Like the idea of taking a long holiday or honeymoon to South America? We visit the western side of the continent, travelling to many incredible places and classic bucket list destinations along the way
As my husband and I have recently just celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary (where did that time go?!), it got me thinking back to our incredible extended honeymoon in South America. We went to so many amazing places, I thought it might be nice to share some of these unforgettable experiences and memories, so here goes…
Planning the Trip
Being a school teacher, a perk of the job is long summer holidays every year. My husband is not so fortunate, but he managed to get his work to agree to him taking his entire holiday allowance for the year in one go (after all, for a honeymoon, they couldn’t really say ‘no’!). This gave us an unprecedented 5 weeks with which to plan an extended honeymoon. We settled on South America, as neither of us had ever been before.
To finance such a long trip, rather than receive gifts, we asked for financial contributions instead as wedding presents. I’m aware that this kind of ‘give us some money’ approach can appear impersonal at times. To counter this, we created an online diary of days for the trip, with each day available for sponsoring (the different anticipated costs for each day reflected in the price of sponsorship). In return, we would send a postcard from that chosen place as a way of saying thank-you. This system worked surprisingly well and people seemed happy with the arrangement – although at times left me sat writing a backlog of postcards! More recently, we have taken a similar approach for our children, asking for birthday money towards experiential gifts, rather than just more ‘stuff’ – presents beyond plastic.
Knowing how large South America is (it is huge!), even with 5 weeks at our disposal we had to carefully pick and choose. We opted to save the larger countries of Brazil and Argentina for another trip, instead choosing to focus on the west coast of the continent. We usually prefer slower travel with a chance to see more of any visited country, so tried to work some bus trips into the schedule. The scale of distances involved however, meant that unfortunately most travel was done by air. The trip was far more of a highlights package than we’d usually like, but still made for a brilliant honeymoon. We managed to tick off several of what are often considered to be classic bucket list destinations on our way around.
A shortage of time also meant that most of the trip was pre-planned and pre-booked. We didn’t want to waste time getting stuck anywhere unexpectedly. Again though, this isn’t how we usually like to travel, as we find that remaining flexible can often have a habit of presenting some of the best unexpected rewards. If you are looking for options for organised travel, check out these top tours in South America.
As we made our way around, the little extra touches and occasional upgrades that we received from many of the hotels we stayed in, served to make the trip even more special.
Chile
After an enormous flight from London, via Madrid, we arrived in Santiago, Chile, in the morning (but feeling like we’d been awake for a week). It made a pleasant city to explore – one that felt quite European in character.
We also headed to the nearby coastal port city of Valparaiso for a day trip, to see the traditional steep funiculars and colourful hilltop houses, largely constructed from corrugated iron.
One regret is not visiting the salt flats of Chile’s Atacama Desert. They look incredible. We just didn’t have the time, sadly.
Bolivia
Leaving Santiago, we flew north into the capital of Bolivia, La Paz. First impressions of the city were that it was obviously poorer and a lot more ramshackled than anything we’d seen in Chile. There was also a greater prevalence of indigenous peoples and traditional dress to be seen. Sitting proudly at an altitude of over 3,500m, La Paz is the highest capital city in the world. For those not used to this, you definitely start to feel a bit laboured just walking around after a while. It turned out to be a fun place to stay though – definitely one of the best cities in South America.
From La Paz we headed to the nearby and iconic Lake Titicaca, often reported to be the highest navigable lake in the world, as well as being the birthplace of the Incas. Being July (so winter), nights at this height were freezing, but sunny days surprisingly warm.
Staying at the town of Copacabana, we loved all the colourful boats on the lake, and were lucking enough to witness the truly bonkers ‘blessing of the cars’ (I kid you not). A boat ride to the island of Isla del Sol provided a chance to see some treasured Inca remains.
Peru
A bus ride over the border from Copacabana, brought us to Puno, on the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca. Though somewhat different in character, the experience was not too dissimilar to that of Copacabana in Bolivia.
From Puno, another bus ride took us to Arequipa, a beautiful city of colonial baroque buildings. The city centre, with its historic monasteries and grandeur are well worth a detour to see if visiting the country. Arequipa is also home to Juanita, an Incan mummy from a child sacrifice from the 15th century. It’s very freaky, but something you just have to go and see.
Our next journey was a hair-raising and bumpy flight over the mountains into the historic Inca capital city of Cusco. As well as boasting some impressive historical remains, the city is also the departure point for those wishing to visit the mountain-top lost city of the Incas, at Machu Picchu.
Although many methods and routes to reach Machu Picchu now exist, we opted for the classic and original Inca Trail – a 4 day hike up and down what seemed to be about 10 million stone steps. The construction of both the route itself and the surrounding terraced landscapes, are impressive to witness first hand. There is also some beautiful wildlife to admire along the way. We particularly liked the little hovering hummingbirds.
After days of walking, wearing the same clothes and sleeping in a tent, we finally arrived at Machu Picchu amongst waves of beautifully manicured tourists arriving on the train. Oh well. It was so worth it though, with the sense of satisfaction matching the incredible views. There were even some fun llamas to admire on the grass terraces there.
Finally, for Peru, was a trip to Peru’s modern-day capital, Lima, stocked full of crumbling colonial grandeur all around. Despite the decline of some of the city’s historical landmarks, it still made for an interesting place for a stopover
Another regret for the trip was that we didn’t visit the enormous and bizarre land carvings of the Nazca Lines. Again, sadly not enough time. Hopefully we can make it back one day.
Ecuador
Leaving Peru, we flew into Quito, the capital of Ecuador. It was a fun city to visit with vibrant night life. There are also some excellent opportunities in the surrounding countryside for weekend and day trips around Quito. At times the city felt a bit edgy though – noticeably more so than anywhere else we’d been up until then. I guess we’d firmly landed onto the drug trafficking route to North America, and to some extent it showed. You wouldn’t want to wander too far away from other people down any dark lanes at night, that’s for sure.
We also indulged in the classic tourist activity of making a fun trip to see the line of the equator itself, with a chance to stand one foot in each hemisphere.
Galapagos Islands
As lovers of nature and wildlife, this is a place that had long been in our sights. A flight from Quito presented us with the perfect opportunity to visit. Once there, we boarded a pleasure boat, shared with approximately 20 other passengers, and departed on a multi-day cruise around a selection of the islands. Most boat travel was done at night (pretty choppy at times!), leaving the days free for excursions onto the islands.
The wildlife is simply incredible, both on land and under the surface of the sea. A lack of land predators has resulted in many of the birds and animals evolving with almost no fear of humans, meaning you can get up close to them in a way you’d otherwise never be able to anywhere else. It’s very strange and hard to describe.
Highlights for us were walking amongst nesting albatrosses, snorkelling with playful sea lions and watching humpback whales breaching from the sea right in front of our boat.
Easter Island
Our honeymoon was rounded off with yet another bucket list destination for us, the mysterious Rapa Nui, or Easter Island. Following a long flight from Quito to Santiago in Chile, it was another 4-5 hour flight out to Easter Island. The fact that this is the closest major city that you can fly from only further highlights just how remote this island really is!
I imagine the stone Moais (or large stone head/torsos) need little introduction. Just know though, they are just as impressive and if anything, even more mysterious, than you’d imagine. Despite the long journey to get there, it is a place that I will forever be grateful that I’ve had the chance to visit. It really is unlike anywhere else in the world.
As well as touring the various Moais, the island is also home to other historical remains and sites of interest, that provide clues as to the demise of these once successful Polynesian people. There are also interesting natural features to explore, such as an extinct volcano crater and long, tubular lava caves around the coastline.
Thoughts on the Trip
After flying back to Santiago from Easter Island, we boarded another monster long haul flight back to the UK. Phew, what an amazing trip it was! One thing it rarely was though, was relaxing. It certainly wasn’t the classic honeymoon. We arrived home feeling like we needed a holiday and joked that we should have just had 2 weeks in the Maldives like everyone else! While that does look amazing (and definitely somewhere I’d like to go myself one day), in reality it probably wouldn’t have suited me as well. I’m someone who needs almost constant entertaining and thrive on the buzz of visiting new places and experiencing new things.
For us, it really was the most incredible honeymoon – one that I feel very lucky to have been able to have. It gave us the chance to visit some desirable and truly unusual locations, that otherwise I may never have got to go to. If you’re planning a similar trip in future, whether a honeymoon or not, I hope I’ve maybe been able to provide you with inspiration for some unforgettable places to visit. I loved every minute of our trip – well almost – except perhaps the 30 mins of turbulence during the mountain approach of our plane landing into Cusco. That’s definitely one thing I wouldn’t want to repeat any time soon!
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