My South American Itinerary!

            In exactly eleven days, I’ll be on a plane down to my third continent, my third summer away from home, and my next adventure abroad. I’ve gotten my yellow fever vaccine, I’ve gotten the backpack I’ll be taking (which I’m in love with!), and I feel just about ready to hit the road again. A year ago today I was exploring the beautiful city of Cape Town, South Africa with my fellow White Shark Projects volunteers. Two years ago today I was hiking in my temporary home of Grand Teton National Park, taking in all that wonderful place had to offer. As someone with a serious case of the travel bug, my feet are getting very itchy after being home for this long! Since I had some extra time today, and I have pretty much all of the details for the first part of my trip planned out, I thought I’d make a blog post outlining my itinerary for the next few days, weeks, and months.

            Monday, May 30th: I’ll be flying out of Houston at 4:30 pm, arriving in Lima, Peru at about 11 that night (there’s actually no time difference between Houston and Lima). I’ll then meet up with the airport transfer that I’ve set up, and be taken to Backpacker’s Family Club, the hostel where I’ll be spending my first night in South America. I have almost a full 24-hour layover in Lima, so I booked that hostel for the night.

            Tuesday, May 31st: I’ll have most of the day to explore Miraflores, the area of Lima that I’ll be staying in. There’s quite a bit to do around that area, and I won’t waste any time getting acclimated to life in South America! Later I’ll return to the airport, where I’ll board a flight at 10:30 pm, heading to La Paz, Bolivia. The flight arrives in La Paz at 1:30 am (there is a one hour time difference between Lima and La Paz).

            Wednesday, June 1st: I’ve heard that there’s a hotel inside the La Paz airport that you can pay for by the hour, so I might take advantage of that to get some sleep after arriving at 1:30 am. Later that morning (I was told about six or seven), employees from the Bolivia Wildlife Sanctuary will pick me up from the airport and take me back to the sanctuary, which I’ve heard is about a two to three hour drive from La Paz. I’ll have the rest of that day to unpack and settle in to the sanctuary, which will be my home for the next ten weeks.

            June 2nd-August 10th: This will be my time working at the Bolivia Wildlife Sanctuary! This sanctuary houses several species of South American monkeys, birds, turtles, South American cats, and spectacled bears (which I’m SUPER excited about!!!). Most of the animals have been rescued from illegal animal trafficking, which is a pretty big issue in South America. Most of the rescued animals cannot be released (due to a variety of reasons), so work at the sanctuary can be a very hands-on experience.

            August 10th: This will be my last day at the sanctuary. After saying my goodbyes and packing my bags, I’ll be driven back to La Paz, where I’ve booked a night at Loki La Paz, another hostel. I stayed in a couple of different hostels while in South Africa, and had great experiences in both of them. Hostels probably aren’t for everyone, but I absolutely love them!

            August 11th: I’ve booked a flight out of La Paz, leaving at 10:45 that morning, down to Santiago, Chile, where my backpacking phase of the adventure will begin! I’m due to arrive in Santiago at 1:45 pm (11:45 am San Antonio time).

            That’s everything I have officially reserved so far. I plan to spend a few days exploring the beautiful city of Santiago, before moving north through Chile, backpacking my way up into Peru and, eventually, Ecuador. I expect the backpacking to take somewhere between a month and a month and a half, so I should be back in San Antonio sometime in September.

            This post’s food for thought is a quote that I’ve used before, but it’s becoming one of my favorite quotes ever, so I just have to reuse it. On the topic of taking risks, living adventurously, and challenging yourself (three things that I absolutely love to do): “Go to the edge of the cliff and jump off. Build your wings on the way down.”- T.K. Thorne.