| Oct 3, 2005 - Pre-Departure
| Well I'm still here, in New York, planning for my trip that is to start in just a few days. I feel ready to go, having enjoyed a final weekend of revelry including a great send-off, a birthday party, a reunion with some friends I haven't seen lately, even some time with my co-workers from the Boys & Girls Club, all ending with a fantastic steak dinner at Peter Luger's. Perfect. To answer the most common question: a lot of things made me want to do this trip, but most importantly because I think it sounds like fun and will be a great experience. Other reasons are to learn Spanish, see more of the world, escape the US, and get that overall "alive" sensation that comes to me when travelling in foreign places. At this point in my life I do not have any of the major life responsibilities holding me in one place, so I want to take advantage of this freedom and youthful energy while I still can.
What I want to do with this first entry is write some initial thoughts and plans I have now. At the end of my trip I will look back and see how far I strayed and how little I really knew about what I was getting myself into. You can click on the individual maps on the main page to see the specific countries and cities I am talking about. Also go to the "Itinerary" link, which I will try to update as the trip unfolds for a comparison with this entry. Here's how it looks, in my mind, as of now. Enjoy!
October 5 - Land in Quito, Ecuador. Explore the city for a few days with very little Spanish ability. Potentially go to another nearby town, Otavalo, for its famous Saturday market.
October 9 - Nine-hour bus to Cuenca, a colonial city south of Quito. Ecuador's third largest city behind Guayaquil and Quito. I will be spending at least 3 weeks taking the Full Immersion Spanish Course through CEDEI (http://www.cedei.org/cuenca/programs/spanish/fisp.php), and staying with a local family.
I then expect to explore a bit more of southern Ecuador, and then cross to Peru via Vilcabamba and Macara.
Peru: Head down to Lima, then Pisco, then over to Cuzco, and hike the Inca Trail to Macchu Picchu. From there head towards Lake Titicaca via Arequipa. Explore Lake Titicaca and its islands, and then cross into La Paz, Bolivia.
Bolivia: Since I will be in Bolivia twice, once now and again on the way back to Quito, I am not sure which things I will do on the way out and which things on the way in. I expect to hang out in La Paz, and see the resort town of Sorata. There I can do the "Death Ride" which is suposedly a spectacular bike ride down the side of the Andes Mountains. Then check out some of the towns such as Santa Cruz, Sucre, and Potosi, and on my into northern Argentina.
Argentina: I will explore the northern towns and cities of Argentina, and head towards Cordoba and eventually Mendoza (Argentina's wine capital, producing 70% of the country's wine). From Mendoza I will cross the Andes into Santiago, Chile.
Chile: Have fun in Santiago, and head to the beach town of Valparaiso. If I am going to get caught in a beautiful place and stay much longer than expected, this place could very well be it! From here I will head south, maybe sticking to the Chile coast, maybe heading back up to the Andes, or possibly both. I will have crossed back into Argentina by the time I hit the town of Bariloche, which starts the amazingly beautiful leg of the trip in Patagonia, also known as the "Southern Cone" of South America.
Patagonia: Who knows what adventures I will find here. I am definitely going to spend time in Bariloche, Puerto Natales, the National Park Torres del Paine, Punta Arenas, and Ushuaia (the southern most city on the continent, and the jumping off point for trips to Antarctica). From here I will start to head to Buenos Aires, where I know some people, and may end up taking a flight at this point.
Once in Buenos Aires, the exact route of the trip will depend on timing. I will need to be in/near Rio de Janero around March when my parents are planning on visiting. So this is what might happen, as of now. From Buenos Aires I enter Uruguay.
Uruguay: Stay in the capital city Montevideo where I have a friend. Head up the coast and enter Brazil.
Brazil: Stay on the coast until the island of Florianopolis. Then head west (and out of my way) to the world's greatest waterfalls at Foz do Iguacu. Here I may head straight to Salvador for Carnaval, where it is supposed to be just as much fun as Rio fun but more manageable and not as expensive, and then backtrack afterwards to Rio. Or do Rio for Carnaval, and head to Salvador after. Either way, afterwards the route really gets wide open. Maybe head to the "Pantanal" of Brazil. From there head south and enter Paraguay.
Paraguay: If I didn't see the Iguacu Falls the first time, this is when I'll do it.
Then find some cool towns to see and interesting stuff to do (I don't have much info on this area yet). Then head back into Bolivia.
Bolivia: Do the things I couldn't do the first time around, including visiting the city of Trinidad and rafting on the river. From here I would lilke to head back into Brazil, and spend time in and around the Amazon rain forest. If I can make it to the town of Manaus, where most Amazon adventures start out, I certainly will. The biggest reach, but something I am definitely going to try to achieve, is a visit to Venezuela. Doubtful I'll have time, but we'll see. Also, if I can ever find a way to use the rivers as my transportation, instead of buses, I am going to take it.
At this point I will just have to start heading back to Quito for my return flight, unless I changed my departing city, moved back the date, or decided to live in South America for the rest of my life. I will most likely head back through Peru again, and explore areas that I didn't see the first time through. If I have more time in Ecuador I will spend time on the coast, which I will not do the first time there. Apparently the surfing is really great. And if I really have time, and am feeling more secure and courageous, I will head into Colombia and check out the capital city Bogota.
And that's it! That's what I expect, more or less, as of now, to be doing this upcoming year. Right now my ticket has me flying NYC to Quito on October 5th, and returning on May 17th, though I already expect to change that to a later date. I just figured it was easier to move it later if I need than to move it earlier. Only time will tell what the real itinerary becomes I guess.
Come back and visit my website soon!
ADIOS! |
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