I am gonna do a 17 week-long trip in south america, from 17 of january till 15 of may with kinda the same route as Adam did. I will start in brasil, stay there till the carneval (mid of February), then paraguay, uruguay, argentina, chile, bolivia, peru, and then back to brasil…:))

Anybody who is gonna spend some time over there and looking for company?:)) I am gonna go alone with my bagpack meeting some friends, spending some time with friends of friends, crashing on couches wit couchsurfing.org, but I would share some beer and traveltime with fellow travellers:) My email is p.judit89@gmail.com I am a 22year-old hungarian girl, currently taking a gap year, travelling in europe, currently living in barcelona, and planning the trip of her life:))

Salvador used to be my favorite city in Brazil, but after Aracajú, it seemed filthy (both streets and beaches), full of graffiti & horrible traffic jams, and was a little frightening. Everyone warned me about being careful, especially in crowds or on buses. But it does offer much to do. I especially enjoyed the Afro-Brazilian museum and the main art museum (Rua Sete de Setembro.) The Mercado Modelo is the place to shop. You can find anything there that you find in small shops, but for less, and by checking everything before buying, can find a range of prices on the same items within (or outside of) the market.

Manaus reminded me a lot of Salvador, although the sidewalks are more crowded (with vendors) and in August temperatures reached 108F. (I ended up spending an entire day in A/C hotel room drinking water and Gatorade to replenish fluids.) A trip to the meeting of the waters (wide price range depending on length of the trip and the type of boat) which included a wonderful buffet lunch on a floating restaurant, was well-worth the cost (about $65 on a small boat.) The opera house is also interesting with tours offered in Portuguese or English. A friend in Manaus drove me to the grounds of a luxury hotel where we observed sunset on the Rio Negro —stunning.

I already wrote in detail about Iguaçu on another comment. I would highly recommend visiting both the Brazilian and Argentinean sides of the falls and don’t miss the bird park, about a 2-minute walk from the entrance on the Brazil side.

From Iguaçu, I went on to Rio where I visited another friend. I arrived at the wrong time because the tram to Santa Teresa had derailed (injuring many and killing several), museum workers had gone on strike closing most museums, and the one thing I really wanted to do, hang-glide from one of the mountains to the beach, was impossible because winds were blowing in the wrong direction or too strong or not strong enough during the 4 days I was in Rio. But I did catch the new contemporary art museum in Niteroi (the building by Oscar Niemeyer is more impressive than the art.) The best place I visited was the Botanical Garden. It is a lovely spot to stroll, take photos, & relax on a bench. It would probably take a few days to see it all, but several hours will present you with hundreds of exotic plants and flowers. For first-time visitor, Corcovado and Pão de Açucar are must-sees, but I had visited them numerous times 1967-69, so skipped them this time.

Let me add just comments about food. Most cities in Brazil now offer “per quilo” restaurants where one is presented with a buffet and one pays by the kilo (1 kilo=about 2.2 lb.) The prices range from about $10/kilo to $30 —depending on the number of dishes offered, the city and neighborhood, etc. Beverages are usually additional. Since I never eat even close to a kilo of food, I paid as little as $4 for a meal. In most cases, this is the most economical way to eat on a budget —and most places offer local dishes, so one can try a variety of foods. Most of the “per-quilo” places seemed to cater to working people so many of them closed at 3pm.

In Brazil, most hotels include breakfast in the cost. The Iguaçu hotel offered the best food and many choices. The worst was a hostel in Salvador —fruit, bread, cous-cous, and coffee —sufficient, but I really need some protein in the morning, so I purchased yogurt or cheese which I stored in a communal refrigerator. Every hostel or hotel I stayed at had a grocery store close-by, so I usually ate a big meal for lunch and bought something to eat in my room in the evening. (Besides communal refrigerators at hostels, other hotels had small refrigerators in the rooms.) I also purchased large bottles of water to refill the one I carried with me, and snacks (tangerines & peanuts, for example) to take with me each day. Occasionally, I ate my snacks instead of lunch and then ate dinner at a restaurant. My hotel in Foz do Iguaçu offered a lovely dinner buffet (all you can eat) for $10.50.

And, definitely you want to sample the wonderful variety of exotic flavors of Brazilian ice cream (sorvete): mango, pineapple, passion fruit, papaya, tapioca, açaí, rum-raisin, lime, plum, avocado, pecan crunch, doce de leite (flan) —hundreds of flavors, but not all offered in the same location. My favorites were coconut and coffee-chocolate-rum. I made a point os trying one scoop each day for an afternoon snack and only wish I could have stayed in Brazil long enough to try them all.

Just wondering how much the whole thing cost you if you dont mind me asking/
im planning on going for 6 months and including chile on a similar route, maybe colombia but depends on time dont want to rush every thing.

Cheers

Ben

I am planning a trip to South America right now. I cannot wait! I am planning to go right after new years, Jan 2012 and come back mid to late March. I am planning to visit family in Bolivia and friends in Argentina and Brazil.

Do you think 2 months for those 3 countries is not enough time? Did you use an air pass or round the world ticket for cheap flights, or did you plan it all yourself? How were the buses? I’m a little nervous because it is just me and another girl. I’m planning to be in Rio for carnaval in February, can’t wait!!!

Thanks Nic

I am planning a 2-3month trip of South and Central America over the December2011-Jan/Feb 2012. I was hoping to cover the following:
Mexico – chitzu itza – cancun
Belize – the blue hole thing – maybe an island
some of costa rica – honduras – nicuragua – panama (not sure what attractions i should check out here)
Peru – machu pichu
Chile – easter island
Argentina – Buenos Airies – the waterfalls between there and paraguay and brazil
Brazil – Rio (hopefully here for new years eve celebrations or get here for the carnival in Jan-Feb??) – christ the redeemer
Any other sights I should check out?
Any idea what route I take? and best way to utilise my small amount of time??