Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
you lots of time. However, minus any last-minute sales, I wouldn't fly in South America unless I was really
short on time. Local buses are simply too cheap to pass up.
For ways to find a cheap ticket, refer back to Chapter 13 in Part One.
ACTIVITIES AND ATTRACTIONS
Activities vary, costing as much as hundreds or thousands of dollars. Simple day tours cost around $40 or
$50 USD. Museums and city attractions cost around $5 USD. There are a number of good art and historical
museums throughout the region. I love the historical museums that give insight into the fabulous Inca civil-
ization and the Spanish occupation of the region.
Activities are very expensive in this region simply because most people who visit on short holidays come
for the Machu Picchu, jungle tours, and Galápagos Island adventures. These tours can cost up into the thou-
sands of dollars, for the simple fact that people are willing to pay that much for them. Whereas in other parts
of the world you can find specific backpacker/budget traveler tours, in South America, while there are some
lower-end tours, there is nothing specifically geared to budget travelers. For example, a weeklong Galápa-
gos tour costs about $2,400 USD, a three-day Amazon tour is $200 USD, and the weeklong Machu Picchu
trek starts at $500 USD.
If you try to get to places by your own transportation, you'll save the most money, especially on attrac-
tions, like wine tours, the salt flats, or national parks, that can be easily driven to from nearby cities such as
Punta Arenas. For epic adventures like Antarctica, Galápagos, Amazon River tours, and, of course, the Inca
Trail, you will get the best prices if you book far in advance or shop around to the smaller companies. Addi-
tionally, arriving without a plan and getting a spot on a last-minute tour will cut prices down by 50 percent,
but you run the risk of having to wait awhile until a spot opens up on an unfilled tour.
David Lee of gobackpacking.com did this when he booked his tour to Machu Picchu: “Wait until you
get to Cusco to book your trip to Machu Picchu. There are tons of budget tour shops around the Plaza de
Armas, and the competition keeps prices low. If you want to do a trek, skip the Inca Trail, which normally
costs about $500, and instead go on either the five-day Salkantay trek or the easier four-day Inca Jungle trek.
Both are all-inclusive, and cost about $180, including admission to Machu Picchu.”
Jeff Jung of Careerbreaksecrets.com had a similar experience: “You need to be flexible with your timing,
but booking local is usually recommended. In Ecuador, because I was flexible on my time, I was able to
book a Galápagos and Amazon jungle tour for less than a typical Galápagos tour. This was off-season too.
I had the same luck with Easter Island in Chile. I happened to go into a local travel agent when they were
having a sale on packages to the island.”
Being flexible, waiting until the last minute, and visiting a local travel agent will allow those amazing
dream tours you see advertised in the States to become far more affordable and realistic.
The discount cards discussed in Part One can get you 50 percent off museums and national parks. Stu-
dent discounts also apply throughout the region.
How Much Money Do You Need?
South America is a cheap area of the world to travel to, but costs are rising quickly as countries continue to
develop. The region is still relatively inexpensive, but nations like Brazil, Chile, and Colombia are becom-
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