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A month in South America

Its been over an year since I got back for my sabbatical trip to South America (Argentina, Chile, Peru ,Bolivia and half a day in Brazil). Its been slow progress but I’ve finally completed the final blog post of that trip.

Return circuit: Buenos Aires finale

Wrapping up the trip

Return circuit: Buenos Aires

Last stop

Return circuit: Santiago

A tight flight

Return Circuit: Lima

Route home

Macchu Picchu

Rush to the mountain

Train ride to Machu Picchu

Ollantaytambo

Around Cuzco

An Early Start

The following morning started early with the typical continental breakfast seen at the other hotels consisting of eggs hams etc. The only notable exception being the local flat bread, Pan.

Altiplano: Cuzco City

1st Day in the Inca Capital

Altiplano: road to Cuzco

The plan

The original plan was to take a bus to Cuzco via the fabled Lake Titicaca.

Altiplano: La Paz

The Path to Macchu Picchu

Altiplano: Salar de Uyuni

Original plan

Altiplano: Atacama to Uyuni

After we picked up our bags from the hotel front desk (The manager and one and only staff member wasn’t around) we waited in the pitch dark for the shuttle to Calama airport. It arrived relatively on time much to my joy given my loss of contact with the man who arranged it. The shuttle driver then informed us that the shuttle was for Calama city and not the airport, which made our travel that night a lot easier.

Altiplaino day 2: The Moon Valley

Lazy start to the day

Altiplaino Day 1 : The Atacama

The Altiplaino

Salta: Gateway to the Altiplaino

From the tundra to the desert

Patagonian tundra day 3: El Chalten hike

Choices

Patagonian tundra day 2: The Glacier

Getting there

South America : Patagonian Musuem

I didn’t originally consider this site a must-see of Bariloche but as it was conviently located in the Civic Centre and I had some time to spare so I thought :

Patagonian tundra: part I

Getting there

South America : Patagonian Lake District Part IV

Cerro campaniro

I had one more day to spend in bariloche before proceeding onto el calafete. I had considered the longer haul options during my planning phase of the trip. But the town of Neuquén was a few hours away by bus and I wasn’t feeling the urge to travel so far out to checkout some dinosaur bones.

South America: Argentine cuisine

I had decided to eat dinner at a restaurant in town (one which accepted credit cards), I decided on a German bistro called “La Alpine”. The exterior and interior looked Germanic-ally authentic and I hoped that the food wouldn’t disappoint. This was first proper meal of the trip (as opposed to the café snacks and biscuits of past 2 days).

South America : Patagonian Lake District Part III

Llao llao peninsula hikes

South America : Patagonian Lake District Part II

My Plan for the next few days in Bariloche were centred around hiking in the great woods of this region.

South America : Patagonian Lake District Part I

Bariloche: Argentina’s Lake district

South America: Budgeting

Original budget plan

As mentioned in my 1st post , I attempted to lower the money I’d need to carry with me on the trip by pre-booking almost all the hotels & internal flights for the month of travel. This meant a fairly detailed (and some might find constricting) travel itinerary. But every $100 I paid upfront meant less cash I’d need to protect and insure against on my travels. High Crime levels in some of the countries I’d be visiting provided most of the motivation to do this.

South America : Iguazu Falls Day 2

Argentina’s side of the falls

South America : Iguazu Falls Day 1

The flight from Buenos Aires to the Northern rainforests of the Misiones province look less than 2 hours and was uneventful.

South America Day 1 : A rushed transit

After 19 hours on the plane from Dubai to Buenos Aires and the short 2 hour stop in Dubai just gave enough time to take a quick shower and change of clothes, I was looking forward to getting out of the cramped seats and lying down on a bed.

South American Sojourn: the plan

Before embarking on my South American trip (more on the reasons why South America in another post), I had to plan my entry into the continent.