South America - anyone for early 2011 trip?

[briand]

I am currently planning a trip to South America in early 2011. Maybe up to 6 weeks long. Finding it hard to get an available tour in early 2011 - looked at intrepid tours and most are booked out already. Flights get a lot cheaper from February onwards - about $1700 return Brisbane to Buenos Aires. It looks like a great place to drive - so I am looking for one to three travel partners so that we can buy a car/4wd and travel around for a month or so. I am flexible on where to go but have a couple of places that look really good - Perito Merono Glacia, Torres Del Paine National Park, Santiago, Patagonia region. Might also try and get up to Peru for the Inca trail and across to Rio if the budget permits. Planning to go fairly cheap - so will be looking at back packing style accomodation. I live in Brisbane and would be great to find some travel partners from Australia. I don't really have a preference for male or female travel partners - just easy going and relaxed. I have a preference for the natural sights but also enjoy the cities and cultural experiences. Should be able to include some hiking, camping and nite life in the cities. I am flexible with plans and places to go - if we can find some good tours instead of driving I am happy to do that as well. Someone who knows a bit of spanish could be really handy!!! A bit about myself - 33, single, male, financial adviser, easy going, likes outdoors, sports and travel.

[kennas]

Good luck with the trip.

Not too sure about buying a car idea. Long distance busses are pretty good and relatively cheap.

You'll need to book on the Inca Trail hike at least one month in advance, possibly three. Spaces are limited to 500 a day entering the walk, including porters and guides. If you miss out you can always just catch the train and bus up.

If you're going up the west coast from Patagonia drop in to Puerto Varas and Pucon in Lakes District of Chile. Beautiful.

[briand]

Buying a car looks problematic - maybe a combination of hiring a car, bus trips and maybe some short tours.

[kennas]

I've done some travelling where I've decided to do all my own 'touring' and found that I've missed out on some stuff. For example in South America the majority of the museums and galleries do not have English descriptions, so you have no idea what you're looking at. Also, going to a place like Machu Picchu you can just walk about and follow the Lonely Planet guide, but you just don't get all the information you do from a good local guide. Coughing up for a guide is the best bet.

[butterflywanderer]

inca tours need to be booked about 4 months or more in advance. check website perutreks. grab a pocket book of Spanish/ english vocabulary. buses are good for long distances as towns few and far between. Lonely planet good for places of interest. Perito moreno glacier and torres del paine, patagonia, certainly beautiful. torres del paine has a lot of walking tracks but sometimes wind forces are huge. from near Brisane myself. have a great trip. south america is a lovely country. camping is great and inexpensive.