Hi, Im planning a 5 week trip to South America this summer from July to the end of August.! I know its short but I teach and its the school holidays and thats all i have 😞
For some of my trip i will be alone but hoping to meet a friend out there.
I definately want to do the Amazon, Machu Picchu and the Galapogas for at least a week... what MUST i do? and how shall i go about it? does anyone have any first hand experience, im lost on what and how to do it...
Muchly appreciated
Jess x
Reply to this If you have 5 weeks I'd stick to Peru and Ecuador. I cannot comment on Ecuador only that it's where you can get to the Galapogas from.
Peru on the other hand has Machu Picchu and Amazon jungle(I think) plus numerous other things. Get a good guide book on South America and then check out peoples blogs on here. I dont know where your from so I cannot comment on how to get there. Once you are there transport is easy and readily available.
Reply to this Thank you, Im from london and i think im gonna narrrow it down to Rio for a few days and then travel West through the amazon to Bolivia and Peru then hop to Ecuador to get to the Galapagos... Im hoping this will work and ill get to have a little taste of South America!
Reply to this Have you done anything like this before? I thought it all seemed quite daunting before we left, but once you get out there things just fall into place and it's really easy to get around. I would just make a loose plan based on places you read about before you go - I spent ages reading blogs on here and gettng ideas. Then when you get out, be prepared to cut bits out depending on time or if you find you really like somewhere and want to spend more time there.
In Bolivia, I'd recomment the Death Road (from La Paz), Rurrenabaque (fly from La Paz and do a 3 day pampas tour - amazing and very cheap!), and the Salt Flats.
If you fancy some beach time, head to Mancora in Peru - they have sun 350 days of the year and it's a fun little place. Then there's also Macchu Picchu, Cusco, Colca Canyon, and we had a good time in Lima, but if you're on a tight schedule it could easily be chopped. We used a bus company called Cruz del Sur in Peru and there were very reliable and quick.
We had lots of fun in Quito and stayed in a fantastic hostel called 'The Secret Garden'.
We've got a blog and there's lots of info in there.
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