Need Help Planning My South America Trip

Zuzu- thank you for your post.

I will make a couple copies of my passports – I didn’t think of that. So I should keep the real passport back at the hostel?
I do not have my MP tour booked – I plan on doing it by myself without an agency, sorry if I led you to believe I did. I don’t need to buy a phone because I unlocked mine, I just need to insert a foreign sim card.
I was planning on bringing a travel pillow, mosquito nets and things like that from home. Because I figure it would save me the hassle. Would this be too much stuff to pack? I’m guessing the pillow would take up too much space. As for the repellant, I’m told by many people that they couldn’t find 30+% DEET repellant in South America.

Do you mean drink coca tea for altitude sickness when I get to Lima? I will land in Lima first. Or do you mean Cusco because Cusco has a much higher elevation than Lima?

Hkwoody – you’re right I am. I’m sure I will enjoy the trip once I arrive there though. To my credit, some of the things that I am listing is not because of worry, but because I want to get the best deal possible and not have to overspend and pay a premium because I did not plan ahead of time. Also I simply want to have my thoughts straight and written down. Thanks for the reference!
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Ben and Clare - Thank you for the tips - I know I will relax and have fun once I am there!

PANTANAL UPDATE:

This portion of the trip seems very expensive – especially if I want to stay over a week.

Agency:

BrazilNatureTours: $1167 4D/3N north - transpantaneira

PantanalNatureTour: 1200$ 6D/5N - terrain : north – transpantaneira road (via car) + boat trip in porto jofre

JaguarEcologicalReserve – 250$ per day north – transpantaneira road (via truck) + boat trip in porto jofre

PantanalExpeditions – 350$ per day terrain: not sure yet

PantanalTrackers: 3100$ 8D/7N terrain : north – transpantaneira

FocusTours: 4000+ (too expensive) 5D/4N

Caiman: 4500+ 4D/3N (too expensive)

Dehouche: 5500+ (too expensive)

From this list – in my opinion, the obvious choice would by the second one, PantanalNatureTours – it seems that it is the most bang for the buck. I may very well do that unless someone has a better suggestion?

There is one alternative – I have been in communication with Douglas Trent, who I believe is the owner of Focus Tours – I told him that I cannot afford his tours but he offered me an alternative.

He says that if I can commit to staying for at least 2.5 weeks – he can arrange a volunteer position at one of the lodges (http://www.pousadacantoarancua.com.br/) this ranch is only a few KM from the road (I think he means the Transpanteneira road) – during this volunteering – I would give English classes and also help with anything else, including taking care of tourists. I wouldn’t clean since they have maids already, but I would help “clear trails, maybe paint some rooms, who knows. You could put up English signs in the rooms about meal times, etc.”

So I don’t think it would be too bad. He would charge me 75$ for the costs he incurs in time and phone calls to set it up, which makes sense.

This sounds like a great experience - and if I had more time in my schedule, I would not hesitate to do it. I asked him if I’ll be able to see wildlife while I am volunteering and he said that I’ll be able to explore the large ranch and see its wildlife, but unless I have a car it will be hard to get out and explore other areas – there are jaguars in the vicinity but I would need to be fairly luck to spot one. I would need to get out and look for them. He said that he could also reserve several hotels for me and a rental car and I could spend my time traveling the Transpantaniera looking for wildlife. The hotels would cost about $150 including the meals – and he would charge me $250 for setting all this up. This seems like a good deal compared to the other tour agencies, but I’m going to ask for an itinerary if there is any.

So basically he is proposing “either you do a volunteer stint, spending very little money, OR, don't, and instead spend your money on a rental car and stay in a few different lodges.”

My dilemma is this: do I commit 2.5 weeks in doing the volunteering and pay very little – do some work, gain some experience interacting with the ranch and teaching them English. However, I would probably not see any jaguars, nor many other wildlife, which is one of the main reasons I am coming in the first place. Plus, I think 2.5 weeks is too long, it’s basically half my trip. I think if he agrees to bring it down to 2 weeks I can consider it more seriously. Right now, I think I would rather do the 150$ a day that he has offered or the $1200 PantanalNature tour – what do you guys think I should do?
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Hi Kenny!

I also think, that you worry little too much. But on the other hand, I understand, it will be your big trip and you want to be prepared! Thumbs up for that.

Now I have never been traveling over South America, but I know a lot of our users have been traveling there. In fact, Stevie is right now traveling the South America: his journey is prety spectaculous and I think, you might enjoy reading his blog. http://steviep.ontheroad.to/americas. He was sailing over from the Grand Canaria to Venezuela and is now in Buenos Aires. You can even comment on his blog, or ask him specific questions about certain places. I bet he will be happy to answer them.

Just to continue on the conversation about laptop: I know Stevie was wondering the same think and decided not to take his laptop with him. Instead he bought the iPhone and downloaded all the important iPhone apps. (I can talk about good iPhone travel apps for hours, just ask. :-)) The question is, where he stores all his pictures. I know he has some of them on the blog, but he might be using the portable storage as well. If you haven't tried Picasa or similar online storage, consider that. I use Picasa all the time and I love it!

As you were concerned about the internet connection - according to what Stevie mentioned, there is always WI-FI in the hostels/hotels and at least one computer, you can use to call over the Skype. Surely, with the iPhone, you can just catch the WI-FI and call over Skype directly from the phone. And it works really well!

Hope I was able to help at least a little.

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Hi Kathie
Yes take your own padlock. For peace of mind make sure it's a sturdy one, but not too big otherwise the shackle won't fit through the holes in the bit on the locker. The one we used had a 5mm thick shackle which was just about right.
Cheers
Martin Reply to this

Hi, for Cusco, Peru i would recommend you www.amaruhostal.com, it was a very good hostel close to the main square and pretty

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Hello, I am new here and tried posting my question on the South America thread, but it's saying it's a private forum, so I apologize ahead of time for posting in this thread.

My question: I will be traveling from Houston to Lima, Peru mid-June and will be traveling for 10 weeks through Bolivia, Argentina and maybe Brazil. Should I book my flight back to Houston from Lima or from Rio de Janeiro? Maybe even out of Buenos Aires? The flight out of Rio or BA is only $100-$150 more than a roundtrip in and out of Lima.

Possible routes? Peru>Bolivia>Argentina>Brazil>Houston or Peru>Bolivia>Argentina>Houston or Peru>Bolivia>Argentina>Brazil>Peru or Peru>Bolivia>Argentina>Peru or Peru>Bolivia>Peru

I will be on a relatively small budget as I'm covering myself and my brother. It's his first time backpacking and he'll only be there for the first 2 weeks, but this affects my plans after he's gone in terms of finances. Is it cheaper to use buses/trains back to Peru or more expensive? Is it worth it paying for a visa to Brazil or should I just plan a different trip at a different time to Brazil?

Thanks so much in advance. Reply to this

.We are 2 photographers who had the best job of the world in South America 😊) We had to travel around and take pictures of hostels in Argentina, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay and Chile for CheLagarto Hostels. (www.chelagarto.com)
We were payed by 2 months of food and accommodation per person. All together we have the chance to stay in any of these hostels as long as we want with breakfast and dinner included.

Our problem is that we must go back to Hungary to our family and this is why we can not use this chance at all.
If we had to start a new life these places would be definitely the best since they are all in a very good location and climate (from glaciers to tropical beaches there is everything 😊
If anybody is interested to get this opportunity we are ready to pass it on to one or max. of two
persons for 65-70% of its real value. Reply to this