I don't know why I was waiting for so long to visit this continent. It's the closest to where I live and probably the closest things are the last to be seen. Anyway, better ever than never. This was the most interesting tour so far for two reasons: absolutely stunning and colorful landscapes (mountains, waterfalls, deserts) and variety of activities and adventures. I don't know which country I would chose to be my favorite: Ecuador where I tried ants and worms; hanging out with sea world in Galapagos; the desert and the floating islands of Peru; having the sky under my feet in Bolivia; digging trough the history archive of Chile; drinking the good old wine almost from the tap in Argentina.
On the top of everything, this continent gave me the opportunity to explore the new one and from the end to the world (Ushuaia, Argentina) to go even further to Antarctica, a chance that comes only once in a lifetime. I still feel like swinging on the ship.
Before taking off from Buenos Aires, I couldn't resist to visit Montevideo in Uruguay. It was my last stop in South America, only four hours away from the capital of Argentina. For me, everything is acceptable that takes less than a day of traveling so I embarked first on the ship to get there. It's a economically developed city, considered to be the most safest in South America. Of course it is developed when the previous president gave up 90% of his presidential income in order to feed poor people. I think some presidents and prime ministers should learn from him.
Pretty much, all the capitals look like each other: colonial styled buildings of the downtown are mixed with monotonous architecture of socialism converted into modern shopping malls , houses dispersed on the hills; statue either of Jesus or Virgin Marry is always on sight so there's no need to pray the God to look after you; and aroma of a freshly squeezed orange juice is all over South America.
While visiting the cities I recommend not to take more than two days. With all the beautiful nature and adventures around, cities are just a waisting of time.
As a mean of transportation I used: plane, bus and boat.
To move from one state to another, I recommend bus rather than plane if the trip takes less than a day. Definitively, it is cheaper and there are certain grades of comfort: economy, cama, cama-premium (business class on the plane), served dinner and available movies mostly in Spanish. I moved almost every day or two to another place, often forgetting where I was and where I would wake up. Also, I needed to change the plan sometimes because it was peak of the season and some ticket were sold out.
For a little bit longer trips (23 hours), passengers are treated with a glass of champagne (San Pedro- Santiago). All the agencies are located at the buss station so it's very easy to book the ride or tour. In Puno, (Peru) I just took off the bus and went through the station to find some information. I heard the woman selling the tours to Floating Island where I wanted to go the following day so I took the tour right away and saved one day for another destination. There's no waisting time with me!
People are very polite, service in the restaurants is very good. The tip (propina) is not a mandatory, but waiters wouldn't mind for 10%. Sometimes, it can be included so pay attention to the amount on the check!
In general, cities are not dangerous but there are certain parts where you wouldn't want to find yourself in the middle of the night. In every city I visited, my husband was warned by locals to hide his camera. Strolling around Lima, we ended up in not such a friendly neighborhood and a local was yelling "Peligroso, peligroso! Centro, centro!" and pointing at us to go back to touristic area. We were lucky it was not late at night. Anyway, nobody will take care of your belongings better than yourself so keep it in sight of all times! If you forget something, nobody will bother to turn it back, especially workers at the bus station who didn't want to help me when I forgot my husband's book and bag on the bus. I felt wrong about it so I tried everything to find it and when I almost gave up, the girl who speaks Spanish and who didn't know me at all found me, the book and the bag as well.
I met some locals who offered to show me the city and they are my friends now, so I can recommend hanging out with local people.
If any problem occurs don't give up! Just keep going! It happened to me only once, at Bolivian border where I was forced to pay a hundred dollars for visa even if I have a passport that doesn't need a visa. The immigration officers didn't let me use that one but the different one which I used to enter in Peru. If I had applied in New York, I would have gotten Bolivian visa for free. Even some fake stamps that I payed to Peruvian immigration didn't help me to cross with the passport I wanted to use. I was so mad that I didn't want to go to Bolivia at all, but my husband was so determinant and he didn't want to give up on our plan. I'm grateful for that because I saw some incredible things in Bolivia.
I was mostly accommodated in apartments found through "AirBnB", but that was not my only solution. It is comfortable and clean but often shared with a host or other guests. Sometimes, hotels were cheaper, especially in smaller places like San Pedro... Also, there are always hostels as an option. Just in case, check all the options available on the internet and you can save some money!
At the places with the higher altitudes, the water for shower is not very hot so if your blood is like mine and it doesn't run very fast through your veins, bring a thermophore to warm you or check available blankets before booking the accommodation! Maybe, I'm getting too spoiled!
Street merchants don't bother tourists to by from them what was very important for me. It can be annoying and tiring sometimes. That is not the reason I didn't buy any souvenirs for my friends. I'm sorry, but I don't have enough space and enough nerves to carry them all around the world.
English is spoken here but not very well. I would suggest learning few basic words of Spanish and the longer I stayed the better it became. Most people are not fluent in English even if say they are. It happened that I get bilingual guide who lectures twenty minutes in Spanish and then translates only a few sentences in English. They've learned what they need to say in English by heart and when I asked them something they just nodded even if it's not "yes-no question". Sometimes, it was mentioned in advance that the guide doesn't speak English so I would just consult Wikipedia.
I didn't feel much like tourist there.
All in all, if you chose to visit any country in South America, you won't regret! I had a wonderful time but it's time to move on. Do not hesitate to travel and see you soon!!!
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