Trips While I'm in Guyana

"The contents of this [blog] are personal and do not reflect any position of the US government or the Peace Corps."

So while I'm in Guyana, I plan on trying to see all(or most) of what Guyana has to offer but also plan to go explore the surrounding countries a bit. I already have planned an excursion to an Amerindian village, a flight to Kaiteur Falls, and am trying to visit Suriname.

 I already have two Caribbean island trips planned with Kenny which will be nice to be somewhere where you have this never ending heat, but actually water you can swim in. She and I went to Aruba last year and I think this will be a nice tradition to go somewhere tropical every year. I think in the future though, it would be great to do a week of volunteering in the local hospital and community and then do a week on the beach. A nice balance I'd say.

Additionally, I am planning on hiking Mt. Roraima. This one is non-negotiable. In addition, to that obvious sign from Kevin, just as an extra reminder he's looking over me. Every year, all my cousins do a secret santa where you draw a name and buy a gift for that person. They are always on these small slips of paper. Why am I telling you this? Well, after finishing the book on stress, I picked up the next in my pile which happened to be The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay which I have to say, 400 pages into it, really is amazing. But anyway, it was a book that my mom bought for me 4-5 years ago but I never got a chance to read it. But what do I find when I open up the page? A little slip of paper with Kevin's name on it. So not only am I definitely doing this hike, but it looks like I'll be alright all along the way.

Okay so that leaves me with about 2 weeks that I can use by August 2016. What to do with it?

Well that's the big question. Here's my plan, and I'd love to hear alternative options(remember: I am on a very tight budget so flying to Cusco to do Machu Pichu is out of the question as is the Galapagos).

The Epic South American Trip
Background: Flights out of Guyana are prohibitively expensive, unless you are flying to a Caribbean Island(flying to Trinidad to see Kenny will be around $200 RT). So that means I need to somehow have to get out of the country to fly. How to do this? Take a mini-bus to Georgetown(2 hours, $7,50) then take an 18 hour pot hole, bone jarring, nerve wracking ride to the Guyana-Brazilian border(18 hours, $50).

From Lethem, Guyana it's about 4 hours to Boa Vista, Brazil and there are regularly running bus(supposedly with a/c!) so I plan to hope on one and get to Boa Vista. From Boa Vista the plan is to fly(once in Brazil, flights are CHEAP) to Porto Alegre.

From Porto Alegre, I plan on taking a bus first to Montevideo, Uruguay and then, after exploring, a ferry to Buenos Aires, Argentina. And I will be VERY DISAPPOINTED, if people aren't always singing Evita songs because I know I will be.

Side note: It's not publicized well but Argentina(while they don't mandate a visa) charge an equivalently expensive fee for US citizens to fly into their airports. But if you go overland, you can avoid this charge. Plus, if I flew directly there, I'd miss Uruguay and from everything I've read, I want to go there.

Now while Buenos Aires is supposedly very nice, I only plan to spend a day or two there before flying to Santiago Chile where the hiking of the Andes can commence.

Santiago Chile

 I am so excited about this. Ever since reading Alive  I have wanted to hike in the Andes. I'm not sure why a story about cannabalistic rugby player makes me want to hike those mountains, but hey... this is my blog-back off.

So that's the plan. Then take the cheapest flights home... I'm going to try to do this end of June/early July and link it up with a few holidays so I miss less time from the hospital.

Suggestions/concerns? (not you mom, you will be worried no matter where I go?

Okay, until next time,

Danny