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So we've completed our 11 weeks in South America and figured it would be a good idea to provide a summary of our experience in this incredibly diverse continent. To start with, we visited six countries during our explorations; Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, Uruguay and Chile.
We ended up taking 13 flights throughtout the journey which included the remote destinations of the Galapagos Islands, Easter Island (Rapa Nui), and Puerto Maldonado (the amazon rainforest).
We decided to list our top five experiences in South America, numbered accordingly.
Nicole's top five picks:
1. Cruising through the Galapagos Islands on a motor yacht while viewing the unique wildlife
2. Exploring the many moai statues on Easter Island, Chile
3. Hiking the Inca Trail to the lost city of Machu Picchu in Peru
4. Visitng the Peruvian desert oasis of Huacachna
5. Wining and dining in the exciting city of Buenos Aires
Cam's top five picks:
1. Hiking the Inca Trail to the magnificant city of Machu Picchu
2. Exploring the many moai statues on Easter Island, Chile
3. Snorkelling with giant sea turtles, sharks, sea lions, and eagle rays in the one of a kind Galapagos Islands
4. Sandboarding massive sand dunes in the Peruvian desert oasis of Huacachina
5. Wining and dining in the exciting city of Buenos Aires
As you can see, our most memorable moments are very similar. So if you are planning a trip to South America, there are our recommendations! Heading into our tour of the world, we had narrowed down our top 10 must visit places. We're now prudly able to check off 3 of them from the list with the Galapagos Islands, Machu Picchu and Easter Island. For us, this is a great achievement!
So what did we like about our trip to South America? Its hard to put a finger on it but I would have to say the thing we iked most was that the landscape and culture changed so dramatically throughout our brief tour. We went from tropical islands to high altitude mountain peaks. From world famous archeological sites to peaceful beaches. From deep canyons to sandy, hot deserts. From big ciy excitement to small town hospitality. In some cases, the bus rides were the adventure. In other cases it was the fantastic challenges of sandboarding, snorkelling, hiking, or city exploring. The food was great and terrible. The beer was cold and cheap. The many different cultures were beautiful and eye opening. The poverty was heart breaking. The air was crisp and fresh and also chokingly thick and polluted. The landsapes were breath taking and getting lost was exciting. It was such a great blend of everything in such a brief time!
Of course, we also experienced things that we didn't like or annoyed us. Things that we will not miss at all. This includes the rude, discriminatory pricing when visiting virtually any place that is selling something from water to bus tickets. We won't miss the poor hygiene and lack of food refridgeration. We won't miss the feeling of insecurity when walking the bus terminals and city streets with all of our gear in our backpacks. We won't miss the white knuckled, top speed bus trips through the windy, steep Andean mountain range. And finally, we won't miss the many upset stomachs from basic food and water ingestions.
Although we are happy to have moved on to the developed, english speaking nation of New Zealand, there is still a feeling that we've only just scratched the surface for South American travelling. There is just so much to see and do in the continent, and the countries are all so vastly different. We're not sure if we'll return, at least not anytime soon, because there is still so much of the world that we want to see. But we definitely both agree that it was a wonderful and challenging experience that we will both reflect on with nothing but fond memories.
We highly encourage you, if you haven't already done so, to visit the continent and experience its charm and beauty for yourself. Put it on your list!
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