and am able to take out a maximum of 600 pesos. My home bank must hate me.  (or all the ATMs I've used did...BBVA, Banco de la Cuidad and HSBC)
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Mar 4, 2009 21:13
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I'm currently researching flights to visit my mother in Peru around May. Any suggestions regarding flying out from Minneapolis? They don't have a major hub so it will more than likely reroute to Miami or whatever major city normally departs to South America. I have some friends in Bogota, Colombia that I haven't seen in ages and I figure I can visit on the same trip. The only thing holding me back is the excessive cost to fly out of/depart from the drat Midwest. I could really use some assistance with this, thanks.
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Mar 4, 2009 23:08
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MC Scrillz posted:My home bank must hate me. There's a little trick that people did when el corralito was arround: take out the max amount, change password, go to another ATM , repeat.
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Mar 5, 2009 06:43
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hecko posted:my card used to be limited to something like 500 per day but you can change the limit via the ATM or the bank's webpage. I have no problem getting $300 out multiple times, it just costs me USD$1.50 to do so. I'm mainly trying to avoid the fees.
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Mar 5, 2009 13:12
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Revelatos715 posted:I'm currently researching flights to visit my mother in Peru around May. Any suggestions regarding flying out from Minneapolis? They don't have a major hub so it will more than likely reroute to Miami or whatever major city normally departs to South America. So basically you want: Minneapolis-Bogotá-Lima-Minneapolis? Give me the dates you plan to be in each place so I can help you out.
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Mar 7, 2009 20:22
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DustingDuvet posted:Taganga (15 minutes away from Santa Marta) is the cheapest place to get the PADI in Colombia. Awesome, I'm heading to Bogota on Thursday and want to be up there in a couple weeks. Thanks!
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Mar 8, 2009 23:27
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DustingDuvet posted:So basically you want: Minneapolis-Bogotá-Lima-Minneapolis? Give me the dates you plan to be in each place so I can help you out. Thanks. It could even be Minneapolis-Lima-Bogota-Minneapolis if that is helpful. I would like to go anytime between 5/15-5/30 or 07/24-08/15. I would like to spend 5-7 days in Lima and 7 in Bogota.
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Mar 9, 2009 15:37
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