hi everyone,

i'm going to South America next summer from late May-early August. i am going to be with some friends in Jujuy, Argentina for most of July, so i'm basically looking for advice on what to do for late-May-early July.

i was in SA for 6 months a bit over a year ago and had an amazing time. about 3 of those months i was living in Buenos Aires, the other 3 months i was traveling. going to post where i was and what places i'm interested which will hopefully lead to better suggestions (feel free to recommend places that i haven't listed).

places i visited:

Argentina: BA, Iguazu Falls, Salta/Jujuy.

Uruguay: Colonia, Montevideo. was only in Uruguay for like 4 days over a long weekend.

Bolivia: Uyuni, Potosi, Sucre, La Paz.

Peru: Cuzco (Machu Picchu), Arequipa. also did a day-trip on Lake Titicaca from Puno.

Chile: Arica, San Pedro de Atacama. just spent a few days in Chile passing through on my return route to Argentina, but regret not budgeting more time for it as it seemed pretty awesome.

places i'm considering for next summer:

1. Brazil is at the top of my list, but it's such a big country i'm not sure where to start. i would definitely want to spend some time in Rio, and i've always thought it would be cool to go to Manaus. only concern is that Manaus seems like it's kind of in the middle of nowhere, so i'm not sure how feasible it would be. there's also a bunch of places further northeast that seem interesting but i don't know too much about yet. don't know any Portuguese so not sure how that would impact the experience (my Spanish is decent).

2. another option i was considering would be to go to south Argentina/Chile, check out the Patagonia region and work my way up (i never went south of BA when i was there last time). i can't remember when ski season is there but it would be pretty cool to go skiing in the Andes i think. Chile seems like a pretty cool place in general but i don't know much about the pros/cons of any particular cities there. could check out Mendoza while i'm working my way up.

3. the 3rd option i was considering was flying into Colombia and working my way down through Ecuador and northern Peru. i wanted to see Lima last time but didn't want to rush everything too much. this option seems like it would be a bit cheaper than the first two.

i'll try to list my interests, but i think they're pretty broad and cliche to be honest i like nightlife, food, nature, music. beaches are cool but i don't absolutely need them. i'd say i'm a low-budget traveler overall but not ultra-low budget, generally prefer to spend money on nightlife/food over accomodation. it seems like every option would include some combination of buses/flights, but obviously i'd like to avoid excessive/expensive flights when possible.

again, please feel free to add different recommendations or comment on my (very vague) ideas above. just a reminder that it's for late May-early July (estimate maybe 5.5-6 weeks), and that i will want to end up in Jujuy (north of Argentina near Bolivia) at the end of it.

thanks

Ayahuasca ceremony my liege.

LOL

bump because why not

tl;dr: looking for ideas for South America trip from May-July, leaning towards Brazil (+at least 1 other country probably). need to end up in north Argentina (Jujuy) to meet with friend afterwards, so my route has to keep that in mind.

I say head south... wander your way up through patagonia. You can bounce between Chile and Argentina... cross over into Argentina for the final time via the lake crossing to San Carlos de Bariloche.. or if it's not too cold, via horseback. Or cross over further south and come thru Parque de los Alerces.

Stop in El Bolson.. a tiny little town that benefits from a microclimate. It had an influx of hippies from Buenos Aires in the late 60's.. so music and art and great food are part of the culture there. Stay in a cabin on the side of Cerro Piltriquitron -- not in the town itself -- it's quite magical. San Carlos de Bariloche is in a beautiful setting -- and can be quite expensive at the height of skiing season.

This is where I stayed in el Bolson:

www.cabanaslosteros.com.ar

Sounds really good and i guess you can stick to a lot of things when you plan these things this way which can make your stuff memorable surely.
What i personally important is a way that comes around us overall turns into experiences.