Im a white American traveling to South America soon?

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MSDC

First, a little bit of geography. Chile, Peru, Ecuador and Colombia are on the west coast of South America. The East Coast is argentina and Brazil with just a teenie weenie bit of Uruguay.
Chile should be no problem. Peru will depend on the time of your arrival. It is not that dangerous, but the main highway is the Pan-American Highway, so if anybody wants to protest against the government, they tend to block the highway. It might slow down your progress, but nothing more than that. Ecuador get more complicated due to unrest, although it is still doable. Colombia... well, don't think about it. Chances are you'll end up in a FARC controlled area and as a hostage.

JEM

Stick to the capitals or main ports of any S.American country and you'll be fine. You might be surprised to find out that you actually do fit in (looks wise) minus the little Spanish.
Traveling via train or plane is the safest but if you do train make sure you realize that it can get pretty packed.
The best time to move around would be during the day.
HAPPY TRAVELS and if you have the chance, try to make it up to my country..ECUADOR...Quito is nice but I love Guayaquil :)

11223344

Go to Colombia

it has a bad rep for its history,but its safe now.

If you want an adventure of culture,romanticism, and just incredible fun and (just from experience they dont party harder then they do in colombia)

go to:
Cartagena, Colombia
where youre there you can explore the city who has a huge history with the spanish and pirates and ..just go, and you can also go to the nearby carribean islands off the coast of cartagena
Medellin, Colombia
-amazing people, the best food,the best nightlife in south america, and the most beautiful girls on this planet

memorex

If you want to make the most of your investment try to see the best that each country hast to offer. Don't take our word for it, just ask the people from Chile: What is the best to see in Chile? and they will answer The South, Then in PerÃº Cuzco-Macchu Picchu, and so on.

No problem for a white american, Chile is a peace of cake, in Cuzco you'll find more tourists than local people. But I too agree that if you travel by bus, do it in day time, unless you're taking an expensive company that you'll find inexpensive.

You could start in southern Chile (Chiloe island) getting there in overnight bus (no problem) and then north to Santiago again, then skip some of the north of Chile (dessert) try going to La Paz, Bolivia, Lake Titicaca, then Peru Puno-Cuzco-Arequipa-Lima then a overnight bus to the north coast Mancora then Ecuador, then Colombia to the caribean. Going to the atlantic ocean could get too expensive due to the distance.

Preciosa

MSDC should probably educate himself a little better on political situations in certain countries like Colombia since obviously he doesn't know much about it. Colombia has become a very safe country since the president took office. All major cities, including the capital Bogota are safe, the capital is deemed safer than Washington, DC and Baltimore. Colombia is also the only country in south america with coast on the pacific and the Caribbean. Touristy caribbean coastal areas include Cartagena, Santa Marta and the islands of San Andres & Providencia. Travel in rural areas is not recommended.

Traveling in south america, you should probably just fly. Buses are fine, but I hear south american bus drivers drive pretty fast. In Peru, dont forget to visit Macchu Picchu. Don't listen to the nay sayers, do your own travel research. Enjoy.

jennifer c

Traveling to Colombia is Cool the first Time I went! There is good transportation, food, music, and the museums are the best! Go to the Gold Museum! I've been there twice to Colombia and Mainly because I'm part Colombian and I have a lot of family!

Good luck!!

P G

Go to Buenos Aires, Argentina in the east coast of sotuh america is a great city with a lot of nigthlife!! Is a beatiful city, a lot of culture, very european most of the population are descendants of Europeans and the woman are the prettiest than can imagine. And the city is safety and cheap.Buenos Aires is to an hour and a half of airplane of Santiago. http://www.bue.gov.ar/home/ (more info of Buenos Aires is in english). You are not going to have problem with the language, the majority of the Argentines speak English.
In Argentina you can go to the patagonia is very pretty place has glaciers and very pretty nature, if go in winter there are many centers of ski, for more information about tourism in Argentina go to http://www.turismo.gov.ar/ (is in english)
Have a nice trip!

PIETRO

I want to go Colombia and Venezuela too, but I am a little scared.

I'm reading all the answers, because I really need to know before taking my decisions.

By the way, could some Latino-Americans answer these questions of mine too, please?

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080302072507AAwriBm&pa=FYd1D2bwHTHzJL5iE.s.QV1pB7.FVHDITaFhVucMF3pSpw--&paid=asked&msgr_status=

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AuHDR6TmgMEJTOC.F5tG9Vfsy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20080302020737AAZYGVT

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AovxGiyKUKuG69rXOpWLwlPsy6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20080302015416AAHjwLa

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