Unique SouthAmerica Travel Experience

Born and raised in South America Daniel Moore wants visitors to his native land to feel at home. Our thanks to Daniel who shares advise about the cuisine, shopping and sight seeing excursions in this interview with WhyVancouver.

WhyVancouver.com: Tell us about yourself and how Unique-SouthAmerica-Travel-Experience came to be?

Daniel: Unique South America Travel Experience.com (USTE) was born with a specific goal in mind: to provide travelers and would-be travelers to the region with good, reliable information on South America as seen through the eyes of an insider. Some historical and geographical facts are frequently added, together with a must-visit list of attractions for a particular place, how the get there, photographs, videos, maps, etc.

I am South American - born and raised – have traveled for over thirty years now and spend quite a bit of time there on a yearly basis (I'm currently based in Dublin, Ireland). I would like for visitors to this website to have the same feeling my friends have when coming over to my place for dinner. To have a great time and learn about the place I love most. It's as simple as that.

I would also like to contribute to make the internet a better place to live to all of us. More often than not we see websites floating in the cyberspace with nothing but a collection of irrelevant links and a string of shopping carts, or hoping to tap into user generated content due to the lack of their own.

We see as well a number of blogs and websites made by travelers who were there for a few months and believe they have grasped South America already. Nothing wrong about it as we all like to share what we love or were impressed about, but it takes a bit more than that.

South America is just too big to be undertaken on the fly, and certainly much more than Machu Picchu and Galapagos Archipelago.

Well, I hold a great deal of respect for my home and hope you will feel the same when you travel there. Meantime - and before you do it - I'd like to introduce you to the fourth continent under the best possible light and to get you better prepared for the adventure.

It would be presumptuous for me to say I have visited every single corner of South America. That's a task that would require more than a lifetime to be accomplished. However, this website and my travels are a work in progress. There is much more to it and you will gradually see it, so stick around and keep being the friendly bunch I have met while traveling the cyberspace. And if we have met each other on the road, just drop a line and say Hi. Better yet, share your travel experiences with all of us, how about that?

You may think I'm biased or utterly subjective when talking about South America and you are most likely to be right on this account. But then, have you ever tried to explain love through your rational mind? I'm unable to do it, and that is perhaps true to you as well.

WhyVancouver.com: South America is a year round vacation destination what would you say is the best season to visit the various countries?

Daniel: South American climate is as varied as its geography. In many cases we find complete different weather in different regions of the same country at once. Chile is a good example for this, we can experience the hot days and cold nights of Atacama Desert, in the far North, or meet the glaciers at Torres del Paine National Park in the far South, with all its changing weather conditions.

As it happens in all walks of life, there is always a trade off to be made. To travel is not an exception to the rule. Take Iguassu (Iguazu) falls for instance. If we visit them during rainy season (December to February) we are likely to see them in full bloom, at the staggering rate of about 450,000 cubic feet per second. We will also meet cloudy, rainy days and flooded footpaths.

During dry season instead, we will certainly have a magnificent jungle-like experience, but we won't see them as majestic as they inherently are. That's why it is so important to plan your South America vacations beforehand.

Hopefully, Unique SouthAmerica Travel Experience. com does provide you with enough info for you to make informed decisions and set you on the road to discover South America the way you like it best.

WhyVancouver.com: What advice can you offer visitors to the various countries in South America about booking accommodations?

Daniel: In terms of lodging, South America has all the options suitable to all budgets – at least in capital cities – where we find from well known 5 Stars international hotel chains to modest “pensiones” or "hostales" run by the owners and with only a small number of rooms available.

Thanks to Internet we can book online fast and safe nowadays, without the need to contact a travel agent for that matter. This is a great option for the independent/solo traveler who wants to experience South America outside mainstream tourism and willing to build a custom, personal way to explore it. Superb choice if you are taking a sabbatic year for instance.

On the other hand, to book a tour package with accommodation included makes lots of sense if we only have a fixed term for our South America vacations. It's great to have somebody else to do the thinking for us while we sit down and enjoy.

In fact, as soon as we complete the redesign of USTE we are currently involved with, we will provide our habitués and visitors with booking options for flights, accommodation and recommended tours in South America.

WhyVancouver.com: What do you hear from visitors about the time they spend in South America?

Daniel: If there is something in common to all travelers to South America – whether I meet them personally or through Unique South America Travel Experience.com – is along these lines...”what a fantastic place!”...”can't wait to get there once again!" and so on.

Needless to say I'm not only here to tell you the sweet part of the story, because South America could be a dangerous place as well. In fact, it could be as dangerous as we want it to be. Common sense applies in all circumstances. Lingering on your own at night in the suburbs wearing expensive jewelry or camera gear hanging on you neck is not the smartest way to travel anywhere in the world.

You wouldn't do it in some areas of L.A., New York, Paris, Rome or just about anywhere else for that matter, so why to push the boundaries in South America, where overwhelming poverty has created a fertile ground for it?

Be slick, be smart and you will reap the benefits of you own acts. You would leave your valuable possessions (credit cards, cash, passport, ipods, GPS devices, etc) in the hotel's safe. Just make sure you carry a photocopy of your passport and a little cash with you at all times. This way, if you are robbed, you will have something to give back, instead of being a victim of frustrated robbers...does it makes sense to you?

Note: After many years traveling I've never been robbed, only been forced to bribe uniformed people of some kind, the kind you just don't want to argue with, particularly when you are the underdog.

WhyVancouver.com: What about South American dishes and dining selections what are your favorites?

Daniel: South American cuisine is absolutely superb, so is the number of dishes and dining options each country has to offer. Some of them go back to hundreds of years.

The vast array of native cultures that conform South America as a whole it's been further enhanced by the arrival of Africans, Asians and Europeans, bringing their own and blending in with the local cuisine. Take Peru for instance, where we can enjoy the traditional dish of the Andes: "Pachamanca" , the popular “ceviche”, or to try the refined New Andean cuisine that has evolved in the last fifteen years of so.

We shan't forget the Chinese cuisine brought by migrants over a century ago (that's means yesterday in the history of Peru). It has blended in and today has a unique Peruvian scent we can't find anywhere else.

Personally, I make a point to try native, traditional dishes every time I visit a region or a country. A very important part of my travel experience, and a great way to interact with locals at the same time. After all, who wants to travel to faraway places only to have the same menu we enjoy at home?

It would be unthinkable to visit ocean front villages and towns in the Brazilian NE and not to taste their astonishing variety of seafood and fish based dishes they have in store. Similarly, a visit to Argentina – beef country par excellence – would require to eat “asado”, “parrillada” and the traditional “empanadas” for starters. That is, if you are not vegetarian, of course.

WhyVancouver.com: Are they some special events, activities and sights that you would recommend to our readers?

Daniel: The number of celebrations taking place in South America at any given time is virtually endless. Consider as an example that only Peru has over 3,000 celebrations on a yearly basis. Just about all of them are free and popular, taking place in the streets, in remote villages high up in the Andes mountains and even cities.

Lima for instance, where the procession of Nuestra Señora de los Milagros (Our Lady of Miracles) attracts hundreds of thousands of pilgrims every November. A massive act of faith in the Catholic rite.

The Inti Raymi (Sun festivity) celebration is not short of followers either. It takes place in Cuzco and Sacsayhuaman, to pay homage to Apu Inti (sun god) according to Inca tradition, very much alive among the Quechua population of the Andes of today. It's common to honour Pachamama (mother earth) with whatever you are eating or drinking at any given time, particularly during celebrations. A tradition solidly established in the culture of the Andes, well beyond the boundaries of any particular country as we know them today. Together with Rio's Carnival (Brazil) they provably are the two biggest popular celebrations in South America today.

Buenos Aires, Argentina, has an immensely rich cultural life year round, with many free-access events, from theater and live concerts, to solo artists and art exhibitions of the most varied kind. And if you want to witness gaucho traditions, just head off to San Antonio de Areco - a short drive from Buenos Aires - by the time of the “Semana de la Tradición), also celebrated in November every year.

WhyVancouver.com: Is there a memory you most want people who visit South America and your site Unique SouthAmerica Travel Experience to take home with them?

Daniel: South America is a supreme act of evolution – or creation – whichever way we choose to look at it. It doesn't change the outcome in the least. Besides, its fantastic variety of cultures and traditions makes it absolutely unique. The kind you won't forget in your entire life.

I would love for Unique SouthAmerica Travel Experience.com to convey some of that beauty and to introduce it to our visitors before they actually travel there themselves.

WhyVancouver.com: Any suggestions on the ways to get to South American or any special preparations, insurance or travel papers/documentations (visas, etc.) that visitors require?

Daniel: To travel to South America requires careful and responsible planning beforehand, according to the country/region you intend to travel to.

To get all the vaccination needed is a matter of utmost importance in some cases, at least six weeks before actually getting there. You don't want to visit a malaria stricken region before being ready for it. In some cases you need to produce your vaccination/s certificate along with your passport. For a more comprehensive approach to this please visit Responsible Travel and the South America Travel Library, where you will find legal (visa requirements) and medical advice to get you started.

In every case, contact your personal GP for medical advice. I'm unable to provide you with professional assistance on this. Regarding travel insurance, it is a must. Medical expenses can run very high in South America. After all, we travel for the pleasure of discovery and happy days abroad, not to ruin our holidays and savings in the process, do we?

If you plan to practice some adventure sports such as skiing, whitewater rafting, climbing and so on, the need for a proper travel insurance becomes an absolute must. So be responsible about it and you will have nothing to regret afterwards.

WhyVancouver.com: What kind of shopping is available and do you have any suggestions of places to shop for various kinds of products?

Daniel: As far as shopping is concerned, you can buy in South America all designer labels available in the rest of the world, at least in capital cities. As an example, if you shop around Buenos Aires's Recoleta, you will think you are in Europe rather than in South America. From the basic to the most refined, you can get it all there.

I would rather suggest you to shop for those items each country is famous for, instead, as you are likely to get designers stuff in your own home town. For instance, choose Argentina for top quality leather garments, jackets, coats, hand bags, shoes, belts and the kind.

Uruguay is your best choice for wool sweaters and related items, as much as Brazil will do for cotton and linen clothing.

If you need a top quality “poncho” check Chile and Peru instead, they know a thing or two about it and some centuries of experience under their belt. And the list could go on and on.

WhyVancouver.com: What about wildlife tours can you recommend any specific tours?

Daniel: There are plenty of wildlife tours and jungle trekking options in South America. Let's not forget that the Amazon rainforest spans several countries in the region and can be accessed from any of them.

For instance, if you find yourself in the City Port of Iquitos (Peru) try an excursion to the Pacaya Samiria National Park to have a taste of the Peruvian Amazon. If you are near Cuzco, don't miss a visit to Manu or Tambopata-Candamo National Reserve.

From Ecuador, the City of Baños will provide with options to the jungle as well as Bolivia's Rurenabaque.

In Colombia, Leticia, on the banks of the Amazon River. For Brazil instead, you may want to fly to Manaus (or to get there by taking an Amazon River cruise from Belem, for instance), on the Rio Negro, not far from the intersection with the Amazon, where you have plenty of opportunities to interact with nature at its purest.

Venezuela's State of Amazonas and also Guyana and Suriname have access to the jungle, so you are not short of options by any means.

As soon as we complete the redesign of Unique South America Travel Experience.com we will provide visitors with jungle experiences by partnering with selected tour operators in the region.

We not only want to introduce you to South America under the best possible light, but to provide you with recommended tours for you to have a truly unique South America travel experience of your own.

And when you come back you will share them with all of us at unique-southamerica-travel-experience.com...promise?

Thank you Daniel.

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