17 December 2019
The South American adventure has come to an end and now some reflection. These thoughts were to be published at the end of the trip however there were many impediments to my good intentions. Thirty three hours of travel from Rio to home messes up your head and body. After almost getting through that I spent many hours in a fire truck patrolling a bush fire. All this left me without the motivation to finish this series of logs.
All that is done so no more excuses. Here are my thoughts:
Highlight of the Trip
This is a tough one as everywhere we went had something special to offer. From ancient Inca ruins through to stunning landscapes and everything in between, South American has it by the truck load.
However, if pushed I would have to say the Atacama Desert would get my vote. The incredible expanse of the Atacama along with the surrounding dormant volcanoes makes for an awe inspiring experience.
After the Atacama Desert it would be Inca ruins and Inca stone work including Machu Picchu followed by the Andes and seeing Aconcagua.
Disappointments:
I didn’t see a toucan.
We didn’t get to Bolivia, social upheaval and maybe another revolution got in the way.
I didn’t get to try guinea pig.
One of our fellow travellers was ripped off by bad guys in the foyer of our hotel.
Quality of Accommodation:
Five star and beyond pretty much everywhere we stayed. The catering on the 10 hour train ride was comfortably five star.
Quality of Food:
As might be expected the food varied with each country and was always good. The traditional Brazilian barbecue restaurants are a very different experience with a never ending range of meats being carved right at your table. Brazilian and Argentinian meals include lots of meat and it’s all very good. In Chile it’s more about fish and in Peru, fish and vegetables. Conger eel in Chile is well worth trying.
Surprises
Tourists are not in the numbers I might have expected. After travels to Europe and China, South America just doesn’t compare. There are no crushing crowds and you can always manage that stunning picture sans tourist.
Coca leaves offered at breakfast in Peru and sparking wine available with breakfast in Argentina.
Our tour guides were all highly qualified. Our main guide has a PhD, others were a geography professor and we had a robotics engineer. In South America you take the work you can find. No job snobs down here.
I got to see vicuña in the wild.
Just how difficult breathing can be at 4500 metres.
There are 10,000 different types of potatoes in Peru and 4,000 types of corn. I did enjoy black potatoes with breakfast in Peru.
That’s it until the next adventure in 2020. Research is underway…….
A Traveller's Tale 