Welcome

Hello there, welcome. This blog will be an online reference to my upcoming trip in South America, specifically Peru, Chile and Argentina. I hope that you find some of this information fun and useful for your own upcoming adventures, or just entertaining enough so that you can live vicariously through me as I wander our neighboring continent down south.

South America is a huge mass of land - Brazil matches the size of the contiguous United States while Argentina rivals India in square area. Once we start traveling we will be on peaks that will make us shiver and beaches that will make us sweat. It is a hard trip to pack for, but since spring time falls between now and December, the weather down south of the equator will be favorable and most inviting.

We will be landing at the international airport in Lima, Peru, staying just outside the city center in Miraflores. Once we settle in and get our bearings, (which shouldn't take long, we will be in the same time zone as the east coast) we will head 4 hours south to the coastal town of Pisco. They were hit by an earthquake in 2007 and are always looking for volunteers to help rebuild what was lost. We will spend a week there, but something tells me we might very well be tempted to stay longer. Check it out here: http://www.piscosinfronteras.org/

From there we will see Machu Pichu, Lake Titicaca, the Copacabana and La Paz before heading down the desert coast of Chile into Santiago, and spend the last leg of the trip traveling due west through Argentinian wine country to Buenos Aires.

I'm realizing that when I travel through this large continent, how I move from place to place becomes almost as important as the destination itself. Long bus rides are a way to see the vast landscapes and anytime I get a chance to walk or hike or surf or bike, I most certainly will, seeing as the next day I could be sitting for 17 hours heading to the next destination.

So all in all, there is only so much I can express now about the trip, as I have gained most of my knowledge from the trusty Lonely Planet guide book, South America on a Shoestring. This will be my trusty guide during the trip, and Liora (my wonderful and adventurous girlfriend) my right hand lady. Together we will be tackling three countries in an otherwise endless continent. I hope in the next 6 weeks I can bring you some insight to life down south, the culture, people, food and drinks, as well as a rough guide if you ever find yourself traveling there and needing a place to start planning.

Welcome aboard!