Oct 3, 2005:
Here is a general outline of my plans, meaning where I expect to be and when. As to what I will be doing, I'm not too sure. Most of this is copied from my "pre-departure" entry, which goes into more detail. I expect to be gone until next summer, making more or less a loop from Ecuador, down to the southern tip of the continent, up the eastern coast to Brazil, and then back.
October: Land in Quito, Ecuador. Explore the city for a few days with very little Spanish ability. Bus to Cuenca, where I will be spending at least 3 weeks taking a Full Immersion Spanish Course and staying with a local family through CEDEI .
Novemeber: More of southern Ecuador, then cross to 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.
November/December: I expect to hang out in La Paz, Bolivia, 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 travel through some of the towns such as Santa Cruz, Sucre, and Potosi, on my way to cross into 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.
January: I should be spending New Year's somewhere around Santiago, Chile. Then I'll head to the beach town of Valparaiso. Then south, maybe sticking to the Chilean coast, maybe heading back up to the Andes, or maybe 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. I am definitely going to spend time in Bariloche, Puerto Natales (I have a contact there), 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). After this is Buenos Aires, where I know some people, and may end up taking a flight to.
February: This stretch of the trip may be crammed due to time, since I am supposed to meet my parents near Rio de Janero in March. Ideally I get to Buenos Aires earlier than this, but I don't know if that's possible. From Buenos Aires I enter Uruguay. I'll stay in the capital city Montevideo where I have a friend, then head up the coast and enter Brazil. Stay on the coast until the island of Florianopolis. Then possibly head west to the world's greatest waterfalls at Foz do Iguacu. And maybe then head straight to the northern city of Salvador for Carnaval, and backtrack to Rio afterwards. Or do Carnaval in Rio, and go to Salvador after.
March: From here the route really gets wide open. Probably go to the "Pantanal" of Brazil. From there head south and enter Paraguay, and visit the Iguacu Falls if I didn't get to the first time.
April: By now I may be back in Bolivia, doing 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.
May: I will probably be in and around the Amazon, and starting to head back towards Ecuador via Peru. Unless I've managaed to make a trip to Venezula.
June: I should be back in Ecuador now, if not home in the US. 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. |
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