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Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador - Are they worth it? |
 Posted: Tue Sep 8, 2009 9:07 am |
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| Helloooo
Im arriving in SA early next year. Im flying into Lima and out of Rio. The original plan was to take 4 mths doing this but have managed to save some extra spends and have been thinking of extending my travels by a couple of mths and heading up to check out Ven, Col and Ecu. Since booking my flights I have only heard good things of Colombia - of the other 2 im not to sure, are they worth it? Any thoughts? Jonny |
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| Back to top | Location: Unknown | 51 Posts |
| Posted: Tue Sep 8, 2009 9:16 am |
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| Ecuador is a brilliant country, mate. The coastal resort of Canoa was one of my favourite places on my travels, purely for how chilled out it was. Banos and Manta are also pretty cool.
Colombia gets mixed reviews, but most people on here seriously rate it. Venezuela I've never been to, but it's worth a visit once you're out of Caracas, apparently. |
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| Back to top | Location: Unknown | 5217 Posts |
| Posted: Tue Sep 8, 2009 9:24 am |
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| My advice is don't try and go to too many places. Four months is a fair amount of time but it will fly by, and if you end up spending all your time on buses just getting to places, without any time to just enjoy them, you might regret it. Our expeditions are nearly 2 months long, and we only cover about half of Peru, half of Bolivia and a tiny part of Chile, and that's going non stop more or less.
Give yourself an excuse to go back to South America, leave some of it for another visit! Have fun. |
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| Back to top | Location: Unknown | 36 Posts |
| Posted: Tue Sep 8, 2009 9:35 am |
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| I completely disagree.
You've said you're planning on extending your 4 month trip by a few months, and if I was spending 7 months in South America, I'd want to go pretty much everywhere, see bits of everything, and get a feel for all the different cultures, climates, etc. Then you'll know where you want to go back to and spend more time in next time you're there! I posted this route idea a couple of months ago, and as you can see, it takes in a LOT of the continent. Obviously it's true that you will be spending a lot of time on buses, but so what? They're cheap, often run overnight which saves you a night in a hotel/hostel, and they're comfortable. You'll also meet other backpackers on them. Some of my best nights in South America were, randomly, spent on coaches! "Hey, Firstly, despite what some people will tell you, 6 months is enough to do this. Granted you won't be seeing everywhere as 'in depth' as you would if you had a year, but it's totally do-able. I personally wouldn't start in Argentina though. I'd fly into Quito (well, Bogota actually, but you've said you're unsure about Colombia) and work down. Then my route would go something along the lines of: Quito - Banos - Puyo - Riobamba - Canoa - Guayaquil Galapagos Guayaquil Guayaquil - Lima (some people will say to head to Iquitos, which is your choice, but I'm happy enough doing my jungle stuff in Bolivia). Lima - Nazca (Nazca lines) - Cusco (Inca Trail). See this guide. Cusco - La Paz. See Bolivia Guide for route details. Once at Lake Titicaca, head out of Puno to Arequipa, and then on to Chile. Arequipa - Antacama Desert (Just pick a town) Desert - Santiago - Conception - Puerto Natales (Extreme South), for the Torres Del Paine National Park. Puerto Natales - El Carafate, for the Argentinian glaciers. From there, probably up to Bariloche, then Santa Rosa and Buenos Aires. From here, get the ferry over to Uruguay (Colonia and Montevideo) and then head out up to Foz D'Iguazu to see the falls. Hey presto, you're in Brazil. Simple as that! " |
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| Back to top | Location: Unknown | 5217 Posts |
| Posted: Tue Sep 8, 2009 10:53 am |
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| interesting stuff, i'm thinking about ecuador and colombia myself. from santiago i'm travelling up through argentina-brazil-bolivia-peru, to fly out of lima say 2.5 months later. if i've got any money left after the inca trail, i might put my flight home back and go up into ecuador and colombia, so it's good to hear your thoughts about them here... | |
| Back to top | Location: Unknown | 135 Posts |
| Posted: Tue Sep 8, 2009 11:05 am |
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| Warrick!!! Cheers for all that mate! Ven, Col, and Ecu it is!!! Just another quick one... I know its asked all the time and I know it depends on what I do, but what sort of spends do you think are about right for 6 mths in SA. Plan to arrive in SA with 6k for the 6 mths with the inca trail already paid for. Im hoping it will be more than enough but I thought it be better to over budget! Plus I know how rubbish I am at saying 'NO' to a few beers! | |
| Back to top | Location: Unknown | 51 Posts |
| Posted: Tue Sep 8, 2009 12:48 pm |
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| Obviously it's a bit of a 'how long is a piece of string' question, but 6k should be enough to live pretty comfortably. You can generally live on about £500 a month in places like Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, and just allow a little bit more for places like Rio, Argentina, Santiago, etc. | |
| Back to top | Location: Unknown | 5217 Posts |
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