Bruce

I was at the local bookstore and was looking for travel info on South America. There was 15 times as many books on Europe as SA and maybe twice as many books on Asia than SA. The number of posters on SA is also limited on Fodors.<BR><BR>Why so little info and press connected with South America travel?

rquirk

Mainly because not as many people travel to South America. Its called supply and demand.<BR><BR>There are, however, plenty of books in publication concerning SA. SA is also quite a volatile place. There is high unemployment in Argentina now, Colombia still has FARC guerillas, Venezuela has a rising number of crimes, I wouldnt be surprised 'El Sendero Luminoso' ( shining path ) still exist in the highlands of Peru. There are high levels of crime in most South American cities. <BR><BR>I've been to Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador. I liked Quito ( Ecu ), Merida ( Ven ), Villa De Leyva ( Col ). Didn't like Caracas ( Ven ), Bogota ( Col ), Medellin ( Col ) or Guayaquil ( Ecu ). <BR><BR>Helped a stab victim from New Zealand in Quito. Got the overhead luggage locker theived on a bus, had numerous 'police' with false identity papers talk to me, and emerald merchants attempt to sell me rubbish in Bogota. A taxi driver in Caracas told me he didnt know where the central bus terminal was although I pointed it out on a map ( he wanted to take me to my final destination ).<BR><BR>Personally, I would only ever go back to Ecuador, or the southern horn ( Argentina, Chile ( yes!! ) and Uruguay ). I basically became tired with everybody's irksome tricks, petty thievery and having to mind all of my belongings all of the time. I now choose to travel and spend money in places where people are friendlier and more honest.

Jane

All of the things you mentioned could happen anywhere, even in the US.<BR><BR>South America is a VERY interesting country, and just because some people think the only place to visit is Europe, they don't know what they are missing.

rquirk

Hmmm, the old mantra gets chanted again. You do have to agree with this mantra: it certainly is true that what might happen to you in one part of the world can occur in another.<BR><BR>It is the frequency of such events that worries me.Take for example El Salvador, CA. I spoke to about a dozen people who had been to El Salvador and half of them had been robbed. Half the British coming back from Florida aren't robbed. <BR><BR>SA locals have an uncanny knack of spotting a gringo from 800m. If when you walk the streets of Bogota during a month you get singled out approximately three times a week for some scam or another then to me that is too much.<BR><BR>I appreciate that SA is a very varied and bio-diverse continent. I enjoy the non-city aspects of SA. For the most part though, the cities tend to be the continental gateways and you can't escape them.<BR><BR>In general, people are put of by perceptions of SA being dangerous. Unfortunately for places like Bogota, Caracas and Lima such reputations are not unfounded.<BR><BR>

Lan Sluder

Aside from the reasons already mentioned, I think one factor is that in many countries in South America very little English is spoken. That's a disadvantage for those from the U.S. who don't speak Spanish (or one of the indigeneous Indian languages or in the case of Brazil Portuguese). It not quite as bad as a Spanish-only speaker traveling in much of the U.S., but it is a factor, whereas in much of Continental Europe there are multilingual people including many who do speak at least some English.<BR><BR>--Lan Sluder

Babe

First I would like to correct Jane's statement 'South America is a VERY interesting country.'<BR>South Americais not a country it is a continent with a number of countries.<BR>Why is South America neglected on this board? Maybe, IMHO, because there are more countries in Europe than in SA<BR>Maybe also because many posters who are from the US have European roots. <BR><BR>To change this why won't you Bruce ask more questions and answer more often as well.<BR>As to number of boos. I went to Borders last Monday looking for a guide book on Tunisia, I did not find even (1) one but there were tons of books on SA on the next shelf.

Marilyn

Actually I think it depends on the country in SA, and how you travel. There are many Americans that scream "USA" with their white tennies, video cameras, and sweatshirts. We have visited SA many time, and never had any problems. Some people are not terribly adventuresome. There are great books on amazon.com and they have free shipping and no tax.

Sandy

I've traveled to Brazil, Peru, Ecuador and loved each trip. I would travel more there if the airfare wasn't so expensive. I have to save up my freq flyer miles to use down there.<BR><BR>I didn't think any of the 3 countries were dangerous, just use common sense and good judgement.<BR><BR>I'm going as often as I can!<BR>Sandy

Rocco

Unfortunately, I believe, many Americans would rather not be exposed to anything new, and choose the generic places such as Cancun, Hawaii, Las Vegas, or if they really believe that they are adventurous London or Paris!<BR>The language barrier, of course, has something to do with it, but probably not half as much as being in a truly foreign country.<BR>It really turns my stomach when I hear an American gleefully saying that he/she is going to 'Vegas' or 'Cancun' as if it is some big deal. Such a big world out there, and citizens of the wealthiest nation on the planet have so little desire to see the world.<BR>After returning from a three week African vacation (South Africa and Zimbabwe) earlier this year, I was shocked that certain people had the nerve to ask me why on Earth I would want to go to such dirty and unsafe places. South Africa, in my opinion, is the most beautiful place I have ever seen, with something for everybody, from safaris to beaches, nightlife and beautiful people in Cape Town.<BR>I will be going to South America the day after Thanksgiving for a 17 day trip that will take me to Vina Del Mar, Santiago, San Pedro De Atacama and, of course, Torres Del Paine.<BR>Much of the information I have found was on the internet and I really didn't bother buying a travel guide yet found plenty of information on the internet.<BR>

Merriem

We are doing a second cruise around SA, HOWEVER we will be staying a few days in Buenos Aires before we leave, and then the remaing two weeks in Pucon Chile, and Santiago. We will be taking the sleeper bus from Santiago to Pucon and staying at the Antumalal Hotel, here is the website www.antumalal.com..a beautiful place that has been there for over 50 years. I think of some of my neighbors that have never been out of the state, and friends that will go on a cruise somewhere interesting, but never spend any extra time in the country....just the cruise, nothing more.<BR><BR>Our daughter went to South Africa by herself to visit a friend. Had quite an experience, but loved the beautiful country.<BR><BR>People really do not know what they are missing.<BR><BR>

Dunbya

I would love to go. I have throughly enjoyed Mexico and Honduras and would love to head into South America. I wonder if many share my problem- money. Trasportation costs are my problem.

anne

Bruce I used to work for American Airlines in reservations and I was amazed at how many calls I got for people wanting to go to 1) Hawaii 2) Mexico (Cancun mainly) 3) The Caribbean. Sometimes I wondered if I would EVER get a call for someone wanting to go somewhere like the Maldives for instance.<BR>I worked in International. When I would get a call for someone to go to somewhere different it was actually a lot of fun. I no longer work for them but have happy memories of traveling courtesy of my flight benefits. I have gone many times to South America to Brazil, Peru, Chile, Argentina and Uruguay. I took many years of Spanish in school and in College. I also got to learn a little Portuguese for Brazil. I have to say that I personally love going to South America over going to Europe. I like the way the people are very warm. I found the people there to be immensely gracious and hospitable. <BR>One thing I will say is that air fares into South America can be more expensive than air fares to Europe. Getting there is more of the expense. Once you get there it is fine (although Argentina before the crash was expensive I thought).<BR>I hope more people travel to South America. <BR>I am not here to trash Europe in anyway but I am just amazed out how a lot of people do not want a new adventure. Oh well.....<BR>

Hanka

In regard to Anne's post. You said that you worked for American Airlines and you wondered if you would EVER get a call from someone wanting to go somewhere like the Maldives for instance.<BR>For your information Anne we live in the US and we went to Maldives twice. Why would I call AA? This airlines or any American based airline doesn't fly there. We fly Air France via Paris.<BR><BR>We also traveled to Ecuador and on October 16 we are going to Peru<BR>There are many people who love to travel and they travel where they have a desire to travel. I do not have a desire to travel to Colombia or Argentina, for example but we travel to Africa, Europe, Asia and next year we will be going to Australia. I am European and for me and my husband Europe is going to be always the most important destination<BR>

Kelly

I think that traveling takes some "growing." I think it's perfectly natural for people to travel first to places most familiar to their own culture. In fact: many travel experts *recommend* taking this path. <BR><BR>Laugh if you will, but I've spent many enjoyable weeks touring through the US, seeing lots of beautiful landscape and learning a lot. For many people, the next natural step is to go to Europe, where they can stretch their cultural and language skills somewhat, but not get into total cultural shock. Traveling is something we learn to do! <BR><BR>Many people may find that after exploring only that far from home, they've found enough future travel itineraries and wishes to last a lifetime - what's wrong with that? Myself, I want to go other places (eg SA), but I can understand that if someone is going to lay down a year's savings and all their vacation time on a single trip, they want to know in advance that they'll be comfortable and enjoy it.<BR><BR>And... the distraction of the warm-weather vacation. I live in Minnesota, and frankly, I need to *get sun* a couple times a winter, just to stay sane. And I'll tell you what: For those vacations where getting sun is my main goal, I'm sure as heck not going to go to all the trouble and expense of hauling down to SA; I'll take my vacation in sunny Palm Springs, thank you.<BR><BR>The point is: The original question in this post was an interesting one, but this conversation is degenerating fast into judging other people's vacation goals. People look for a lot of things in their vacations; SA can fulfill some, but not all of them. Let it be.

rq

I agree with Kelly. My first travel immersion was SA. I wish it wasnt. Ive now travelled most of the Balkans and Eastern Europe. Hope to do some real travelling in Russia some day. To get the best out of Russia I m learning Russian .. don't expect places outside Moscow and St Petes to understand English. I was fluent in Spanish before I hit SA. I did CA afterwards. I would certainly recommend doing CA before SA. Basically, less agro. That said I dont expect Chile, Argentina or Uruguay to be agro. Its like my friend who went to Prague with me. Some girl was touching up his backside and then left suddenly. I said 'Check your back pockets'. He was $60 less ( not a lot considering I lost $700 in Trujillo, Honduras .. you dont expect someone to set fire to your room ). $700 dollars is almost a years wages in Honduras. My friend had never travelled anywhere poor before .. I saw him get ripped off on every scam going. Hes learning the hard way like me !<BR><BR>The moral is at the beginning of he story. Travel relatively safe places first before going to obviously dangerous places. Learn from these. Grow and then travel them.