I have 2 weeks of vacation time that I want to plan for. I want to use the 2 weeks together rather than spend one week at home on my ass on 2 different occasions.
Trip Criteria:
-Something active. Hiking and trekking are preferred.
-Location, location, location. Not in North America.
-Time frame would be between November and the end of February.
My first thought was the Galapagos Islands. It is still tempting, but I would like to have some other ideas to compare and contrast.
Any links that could be provided would be appreciated.
I suggest Argentina - It will be spring/summer in the months you plan to travel, its quite cheap - you can grab a hammock in an outdoor hostel for next to nothing, you can backpack around - check out the blind sheep in patagonia, etc.
Galapagos would be amazing, but I was under the impression that getting permission to actually go there is almost impossible - I think the whole place is a wildlife preserve or something.
Also, you can hit Carnival in Rio in Feb - thats gotta be fun.
Do a search here at the boards and email Camster about a recent trip to the islands. The word incredible was used frequently. Let me know if you have trouble getting through and I’ll connect you with my friend.
I was going to suggest Price Edward Island and Nova Scotia until I saw that you plan to go in winter. Too bad, it is quite lovely.
How about Costa Rica? Just think, hiking on the beaches, hiking through the rain forests, hiking through the mountains.
How about New Zealand? Incredibly varied terrain in a relatively small area, and the US dollar goes a long way at current exchange rates (OK, not as far as in Costa Rica, but still pretty decent).
The cost of getting there is a bit prohibitive, but you can throw in an extra stop in the South Pacific for next to nothing.
E-mail me if you want more info – I just spent three weeks there.
Chile. Definitly one of the most varied countries in terms of nature/climate/etc. I visited on several occasions and I absolutely, totally love the country.
I sugest you visit Tierra del Fuego and Torres del Paine during one week and San Pedro d’Attacama the next. Both have a wide variety of accomodations
Torres del Paine is a huge national park which features some excelent nature tourism ops. Summer temperature is arround 15 celcius (what is that, 70F?) Best part is it’s not as crouded as most destinations arround this time of year.
San Pedro d’Attacama is a desert oasis in the middle of one of the dryest places you can imagine. There are loads of great things to do. There are some vulcanic springs/vents that literally spout up 70’ right after sunrise. You can also make amazing hikes through the desert.
There are a lot possible accomodations in all priceranges.
If you can afford it, check out the Explora hotels. They have a kind of club-med type formula, without the ‘families with small kids’ aspect. If not, check out the lonely planet Chili which lists some other great hotels.
Thanks for the replies. I neglegted to mention that I have already been through much of South America.
puk & Alice:
I’ve been through Argentina and Chile (I loved them both). The thought of going back to SA has caught my attention, but I think that I would go back to Peru, and to Boliva (which I missed the first time).
Fretful Porpentine:
New Zealand seems like quite the beautiful country. I’ll probably pick your brain about it. Did I ever mention that I had a friend in college who played a fretless porpentine
Lyllyan:
PEI and Nova Scotia are great places, but I really want to get out of the whole North American area. I’ll wait until some friends who bought a house on Cape Breton invite me for a visit.
I haven’t travelled very much (hoping to change that in the next few years), but my fiancee and I went to Peru in November a couple of years ago, for four weeks. We had a really great time. Camped in the Manu jungle preserve, saw Machu Pichu, the Naszca lines, etc. People were friendly, and things were cheap. Cusco (sp?) was by far our favorite city, and you can get to both Manu and the Sacred Valley from there. Two weeks is definitely doable.
(OK, on re-reading your reply I noticed the phrase “back to Peru”. So you may know all this… Anyway, I still vote for Peru.)
