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[derv]

Hi all
Myself and my friend have booked our flights for next May. We are flying into Sao Paulo on 12th and out of Santiago at the start of Sept. We obviously want to see as much as we can but we know that Patagonia is pretty much out due to the winter season but we are hoping to possibly do some skiing in Arg. and Chile. We are planning on spending the first week working our way up the coast to Rio from Sao Paulo doing a bit of beach lazing before we really get stuck in....

And just to complicate it another friend might be coming over to travel with us for 3 weeks in August so we were thinking of having her fly to maybe BA and we would do some travel round there with her...

This is a rough plan and just wondering if anyone sees any major problems with it!! I know we aren’t going for a while but I’m just v. excited. We want to travel overland as it’s the start of almost two years away so cheap is the key.

Flying into Sao Paulo and working our way up to Rio (taking about a wk)...

Rio - Campo Grande - Corumba - Santa Cruz - Sucre - Unuyi - La Paz - (short round trip up to Rurrenabaque) - Cusco (Macchu Pichu) - Ica - Arequipa - down to Chile via Attacama Desert (have to look into this more) then we are going to go to the ski area near Santiago for a few days before heading to BA to meet our friend. We hope to do this in about 11 weeks?

Then with our friend to go BA - Montevideo - Porto Alegre - Igazu Falls - Santa Fe - BA in about 21 - 24 days

Is this too much or is it doable? Any suggestions would be really really appreciated! And any tips or places you think we should include please do tell!!
Thanks a million!!

[wakingdream]

From my experience trying to jam too much into a short-ish period of time is way too rushed but I guess it depends on you. I would rather see more of a country in depth than a whirlwind tour. I'd personally travel through two or three countries max. I think four's too rushed. We had 4 weeks in Peru and didn't get to see all we wanted to.

Sometimes it's too easy to plan too much, and you'll find, once you're there, that there are things that will side track you, or that were not on your original agenda that will slow you down. You've got to leave some unplanned time in there to stay an extra day here or there, or head over to a city or town you heard was really great, that you didn't know about before. Add these to your itinerary and your travel times and you'll be blowing through SA faster than a fox chasing a rabbit just to keep up to your plans.

[semi-backpacker]

I agree with Susie, it all depends on your travel style. My style is more of a pack-it-all in type of style! So in my humble opinion 11 weeks is more than enough time to cover all that you've mentioned. When I went to Europe with my 3 closest friends, we visited 3 countries in 1 week (Czech Republic, Spain, and France)! When in South America, I visited 4 countries in 2 weeks (Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, and Uruguay) and felt I was able to see and do everything I wanted to. I enjoy the rush of packing it in and must say after 2 months in Costa Rica, I've become very restless (dare I say bored!). And in these 8 weeks, I've been to Guatemala two times (which I love), have gone hiking to two volcanoes, have visited 5 of 6 provinces and I'm probably going to be leaving soon. I enjoy myself more when I'm bouncing around!

In regards to your itinerary, I would definitely recommend the Atacama Desert. It was my favorite place in Chile (though the Patagonia region was my 2nd favorite).

Good luck!!
Judy

[derv]

Thanks for the advice.... I would think I am a more cram it all in type of person but I suppose we'll have to see when we get there... its not set in stone just more of an outline which I think covers everything! Would love to go to Patagonia but as its winter when we are there we don't think its really feasible....

I will look at your travel diary Judy and see what you did in the desert get some ideas!! thanks ....

Once its not totally impossible we'll give it a shot... we are not planning on hiking the Inca Trail which will save a few days too, we're just going to go up by train. two of my friends are there now and they have done loads in a few weeks so they give me hope!! thanks again!