Now that we are safely back in the UK I thought I should do a little Q and A with myself, thinking about our time in South America to get an idea of what we both enjoyed and what we would probably do differently if we were doing it again. I got the idea for most of the questions from the things that people have asked since I got back.
1) What was the biggest surprise?
The prices. We were lead to believe that we could survive for 50 quid a day between us but because we chose to shun tourist menus and also because of our fairly hectic schedule, which saw us either travelling or visiting another tourist site, I think we spent close to double that.
2) What was the most lasting memory?
I think for me it was the Galapagos, it was a shame we were mainly doing a Saga tour (unexpected when you book with a company like Geckos) but the sea life while we were snorkeling was simply stunning. Swimming with turtles, sea lions and reef sharks is not something I will ever forget!
3) What was the best country?
I loved Bolivia (I almost put this as the biggest surprise) it was one of the few places you could easily survive on our original budget, the food was great and it was the least touristy but the best country probably had to be Colombia. I felt really at home in Bogota (mainly because it was cold and raining) but the northern coast is beautiful as well, I would certainly recommend Cartegena and Tagana to anyone on the gringo trail. We had a great time there and made some really good friends. It is definitely somewhere I could go back to.
4) What was the weirdest food?
Probably a toss up between reed and potatoes dipped in clay which we actually had on the same day in southern Peru. Most of the other food we had consisted of meat you can get in the UK apart from Guinea Pig, obviously...
5) What was your favourite meal?
As a whole it is hard to say, mainly because the whole trip was filled with great food, however I think I would have to go for "Casa de Campo" in Coquimbito, Mendoza. This was a little family run place which I appear to have forgotten to blog about (probably because we had a bottle or two of wine before going there) but there would be a lot of honourable mentions in this category, ranging from a little parrillia in Tupiza, Bolivia all the way to what is now the 7th best restaurant in the world Astrid y Gaston (this did have the best dessert I have ever seen or tasted!)
6) What was your favourite dish or culinary discovery?
I think for me it had to be cerviche/cerbiche (depending on the country the spelling varies). We had some amazing examples of it all across South America, however it was probably at its best in Lima when we went to Punta del sal seafood. I am definitely going to have a go at making this at some point soon.
7) Did you have any trouble or ever feel scared?
We didn't get robbed, we didn't get threatened and no-one tried to scam us at any point, however we were obviously pretty careful. We didn't get totally wasted and try and get home (mainly because we wouldn't often do that in London or any other city) and we didn't go down too many dark alleyways. The only time I felt really scared was the taxi to Machu Picchu but that was due to the driving rather than anything else.
8) What advice would you offer people going to see South America for the first time?
The most important thing is to stress how huge it is. We had 3 months and we barely stopped the whole way around, I think if we had the time again we may have passed on a couple of countries and spent more time in various bits. I think that to see all of Brazil properly would probably take around 3 months.
9) Could you see yourself living anywhere you've visited?
I think I could move to Argentina especially Buenos Aires or Mendoza without too many issues, although my waist line would probably expand a little rapidly. I would also love to spend some more time on the northern Colombian coast or even in Bogota as the outlook there seemed to be very much on the up.
10) How important was speaking a little Spanish?
My Spanish is terrible, but being able to say a few words and understand a few things was definitely a bonus, without it we'd have been ordering blind off the food menu (and not all of the restaurants have top table so we'd have been struggling to book to get into places over the phone in English).
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