I'll cut right to the chase: I'm gonna be in South America for 7 months for my gap year, I leave at the end of January 2006, and I've got one hell of a plan that takes me till the end of April. I have a contact that can get me some work in Cuzco for a while, but from maybe mid-June I'm going to head off to other places. I'll already have been in Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador and Peru, and I'm pretty sure I want to fly home from Rio. I've got 3 months to fill, so it'd be great to talk to anyone who's done something they've loved, or has any ideas for things I could do

Cheers, peace.

If you get a chance, check out Iguazu Falls at the Argentina/Brasil border.
I had a nice time in Rio Grande du Sol in Southern Brasil, also. Nice scenery, interesting towns with a European flavor because of German and Italian immigrants. If you are there in Winter (July), you might even get some snow!
Buon viaggio!

Hi Fip -
You might enjoy reading Rar's blog of his three month trip ongoing in South America. Click HERE for the link. Yesterday he posted about Day 53 of his travels... heading to Bolivia.

Fip, what an adventure. Have you been to South America before? You might find my reports on Peru and Ecuador worth checking out--or at least looking at he pictures of some of what you will see. Of course, you will be seeing much more than we have with 7 months to spend there. Curious--why South America? Anyway, go to Travel Journals to see if it is helpful to you.

I've never been before, no, so it's a whole new kind of place I think South Am because no-one I know has ever been to the jungle, and after 3 weeks in a Spanish school I'm spending a while living in it, working in an animal sanctuary, so my friends are a little jealous Plus it means I pick up another language, which is good for uni applications.

This is the link to the programme I'm doing, just in case you're interested: The sanctuary
The expedition

Thanks for the links - I'll take a look

Fip, we were at a sanctuary in the Ecuadoria Rain Forest. This was a place where animals confiscated from poachers trying to sell them and injured animals were taken. You will see a couple of pictures taken here on the Ecuador Rain Forest pages of my site. One is of Casey, grandson, petting a monkey. There were some volunteers there from Sweden--probably the same program as yours.

The southern cone of SA (Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Chile) has such varied places in terms of things to see and do (deserts, volcanoes, jungle, pantanal, pampas, lakes, mountains, hiking, skiing, rafting, climbing.. not to mention great cities) that I think the question is, why arent more people coming here.

Jane - I'm not sure if it is the same place, or programme, but it definitely sounds similar. the pictures of Machu Picchu look great - and I imagine it's even better in real life (especially after walking the trail). Since you live in the States I guess you'll have no idea if you can buy the cocoa tea you mentined in England... but can you buy it in the States? Or is it easy to get hold of in South Am? It sounds useful...

Rar - For the first 3 weeks I'm in a group of about 16 people, all Gappers, but after that I'm on my own. Have you been up to the Amazon river? Also, have you done any lying around on any good beaches? I know it's realy touristy, but they're good for a couple of days R&R...

Fip, the tea is something that the hotels serve you when you check in--it isn't something you provide. Maybe you can buy it in SA--but, I am not sure. Actually, it was only in Peru that we were served it at the very high altitudes. We did not have it in Ecuador. Your trip sounds very wonderful!! Wish I had done such things when I was much, much younger.

I'm incredibly geared up towards this trip, it's why I'm taking a gap year most of my friends aren't, and they're really missing out - I don't suppose they'll ever get another chance to take so much time out to travel until they retire. And I finally got a job to pay for it all.... lol!

I asked about the tea in my favourite tea shop, and they'd never heard of it, so I guess I'll just keep an eye out when I'm there - You can buy it over the net but I don't think I need to go to those lengths.

Hey Fip,

hope you're well. good to read about your trip. I'm involved with quest as well, think your trip will be great.

tiptoe

I havent done either, but this is what I know. Ecuador has some great beaches, as obviously does Brazil. The north of Brazil and Ecuador are yearround beaches, whereas the ones at Rio and Punta del Este (Uruguay, famous) are spring-summer only. As far as Amazon trips, most people go Belem to Manaus, but you can also go the other way, from Iquitos in Peru down to Manaus or all the way to the Atlantic. But I have heard that after a couple days it gets pretty boring, since the river is extremely wide (no animal watching basically) and you are stuck on a boat.

tiptoe - what are you gonna be doing in South Am? How long are you there for? It looks like you travel a lot

Rar - in that case I may not spend a lot of time at the Amazon. Thank for the advice about beaches though, I'll check some of those out. Sorry to keep pestering you, but i keep thinking of new questions.. I guess it's better to try and arrange an itinerary so you can sort accomodation before you head off, right? But there are always places you can just turn up at?

In my opinion, itinerizing is a waste of time because with as long as you have, there is no way you will stick to one (nor do you want to). You will meet people on the way who you click with and head off to new destinations, or hear about cool places and change your mind about where to go, or simply decide you want snow and not beach or vice versa. It's best to simply know a lot about the areas you will be travelling to, so you can cruise anywhere the wind decides to blow for you. Leave the itinerizing for when you are on the road. Accomodations are simple to arrange the day of, for 95% of places you visit.