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 »

Entering Sth America one way and Brazilian visa

Ok I've got a few concerns not only about obtaining a Brazilian tourist visa, but also the problem with needing a plane ticket leaving South America for my airline to let me check in.
I've got my flight booked from Sydney to BsAs in September 2010 and plan on traveling SthAm for 12 months and flying home out of LAX. Even if I wanted to book a flight from LAX to Australia just before I leave in Sept, airlines only list flights 10 months in advance, so I wouldn't be able to.

As for obtaining a Brazilian visa, I've purposely left my plans relatively loose as to not tie myself down to set dates. The Brazilian visa application form asks for a set itinerary provided by my travel agent, as well as proof of departure from Brazil. How can I get around this if I'm unsure of dates and whether I'm going to fly or bus in and out of Brazil?

Inca Trail companies - advice re my shortlist

Hey guys, right the eternal question.. I have a shortlist of 3 companies to trek with. Just wondering if anyone could recommend any of the below, or if there are any other perators you reckon i should look at? Inca Experience seem to be the cheapest but then cheapest isnt always the best right..

• Llama Path
• Waykitrek
• Inca Experience

Can't decide-Buenos Aires or Madrid??

Hi guys, I'm a student looking to study in either Buenos Aires or Madrid in the fall of 2010 (late August-late December), and I can't make a decision! I was wondering if anybody here could tell me pros/cons of studying abroad in Buenos Aires (and if you know anything about Madrid, that would help too). Any advice would be appreciated, thanks so much!

Beaches and or La Ciudad Perdida

Hi All,
I am planning a two week trip to Colombia in March. I will spend a my first week with a friend in Cartagena and Parque Nacional Tayrona. I am up in the air about trekking to la ciudad perdida or exploring other beaches during my second week. I'd love some opinions and recomendations. Any safety concerns I should know about? I will be with one other woman my second week. One minute I feel very secure about it all, then I read something that shifts my perspective. Please set me straight!

Edited by: aekonen

Salvador Carnival: Buying tickets for a Camarote

We'll be at Salvador Carnival on the 15th and 16th and are trying to get tickets for a specific camarote (Camarote Salvador), as our friends from Canada already got them. We phoned the place and checked online and it looks like it's not easy to buy them before getting there, not to mention the price now is over 1000 reials, double what our friends paid.
What should we do? Is there some way we can get those tickets before getting there? Should we forget about the camarote altogether and go for something else instead? Are they worth it anyways?
Any advice will be most welcome.
Thanks.

Foreigners that have lived in Bolivia for 2 years and more please read!

Any foreigners that have been living in Bolivia for more than 2 years MUST vote in the april elections. This means you MUST register by 14th Feb to be able to vote. Im posting this as im beginning to realize that most resident gringos in La Paz have no idea that they have to do this and if they do not register and vote they are subject to the same restrictions that Bolivians that dont vote are - i.e. cannot do any official documentation, anything transactions over the counter in banks and cannot travel - . basically it is a pain for many things. You receive a little ticket to say you have voted and are often asked for it when trying to do the above. Now as foreigners i would imagine that most banks will not ask for this as they will not know that foreigners are supposed to vote so it might not be a problem but if you reply on any of these things it is best to be safe and register/v... more »

Does Argentina shut down on July 9?

Does Argentina shut down on July 9 (Independence Day)? Would the holiday affect my travel plans either on or around that date? I'm planning on travelling from Colonia (Uruguay) to Buenos Aires on the 9th then spending the 10th, 11th and 12th there.

Gualeguaychu Carnaval

Hi.

We are two friends. We are going to gualaguaychu next weekend, maybe on friday. We are looking for any kind of informatin, since we dont know nothing about it. We want to know, mainly were do we have to stay, in which zone, near the river or near the corsodromo, where is the party ? at night in the clubs or at day over the river ? we want to stay on a nice hostel and catch up with other travelers.

thanks