Backpacking in South America - Guestbook Messages

Nathan's Comment Download the Google toolbar - there is an option to translate a page into 'your language'

Nathan's Comment Luke , it was taken from the mountain retreating during horse riding trek in Vilcabamba - Click on the toilet to see .... A toilet with a view!

Nathan's Comment Hi Kat, There are loads of backpackers doing similarish routes. You will meet someone going your way. As long as you are prepared to change your travel plans slightly you will always have a travelling patrner. I only spent 3 days travelling on my own (in the 4 months). I always found someone to travel with.

Amusingly, on 3 separate occassions I met and travelled with 3 girls travelling on their own. Then they met each other at different places and started to travel with each, and then at Christmas I met all 3 of them in the same hostel ! they all had stories about me but none realised they were talking about the same person.

The backpacking world isn't that big !

Nathan's Comment Miss Pownall ... tut tut ... forget the 3 of you - not a chance ... it was in Quito not Banos (you were going to Banos next) we all went to Otavalo for the markets - which is where Collette more then helped me make the pig pizza - she did the eyes I think ! She certainly helped with the washing up ... or should I say washing it down with gallons of rum n cokes. Has Collette been found since her trip into the amazon ? Kenya hey I'll email you to find out more.

Nathan's Comment Dan, have a read through my diary, and also do a google search on south america backpacking travelogues and you should find quite a few 1st hand accounts as against reading tour guide books. You'll then get an idea of a 'must see' mini iternery .... and can suss it from there. I've also added comments to a lot of specific questions in the guestbook so have a glance through that as well.

Nathan's Comment Hi Peter,

for that very reason I do not allow the email addresses to be displayed
the email address request is to allow me to authenticate a posting as non-spam.

likewise I don't allow commercial url additions without the owner contacting me first.

That aside I'm glad you enjoyed the site. The trip you have done is my biggest regret about my time in SA - I got as far as Peurto Montt then headed back up North - time restrictions ! I am hoping to go again and do this trip - I reckon 3 weeks would be just about the right amount of time ?

Cheers
Nathan

Nathan's Comment Hi Paddy, I wouldn't go over board on the worrying, I found the locals to be helpful and honest, wanting to show the honourable side on their country.

I never really had any problems - on my 2nd day in SA a mounted copper had a go at me for drinking in the streets - he just made me pour it down the drain. I only lost 3 things on my trip - my penknife, torch and a pair of walkman speakers ! All through my own drunkeness really. But do read my diary bit about the Aussie lad's Quito to Otavalo journey - he had a bit of a nightmare (but not disasterous).

All that's needed is a bit of common sense really. You'll find that your never really travelling alone - they'll always be another backpacker nearby.

I only read Marching Powder when I got back from SA - reading it first would have made the San Pedro prison tour even more interesting.

Cheers
Nathan

Nathan's Comment Hi Claire, I can't offer any advise on Brazil, as I didn't go there, but a Lima to Arequpia to Cusco to Lake Tit and into Bolivia took me about 5 weeks (other way round though), that'll give you 2-3 weeks in Brazil. Do try and do the Unyini to San Pedro (North Chile) 4 wheeled drive trip - it's pretty awesome.

Have a look at some tour company pre-planned routes and suss a route from that.

Cheers
Nathan

Nathan's Comment Make sure you get up to Darwin ... Kakadu and all that. Major contrast to the rest of Australia.

Nathan's Comment Hi Stuart, I don't think it really matters where you buy you ticket from. As long as the travel agent is covered by the travel agents union stuff, you'll be okay. However STA may have more knowledge of backpackers travel jobs eg English Language Teachers.

Nathan's Comment My language skills were and still are very much non-existant. Fortunately or unfortunately, I always managed to travel with a group where at least one of us could speak Spanish a bit better then me.

I was a dab hand at miming though - with the odd

Nathan's Comment Hi Kev,

yeah it was total quality. 2 trip which must be done are:

Ignore the cost GO to the Galapagos - I had 7 days for $1000 (using Galasam - see info page) and then the Uyini Trip (San Pedro, Chile to Uyini, Boliva) 4 days $65.

Both extremely different but hard to say which was best ... seeing a blue footed boobie 'hatch' with a giant iguana casually crawling by was pretty specacular.

I didn't have time to go to Patagonia - and am now gutted by that I didn't ... Peurto Montt (Chile) there's a 4 day ferry in and around Patagonia - I think it was about $130. Columbia - I didn't go but heard from others that's it's safe - provided you don't take night buses on your own ... but really that's common sense throughout South America. Venezuala, I only had a few days at the end of my trip which was spent on a beach.

Cheers
Nathan

Nathan's Comment ..... the photos on your site are much better then mine though !!! Note to others it's well worth flicking through the ""Voigt's"" volt of photos !

Nathan's Comment I've swapped Dom's email address for his fairground nickname !

Nathan's Comment yeah .... course I can ..... it did take a couple of flashback moments though .... who needs friendsreunited website when you've got weston's roadshow !!! I've still got a couple t-shirts from the fair.
Info for others - I spent 4 months working on a fairground travelling around the Aboriginal communities of Arnemland in Australia way back in 1991.

Nathan's Comment A more detailled answer has been sent to Laura, however for others ....
All I did was look through Tour Companies suggested itineries for trips to south america. I looked at trips between both 2 week and 2-3 month trips to get an idea of how much area you can cover over a period of time. I even phoned a couple up pretending to I was interested their glossy but expense trips ! basically halve travel company costs for DIY trips. The tour companies use the same public transport that I used a lot of the times.

Nathan's Comment Thanks Mark .... I only used an APS camera not one of those massive twirly whirly ones either ..... but I did spend quite a bit of time with a Swedish photography teacher .... she taught me a thing or two !!!
(This link was requested)

Nathan's Comment Kristen, I used all the local bus services to get around and about. To say I played it by ear is a major understatement. The only planning I did was to say about a month per country.

Nathan's Comment 4 months = £3.5k included plenty of steak, salmon and red wine plus a week in the Galapagos (which cost just under grand but was worth every 'Iguanas' penny !)

Nathan's Comment What's great about the UK .... the weather !

Mr Johnson from Oregon obviously doesn't understand the concept of a sense of humour.

My entire travel diary is written in a take-the-pxxx mode. And I do agree that it is a sweeping statement .... just as all English people drink tea all day (he says making another cup !)

Anyway I have met Americas who do appreciate humour; which is why I suspect an America has published part of my travel diary !

In future will whingers please leave their email address so they can be contacted directly.

Cheers
Nathan

Nathan's Comment we woz robbed .... Cobblers rule ok !

Nathan's Comment Good good !!!

Nathan's Comment So I didn't miss much by being stuck in the dingy transit lounge in Dallas !!!

No offense is intended towards anybody in my travel diary - it should be read with amusement in mind !

The only serious bits are what I have written in the information section.

Cheers,
Nathan

Nathan's Comment Hi Gabby,

Are my tickets in the post !!! Seriously don't be put off by going on your own - once you're there you'll meet up with more people then you think to travel with.

I met and travelled with 3 girls who were travelling on their own (met them individually not altogether). Then on Christmas Eve met them all again .... in the same hostel .... in the same bar - they'd met each other at various different places and chose to travel together ...... all their strange stories about some odd person they'd travelled with all suddenly clicked into place .... so I chose to share a few bottles of vino with them !

As for my diary a little PS I'm quite proud of is that the Bolivan extracts are being published in a backpackers travelogue book and a couple of my photos are being used on the front and back cover of the book !

Cheers,
Nathan

Nathan's Comment Americans just dig their own grave don't they !!!

.... If I'd called an 'American' a 'South American' would they or would they not correct me .... I went to South America 'cos I wanted to go to SOUTH America !!!

If you send me your address I will send you a baseball cap with ""I need self a sense of humour"" on it !!!

Nathan's Comment I never stayed overnight in the prison and didn't meet Thomas McFadden, but I have since read Marching Powder .... some of the things I saw on the tour all make sense now !

Nathan's Comment Karyn,

Thanks for the compliment.

I took well over a thousand pics. It cost me a small fortune to get them all developed and took me months to wittle it down to the 200 for the site.

My web stats show me that about since June san pedro prison has been the top search term finding my site .... which does seem odd but there again the prison tour was very odd (have a read of my diary for Boliva).

Cheers,
Nathan

Nathan's Comment Thanks Col !!!