Summing up - budgets

Bolivia - 21 days

Airfare

Accom

Transport

Food

Activities

Fees

Internet

Souvenirs

Other

Total

$64

$69

$76

$144

$329

$5

$27

$6

$53

773

$3

$3

$4

$7

$16

$0

$1

$0

$3

$37

Bolivia turned out to be really cheap, dirt cheap in fact. My average accommodation costs are slightly screwed by dividing the total amount spent by 21 nights, whereas some nights (6 to be precise) were included in tour prices. Adjusted costs per night were $4.6.

For $329 spent on activities I got a 3-day jungle trip, 3 days in Pampas, 3 day Uyuni tour and a mine tour. Not bad at all.

Also appears I spent a lot of hours on internet :)


Chile - 2 days

Accom

Transport

Food

Activities

Internet

Souvenirs

Total

$20

$49

$33

$59

$3

$1

$166

$10

$25

$16

$30

$1

$1

$83

I only spent two night in San Pedro de Atacama and I did not feel it was THAT expensive. Dorms for $10/night, food - $8-$10 per menu. Three short tours costs me $59, again reasonable for Chile. A $50 bus ride to Salta (Argentina) hiked the daily average up to $83.


Brazil - 19 days

Accom

Transport

Food

Activities

Visa

Internet

Souvenirs

Other

Total

$273

$387

$273

$145

$20

$2

$37

$74

$1,211

$14

$20

$14

$8

$1

$0

$2

$4

$64

Even if a $64 average does not scream an EXPENSIVE country, I can assure you Brazil was the most expensive country I visited. On $64 a day I was lying on the beach, cooking at night for the first time on the trip, and trying to cut costs in all the ways possible. Obviously hostels are expensive - $14/night, or rather $17/night adjusted to 3 nights slept on buses. $145 spent on activities do not buy you much - just entrances to Sugar Loaf and Corcovado and a 3-hour boat ride. The killer category was transportation - I spent a whooping $387 ob busing within the country. I took a bus from the Bolivian border to Campo Grande, on to Sao Paulo, on to Rio, on to Foz de Iguacu. Expensive!

San Pedro de Atacama, Chile

The southwest corner of Bolivia and the area around San Pedro is an absolute treasure for those who like desert and Mars alike landscapes.
So San Pedro is touristic (and rightly so), but in off season I found the village to be an adorable place inhabited by super nice folks. I did three tours in one and a half day and I missed out on another five, not to mention opportunities for sand boarding, horse riding and biking. Any direction you are headed you will find something amazing to see - salt desert, lagoons, geysers, volcanoes. One drawback though - San Pedro is expensive compared to all the neighboring countries and Chile itself.

The first half-day trip was to Atacama Desert, Flamingo reserve at Chaxa Lake (Laguna de Chaxa).

Perfectly shaped Volcan Licancabur (5950 m) is dominating every landscape.



Salt Lake and reflections of Andes mountain range:




The next morning I left at 4am for geysers El Tatio. We have arrived there at half past six in the morning. Outside there is barely a hint of sunrise and -10C. It was so cold that I could not care less about geysers. But then when the sun was up I appreciated the different shapes and formations of geysers.







In the afternoon I visited Valley of the Moon (Valle de Luna):





More pictures in Chile collection.