South America Snapshot

Like all good things our time in South America must come to an end. After five fantastic months which have seen us gain 28 passport stamps (and nearly lose them), undertake 12 border crossings and visit seven different countries it is time to say 'Adios' and 'Hasta Luego'.

We have hiked the Andean spine, the highs of the Peruvian altiplano in Machu Picchu, suffered the Patagonian winds of Chiles Torres Del Paine, and seen the snowcapped mountains and sunny skies of El Chalten in Argentina. Sunned ourselves on the Atlantic Coast from Brazil to Uruguay, visited the worlds largest high altitude lake, and stayed at the highest city in the world. But you've heard all about that.... So we thought we'd instead break out the bullet points and list our Top 5 Likes and Dislikes from our time in South America (in no particular order)...

Top 5 Likes
@ The variety of the landscape.
If there's one phrase that resounded heavily it was 'it's a completely different landscape here'. From coloured lagunas and salt deserts to rainforest and Iguazu the landscape was an ever changing variant.

@ The friendliness and helpfulness of the locals. From bus directions in the remote wilderness of Paraguay to inviting us to their late fathers remembrance celebrations, the overwhelming kindness shown by the large majority of the local population helped make everything easier. Just wish we could of understood them sometimes.

@ The diversity of foods. Raw sea food and alpaca steaks in Peru, rice & potatoes with everything in Bolivia, Urugyuan Asado's, Argentinian steaks and Chilean seafood. We didn't have the budget to eat out much but when we did we were never let down.

@ Social activities. This can be summed up well by watching a group of Uruguyans sharing a Yerba Maté, or seeing the day long BBQs that exist for families in Paraguay every Sunday. Porteños in Buenos Aires will go out at 11pm and return home at 6am, but not need to be rolled out the gutter on the way home, barring the odd over indulgence in Fernet and Coke.

@ Long Distance Buses. With the exception of one flight down to Patagonia we travelled all of the above by bus, over 8,000km, therefore they deserve a special mention. With comfy seats that recline 160° in cama class, onboard food and even films they provide the most realistic form of travel for a backpacker in South America. You also get some incredible views whilst twiddling your thumbs on a seven hour bus ride.

There are too many things to like about South America, but with limited thought those are our top five 'things'. And so the dislikes (again in no particular order)....

@ Currency Issues. Paraguay you can make yourself a millionaire in one withdrawal from an ATM, a can of coke costs over 4,000 Guarani. In Argentina coins are so rare they are worth more than the notes, instead of change you get offered a boiled sweet. In Chile they have a 1 peso coin. 1 Peso equals £0.0013. You would need eight of these just to get a penny sweet.

@ Plumbing. Toilet paper can't go in the toilet, but must go in an open bin next to the toilet. Not cool when you're sharing a bathroom with twenty other people.

@ Long Distance Buses. Yes they are a like, but we did over 8,000km on buses... overnight buses, border cross buses, overnight with a border cross buses. Up the mountain, down the mountain, four hours on a gravel road driving next to the yet to be opened tarmac road. One thing we've learnt is never try to second guess the temperature, it will always be the opposite of what you think, ie stupidly hot or ridiculously cold, or more often than not pinballing between the two. Films often seem to be shown in a bus special green and black footage, and the audio is often inaudible or comparable to a death mettle concert.

@ Wild Dogs. They are everywhere in South America. Some aren't even wild there owners just keep them on the street with no collars, makes sense huh. They are usually relatively friendly and docile however you never know quite what type of rabies is on offer.

@ Not being able to communicate properly with the locals. This is not a dislike of South America but more a criticism of ourselves, we learnt enough Spanish to get by, but not enough to reach conversational level. It would have been great to get a better understanding of an individuals way of like through speech, however our lack of understanding was a barrier at times, but this certainly didn't stop them wanting to talk with us and vice versa.

So there you have it, our top likes and dislikes from five fantastic months in South America.