Prepping for our South America Trip

It started some time after my trip to Russia back in 2013. I realized then that while it was enjoyable for me to travel and see more of the world, I wanted my family to see more of the world too. In fact, I started thinking of some of the countries I've been to that I would like the rest of my family to see. I then decided that my future international trips should almost always include at least one other member of my family. I mapped out a list of countries that I wanted to visit and also take my family to, did some high level estimates of how much each trip would cost, and spread out these trips over the next 15-20 years in a way that I could save enough money for all of them. (Talk about long-term planning LOL.) I also knew that it would be better to go to the places that are difficult to visit sooner since I would still be younger and fitter and I would have more energy. As such, South America seemed like the obvious pick for my next international trip, what with the long flights, the language barrier, and some degree of physical activity and exertion required in a trip to this continent. I asked my mom if she was interested to visit Machu Picchu and she said she was. I then decided that my next trip would be to South America and I would take my mom there.

 Machu Picchu, Peru

The initial plan was to go on this trip in 2017. There were five places I specifically wanted to visit: Machu Picchu in Peru, Christ the Redeemer in Brazil, Iguassu/Iguazu Falls in Brazil/Argentina, the Perito Moreno Glacier in Argentina, and Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia. Four countries would be a bit too much so I decided to plan a trip to Peru, Brazil, and Argentina first. (Bolivia could come later.)

Iguazu Falls (from the Argentina side)

I started the more detailed planning in 2016. A friend of mine went to Peru and Brazil on a DIY trip so she shared her itinerary with me, along with a lot of travel tips. However, given that I would be traveling with my mom, taking a tour seemed like a better idea because it would be a lot more convenient. Another friend who had also been to South America suggested I try to book a tour with Condor Travel. I searched for tour options from Condor Travel and I saw a three-country tour of Peru, Brazil, and Argentina. It was almost perfect; I say almost because that tour did not include a visit to Perito Moreno. Condor Travel did have a separate tour of Perito Moreno so I sent an email to Condor Travel asking them if it was possible to combine those two tours and how much it would cost. Condor Travel then directed me to their partner Journeyou. This started what would end up being more than 200 emails sent to and received from Journeyou from 2016 all the way up to 2018.

Mini-trekking in the Perito Moreno Glacier

The original plan was to go on this trip in September 2017. However, I just started a new job. Also, when I finally told my mom that she would need to go on leave for three weeks, she said she wasn't ready to be gone that long from work yet. (She initially thought she would just need to be out for maybe 1-2 weeks.) As such, we decided to postpone our trip to 2018 instead. And now, after all that planning, saving, preparation, and rescheduling, we finally made it to South America. And what a fantastic trip it was!

View of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from Corcovado Mountain

This was our itinerary:

Day 0 - depart Manila
Day 1 - arrival in Lima. Peru
Day 2 - half-day tour of Lima in the afternoon
Day 3 - flight to Cusco, travel to and check into Inkaterra Hacienda Urubamba in Sacred Valley, which has a lower altitude than Cusco to help in acclimatization
Day 4 - Sacred Valley tour, train to Machu Picchu, overnight in Machu Picchu
Day 5 - half-day tour of Machu Picchu, train to Cusco
Day 6 - free day in Cusco
Day 7 - flight to and overnight in Lima
Day 8 - flight to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Day 9 - whole day Rio de Janeiro tour
Day 10 - flight to Iguassu; Iguassu falls Brazil side short tour
Day 11 - cross the border to Argentina, Iguazu falls Argentina side half-day tour
Day 12 - flight to Buenos Aires
Day 13 - Buenos Aires half-day tour in the morning, dinner and Argentinean Tango show at night
Day 14 - flight to El Calafate
Day 15 - Perito Moreno Glacier whole day tour with mini-trekking
Day 16 - flight to Buenos Aires
Day 17 - flight to Lima, then flight back to Manila
Day 18 - in transit
Day 19 - arrival in Manila (it's a 35-hour flight via Europe and due to the time difference, we essentially lose a day)

Plaza de Armas in Cusco, Peru at night

Next: Lima, Peru