Spanish is the official language in all countries on this trip.

Climate along the Pacific coast is mainly affected by latitude with the temperature colder the further south you go. In Colombia and Equador, it is tropical. Once into Peru, the humidity starts to decline. South of Lima, the environment becomes very arid. The Atacama Desert, known as the driest place in the world, lies in Southern Peru and Northern Chili. Beyond Santiago is the start of Patagonia. Climate here is temperate, with subtropical rainforests dominating the landscape. Further south, the climate shifts to sub-polar, with evergreens dominating the landscape.

In the Andes, altitude matters more than latitude. The rule of thumb is that temperature decreases by 6 degrees Celsius for every 1,000-meter gain in elevation. Much the trip in Peru crosses the Altiplano, where altitude hovers around 4,000 meters. Daytime temperature is pleasant while nights can be freezing.

Bogota,Lima and Santiago are the principal airports for those flying in from outside of South America.

Quito, Medellin and Cusco are more useful for those flying in from other parts of South America.

In Northern Patagonia, Puerto Montt and San Carlos de Bariloche are good airports to travel to, while in Southern Patagonia, El Calafate Punta Arenas, Rio Grande and Ushuaia are good airports to fly back from.

Uyuni has an airport for those unwilling to endure hardship.

Cartagena, is the principle port between Colombia and Panama. This is the only way to get pass the Darien Gap without flying.

It is theoretically possible to arrive by boat from the Amazon. Starting from Belem, change ferries at Manaus to go to Iquitos. Once at Iquitos, three options existː Yurimaguas (2.5 days), Pucallpa (4 days) and Coca (8 days). All three cities have motorable roads.

Since every major city west of the Andes has been covered in the Routes section below, the only remaining starting points lie far beyond the Andes on the eastern Atlantic coast. These bus rides are epic journeys in and of themselves.

From Sao Paulo, Brazil, Ormeño runs a bus to Lima on the Interoceanic Highway (108 hours). Get off at Cusco to save 21 hours.

From Buenos Aires, Argentina, buses to Lima (72 hours), Santiago (19-20 hours hours), Bariloche (20-23 hours) and Rio Gallegos (36 hours).

• Cartagena to Medellin
  • Day trip to El Peñón de Guatapé
• Medellin to Bogotá
• Bogota to Cali
• Cali to Pasto

• Pasto to Ipiales
  • 15 minute trip to Las Lajas Sanctuary

Tulcan is a border town. Be careful with money changers as some may be crooks.

• Tulcan to Quito (5 hours)
• Quito to Trujillo

• at Trujillo
  • Side trip to Caral
  • The Pyramid of the Moon
• Trujillo to Lima
  • Side trip to Chan Chan
• Lima to Cusco (21 hours)
• Alternatively, break up this trip into smaller segments:
  • Lima to Ica (5 hours) - Spend the night in Huacachina desert oasis
  • Ica to Nazca (2 hours) - See Nazca lines and the lost city of Ciudad Perdida de Cahuachi
  • Nazca to Cusco (14.5 hours, night bus)
    • Nazca to Arequipa (10 hours)
    • Arequipa to Cusco (9 hours)
• at Cusco
  • Machu Picchu
  • Ollantaytambo
• Cusco to Puno
  • Cruise Lake Titicaca
• Puno to Desaguadero

• Border to La Paz
  • Tiwanaku (Gate of the Sun)
  • Isla del Sol
• La Paz via Oruno to Uyuni
  • Possible detour to Potasi
• Salar de Uyuni
  • 4 day jeep trip to Chile
  • Laguna Verde

• San Pedro de Atacama
  • Valle de la Luna
• Calama
• Antofagasta
  • Possible detour to Pampa del Tamarugal
• Antofagasta to Santiago - long bus ride on Highway 5
• Santiago to Puerto Montt

Due to the difficulty of the terrain and the amorphous nature of the southern Chile-Argentina border, traveling overland in Patagonia requires at least 1 border crossing.

The starting point here is either the Chilean port city of Puerto Monttor the Argentinean mountain resort of Bariloche. Traveling between Puerto Montt and Bariloche takes either 4 hours by bus or a full day by ferry/bus combination.

From Puerto Montt, 2 options exist:

1. Take the ferry to Puerto Natales (400 USD 3 days). This is the most straight forward option. The ferry travels through Chilean fjords en route.

2. Overland on the Carretera Austral. This is the more difficult option. Most of trip will be on pot holed roads with periodic ferry crossing. Towns are few and far in between along here. Take this road all the way down will arrive at Villa O'Higgins. From there on it is a ferry ride across the border on Lago San Martin. From there on is a 20km hike until Laguna del Desierto. Take another ferry across the lake will get you to a road that leads to El Chaltén.

From Bariloche, taking the Ruta 40 will lead to El Chaltén (24 hours in a cramped mini bus)

Taking any of the 3 options will arrive at Southern Patagonia. The three big ticket sights starting from north to south are:

1. Monte Fitz Roy near El Chaltén - many day hikes in the surrounding area

2. Glaciar Perito Moreno near El Calafate - massive glacier

3. Torres del Paine north of Puerto Natales - hike famous W trek (4-5 days) or full circuit (7-9 days)

Taking the ferry will allow you see the sights in the reverse order as they are listed.

For those who seek to go as far south as possible. There are 3 destinations from from north to south:

Map of Colombia to Patagonia overland

-53.16667-70.933331 Punta Arenas. Southern most city on the South American continent 

-54.8-68.32 Ushuaia. Southern most city in Argentina 

-54.933333-67.6166673 Port Williams. Southern most city in Chile 

From Punta Arenas, take a there is a 30 hour ferry to Ushuaia.

Alternatively, there are bus connecting Puerto Natales and Rio Gallegos with Rio Grande. From Rio Grande there is another bus to Ushuaia.

• Head to Rio Gallegos for a 36-hour (Cama Suite) bus north to Buenos Aires
• Visit Iguaçu Falls
• Continue to Sao Paulo
• From Sao Paulo take 108-hour bus across the Amazon to Lima