Conclusions from South America

The best from South America:

• The night sky – whether gazing at it from the bus window, the catamaran in the Galapagos or some town in the middle of nowhere it was spectacular. 
• Activities – this is a continent where there is always something to do in every town and travelers are kept busy and on the move. 
• The Andes – absolutely spectacular scenery from geysers to lakes to snow capped peaks or jaw dropping canyons. 
• Buses – particularly in Argentina where luxury buses are an experience in themselves.
• Spanish – we’ve loved challenging ourselves to learn a new language and been pleased at being able to get by.

 

The worst from South America:

• Activities – this is a continent where there is always something to do in every town often with ridiculously high prices and travelers are kept busy and on the move with very few places that are good for a few down days. 
• Toilets – specifically having to put toilet paper in the bin, not the toilet. 
• Opportunistic theft – if you leave something anywhere (like a hostel) it will be gone within five minutes even something like prescription glasses. 
• Buses – it’s a big continent and distances are long we found ourselves thinking that 24hours is doable 7 hours is a short jaunt.
• Spanish – getting frustrated at not being fluent and when locals do the talk louder thing in the hope you’ll suddenly get it.
• Cold – oh why oh why did we not bring the ski jackets from Canada?