South America- Top of the Pops

So this blog post is going to encompass some funky stats for you on our trip through South America. None of it is particularly useful but interesting maybe and potentially funny if you know us!


Number of countries : 6


Days in South America : 239 days (21st April to 15th December 2011) 


Cities/Towns/Villages stayed for 1 night or more : 43


Length of time on buses : 426 hours or 17.75 days or 2 and a half weeks solidly on buses!!!


Number of Bottles of wine drunk- too many, we are ashamed to mention how many.


Number of gym sessions : 35- hell yes!! (none in Bolivia though)

Nights camping : 29
Days trekking : 50

Spend:
So as you know Sarah is an accountant so yes we have an 'all singing all dancing' excel spreadsheet which tracks exactly how much we have spent and how much is left out of our budget. This is the average spend per day in each country in GBP (£):

Bolivia was interestingly the most expensive country as we spent the whole time doing activities and eating out, as the hostels don't have kitchens!! Argentina and Chile were so cheap the second time round as we spent so much time camping in National parks.

This is the total spend split (%) between activity, accommodation, transport and food for each country:
(please note James has nothing to do with this and objects to it every day)

Budget over spend :£220 in 8 months (average day budget was £50 for both of us)


Best Activity: Torres Del Paine 9 day trek, Patagonia, Chile.

Best City : Rio

Worst City : Quito

Best Hostel : Bannanas (Itacare, Brazil) 41 Below (Bariloche, Argentina)

Best Snack food : Tapioca and Acai (Brazil), Pop corn (Bolivia), Empanada (Argentina, Chile), Cherries in Santiago.

Best Steak : Argentina (Bariloche/Buenos Aires)

Best Beer : Brahma (Brazil), Caparinhas (Brazil)

Favourite memories :
Machu Picchu -  http://theotherwayroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2011/09/wedding-anniversary-on-inka-trail.html
Santa Cruz Trek - http://theotherwayroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2011/08/3-amigos-do-santa-cruz-huaraz.html
Huyana Potosi - http://theotherwayroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2011/10/condirri-trek-and-huayna-potosi-summit.html
Iguazu - http://theotherwayroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2011/05/iguazu-falls.html
Torres Del Paine - http://theotherwayroundtheworld.blogspot.com/2011/11/trekking-guide-to-torres-del-paine-full.html

Worst Time : Food poisoned by our tour guide at 4000 meters in a tent, snow outside and with no water.

Dodgiest moment : Driving down the runway of a military airport in a taxi with military personnel waving guns at us in La Paz.

Top Ten Natural Wonders :

1.Iguazu (Argentina)

2. Cordilla Blanca (Peru)

3. Glacier PIO XI and Grey Glacier (Chile)

 4. Uyuni Salt Flats (Bolivia)

5. Torres and Fitz Roy mountains (Patagonia)

6. Atacama deserts and Volcanoes (Chile & Bolivia)

7. Quilotoa Volcanic crater (Equador)

8. Chapada Diamantina National Park (Brazil)

9. Huacachina Sand dunes (Peru)

10. Chilean Fjords (Chile)

And Finally a video with some of the best pictures.

Enjoy, we did!!!