|
Thanks for the information so far everyone, really good stuff and has really turned my opinion on a place like Columbia. Does anyone know of any places in SA in general where casual work for foreigner would be available? What I mean is basic stuff that would be more about paying for accommodation / socialising rather than a career (i.e in a Bar).
|
#
¿
Jan 6, 2009 00:23
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 04:47 |
|
|
More or less on a whim I today booked a ticket to Brazil for a month. Feb 3rd Sydney -> Rio De Janiero 27 hours! Feb 19th -> 26th I managed to get some (crazy expensive) Hostel accommodation during Carnival. March 2nd Sao Paulo -> Buenos Aires March 9th BA -> Sydney So I'm looking at filling in time between the 4th and the 19th and making my own way to Sao Paulo by the 2nd. Any thoughts? I would be wanting to travel mainly in the southern area basing myself in RDJ. I know this isn't much but I plan on going back later in the year for a proper amount of time.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 8, 2009 04:05
|
|
|
MC Scrillz posted: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. It's an Argentine law, you can only do it if you have a foriegn bank and go to their ATM.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 21, 2009 07:19
|
|
|
or a home stay? I've heard that this is by far the best way to learn immersion learning.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 17, 2009 06:03
|
|
|
I'm irrationally moving to Colombia next week. Starting in Medellin 
|
|
#
¿
May 28, 2009 02:33
|
|
|
charlie c posted:Hi everyone, awesome thread! I'm off to Argentina and Brazil in a few days. We're planning to go to a Flamengo football game in Rio while we're there, and I've heard mixed stories about how safe these are for us gringos. I'm planning to get seats with the Flamengo supporters - where the most exictement is. Anyone have some advice on this they could share? Everyone tries to scare you and get you to go on the 80 real tours where you feel like a git in the bottom tier seats. Get there early (via the metro), work out which section is Flamengos and get a ticket and then just hang around until you see a bunch of people with drums and stuff and follow the crowd. Obviously dress down and don't take a huge SLR (like anywhere in Rio) but you'll be perfectly fine. Use your judgment, each home end has different groups and some might be a bit 'heavier' than others. You're pretty free to move around. This is from Vasco Vs Flumininse I went to earlier in the year on my own: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=221420&id=906520136&l=78bc10a97f http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=221420&id=906520136&l=78bc10a97f
|
|
#
¿
Jun 25, 2009 18:55
|
|
|
In Medellin at the moment, loving it. Has anyone been to the Flower Festival before? Have been here for 3 weeks and need to know if it's worth staying an extra couple for the festival.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 21, 2009 20:25
|
|
|
DustingDuvet posted:I went to the Feria de las Flores 2 or 3 years ago and it is definitely worth it. It was a ton of fun with parades, big concerts, lots of parties, special events, etc. I will be attending again this year. Maybe i'll see you there. Sweet, I think we've decided to stay. Going to get an apartment, staying in a hostel is killing me. It just seems to be full of pedophiles and other shirtless old guys at the moment.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 21, 2009 21:59
|
|
|
DustingDuvet posted:Where are you staying? If it's the Pit Stop or Tigar Paw i could definitely imagine that. I would recommend trying either Casa Kiwi or the Black Sheep for the meantime while you are looking for an apartment. Those are more suited to young backpackers. At the blacksheep it's not too bad, have been here a couple of weeks. It just suddenly changed the last few days. Casa Kiwi is not really open at the moment (just a few rooms) due to renovations that look nowhere near finished.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 21, 2009 23:57
|
|
|
Still traveling in Colombia, currently in Cartegena. Just wanted to post this, sometimes you get somewhere when you travel and it's amazing and blitzes all expectations. The last week I've been camping just in the back ground of this picture: Cabo De La Guia in the Tayrona national park. It's about a 2 hour hike from the entrance but well worth it. This is what I imagined of the Caribbean. Camping was a bit overpriced but it was amazing. Especially after getting out of the shithole that is Taganga. Seriously, what an overrated dump. Thinking of spending the next week or 2 doing a loop through Western Venezuela, it wasn't part of our original plans but I think it looks good and the poo poo canning everyone gives Venezuela is a bit unfair (Caracas aside). Anyone have any tips or experiences regarding this or going to La Guajira?
|
|
#
¿
Aug 4, 2009 17:02
|
|
|
Does anyone have any experience crossing the border from Maicao, Colombia to Maracaibo in Venezuela? We're planning on getting a bus from Cartagena -> Maicao then we're told you get in a dodgy collectivo which takes you through the border then onto Maracaibo? Then pick up a bus to Caro. Any tips? Best place to buy black market Bolivars?
|
|
#
¿
Aug 8, 2009 22:31
|
|
|
Adnar posted:Does anyone have any experience crossing the border from Maicao, Colombia to Maracaibo in Venezuela? We're planning on getting a bus from Cartagena -> Maicao then we're told you get in a dodgy collectivo which takes you through the border then onto Maracaibo? Then pick up a bus to Caro. Ok well this was an adventure. In a shameless hawking of my travel blog, I documented it here if anyone's interested: http://tinyurl.com/mdjcfz Going on a 4 day track into the Los Llanos tomorrow, see some wildlife and fish for Piranhas!.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 18, 2009 15:22
|
|
|
FX2000 posted:Don't miss Auyantepui while you're in Venezuela and hit up Angel Falls while you're at it, you can thank me later. Unfortunately it was a bit of a poo poo to get to, especially when the only money we had we had to carry with us all the time. I actually really enjoyed Venezuela although the currency issues and the constant road blocks were a bit tiresome after a while. We went from Maracaibo -> Coro -> Chichiriviche -> Merida and then did a Los Llanos tour which was amazing. Glad we went but 2 weeks was just about enough. I put a lot of wildlife photos and stuff up http://4for10.net/adan/Words/Words.html (not trying to whore it out, I swear) the sheer amount of wildlife in Los Llanos is amazing (anacondas!).
|
|
#
¿
Aug 28, 2009 17:15
|
|
|
From what I hear about the Galapogos is that it's totally awesome but also really expensive so if you've got a limited budget and only a few weeks it's probably worth an entire trip on it's own down the track.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 30, 2009 19:08
|
|
|
Wooh posted:For the people who've been to Venezuela recently: if I bring USD into the country, are they going to react? Force me to convert to bolivars? Basically my family there wants to buy my ticket to Venezuela, but then have me pay them back in dollars. I have no problem doing this, but fear that 800 dollars or whatever could be suspicious. If I just lie and say I'm a tourist who has my money blah blah, is that cool? It´s not suspicious or illegal to bring USD in, the only law relates to the official exchange rate. The only problems you might have is with actual border guards finding it during a bag search it and wanting a taste. (unlikely) We went with 1000USD cash and my girlfriend just stashed it down her underwear. We more did this as a precaution because we crossed some semi sketchy land borders, if you're flying you'll be fine. Remember to take plenty of Dollars for spending money unless you want everything to be 3X the price.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 31, 2009 16:40
|
|
|
In reality your family should give you a better rate. The unofficial rate is pretty arbitrary and you're just turning their useless Bolivars into savings that won't be worth 40% less this time next year.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 31, 2009 22:51
|
|
|
Wooh posted:I probably will make more than any of them could ever hope, so I see no reason to make it out like I'm doing them some big favor when they're being kind enough to let me into their home for near endless amounts of time. The thing is it's really hard to get your hands on dollars (hence why people pay so much more than the official rate) You definitely don't get the reverse of 6-1 when changing back to dollars (understand what you mean though, just an explanation)
|
|
#
¿
Sep 1, 2009 22:51
|
|
|
Hey DD, anywhere you'd recommend for New Years in Colombia? I have 2 mates coming from Australia for a couple of weeks but I've read Medellin and Bogota are completely dead.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 2, 2009 01:26
|
|
|
I've heard Panama City is a bizarre soulless shithole with hundreds of giant, empty conos and office buildings and not much else. But that's just second hand. Just got back from Feria de Cali and Manizales, spent NYE in Cali. Cali was a bit meh, but Manizales is probably just about my favorite place in Colombia, what a great week.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 7, 2010 19:35
|
|
|
Saw a bullfight, day tour to the top of Nevada de la Ruiz, drank litro pokers all day and night (along with lots of free Guarpo!), coffee shows, concerts and made tonnes of friends who were genuinely outgoing and people always wanted to speak to us in English (not that I really like that) but for my 2 mates who came directly from Australia for just 3 weeks and don't speak a word of Spanish it was good. Didn't stay at the Mountain House as we only booked about 5 days before we arrived but an amazing place called Hostal Palogrande 50 meters of Ave Santander. 7 days for (during feria) 245mil per person for private rooms in a really nice clean place, I'd recommend it to anyone who goes there the lady (Maria) who runs it was amazing, like the mother I never had. One of the best hostel experiences I've had (out of 100s!)
|
|
#
¿
Jan 7, 2010 20:20
|
|
|
If anyones planning a trip to Colombia soon it's worth having a look at http://book.aires.aero/ for really cheap flights. I've given up on buses lately as I've been flying for half the price. I came back from Barranquilla yesterday (to Bogota) for 1,000 pesos (50c) + tax. For the Inca trail keep in mind it's now closed untill April because of the floods so it might be very heavy booked and a lot more expensive for a while after.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 17, 2010 16:12
|
|
|
I'm in Bogota for another 2 weeks. Don't talk to me about international flights.. I'm going to Buenos Aires and it's just silly.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 2, 2010 19:39
|
|
|
I met a Polish guy in Baranquilla at Carnival who had driven from Mexico and was shipping his car from Panama to Colombia, it cost about $1000 and took 3 days. He was just driving some Chevy sedan You can't drive. Part of me thinks you'd be better off buying a cheap car in Mexico with non USA plates but maybe you don't need to do that. Adnar fucked around with this message at 20:22 on Mar 27, 2010 |
|
#
¿
Mar 27, 2010 20:18
|
|
|
buy one of those international units if it's a big worry which is universal to universal they're only about $40, otherwise just buy a new adaptor in each country off the street for $2. Just moved to Uruguay for the next month. Montevideo is cold a quiet, perfect for studying.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 19, 2010 02:52
|
|
|
^^ Have a look at Spirit airlines.. they run insane sales out of Miami (<$100 tickets to Lima / Bogota).. maybe you could snag a cheap ticket to Miami?Hadlock posted:American Airlines keeps running these $380 roundtrip ticket specials to San Salvador from Dallas. Any thoughts? I'm thinking 2 weeks, hit up the capital cities of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras by bus (they're all within 150 miles of each other it looks like) and then poke around some smaller cities too. Mid to Late May. not been there but with those places I've heard is that they're great countries but there is little to no reason to spend any time (and many to not spend time) at all in San Salvador, Guatemala City or Tegucigalpa
|
|
#
¿
Apr 22, 2010 18:30
|
|
|
3rd World Dictator posted:
so so. I'm doing 6 hours a day of Spanish lessons so it suits my needs, I got a hostel for $150 for the MONTH because it's off season so I can't complain. Having lived the last 6 months in Bogota and being from Sydney I find it a bit quiet but like I said it suits me, BA would have been impossible for me to study.. too many foreigners and people speaking english at me. 5 degrees more heat wouldn't hurt though. Venezuela, I think I wrote up my trip report a few months ago.. We went from Santa Marta (col) -> Coro -> Chicirivichi -> Merida -> Los LLanos and it was outstanding.. never any problem with safety or security (apart from getting our passports checks A LOT) Venezuelans say the same thing about Colombia, saying there' Gurillas in the streets etc, all horrible propgranda on both side. Only problem with Chechirivichi was it was a feria weekend so the Cayos were like mosh pits and every local docked their boat 10 yard from the beach and blasted Reggeton, I'm told it's usually much nicer. Los LLanos tour was one of the best things I've done. Once you work out the blackmarket currency it's cheap as gently caress too. edit: here's my blog entries on Venezuela if anyone wants a look: http://4for10.net/adan/Words/Entries/2009/8/12_Cartagena%2C_Santa_Marta%2C_Maicao%2C_Maracaibo%2C_Coro...html http://4for10.net/adan/Words/Entries/2009/8/17_Venezuela.html http://4for10.net/adan/Words/Entries/2009/8/20_Entry_1.html http://4for10.net/adan/Words/Entries/2009/8/24_Entry_1.html Mrs with a baby Anaconda: 
Adnar fucked around with this message at 16:50 on Apr 24, 2010 |
|
#
¿
Apr 24, 2010 16:47
|
|
|
I'm doing it through here: http://www.academiauruguay.com/ It's $200USD per week for 4 hours of group and I'm doing some privates too. There's cheaper about but this was the most reputable and after loving about so much in the last year I felt it better to pay the cash and do it well. I'm really struggling going back to classes after so long... I can speak quite a lot after being here so long but most of it's informal with intermittent lessons so I'm trying to unwrap all my bad habits... and learn Vos. Doesn't help when random words are completely different here either.
|
|
#
¿
Apr 24, 2010 19:46
|
|
|
Going to the end of the world today, Ushuaia, Argentina.
|
|
#
¿
May 4, 2010 14:02
|
|
|
DustingDuvet posted:Que Chévere! You should get a cruise to Antarctica while you are near there. No chance, they're are 4k min. Made a Colombian thread in GBS: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3302004
|
|
#
¿
May 9, 2010 01:00
|
|
|
Colombia is really facing a battle to change it's rep 
|
|
#
¿
May 11, 2010 01:57
|
|
|
Cheesemaster200 posted:Someone give me something to do by myself in Bogota for 3 days! Montserrat, national police museum, bortero museum, museo de oro, go to watch Santa Fe play at El Campin, think about a day trip to the salt cathedral, get people from a hostel to party with in the zona t, go to Andres Carne de res (in zona t or preferably on Saturday in Chia) eat at El Corral (gourmet)
|
|
#
¿
May 13, 2010 21:50
|
|
|
I stayed at Platypus for 2 weeks and yeah it's a pretty sketch area at night. I'm told part of this is because of the hostels and so many people in the area being vulnerable. But you have no reason to walk around most of that area at night, all the bars are in clusters and otherwise there's NOTHING you'd be walking to after dark. During the day it's 100% safe.
|
|
#
¿
May 17, 2010 01:20
|
|
|
Mendoza is only about 8 hours from Santiago and if you like good food and wine it's a must. In terms of sights I'd recommend Salta over Cordoba (although Cordoba is a nice place. For camping / hiking Calafate is spectacular. Hiking too and around glaciers is unbeatable. I've entered Argentina 4-5 times and I've never been asked for proof of onward travel. Re: Colombia, I've recently left after 10 months there (8 living in Bogota) and I got the impression that english teaching was changing really rapidly (for the better) in terms of becoming a lot more professional and a lot more accredited (i.e CELTA) whilst before it was very easy to get work without certs. If you have any specific questions about Bogota let me know. Re: Paraguay, I hung out with a guy in Argentina who had just done 2 years in the peace corps in Paraguay and he said it was pretty much a shithole without a lot of redeeming features. Really dangerous, poor and dirty throughout and in a lot of places you can't even get by with just Spanish (Guarani)
|
|
#
¿
Oct 6, 2010 09:59
|
|
|
drumwolf posted:Just curious - how are non-white Americans perceived/treated in South America? Any minority Americans have experiences to share? I'm Asian, and I have a buddy who is of Mexican/Native American descent who's also talked about taking a trip down there too. In my experience it depends where. In Colombia in places with some tourists it was mostly fine but people did have a preconception of Americans so if you acted a prick you'd probably be on a shorter fuse to get into trouble. In some places with less foreigners (Cali was one) there was outright hostility. The one thing I'd say you need to be prepared for being of Asian decent is you will really really stand out. This isn't a bad thing but even as white guy in Colombia I stood out because I didn't look "Colombian" There's obviously white/black and everything in between in Colombia but they all still look "Colombian" in whatever colour they are. This can be annoying when you are always approached everywhere or random people yelling out to me and my Mrs. "MONA, MONO" <laughter>. The only Asians I encountered in Colombia were 4 at a Pai Gow poker table in the VIP room of a Casino 
|
|
#
¿
Oct 7, 2010 05:24
|
|
|
DustingDuvet posted:What kind of visa did you get that allowed you to stay that long? first 50 odd days tourist, went to Venezuela for a couple of weeks and got a 90day tourist on re-entry then got a 1 year student visa.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 11, 2010 16:33
|
|
|
^^ I think that's mainly Aussie airports are really anal about that because US / Europe fine them for not having return tickets.Mongolian Squid posted:Have you guys been to Ushuaia? What can you tell me about this "uttermost part of the world?" Tierra del Fuego is ace. I unfortunately went there in an in between season but it was still great. Here are my photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/46348707@N05/sets/72157624018624696/ The first 2 are a view from the most scenic hostel I've ever stayed in. I really wanted to go Husky sledding but was too early in the season. In terms of flights check out Aerolineas Argentinas site. You can't get around the foreign prices but they don't usually go up if you book it later. I booked a flight from BA->Ushuaia for ~$150 and about the same for Ushuaia-Calafete. You really need to fly both ways unless you want to spend painful days on buses. You can usually make a reservation online and go into an AA office which are everywhere and pay in cash. Otherwise LAN chile do the routes too I think.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 14, 2010 09:46
|
|
|
Written wise it's pretty similar to Spanish but even to a intermediate Spanish speaker it's almost loving Russian. I find most Portuguese speakers can understand Spanish, just don't expect to understand their response!
|
|
#
¿
Nov 17, 2010 11:51
|
|
|
Hadlock posted:
Had to do this in Venezuela as not having USD is madness unfortunately. We didn't have any problems but yeah it's not something I would normally do. I'd definitely recommend going to Venezuela just don't bother with Caracas Coro and Merida are fine, safe places and you can do some great safari trips from Merdia which are dirt cheap if you are taking USD.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 13, 2010 02:22
|
|
I don't think I ever carried much more than $500 USD + $200 USD worth of local currency (about a week's worth) on me at any time except in Rio. Being a guy I never really had issues with potentially being mugged but I'd be uncomfortable traveling with that much cash strapped to my person here in the US.
|
are those latter photo Cali or Medellin? Weird to think it was a whole year since I was celebrating NY in Cali on the way to the Feria de Manizales
|
|
#
¿
Dec 22, 2010 01:13
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 29, 2024 04:47 |
|
|
TheImmigrant posted:I hung out at Pitstop quite a few times - know the owner, and dated one of the women who worked there. Parque LLeras (the place with all the restaurants and bars a few blocks away) is the poo poo. Pitstop is where the Irish guy kacked it by the pool one morning, after a very long night. Super nice guy, but so strung out. Pit stop might be the biggest crack den hostel I've ever stayed at They even have a demount-able so last nights party can kick on without scaring today's party too much. Wasn't surprised when I heard old mate died there.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 15, 2015 06:26
|
|