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December 21, 2005

Our Journey so Far

The sheer size of South America and its contrasting scenery makes for an infinite amount of adventures and although we have seen and done so much, it feels like we have just barely scratched the surface. Each country we visited presented new and unique experiences, constantly pushing our limits and comfort levels.

What a view!

Ecuador was our first stop on the continent and gave us an introduction to our new lives as world travelers. Beaches, jungle, and mountains are all within a days bus ride from each other, encapsulating much of what South America has to offer in a small area. We were amazed at the Ecuadorian landscape that seemed to change at every winding corner the reckless bus driver would take. The towering Andes were rich with vegetation and farmers took advantage of the lush green land no matter how steep the slope. The buses are the best and worst part of Ecuador and what we remember most. At any given time you can go within two blocks of the bus terminal and see a mass of buses each with a man hanging out of the door screaming their destination repeatedly and at a moments notice would stuff your bag in a convenient spot and usher you onto the bus. Ecuadorian bus drivers would never turn down a passenger and the crammed aisles made it difficult, but not impossible, for all the vendors to negotiate their way through the crowd selling meat on a stick, fresh fruit or music CDs. Sometimes you would find yourself sitting next to a bag stuffed with live chickens and other times you would find a cute but filthy baby swung into your face as his mother turned and shifted the colorful blanket tied to her back stuffed with fruit, wares, baby, and who knows what else. While the buses of other countries limit the amount of passengers and offer a bit more security, we miss the entertainment that Ecuadorian buses provide.

Back a bit more...

The fabulous Pre-Inca and Inca ruins preserved in the dry deserts and lush mountaintops are what became the most memorable for us in Peru. We arrived in from the north where tourism is not as developed as the south, which meant cheaper accommodation and less people. We often found ourselves to be the only ones in a hostel and after a while we craved the company of other travelers. The south of Peru is much more geared towards tourism and while we were able to satisfy our need for company here, we also were inundated with people waving menus in our faces, vendors following us with finger puppets and traditionally dressed children touting undernourished lambs to capitalize on the tourist want of photo opportunities. Despite these occasional annoyances, Peru is a great country to travel. We were given a glimpse into its rich history by means of the world class Museum of Sipan, the incredible ruins of Machu Pichu, and the local indigenous people seen throughout the country. Travel in Peru can mean long hours on the bus, and in Huaraz we were able to relax for days longer than we planned, all to the backdrop of the stunning Cordillera Blanca.

Sometimes knowing nothing about a place can be the best way to enter a new country, because without any preconceived ideas, you are fully able to appreciate it. Bolivia was the most rewarding to travel through. It isn’t nearly as developed for tourism as the previous two countries and presented numerous opportunities. Walking among steaming geysers and bubbling mud, purchasing dynamite from the market, drinking tea made from coca leaves, and cycling down a road so narrow that fatalities are commonplace are things that seem only possible in Bolivia. If these activities were to be possible in the first world, they would come with enough rules and warnings to take the forbidden thrill away. While travel in Bolivia is incredible, certain aspects can be a bit of an eyesore. For poor countries such as Bolivia, many larger issues are at the forefront, and environmental concerns not given much thought. Garbage is prevalent everywhere, often burning at the roadside. The serenity of our cargo boat trip down the Rio Mamore was made slightly uncomfortable by the amount of garbage that was dumped from the boat into the river.

Please don't make me sick, please don't make me sick...

Argentina was a bit of a shock for us. Coming from four dollars a night for a double room in Bolivia to twenty in Argentina was difficult. While prices in Argentina are still cheap by North American standards, it took us a bit to get used to the sudden price hike. Our tastes had become more expensive as we were used to the cheap Bolivian prices and Argentina had so much of the first world to offer – at a price. For the first time in a while we were able to eat meals without thought as to how our body would handle it. The steak in Argentina was the best that we have ever tasted, and the wine was equally as good. We were amazed at the luxurious bus travel (again, at a price) and since we wanted to make it all the way to Tierra Del Fuego – it was appreciated. The stark scenery of the vast unpopulated Patagonia was well worth the long hauls on the bus. After seeing glaciers, peaks and penguins, we ventured even further to the cold south of Ushuaia and dreamed of going even further to Antarctica.

While travel through this region is exotic and exciting, hours spent staring out of bus windows, sleepless nights in dodgy hotels, repetitive meals of rice, and time spent moving from place to place are some of the many unglamorous sides of travel that don’t make for the best journal entries. A word we find representative of the South American schedule is manana which translates to tomorrow, morning and/or later. Apart from the extremely punctual buses in Argentina, any reference to time is subjective. Ten minutes could mean anything from five minutes to two hours. When given a scheduled time, you can expect to wait at the very least a half an hour before the event is likely to occur. It is not uncommon for a bus scheduled to leave at 9:00 to not arrive until 10:00 and not leave for another hour. For the most part people are not bothered by this, but sometimes impatient patrons will bang on bus windows in unison chanting “Vamos! Vamos!” (Let’s go!). This type of group behavior is oddly satisfying, as it voices my frustration at having to sit in a bus for an hour with still no idea when it will leave. It is also something that I find myself constantly wanting to do.

Alert policeman looking out for our safety

We tried our best to keep an open mind while traveling and even the most unpleasant experiences would provide us with a lesson learned or at least a good story to tell. While it is easy to romanticize everything, there were a few things that got us down occasionally. In countries where there exists no infrastructure for recycling or even correct garbage disposal, garbage lines the highways and streets making for a rather unpleasant view. It is incredibly frustrating to see people throwing garbage out of bus windows, or as on our boat in the Amazon, dumping it in the river. A minor annoyance was the open public urination that exists in Ecuador, Peru, and Bolivia. It is not uncommon see men urinating in the middle of the street as you walk past, not bothering to hide anything. It is amazing at how quickly you become used to the constant smell of urine. Also, while it is nice to be able to support the local economy with tourist dollars, it can get tiresome being treated as a walking wallet. We decided where our money was to go, and were firm when we didn’t want to spend it. The best solution was to have a little patience and remember that everything, good and bad, is part of the travel experience.

While we managed to stay fairly healthy throughout our trip, the lack of our accustomed diet and no structured exercise made it challenging to stay on top of things. In the beginning we decided that in order to save money we would eat bread for breakfast, skip lunch, and eat a large dinner. This seemed to work well for the wallet, but left us feeling less than one hundred percent. Once we fine tuned our eating habits and became accustomed to the local cuisine, we started to feel better. While Sinead wound up ill more frequently (only a handful of times and nothing too serious), I seemed to contract more cough and cold symptoms. It became a bit of a gamble every time we ate in the local restaurants, wondering if this would be the meal that did us in. More serious was the throat infection we contracted at the end of the trip, but a quick shot in the butt cured that.

Let's hear it for South America

Besides taking care of our person health, safety was another issue that required attention. Traveling in South America can be safe, but as there are hazards we always took certain precautions. We only carry small amounts of money, keep our bags on our laps while on the bus, and stick together. We were paranoid and very vigilant about safety and security, but not to the extent that it interfered in our interaction with locals or in our experience of the country. Aside from almost having our bag swiped from the bus in Ecuador, we were able to travel throughout much of the continent without incident. It would be nice to say that this is because we are smart travelers, but the truth is that no matter how many precautions you take, it sometimes comes down to luck. Many people we met ran into problems - the most common complaint was having something stolen while on the bus, there were a couple cases of armed robbery and a few taxi scams. One of the biggest stories of loss came from a Danish guy that was on his fifth digital camera, but after seeing him on a night at the pub, it was easy to see why. Our best advice is to keep your wits about you and to never travel with more than you are willing to part with.

In South America travel can be as cheap or as expensive as you want, depending on your comfort level. We tried our best to travel on a shoestring, staying in cheap hostels/hotels, eating in the local restaurants, cooking our own meals when possible, and trying to keep the tours/activities down. The one thing we quickly realized about traveling is that money is constantly on our minds. With a short trip it would be excusable to blow the budget and put the rest on Visa, but trying to budget for more than a year of travel can be tricky. Everywhere we go there is an amazing activity to do and sacrifices have to be made. We decided to follow the guideline that we wouldn’t do anything that we can do at home or anything that we have already done somewhere else. Sometimes this was easier said than done, but for the most part we stuck to it. Excluding our airline ticket to and from South America, and our return flight to Colombia, for 135 days we managed to average $59 USD/day for the two of us.

Sitting in the comforts of a house in Hamilton, New Zealand, it’s hard to believe that the South American leg of our journey has come and gone. Our travels took us over 6,000 kilometers from the north of the continent to the south. We spent over 300 hours (twelve days) traveling by bus alone not including what we accomplished by cargo boat, trains, planes, and taxis. We went snorkeling in the Caribbean, paraglided over coastal Ecuador, hiked to the Inca ruins of Machu Picchu, slept in hammocks on a boat in the Amazon, trekked through mountains in Patagonia, and walked with penguins. It’s hard to think that another continent or country might top South America, but we look forward to the challenge of new lands and are ready for whatever the world decides to throw at us.

Posted by brett at December 21, 2005 12:53 PM

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Posted by: Shawn at December 27, 2005 02:42 PM

Posted by: Caleb at January 5, 2006 07:03 PM

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