Before going into specific locations and experiences, let’s do a quick run through of Ryan and Inês’s six months in South America.
Preface
It all started with a beautiful wedding party in Lisbon with good friends and family. We also enjoyed a couple weeks of the wonderful life that Portugal has to offer.
We then made our way to California for two more weddings! We started with Mike and Dru’s wedding in Sunol. One week later we were in Medford, Oregon for Scott and Holly’s wedding. Ryan supported Scott as his best man in this wedding!
The next day we recovered from the party during a 12-hour family road trip from Medford, OR to Laguna Niguel, CA. Nothing like waking up at 4:30 AM the morning after a wedding and then sitting in a car for 12 hours!!
Loving our life at my parents’ house in Laguna Niguel, we completed the final preparations for our wedding. With a lot of help from friends and family, it was relatively stress free (Inês may remember this in a slightly different way 😉 ). We would like to give a very special thanks to my mom, Celeste. We couldn’t have done it without the many family members and friends who contributed, but my mom was the most integral part; she was our wedding planner! She kept Inês and I on track. Thank you Mom!
All the preparation culminated in an amazing wedding even better than we had dreamed it could be. In my parents’ beautiful backyard with our amazing friends and family, it was one of the best days of our lives!
Chapter 1: Kitesurfing in the Northeast of Brazil
Now the trip begins! We flew from LAX to São Paulo to Fortaleza in the Northeast of Brazil. We spent one whole month in beach towns here. The main intent was to kitesurf, which we did a lot of, but probably not as much as we (and especially Inês) would have liked. Chapter 1 brought us to these small beach towns:
- Paracuru, Ceará (where Ryan learned to kitesurf!)
- Jericoacoara, Ceará
- Inês’s first time getting sick; fortunately it passed quickly
- Barra Grande, Piauí
- Parnaíba, Piauí (Delta do Parnaíba)
- Tutóia, Maranhão (en route to Atins)
- Atins, Maranhão (Lençois Maranhenses)
- Barra Grande, Piauí (we returned here because we loved the town and the people!)
- Ryan’s first time getting sick; fortunately it was not severe
- Cumbuco, Ceará (one day stop on our way to Fortaleza airport)
The highlight of this part of the trip was definitely Barra Grande. The people were kind and welcoming and the town was safe (not easy to find in these parts of Brazil). We made a few friends here and even went to our first party of the trip, which was coincidentally (and quite humorously) put on by a Swiss expat who had been living in Brazil for more than 20 years. There was great live music, good food and drinks, and the party had a great vibe. With the exception of the language, it felt like going to a party in California.
Chapter 2: The Amazon
Prior to we began our journey, the Amazon jungle was one of the top places on our our list and, although we had some times of discomfort, it did not disappoint. We didn’t think very highly of the cities in the Amazon, but the week we spent in the Amazon jungle was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.
- Belém, Pará
- Five-day local-style boat to Manaus (This was a long trip in less-than-ideal conditions. We slept on hammocks in a room full of other people and the cleaning standards were not high. This was the sickest that Ryan got on our trip, with a fever of 40-41°C)
- Manaus, Amazonas
- Ararinha Jungle Lodge, Careiro, Amazonas (6 days in the Amazon jungle!)
- This was one of the highlights of our trip. Just getting there took a car, a boat, a bus, and another boat. Being surrounded by the jungle was amazing. The amazing sites and sounds never ceased to amaze. We saw caiman, a few snakes, lizards, countless species of birds and fish, two species of dolphin including the pink Amazonian river dolphin, and spider monkeys. At times, the roar from bands of howler monkeys could be heard nearby, but they always kept out of site. The fish were so plentiful that they would constantly be jumping out of the water; one day a fish even jumped into the boat! One day we went fishing and with a net we were able to catch four large fish in 30 minutes. This was one of our favorite meals in Brazil.
- Manaus, Amazonas
- 40-hour fast boat to Tabatinga (after our experience on the five-day boat from Belém to Manaus we splurged on a fast boat that would ensure a shorter and more comfortable trip.)
- Tabatinga, Amazonas
- Tabatinga to Leticia border crossing
- This was our first border crossing of the trip. Tabatinga and Leticia are laid out like a single town and people can freely walk from one side to the other without any problem. The difference between the Columbian side and the Brazilian side were like night and day. The Columbian side was much more developed, cleaner, more organized, and safer at night. It’s amazing how drastically the management and culture of a place affects the feel and the lifestyle.
- Leticia, Colombia
Chapter 3: Colombia
After a month in the Brazilian Amazon, Cartagena felt like being in a new world. We had ocean, slightly more food options, and the comforts of a more developed city. In general, the people were very kind in Colombia and it felt much safer than the Amazon and Northeast of Brazil. In the beautiful hills and mountains of the Zona Cafetera, it seems like anything can grow.
- Cartagena
- When in Cartagena, we spent some time learning more about human-induced climate change and what we can do on an individual level to help. In order to minimize our impact and carbon footprint, we stopped eating red meat (we agreed to limit our meat eating to rare occasions) and decided to minimize flights to times when they were necessary (e.g., to Easter Island or to Asia). For those that know us both, giving up red meat is not something that comes easy, but in the end it hasn’t been that difficult.
- Medellín
- The first big city that we visited so far on our trip. It was a relief to be in a modern city with access to the services that we were accustomed to back home.
- Manizales (Zona Cafetera, coffee region of Columbia)
- Pereira (Zona Cafetera)
- Armenia (Zona Cafetera)
- We spent a week working on a small farm here. It was a great experience, but it did not meet our expectations of a well-run, well-organized farm where we could learn about organic and sustainable agricultural practices. The farm was disorganized and unclean, but the people were wonderful. Unfortunately, Ryan got sick following this experience (this sickness was not as severe as on the boat in the Amazon, but it lasted much longer, 7-10 days).
- San Agustin
- We loved our stay here at a true organic and sustainable farm. The owner, Cecilia was super kind and showed us around her farm, explaining to us how she did things and why it worked. We were treated to fresh duck eggs for breakfast each morning. This was also the first time that we had a small house to ourselves (with a kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom all to ourselves!)
Chapter 4: Four-day bus trip from Armenia, Columbia to Huaraz, Peru
In October we had booked a nice place in Huaraz, Peru to spend Christmas in a comfortable environment. We were supposed to be there on December 22nd, and on December 16th (we were in San Agustin), we realized that it would take four days of buses to make it to Huaraz; needless to say, it was a bit further than we had thought. Once we figured this out, we let Cecilia know that we had leave the farm in two days and start making our way down to Huaraz.
What made this experience even more noteworthy? Ryan was still sick from the Columbian farm that we had worked on. I could barely eat and was requiring regular bathroom access, and now we were getting on buses for four days straight. Sounds fun, right?
- San Agustin to Pitalito (18-Dec-2017)
- Pitalito to Ipiales (18:00, 18-Dec-2017 to 6:00, 19-Dec-2017)
- Ipiales is the border city and as we had heard, you need to take extra care when in a border city. Theft tends to be more common in these places, and we learned the hard way that this is true! This bus was super uncomfortable; the seats did not recline much and the temperature and humidity made it feel like a sauna. At one of the stops around 4:30 AM, we moved towards the front of the bus to a cooler location and Inês’s backpack was left in the overhead luggage storage area (like an airplane). Never leave anything of value in this area on South American buses. The valuables go underneath your chair. When we arrived, an hour and a half later, Inês’s Macbook and iPad were both gone. Great way to start a four-day bus trip…
- Walk across the border from Ipiales, Columbia to Tulcan, Ecuador
- Tulcan to Quito (14:00 to 19:00, 19-Dec-2017)
- Quito to Guayaquil (20:00, 19-Dec-2017 to 4:00, 20-Dec-2017)
- Guayaquil to Tumbes, Peru (7:00, 20-Dec-2017to 13:00, 20-Dec-2017)
- We had an amazing ceviche and seafood dinner here, made even more amazing due to the fact that Inês hadn’t had any good food and Ryan wasn’t able to eat a proper meal for several days.
- Tumbes to Trujillo (19:00, 20-Dec-2017 to 7:00, 21-Dec-2017)
- We were able to spend the whole day in Trujillo and used the time to hire a taxi for the day (9:00-17:00 only cost us the equivalent of $80 USD). We had him take us to a local breakfast spot where we had good tamales, then we went to see the ruins of a city with a large pyramid Huaca del Sol, went out for lunch at an overly-touristy restaurant, tried chicha, the local fermented corn beverage, went to the ruins of an ancient city known as Chan Chan, then went to Huanchaco for the afternoon to walk around and have dinner.
- Trujillo to Huaraz (22:30, 21-Dec-2017 to 5:30, 22-Dec-2017)
Chapter 5: Peru
After four days of buses and four days without sleeping in a bed, we were quite relieved to make it to Huaraz where we were looking forward to a nice B&B-type lodge for five days.
Of all of the places we visited in South America, Peru was probably our favorite. The variety of food and is wonderful, and the people are very kind and welcoming. It’s still different from home, whereas life in Chile and Argentina seem to much more similar to life in the US or Western Europe. The variety and quantity of sites to see are enough to spend a year exploring. Almost all of the world’s habitats are represented in Peru, so there is something for everyone. The nature is beautiful and the ancient ruins are ubiquitous.
- Huaraz
- Lazy Dog Inn for Christmas. This was a treat! Although we didn’t think highly of the owner, the women who prepared our meals and the other guests that we met there were wonderful.
- Lima
- We made friends with a Canadian couple (they work for the Canadian embassy in Lima) over Christmas and ended up staying with them at their home in Lima. We only stayed here for two days because we met with Nuno and Joana to head South.
- Paracas
- Ica
- Arequipa
- Cusco
- Urubamba
- Cusco
- Machu Picchu
- This was another one of the big highlights. We had high expectations going into Machu Picchu and were a bit concerned that our expectations would not be met. We knew that it would be crawling with other tourists, it was very expensive ($65USD for Inês at the student rate 🙂 and $85 for Ryan), and having heard such great things about it we were prepared for a letdown. A letdown is not what we got! The experience of Machu Picchu exceeded our expectations. It was spectacular!! We would recommend Machu Picchu to everyone we know. The impact of this site is amazing; it’s a magical, gorgeous place.
- Cusco
- We really loved Cusco and the surrounding area, so much that we stayed in this area for three weeks. The city had a lot to offer from wonderful markets and a variety of restaurants to hiking and ruins. The best deal of the trip was made here: at $15 USD/day for the two of us, we had a large private room and bathroom in a quiet area (good sleep has not been easy to come by); there was a patio overlooking the city and the surrounding mountains; and there was a fully-stocked shared kitchen. We got along really well with all the people we met here and made a few friends who were also staying there for awhile (Peruvian, Canadian, American, and Australian). The food here was also the best deal as we could eat a healthy lunch (healthy food is not valued in many places that we’ve been until now) at the local market for $2.50 USD/each: a fruit smoothie made of a combination of any of the wide variety of local fruit that they have here, and a veggie and cheese omelette; other times we ate a tasty vegan place for about $3USD/person.
Chapter 6: Bolivia
We had become quite comfortable at our hostel in Cusco, but knew that we had to move on to see all that we wanted to see. We did a quick site-seeing tour of two weeks in Bolivia, which was plenty of time. Our favorite part of Bolivia was the Salar de Uyuni. The markets of La Paz were also cool to see; produce is sold all over the streets here. Sucre was also a comfortable, relatively quiet city that we enjoyed.
- Copacabana
- La Paz
- Sucre
- Uyuni
- Uyuni Salt Flats (Salar de Uyuni), five-day tour from Uyuni to San Pedro de Atacama, Chile.
- This was our favorite part of Bolivia. The salt flats are like nothing we have ever seen. This is the high dessert (much of it more than 4,500 m/14,700 ft in altitude). The lakes, flamingos, rock formations, geysers, llamas, alpacas, and the pure vastness of the landscapes were breathtaking.
- The Eduardo Avaroa National Reserve of Andean Fauna was also included on the Salar tour.
Chapter 7: Chile
Things immediately changed as we entered Chile. This was the first time that we had seen olive oil and balsamic vinegar on a table at a restaurant since we left California. We were able to drink the water from the tap, which also meant that we could eat raw vegetables and fruit! It’s amazing how items that are considered basics at home have become luxuries.
- San Pedro de Atacama
- La Serena
- Valparaíso
- Villarica
- Pucón
- Puerto Varas
- Castro, Chiloé
- Cucao, Chiloé
- Quellón, Chiloé
- Puerto Chacabuco
- Coyhaique
- Villa Cerro Castillo
- Puerto Río Tranquilo
- Chile Chico
- Cross the border into Argentina: As there are no roads that connect from here to further South on the Chilean side of the Andes, we had to cross into Argentina for a couple days on our way South. We really wanted to do the Villa O’Higgins Lake crossing, but the contact we had had a truck that was broken down, so we weren’t able to do this and make it to Puerto Natales in time for our Torres Del Paine trek that we had to book in advance.
- Walk across the border to Los Antiguos, Argentina
- This ended up being a rough border crossing. We were able to get a ride from the hostel to the Chilean border. From here we had to walk to the Argentinian border, which ended up being a 1.5 hour walk in the heat with all of our stuff (2 backpacks each and a bag of food).
- Bus to El Chaltén, Argentina
- Bus to El Calafate, Argentina
- We were able to spend the day in El Calfate. We ate breakfast and walked around to explore. It seems like a nice place, but was clearly built around tourism and was definitely not a cheap place.
- Walk across the border to Los Antiguos, Argentina
- Puerto Natales
- We really enjoyed our stay here, although it was quite expensive. The cheapest room we could find was 40,000 Chilean pesos ($60 USD) per night but at was very comfortable and clean and the guy running the place was very kind.
- Torres del Paine (6-day, 130 km (80 m) trek; the “O”)
- This is one of the most well known treks in the world and we had been looking forward to it for a long time. Setting out on a 130 km trek, we expected it to be difficult, which it was, but not for the reasons that we had anticipated. There wasn’t a lot of climbing, at least not by our standards and although it was long, the distance wasn’t what made it so challenging. The main challenges were the weather and the trail conditions. The weather is quite extreme, with 100+ km/hr winds, rain, hail, snow, and strong sun (the hole in the ozone layer is directly above the park); the trails are not well maintained, so much of the time you are trekking through deep, thick mud. In the end there was one very rough day of hiking for 9.5 hours in the rain and cold, but other than that it was manageable. The scenery was stunning, especially the Southern Patagonian ice field, the third largest piece of ice in the world (Antarctica and Greenland are #1 and #2)!
- Punta Arenas (we just went to the airport so that we could fly to Easter Island)
- Santiago (spent one day here on our way to Easter Island)
- Easter Island
- Two days after the cold rain and harsh weather of Patagonia, we were on a tropical Polynesian island, the most remote habitable island in the world. This was another great experience. The tiny island is beautiful in itself, but what really makes it special are the ruins and the famous statues (moai) left by the Rapa Nui people. We camped directly in front of the ocean and rented bikes for a few days to explore. The island is so small that with bikes and hiking, we were able to explore the entire island without a car. Some highlights were relaxing on the beach, watching the sunrise over the moai at Tongariki, watching the sunset behind the moai at Ahu Tahai, and biking around the entire island.
- Santiago
- We made friends with a few Chileans while on Easter Island and ended up staying at their place in Santiago for a few days. It’s a nice city where we enjoyed the comforts of a city, which included good wine and wonderful seafood!
- Border crossing into Argentina
- We took a bus from Santiago to Mendoza, crossing the Chilean/Argentine border high in the Andes, one of the most beautiful border crossings we’ve seen!
Chapter 8: Argentina
- Mendoza
- After six months of backpacking, we used Inês’s hotel points from our previous lives and stayed in a 5-star Hyatt. The pampering was nice, but staying in a posh place like this feels a little weird now; it feels fake and is lacking authenticity. Anyway, we still enjoyed the cleanliness and top notch facilities at the price of $0. Mendoza is a place to relax and recharge: not much to see, but great wine and great food.
- For the first time in four months since Cartagena, Colombia, we ate red meat! We have always heard that the beef in Argentina is amazing, so we decided that this was a time to eat beef :D. With a great bottle of local Malbec, we shared a wonderful porterhouse cooked to perfection, with a crispy outside and cool, red center!! As they say, distance makes the heart grow fonder.
- Buenos Aires
- An amazing city with a huge variety of great food from all over the world. Again, we used hotel points to help reduce the cost of this relatively expensive city, and enjoyed the city life with good food and wine for a couple of days.
- As we wanted to sample the local cuisine, we ate beef on two more occasions in Buenos Aires, our favorite was the amazing “lomito steak sandwich”, a filet mignon set between two pieces of fresh bread (yes, we also ate wheat!!). This is a can’t miss in Buenos Aires: La Rambla, a traditional local institution.
Chapter 9: Uruguay
- Border crossing into Uruguay
- Our only true water border crossing was Buenos Aires to Montevideo. This Uruguayan-run boat was comfortable, clean, organized, and well-managed; this was our first glimpse of why Uruguay has been called the Switzerland of South America.
- Montevideo
- A small, but comfortable and nice city.
- Punta del Diablo
- We really enjoyed the week that we spent in this beach town in the North of Uruguay. The dirt and sand roads are filled with unique, stylish houses and the people are kind. It was a great place to take it easy for a week. With a cabin to ourselves, it felt like having a home again and we were able to cook all of our meals again!
- Crossing to Brazil
- Punta del Diablo to Chuy, Uruguay to Chuí, Brazil
- We took a bus from Punta Del Diablo to Uruguayan Customs in Chuy, Uruguay. We then hitched a ride across the border to Chuí, Brazil and caught a bus to Porto Alegre, Brazil.
- Punta del Diablo to Chuy, Uruguay to Chuí, Brazil
Chapter 10: South Brazil, our last few days in South America
- Chuí to Porto Alegre to São Paulo
- We completed another multi-day bus tour from Punta Del Diablo to São Paulo. These trips are quite exhausting.
- São Paulo
- From all that we heard about São Paulo being a crowded, busy city with nothing to see, we found it to be a nice city. It’s not a tourist city, but the people are nice, the streets and buildings are nice (in the nice neighborhoods), and there is a wide variety of places to eat and drink. Great way to finish South America!
Part I Complete
We really enjoyed our time in South America. We saw a lot and met a lot of great people. If we did it again, we would have cut the time shorter here as the last month or so did not feel very different from the US or EU, not quite the novel experiences that we were looking for. We suspect that this will change soon!
Part II Begins
Now we are off to the next leg of our trip…Ethiopia!