South America Travel Tips

Just back from Colombia’s Caribbean, this is, I hope, the first of various trip reports for 2009.

While Rio de Janeiro is preparing for it’s world famous carnival and the tourist hordes that come with it, I thought I’d shed some light on alternative carnivals in South America - one’s you’ve probably never even heard of.

About three years later than it should have done, and after much lobbying by the Colombian Government, the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has finally updated it’s travel advisory with regards to visitors to Colombia.

Times have changed, but this selection of very, very old photos and pictures demonstrate what life was like for the real pioneering tourists and settlers in Latin America.

Which are the greatest, most legendary and widely respected / talked about nightclubs in South America?

This is a guide to the best surfing destinations in Central and South America, covering Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru, Brazil and Chile.

Kidnapping statistics show that you’re more likely to be kidnapped in Mexico, Ecuador or Venezuela than in Colombia. Read this article, get over the fear and paranoia, then visit Colombia!

Having just added to the Caribbean section of the main travel guide, I’ll now include an article advising how to sensibly go about choosing a Caribbean island to combine with a vacation to Central or South American destination.

Being a travel guide writer really sucks as you have to travel so much (I’m kidding). I’m planning another trip (Colombia, Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador over 2 months) - here’s the details for anyone interested. Of course I’ll be writing about everywhere I visit upon my return.

I’ve always been thouroughly disappointed at the quality of Lonely Planet’s travel guidebooks with regards to Latin America. Then I read a shocking article explaining why they are quite so poor.