Hi everyone. I will be setting off on a year long trip to South America in just seven and a half weeks. My trip is starting in Buenos Aires in Argentina and I am looking to spend approximately two months there.

I am new to travelling solo and for a long period of time and in such big Countries.

My goal for my trip is to spend time with the locals getting to know their way of life while also learning Spanish. I have been learning Spanish this year however I am still just a beginner. I want to get off the beaten track and see the core of Argentina.

I have started pinning places I would like to visit on a map then plan the route I will take. Please take a look at the map to see locations I would like to visit.
http://www.pinmaps.net/map/26018/brenden

I want to see as much as possible but would like to settle in locations for a short time so I am not just continually on buses etc.

I arrive in Buenos Aires on the 27th of November and would like to take a look around the city, I was thinking of a tour with Buenos Aires Free Walks. I am not much of a city person so I don't think I will be there for any more than 5 days. I am still looking for accommodation for when I arrive. I may also meet up with some people from Couchsurfing.

From here I was thinking of travelling north via bus to the Misiones Region and seeing Iguazu falls and for some wwoofing for a week in El Soberbio.

From here travel north west to the Salta region and then South down to El Calafate to see the glaciers.

I would like to spend approximately four weeks WWOOFING in different locations to experience different climates and farming varieties.

Everything is quite loose and nothing is set in stone as to direction of travel and time spent in each location. I want to have a general idea of where I am going but don't want to lock to many things in in case things change.

I would like to go into Chile next and am wondering the best place to cross the border from the South after seeing the glaciers in El Calafate. I will then make my way north through Chile.

If anyone can provide information of suggested travel direction and if I have missed any places that are a must see this would be greatly appreciated. I am interested in the outdoors, hiking, photography, mountain biking, rafting, etc. I am happy to camp as I will have a tent for some wwoofing locations.

Once I move into Chile/Bolivia/Peru/Ecuador/Colombia. I am looking more into volunteer work as travel.

I forgot to mention trip is on a budget so I am unsure of the best way to get down south in Argentina. I have looked at flights and they are quite expensive. I know bus trips are longer but they seem more affordable.

Not long now Brenden! You must be getting excited!

The map link you gave doesn't seem to work, at least for me. It just leads to the main site map, no Brenden map?

Firstly, buses are definitely the way to go in Argentina around 25-35% of the cost of a flight ( most of which route via BA anyway. The buses are superbly comfortable and provide food and drink on overnight services, which most of the long journeys are. Going overnight also saves on a nights accomodation costs. Go Cama or Ejecutivo on long trips and you will get a lie flat bed. Well worth the relatively small additional cost, even on a budget. Andesmar and Via Bariloche are good companies.

Read up on "blue dollars" here and on TA for info on saving a bundle of cash on fx rates in Argentina (60%)

Your itinerary looks pretty good. As you are going so far south you may want to consider Torres de Paine. I haven't been myself but it is supposed to be superb scenery. Expensive, but you do have a tent!

We crossed the border at San Martin de Los Andes and Pucon. Again great scenery as you cross the Andes. There is also a crossing you can do by lake in that area ( the name escapes me) it was closed when we were there but should be open in the summer.

One place that may have woofing opps is San Rafael, halfway between Mendoza and Salta. We looked at a lot of farms around there when we were thinking of moving to Argentina. Mostly olives and grapes and a few cows. Canon de Atul is close by and worth a day trip.

I think you have got things spot on in having a general plan but keeping things loose. Definitely the way to go on a long trip. On our current trip, I made the mistake of not planning enough to start with and, as a result, wasted a bit of time here and there.

I don't know if you are buying guide books prior to travel but if so, I would think twice. I found them pretty useless, particularly lonely planet which was so wrong in many instances, I was beginning to doubt weather the authors had actually been to some of the places they were writing about. Many hostels will have guide books, albeit somewhat outdated, that you can use or swap.

Please do make sure you post a trip report regularly as I am sure all here would love to travel along with you.

Hi crellston,

Thanks again for all of your detailed inputs. It's a great help. I have been very lazy myself in planning.. So much to do before I head off. Weekends are full of catching up with friends. Getting things up on eBay etc. all excuses i know.. just feels like life is the usual but really i only have 3 weeks of work left then fly back down to Melbourne from the good coast to spend 3 weeks with the family and friends before heading off..

It's a shame the map didn't work for you. I just tried it on my Iphone and it didn't work. Hmm I was enjoying using this site as it gives a good picture as a whole. I will need to see if this is going to work with a Samsung galaxy as this is what I will be travelling with.

Busses do look nice and quite cozy and well priced for the distances travelled.. I just need to remember that I should save what I have spent in Argentina once I get too Bolivia/Ecuador etc as I will mainly be volunteering at a low cost.. I will be staying with a friends family in Colombia for a while also.

I am still deciding on the money situation. I want to use a travel card so I only have max $2000 on it at a time.. However to load the card you pay a 1.1% fee of the reload value (watching USD dollar closely as it rises slowly). I will get around $900 USD from $1000 AUD at the moment. If I load the card with Australian dollars I will break even however you are charged a 3% conversion fee when you buy. You are not charged a conversion fee in USD. But USD does convert at a higher rate with local currencies than Australian dollars. All too confusing for me. I really don't want to carry too much cash. Do ATMs offer USD? To then trade blue rate for local currencies?

Yes I have see Torres de Paine and its beautiful. Not sure how my tent will go down south? lol its just a cheapy i has had and apparently it gets mighty windy down there. I will look at this further before I go. The last couple of weeks I will have no work.. My things will be sorted. I want have anything else to think about apart from the trip. Funds are going well considering debts etc that i have. I will have nothing to pay while away, I should have approximately $12,000 for the year. I would love to see how far I could take that. As some months I know I will only spend about $500.


I will check out the crossing once I get up and have a look on the computer. Ill also have a look a WWOOFING oppertunities. The Argentina website for WWOOFING is a list of farms in no order to region without a map so it has taken me a while to work out locations etc. The WWOOFING Chile site is much easier with each farm set into regions.

It's funny I usually freak out when I don't have everything planned but I don't want this trip to be like that. I want to enjoy things and take it slow, really soak it all in as I go.. Not just rush and fire myself out. More of a living experience then a holiday.

I don't have any plans for Chile yet.? I'm still trying to decide if I have chosen too much to do in a year?. Wondering if I should cut something out to spend more time in the countries I originally looked into. Ecaudor/Colombia. Ultimately I'm only limited by my money. Time isn't a factor, only that I have a return ticket valid for the year.

I'm really not much of a reader, I struggle to get through a paragraph before I find myself wandering to do something else. I did buy lonely planet and put it down pretty quickly never to open it again... The best guides I have found have been right here on fodors.. I enjoy reading your reports especially from Ecuador. I made the mistake of not keeping up to date and its hard to get through it all.

Your advice far outweighs any book guides. I will be doing my best to keep up a blog and trip reports as the information I have received from others is so much help and I want to give that back.. It will be a challenge. But I will go about it.

Thanks again for all of your suggestions not sure where you are at now and if you guys have settled on a place to live? Hopefully get to catch up some time in the future.

Testing the map again

http://www.pinmaps.net/map/26018/brenden

It now works. It is not optimised for phones etc so very hard to see properly.

This is the list of places I have so far. Not in order of travel-

-Buenos Aires
-Córdoba (possibly volunteer at an orphange nearby)
-Cuchi Corral- paragliding
-El Calafate- Glacier tours
-El Chaltén
-El Soberbio WWOOFING
-Humanhuaca- colour canyons wwoofing
-Laguna de Pozuelo
-Los Cipreses, WWOOFING
-Monte Fitz Roy
-Puerto Iguazu- Iguazu falls
-Quebrada de Cafayat
-Saltos del Moconá- waterfalls
-San Ignacio- Mini ruins
-San Juan- Rock formations
-Talampaya
-Tilcara WWOOFING
-Tuzgle- Rock climbing

If you are going as far south as El Calafate and El Chalten you can cross the Andes by bus from there to Puerto Natales, which is the access town for Torres del Paine. If you have a light tent I would think you would be better off either renting better equipment when you get there or staying in the refugios.

I was going to say that from Puerto Natales you can take the ferry up to Puerto Montt, but when I checked the link I found that Navimag had suspended the service. Maybe they will have reinstated it by the time you get there... Without the ferry I think your only options are to fly or to go back to Argentina. Or further south to Punto Arenas, where you will have the same options.

Thanks thursdays, these are some great ideas. I have had a good look at http://www.fantasticosur.com/ for pricing on Tours del Paine. I think I would sleep in the refugios here. I am good for equipment, only the basic tent though and no cooking equipment.

I need to look at everything as a whole. How much to get down there. then tour and get back without going crazy. I am limited on funds and I would also like to get to the Galapagos Islands, hopefully volunteering to make thing a little cheaper.

Galapagos is an expensive detour. However, if you wait until you get to Ecuador, and bargain in person, it will be a lot more affordable than trying to book ahead.

Yes it is quite expensive. I will wait until I am in Ecuador and see what prices are etc. There will be plenty of other places for me to see also.

I am trying to look up bus services that go from lets say Mendoza down to El Calafate- just working out costs at this time. I am have tried on http://www.andesmar.com/ and http://www.plataforma10.com/

I am not finding a route to select. I found anther blog and they said they went Mendoza- San Carlos de Bariloche. Then bus to El Calafate. I know the travel time is long.. its not really an issue. Just trying to find prices.

I found return flights to El Calafate from Buenos Aires are around $550. Maybe its worth doing this at the beginning of my trip?

so much to decide on.

Thereare lots of different bus companies in Argentina and not all have a web presence so it will be difficult to fares and routes to everywhere. In terms of cost, they are all quite similar per hour or per km so it should be pretty easy to calculate a rough cost based on distance. Worked pretty well for me!
Eg BA to Bariloche takes 20 hours and costs 900 ARS which is 45 per hour. Use that to calculate approx cost for other journeys. At each bus station there will be lots of different companies to choose from.

$550 will buy a lot of bus tickets and, travelling overland you will get to stop at some interesting places. Overnight buses, which the long journeys always are also save accomodation costs and you will get to see places along the way that you would miss by flying.

Yes I think buses is a great idea. Prices are good for the distances. I am looking at bussing from Buenos Aires to Iguazu falls and spending some time in the Misiones Region.