…and the itinerary is confirmed January 31, 2007

I’ve been working on this non-stop for easily 3 SOLID days now. Life is rough, I know.

So for all those that are planning on traveling in S. America soon then read the restrictions below. If you aren’t planning, but just want to see our itinerary, skip to the end.
The LAN Airpass is basically a discounted flight itinerary around South America. I’ve only seen 2 companies that offer something like this, TAM and LAN, but TAM is much more restrictive, and I could purchase the LAN flights online and see my price right away. With LAN’s Airpass, be wary of these things:

1. You must fly into and out of S. America on LAN. You can also fly a Oneworld airline, but it’s more expensive. Oneworld airlines include American, British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Finnair, Cathaway Pacific, Quantas, or Alitalia/South African Airlines.
2. The LAN Airpass will save you close to 40% if you had to buy those same flights retail – making it very worth it if you have a bunch of flights (we have 6).
3. You must know, book, and pay for your itinerary a minimum of 14 days prior to your departure to South America. WHAT A PAIN!!! The whole point of exploring a continent is just that, exploring. Not knowing where you’ll go, how long you’ll stay, or how you’ll get there.
4. Once your Airpass is booked (you can do this on their website by clicking here http://www.lan.com/promociones/data/norteamerica/us/todo_el_mundo/saairpass.html), changes to routes are not permitted once the first leg of the pass is flown. Domestic changes in dates cost $20, and international changes are $50.

Okay, so that being said, here’s our proposed itinerary. I really would rather have not had an itinerary at all, but LAN forced us into one (and saved us $1000 EACH in the process).

Day 1 Fly into Sao Paulo, have a late lunch, explore city, recover
Day 2 – 6 hr bus to Rio De Janeiro
Day 2,3,4,5 – Carnival! – We’ll spend as much money these 5 days Carnival as we will the entire rest of the trip.
Day 6,7,8 – Fly to Foz de Iguazu, considered by some to be the 8th wonder of the world. They are huge waterfalls basically
Day 9,10 11, – Fly to Salvador – a great city on the coast of Brazil where the african roots are the strongest.
Day 12 – Fly to Puerto Allegre, and then take a bus south into Uruguay.
Day 13-29 – Uruguay. Surf. Sun. Sand. CHEAP. NON TOURISTY. Need I say more?
Day 30 – We ferry from Colonia in Uruguay to Buenos Aires, Argentina. From there, we hop a flight to Ushuaia which is in Tierra Del Fuego, southern Patagonia.
Day 31, 32,33 – Ushuaia, dodging penguins, whales, and con artists.
Day 33,34,35 – Fly to El Calafate, there we dodge calving glaciers, hike, and hide from the con artists we avoided in Ushuaia
Day 36-37 – Somehow we get to Bariloche, which is in the lake district in Argentina. Do we fly? Do we bus? I think a bus is going to be maybe 40 hours… but a flight is EXPENSIVE!
Day 38-44 – Spanish school in Bariloche – plus hiking, maybe some fishing, whitewater rafting, and mountain biking.
Day 45 – 48 – Fly to Buenos Aires for some good old fashion city shopping, relaxation, laundry, etc
Day 49-58 – Fly to Mendoza for 1 week of spanish lessons, touring wineries, visiting Aconcagua and partying!
Day 59 – Take a 10+ hour bus ride over the Chillean Andeas, probably one of the most spectacular rides ever
Day 60-61 – Chill out in Valparaiso, Chile – a romantic but dirty little port down 2 hours from Santiago
Day 62-63 – Explore Santiago
Day 64-66 – Fly to La Paz, Bolivia, and explore that fabulous city
Day 67-72 – Sea kayak on Lake Titicaca – the highest navigable lake in the world.
Day 73 – Make our way to Cusco, Peru
Day 74-80 – Climb the 5 day excursion up the Inca Trail to Maccu Piccu
Day 81 – To Lima!
Day 82 – To Miami!

I realize how much we are cramming in to this trip, and it just goes to show you that there’s just not enough time in our lives to travel – save if you have a trust fund and don’t need a job! What I really want to do is spend the next trip volunteering building schools or aqueducts or something that’s more useful to others than just my photos and blog. But hey, I’ve limited time, so must cram cram cram!

Till next time…