South american awards 2012

After 5 months of travelling around and through South America we thought it's about time to pick our favourites in different categories. It's all just in our opinion based on what we've experienced in this time. Decisions are mostly influenced by the limited budget of a backpacker.

 

 

We travelled through Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia. Out of these we chose the winners.

 




easiest travelling award

Travelling in Colombia is affordable, some streches are not more expensive by plane than by bus and those are in good shape and taxis generally have fixed prices or at least fair fares. If you're lost everyone is happy to help.

 

 

 

 

 

friendliest people award

 

Before we reached Colombia we had no doubt it'll be Bolivia. But Colombians won our hearts just after we crossed their border.

 

 

 

 

 

easiest spanish award

 

No doubt, bolivian spanish or castellano is the easiest to understand, no weird accents or slang. If you don't understand them you can be sure they talk Quechua or Aymará.

 

 

 

 

 

must see national park award

Madidi NP in Bolivia is absolutely beautiful, full of life, well protected and only accessible by boat. We'd go there again any time.

Very close second place, that has to be mentioned here is Galapagos. Just unique.

 

 

 

 

most perfect beaches award

Galapagos wins by its unspoiled, tourist and rubbish free beaches full of sea lions and iguanas. You never get bored.

 

 

 

 

 

best hostel breakfasts award

Nowhere else in the whole continent the breakfast came even close to those in Brazil. Fruits, fruit juice, cheese, ham, sausages, different bread rolls, croissants, cakes, coffee, tea. All included in the price. Good morning!

 

 

 

 

 

most relaxed award

Not much is happening in Uruguay which just suits us. Calm little towns, empty beaches and flat farmlands. Quiet.

 

 

 

 

 

budget friendliest award

Bolivia is cheap. Everything. But only in a bus you notice why.

 

 

 

 

most beautiful landscapes award

Colombians green, tree covered mountains, beautiful cities and the caribbean coast with splendid snorkelling and diving.

 

 

 

 

best buses award

 

Argentinian buses with luxurious chairs, dinner with wine, clean toilets.

 

 

 

 

 

outstanding ruins award

Peru with its Machu Picchu, just unbeatable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

best food award

The cheap and tasty food in Bolivia caters to everyone. There's a lot of meat, yes, but half of us is vegetarian and she voted for Bolivia too. If you cook for yourself you'll find the freshest veggies and the juiciest fruits just around the corner in a market. Chef's paradise!

 

 

 

 

most memorable wine award

Uruguay's Tannat you'll remember forever. Best enjoyed with a dinner. Also works without.

 

 

 

 

 

most different to home award

Everything is different in Bolivia, we really felt like somewhere else. And in every taken photo is at least one indegenious person, we like.

 

 

 

 

 

the country we're most likely to return to award

Colombia wins by it's comfortable climate (we say too hot is better than too cold), it's beautiful vegetation, friendly, beautiful people and the Caribbean coast which we didn't explore long enough. Let alone the San Blas islands...

 

Crossing borders

As mentioned crossing the brazilian border indeed was not as easy as hoped. We did the best we could to find the right way of doing so by asking a lot of people a lot of questions and with the collected information we thought to be prepared to try it.

The problems about crossing this border at this place are that the uruguayan and the brazilian immigration offices where you get the exit (Uruguay) and the entry (Brazil) stamps are far away from each other with a town called Chuy between them.

From Punta del Diablo we tried to catch the same bus as our german friend, and with help of the hostel staff via phone we found out that we had to go to Chuy to an office to get our tickets and jump on the bus, while our german friend was supposed to wait at a random kilometer mark somewhere along the highway near Punta del Diablo (at 23:30).

As told we took the bus to Chuy and told the driver to stop at the uruguayan immigration before Chuy to get our passports stamped with the exit stamps. This worked great and we were confident when we approached Chuy, to find our office in a little town (that's what the locals have told us). But Chuy isn't small and the office was just another travel agency so we hurried through the streets with our backpacks just to find the office 10 mins before closing.

So we got our tickets and thought we could spend the 7 hrs until the bus picks us up at the local bus terminal but then we were lucky enough to ask at the office where the pick up will be. Here we were told to walk back about 1km to the uruguayan immigration and to wait there because the bus doesn't even come to Chuy.

So we spent 5hrs in the park in Chuy and walked back at around 22:00. While arriving at the immigration we were told that our bus wouldn't come before 01:00 and not at 23:55 as we were told in the travel agency.

Precisely at 01:00 the bus did arrive and we were happy to see our friend smiling at us through the window (he didn't wait at the kilometer mark, he went back to the next bigger junction, afraid of the trucks passing him with 100km/h in the dark in the middle if nowhere). At the brazilian border we saw the lady from the bus personel walking away with our passports while the bus drove off and didn't know if we will ever see them again, but we just drove to a gas station to fill up the tank...

After all it would've been smarter to buy the ticket in Montevideo already and leave the staff in the bus deal with all the formalities. We wanted to share this story to help our fellow travellers dealing with the same situation.

 

Time to chill

From Buenos Aires we got on the ferry to Colonia del Sacramento, a beautiful, old town in Uruguay. It is a perfect place to get lost and just enjoy the day. Perfect for a day trip of why not longer. Lazy traffic, cute cobblestone streets, beautiful plants, colourful houses and a lighthouse keep you busy just wandering around. We were so amazed by the calmness of Uruguay, that instead of returning to Buenos Aires like originally planned, we decided to keep travelling north.

Because not having planned anything, we decided to take a few days in Montevideo to figure out what we wanted to see in Uruguay. Montevideo was an alright city, the "old town" was not really that old, but it was nice just to sit there and watch the fishermen at work. We were still getting used to South American way of life, food and language. After studying our bible, the Lonely Planet book, we were ready to move on to a next destination.

Our next two days we spent without any connection to the world outside in the tiny hippie town called Cabo Polonio. Cabo Polonio consists mostly of sand. And maybe a bit more sand. Getting there sounded more tricky than it actually was. The normal bus drops you off in the right intersection (if you asked the driver to do so), and you just wait until someone comes and takes you there in a kind of truck on the sandy "road" (path?), not suitable for any other than heavy 4WD's. In South America these things just work somehow. No schedules, no price lists, no information of any kind, but if you talk to people and trust your luck, things seem to work in your favor.

Cabo Colonio was a fun experience, but it surely would have been even nicer in the summer, when restaurants are actually open and the weather is better and you could really enjoy being on the beach. It was nice and warm during the day, but the nights are a bit too chilly and windy (which does not stop the mosquitoes). It is a perfect place for a campfire, food and friends. Days there we spent walking around the beach, sandboarding, spotting the sea lion colony that lives there and enjoying the calming sound of crashing waves.

Since there was no internet, most electricity comes from sunlight and the use of water is very limited, so after a few days it felt good to get to Punta del Diablo, a relaxed surfer town on the coast, and just have a nice hot shower. Very much recommended, if you are into doing nothing and relaxing.

Now we are back on track along the east coast heading north, two days before (hopefully) entering Brazil. Crossing the border sounds like a bit of a adventure or a pain in he ass, but we are sure we'll get on the other side somehow.

Uruguay has been absolutely beautiful with cute little towns, changing landscapes and relaxed attitude towards everything. Tranquilo!