North & South America

[endabob1]

Looking for some advice on timings really, the wife and I are hoping to do a 2 month trip in the Americas, probably starting around this time next year.
Rough plan so far is
New York
Texas (to visit a mate)
Vegas - Overland to San Fran
Mexico/Cancun for a bit of beach relaxation
Maybe Costa Rica
Peru - Inca Trail (depending on climate)to Machu Pichu, Lake titicaca
Rio
Argentina - Iguazu Falls & Buenos Aires (got to get t a Boca game!)

I know it's a big area to cover in a relatively short space of time but realistically 2 months is all we can afford off.
Any advice on the logistics and how long to spend in places would be greatly appreciated.
My concerns are really around Peru & the inca trail, it's the rainy season and so it may not be possible and I'd imagine camping & hiking for 5 days in torrential rain will not be pleasant.
I'd like to spend a few days in Costa Rica to seee the rainforests and wildlife there but purely from a time perspective I'm not sure how possible it will be.
The beach in Mexico is non-negotiable!

[Eire06]

Change Cancun for Tulum - just a bit further down the cost much nicer people and better beaches and not as commercialised and not full of American Teenagers drinking for the first time.
You're right beside Sian K'aan bio reserve there too

[dcfcsteve]

Change Cancun for Tulum - just a bit further down the cost much nicer people and better beaches and not as commercialised and not full of American Teenagers drinking for the first time.
You're right beside Sian K'aan bio reserve there too

Tulum was just a few mosquito infested tiny strip of leaky cabanas when I was there 14 years ago ! And it can be surprisingly cold, as it's on Mexico's small Atlantic coastline. I had literally the the worst night's sleep in my life there.

I would suggest flying into Cancun, and then heading to Isla Mujeres off there. Very chilled island with limited accommodation, so whilst it has a lot of day-tripper yank idiots, they all feck off by 5pm latest back to Cancun, so the place has a good feel to it in the evenings. Also - Cozumel island is between Cancun and Isla Mujeres, and has wicked snorkelling etc (2nd biggest barrier reef in the world starts off the coats of Mexico there).

Tulum does have a Mayan site, but it's literally nothing compared to the bigger and better ones nearby. If you like history and architecture, make sure you go to Chicen Itza - about 90mins from Cancun. A huge Mayan city in very restored shape - seriously impressive. Much bigger than Machu Picchu, and a hell of a lot easier to get to...

[Eire06]

Tulum was just a few mosquito infested tiny strip of leaky cabanas when I was there 14 years ago ! And it can be surprisingly cold, as it's on Mexico's small Atlantic coastline. I had literally the the worst night's sleep in my life there.

I'd say it has changed a good bit in the last 14 years, was there last year and it was beautiful, went diving in the cenote's there and out to the reef.
Sian Ka'an(a huge nature reserve) is class right beside Tulum and the Tulum Mayan ruins are the other side, ya its not as big as Chechen itza but still impressive.
We stayed in a cabana on the beach in Tulum too and it was lovely.
If you go at the right time of year the turtles come up on the beach to lay their eggs its class or when the eggs hatch
Went to Isla Mujeres too and it was nice but again very commercialised and everything over priced - also its soo small you'd get bored in a day or so

[paul_oshea]

Change Cancun for Tulum - just a bit further down the cost much nicer people and better beaches and not as commercialised and not full of American Teenagers drinking for the first time.
You're right beside Sian K'aan bio reserve there too

See this is the stereotype i was hoping to find true, but it is not unfortunately!!! The only time american drunk teenages are there are from spring break, which lasts mid feb to mid march. What you get is big fat Southern state americans and english bloody tours!!!!! Having said that the hotel we stayed in was absoloutely lovely - bar we were the only 2 lads together in it - , 3 star but was like a 5 star. The beaches in cancun are lovely and ye can rent skis straight off the beach.

I think though if you want a bit of quiet the best place to go to would be Playa del carmen, not far from chicen itza or the undergound river cave tours or the above as Eire06 says. The hotels are more spaced out and you will meet central americans and south americans as oppossed to English and Yanks.

How do ye plan on getting from New York to Texas? I think you should try and fit in washington if you can, if you like museums and stuff?! All depends what you are looking for!

Tulum was just a few mosquito infested tiny strip of leaky cabanas when I was there 14 years ago ! And it can be surprisingly cold, as it's on Mexico's small Atlantic coastline. I had literally the the worst night's sleep in my life there.

This is what i was told too, by a venezulan, especially if you go after hurrican season that its a good bit colder. Playa del carmen has everything bar the cheesy english themed package tour bars.....

I would suggest flying into Cancun, and then heading to Isla Mujeres off there.

Ya, thats a nice island, you can rent mopeds and quads and do island tours and stuff.....but then again im not sure how sane you would stay if there for a week. If you want to meet different sorts again Playa del carmen has that plus all that the other offer.

One thing to be sure of is get the all-inclusive package!!!

I would suggest flying into Cancun, and then heading to Isla Mujeres off there. Very chilled island with limited accommodation, so whilst it has a lot of day-tripper yank idiots, they all feck off by 5pm latest back to Cancun, so the place has a good feel to it in the evenings. Also - Cozumel island is between Cancun and Isla Mujeres, and has wicked snorkelling etc (2nd biggest barrier reef in the world starts off the coats of Mexico there).

All gone now since wilma im afraid So just as well learn to do scuba diving instead.

What ever you do, do the cave snorkelling, unreal. great experience and i dont think you can do it anywhere in the world either....

Tulum does have a Mayan site, but it's literally nothing compared to the bigger and better ones nearby. If you like history and architecture, make sure you go to Chicen Itza - about 90mins from Cancun. A huge Mayan city in very restored shape - seriously impressive. Much bigger than Machu Picchu, and a hell of a lot easier to get to...

We missed that, becuase of being out on the beer too often, i knew i would regret that!!! But a reason to go back!!! Ah well we did every single club and bar in cancun!!! which we were told was done that often in the timeframe we were there!!!

Be sure to get the help of a tour guide from the hotel when ye get there. We got this french guy ( i have his email actually ), who was spot on, he ended up walking out in the thundering rain looking for a phone box for us and calling mehicana ( mexican ) airlines to re-arrange our flights so we could stay on. We gave him a decent tip at the end too, but he really helped us out in terms of doing the right stuff and not wasting yer days away, it was just a pity we didnt get onto him earlier in our trip. Dont go relaxing for too long as there really is plent to see. spend possibly 2 days relaxing 3 - 4 days doing stuff and another 1 day to relax at the end before ye leave.

I've edited this about 20 times now, but i also think you should hit mexico city for a day at least.

[endabob1]

Firstly thanks for all the input, mucho appreciated.

Yeah the whole idea of Mexico/Cancun is a bit of R&R but mainly for snorkelling & to check out Chicen Itza, would like to avoid the main Cancun drag but Play del Carmen was somewhere we looked at before so that's a possibility. Not sure on Mexico City a lot of it depends on Flights, when I looked earlier the easiest way to get from Cancun to Peru was via Miami but if we could go through Mexico City I'd e inclined to stop off for a day or 2.

In the states I haven't figured out the details yet, flights wise it might be easier to go New York - Vegas - overland to San Fran then fly to Austin and from there to Mexico otherwise there is a lot of doubling back as Austin is a small airport and almost everything goes via Dallas.
Time is a big factor and I'd rather spend more of it in South America than the US so we plan to zip around pretty quickly.

[paul_oshea]

I had a friend who went from peru to cancun after doing the willy wonka trail tour. She flew via mexico city, so im assuming that its still possible. Then from cancun back to mexico city, back to miami to new york and onto london all in one go!!!

[endabob1]

Then from cancun back to mexico city, back to miami to new york and onto london all in one go!!!

Jesus how long was that in flying time????

Fortunately we won't be coming back

[dcfcsteve]

To throw another idea in the mix - it's quick, easy and cheap to skip from Cancun to Cuba.......

Now that's a country worth visiting.....

[paul_oshea]

To throw another idea in the mix - it's quick, easy and cheap to skip from Cancun to Cuba.......

Now that's a country worth visiting.....

Ya, if ye like poor service, very plain food and like an alternative version of colonic irrigation

[Eire06]

Ya, if ye like poor service, very plain food and like an alternative version of colonic irrigation

No way Cuba was by far the best country I have visited - its is so beautiful, I found the people lovely and very hospitable.
Food was plain but if you like seafood you'll love it.

Flights with cubana airlines from cancun are about €200 return.

Visiting Cuba is like stepping into another world

[paul_oshea]

No way Cuba was by far the best country I have visited - its is so beautiful, I found the people lovely and very hospitable.

Ya a mates brother found them extremely "hospitable", so much so he ended up getting engaged to one and going back marrying her a year later

I hear thats actually quite common practice out there!!!

[Eire06]

Ya a mates brother found them extremely "hospitable", so much so he ended up getting engaged to one and going back marrying her a year later

I hear thats actually quite common practice out there!!!

I think getting married in quite common in most countries..

The hospitable comment was due to your comment about the poor service which is totally wrong.
Did you actually visit the country or are you just goin on what your mates brother told ya

[paul_oshea]

I think getting married in quite common in most countries..

The hospitable comment was due to your comment about the poor service which is totally wrong.
Did you actually visit the country or are you just goin on what your mates brother told ya

getting married was not the point and ye know well. Did you reply to it just so you could use the here?!

Ya, and thats what i found. wasn't there long mind, and id agree its like going to another world, thats why i wouldn't tell anyone else to go!!!

[dcfcsteve]

Ya, if ye like poor service, very plain food and like an alternative version of colonic irrigation

Harsh POS !

Service was far form poor in my experience, and I covered a big chunk of the island, not just the main touristy bits.

Food can be rather plain, but for obvious reasons. Cuba is a poor country with poor people. Like most other Caribbean islands, beef is an absolute luxury to them, as cows are too expensive, take up too much room and eat too much food. Hence, you mostly get pork or chicken to eat in Cuba - often with something based around rice and beans (or 'Moros y christianos' as it is called in rather politically incorrect Spanish ! ). Don't recall seeing much seafood, but plenty of fruit - especially bananas. If you go to the touristy areas you will see buffets that literally contain more food than you've ever seen anywhere else in your life, and the hotels in old Havana do decent food, so I can't see how anyone who'd spent more than a day or two in the country could complain about the fodder.

As for the colonic bit - not sure what you eman there. Did you get the sh!ts ? I'd no problem in 3 weeks travelling all around the country - including staying in some fairly basic hotels.

Cuba rocks...!

[kingdom hoop]

Sweet, looks like we've a nice little project to work on for the next while. It's a bit late so I won't launch into anything big just now. Whenabouts are you thinking of going - ie before or after next Christmas? Or is it very much flexible? I suppose the most important thing is that the Argentinian, and Brazil is much the same I think, league is usually in off-season from early December to early February so we must work around that. After that I suppose climate and festivals are our main concern. Primarily in that regard I'm thinking the Carnaval in Rio should be aimed for if it all possible, it'll be on around the 25th February (Ash Wednesday) in 2009. This is gonna be great Enda!

[endabob1]

Relatively flexible, really depends on cash and a couple of other incidentals. The time frame for leaving is basically October 2008 to probably February 2009, we can't afford to go before then and depending on timings I don't want to arrive in Cape Town later than April as we will have missed the whole summer!!!
Had a quick squizz at the Boca site and I think they kick off in February and end in December so going early in October would just get there for the december games but I'm thinking that if it's end of season it may be harder to get tickets, championship deciders etc...
I would love to be in Rio for Carnival, also did a look up on that one, if at all possible that would be perfect.
A big concern over flight schedules, I assumed we could do a round the world ticket but the amount of restrictions is proving a problem added to the fact that the airlines don't all cover the areas we want to go to..
Other main concern is the weather in Peru if we are going to do the inca trail I worry that the rainy season will be too wet for us, neither of us are exactly experienced hikers & campers.. well I camped at the electric picnic but I'm not sure that counts!!

[theworm2345]

Dont waste your time in the ****hole called New York, I'd go to the Caribbean or somewhere like that if I were you

[OneRedArmy]

Having done it a few times I wouldn't recommend going overland from Las Vegas to San Francisco, unless you break it up by going to L.A. and drive up the coast to San Fran from there (I'm also not a fan of L.A. at all, the most souless place I've ever been, by a margin).

The direct route from Vegas to San Francisco is extremely boring being basically desert for 5 hours and farmland of central California for the next 12. If you go in Summer you can go a more interesting route via Death Valley and through Yosemite (this is closed in from Autumn through to late Spring because of snow), which is a spectacular place, but unless you are going to spend a few days there I'd fly it.

Also agree on getting to Cape Town by mid-April, I went in May and it was a little chilly although still a great place. Try and do some of the Garden Route as far as Knysna if you can.

[pete]

Anyone been to California in February/March?

Thinking of doing San Francisco, Vegas & back to via the coast (inland to LA & then bypass).