Santiago to Caracas in 3 weeks! Help!

[funkywombat]

this could be a bit of a tall order i'm doing a whistlestop (literally) tour of south america, i know i should take more time but its better than not at all. i fly into santiago and 3 weeks later, out of caracas, the one thing i know i really want to do is a tour of angel falls which i think i'm going to do with Natoura. does anyone have any tips of routes to take? i was thinking of bus-ing it up to lima then flying to caracas - or could it be done overland by bus the whole way? any ideas gratefully recieved
thanks
beth

[Dan]

Beth -

We spent 8 weeks in South America, and were hard pushed to stop much on our route from Quito to Santiago, so your 3 weeks doesn't give you much time anywhere at all.

What you do with your time depends very much on your interests. Please give us more clues by completing your profile and introducing yourself here please.

I'm guessing that Iguassu falls would also interest you. They're on the border between Brazil and Argentina, but as your 3 weeks doesn't give you the time to get from S to C by bus, flying may well be how you have to travel.



This site offers tours to the falls and so has info about them.

After Asia (presume your route takes you there first judging from your other post), you'll not be surprised by the delays you'll probably encounter in SA, and these are another reason not to plan long bus journeys into your trip.

If funds permit, I'd say you could fly to La Paz and on to Rurrenabaque for a 3 day trip into the Pampas for some amazing wildlife. Fly back to La Paz and then across to Buenos Aires for your trip to Iguassu. From BA I'd suggest a flight to Caracas, or to Lima if you still have time. If you're determined to experience buses in SA, then the route from Lima to Quito would be more interesting than Santiago to Lima (with a stop in Huanchaco to see the fishermen paddling their reed boats (my wife says they look like pixie shoes!)). Then you'd have to fly to Caracas for your onward flight.

I know I've thrown too many ideas into this for the time you have (and the funds too probably). Use them to stimulate your own research into this huge and fascinating continent.

Keep asking questions, we have a number of South America specialists in our membership.

Dan.
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