Latin Tour (Brazil, Peru, Ecuador)
The very idea to go to Latin America came, simply by rotating the globe and stopping it with your finger at the place of the future trip. Turned out to be Latin America.
We were traveling together. It all started with the selection of specific points and the definition of tickets and visas. I have a German passport and I am entering Brazil as an EU Citizen without a VISA. My companion with a Russian passport had to make a visa to Brazil (about $ 100 through an agency, 5 days). The rest of the countries of Latin America have long abolished visa regimes. The points were determined: Rio De Janeiro, Lima (the capital of Peru), Quito (the capital of Ecuador). Bought tickets for all these flights. The cheapest was to fly from Helsinki to Paris and there was a connecting flight to Rio. Ticket SPB-PARIS-RIO cost 25 thousand more. It turned out My ticket cost about 32 thousand, my companion who flew from St. Petersburg 57 tons. Direct flights to Lat. Amer. no, Airfrance or Iberia flies from Paris also via Madrid.
We also bought a RIO-LIMA-QUITO-RIO flight right away (the capital of Peru, Lima, was only a transit city on our trip. There are no direct flights to Quito either. From Hotel Booking, we made a reservation for the first 3 days in RIO, everything else was taken local.
All the way from St. Petersburg to the Hotel in Rio took about a day. There were 6 days in Rio, we went to the most famous Copacabana beach, coconuts for $ 1, a lot of fruits, fresh juices on every corner, not at all expensive. We were at the sambadrome, a sightseeing tour of the city and, of course, climbed Mount Corcovado to look at Christ. Were on their second tour. Sugarloaf object, there is a two-level cable car ride. The view is also crazy as with Corcovado. At night we went to a local party (Lapa quarter). There is a huge crowd of people, clubs, fast foods on wheels, cooperinho is poured everywhere (a local drink based on vodka (Cachaca). Then we flew to Peru, there was a transfer literally 2 hours and a flight to Quito.
As a result, the whole journey took about 10 hours. Settled in a small hostel. We went to the zero meridian, climbed the mountains, the funicular lifts to a height of 4000 meters. Given that Quito itself is already at an altitude of 2400 m, breathing there is somewhat unusual, there is not enough oxygen. Two days later we took a ticket for a flight to the resort town of Guayaquil (fly 40 minutes), which stands on the Pacific Ocean. But there are no resorts. We got into a taxi and, on the advice of friends, went to the surfer village of MONTANITA, which is popular in our circles. It reminded me a little of Mexico when we were driving along the highway between the deserts, and the coast reminded me a little of GOA. In Montanite, we climbed on the boards (more precisely, we studied), we saw Kita ...But we were not lucky with the weather and we went back to Quito. In Quito, we took vouchers to the local mountain village of Mindo from a local travel agency. We went there for 1.5 days, but liked it so much that we stayed there for another 2 days.
The tour was personal, we lived in a small Ranch with a pool and every day we explored local activities: downhill skiing over the gorges, rafting, horseback riding, quad biking, going to a butterfly farm, going early in the morning with an orientologist, studying birds, walking through the jungle on mountain waterfalls, we saw hummingbirds and even one good-natured dog made friends with us, he did not lag behind all day, we played with him. Then there was a flight back to RIO via Peru, we had a whole 12 hours there, so we took a taxi and drove to the center, and then to the beach. The city stands at an altitude of 152 m above sea level on the Pacific Ocean. There is nothing much to do in Lima, so we quietly flew to RIO. In Rio, we lived in a hotel on the 11th floor, and on the 12th there was a pool overlooking the mountains, Christ ....an unforgettable view ...
And two days later we had a tedious return home.
My suitcase did not arrive in Helsinki. Airfrance lost it.
They brought it to Pulkovo the next day, but they demanded customs clearance, as it was unaccompanied baggage. In general, my long negotiations ended with 2 tons in cash and hello!
In total, for the whole trip we had 10 planes, 5-6 dozen taxis, buses, horses, boats and many kilometers just on foot.
In terms of money for two, everything turned out to be about 350 thousand.
I do not regret a single penny spent, a lot of impressions!
Yakovlev Dmitry
