Thorn Tree travel forum

Welcome to the South America branch!

Welcome to the Thorn Tree's South America branch.

The countries covered by this branch are: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile & Easter Island, Colombia (note spelling), Ecuador & the Galapagos Islands, Falkland Islands, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Uruguay, Venezuela.

We hope you find plenty of useful information about travelling to South America here. It is highly recommended that new users check out the some of these useful FAQ threads on this branch before posting a new thread:

• Brazil FAQ thread
• South America FAQ thread

Brazil Frequently Asked Questions

For the benefit of everyone dropping by the Brazil branch for the first time, please read this FAQ first. And I hope there can be some sort of way to moderate the thread to keep it updated and clean. I know there are some AWESOME regular contributors here who enjoy giving advice; I feel this thread can really help to condense the information available.

I'll go first, with some general thoughts from the South America FAQ. Many thank to Apollo for starting that thread and for a great idea. Hopefully we can have a similar thread for Brazil.

1) Use the "Search" function to find out if someone has already asked your question. Many questions have already been asked before, and regular contributors to the forum get tired of answering the same thing over and over again.

2) Read a few pages of posts. The most frequent... more »

I am illegal in Brazil and don´t know what to do anymore

To start from the beginning.
I am from Belgium, Europe, where i am on the interpol list (what i know since 3 months now ) for a little crime. I had 4 years ago a car accident, driving without papers and went 3 months to jail. I didn´t agree with Belgium´s justice decision, what was one month more jail, I went on with the case, the case ended up in 36 months jail. I was tired of Belgium and their crazy justice system, the arrogant people. So an American friend invited me to Florida US, near Miami, where I would be normally for only 3 weeks vacation. I loved it so much, that I staid, married, and was their for 15 months, it was the best time of my whole live. Me and my wife went to Sri Lanka on honeymoon. When we came back, the immigration service in NY told me I only could stay for 6 weeks, just to arrange my things. That I over staid in the US. My immigration lawyer didn´t told me i... more »

March too early for the Pantanal?

Hi,

We're a family of 3 (Mom, Dad and 11-year old) coming to SA for 4 months in Feb, starting in Ushuaia.
Coming from Santiago mid-March, we're considering flying to Buenas Aires and going into Brazil for the Pantanal via Iguazu . It's the end of the wet season (no earlier than April is generally recommended), so I'm wondering if it's likely to be a disappointment due to not seeing animals, being uncomfortable in the heat/mosquitoes. and possibly contending with flooded roads.
If anyone has been in the Pantanal in March, I'd love to hear what it was like and whether you would recommend it for that time of year. Thanks for any feedback.

Peru in April 2010

Hello! I'm heading to Peru in April 2010 and I have a some questions. I've read elsewhere that low season in Peru is January-March. Is this correct and would it still be possible to get discounts on accomodation in April? Should I book accomodation in popular places (such as Cusco) in advance or leave it until I arrive? Similarly, should I book the Cusco-Machu Picchu train in advance? Phew! Sorry for so many questions in one post. Thanks for any advice from other travellers. Much appreciated.

Booking whitewater trip in Bariloche

I'll be in Bariloche in 2.5 weeks. My friend and I would like to go whitewater rafting near Futaleufu (on the Chilean side) or some other class IV or V river within several hours of Bariloche. Is it pretty easy to book a trip while in Bariloche?

Month in Argentina Jan/Feb

Greetings -- first post here so not sure I'm in the right place. I'm new to the solo world travel experience and I am traveling to Argentina for a month in Jan/Feb. I know I want to start off in BA for about 2 weeks (Jan. 18-31) and take Spanish lessons, but then I want to travel around the country and see the highlights and absorb the culture. Looking for ideas on places to go, things to do and how long to stay in each place after BA. Right now, I'm thinking, Barloche, El Calafate, Mendoza and then end in Catamarca (for a friend's wedding on Feb. 13). Depart BA on Feb. 15. Open to any adventures -- hiking, sailing, rafting, biking, drinking wine,... Any suggestions?

Thanks so much!

Christmas in Patagonia

Where should we stay to celebrate Christmas (good hotel or hostel, nice town, lovely restaurant, ...) ? We are going south the carretera austral and in to Argentina. So we could go to :

• Villa O'Higgins (Chile)
• El Chaltén
• El Calafate
• Puerto Natales

Pousada in Sao Luis do Paraitingo

Has anyone stayed over at Paraitingo? How was it? Any pousada's to recommend (preferably English speaking)? THinking of checking last day of carnival here on Feb 15..