Mid 2018, we decided it was time to embark on another adventure – Three months in South America. After our visit to Brazil in 2015, we knew we wanted to come back to the region for a much longer period.
We debated on how many months we should spend on the trip, and which countries we would visit. After much deliberations, we finally decided to spend a period of 3 months, traveling south from Ecuador, through Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, and to end up in the first South American country we visited – Brazil!
The plan
Given that we have only three months to explore 6 countries in South America, with diverse landscapes and cultures, we will only visit a few locations in each country with the knowledge that we can always go back at another date!
Ecuador
In Ecuador, our itinerary starts in Quito, where we will spend a few days acclimatizing to the altitude, before we take off on a road trip south through the Avenue of the Volcanoes. The Avenue of the Volcanoes stretches 200 km south with nine volcanoes, seven of which tower over 5 km high. We will end our road trip in Guayaquil, and then fly on for about a week in the Galapagos Islands.
Peru
We start our time in Peru in Lima, and will visit the Nasca Lines, Cusco and the Sacred Valley and of course Machu Picchu. Towards the end of our visit, we will head out to the highest navigable lake in the world, Lake Titicaca and the Uros Islands.
Bolivia
In Bolivia, the Salt Flats are our main destination, and we will venture out on a 3 day 2 night tour.
Chile
Given our love for road trips, we will embark on two road trips in Chile. The first in the north and the region around San Pedro de Atacama. The second road trip will take us from Santiago all the way to the most southern tip of the Carretera Austral (Villa O’Higgins),
Prior to the start of the second road trip, we will spend 6 days in Easter Island.
Argentina
Given that Patagonia borders both Chile and Argentina, our road trip will continue south in Argentina, with a few cross overs back into Chile. We will take a short hiatus from our road trip, and embark on a 4 day 3 night glacier cruise, after which we will continue on the road trip north to the Valdes Peninsula and the Lake District. After returning our car in Santiago, we will fly over to Buenos Aires for some days.
Brazil
Our trip will end in Brazil, where we will spend several days in Rio attempting to finally see more than Jesus’ feet!
Details
All the good, bad and the ugly of our three months in South America will be captured on the next few blog posts. Please follow along.
Please check out our blog to see what we did in more detail: