South America - 2 out of 4 months for budget travel in SA

Hello !

Am a college student, who is tentatively planning to travel to SA between May-August.

At some point during those 4 months, I will need to spend 2 months in Recife, Brazil, to participate in a college internship program.

It appears that I can begin/end this 2 month internship at any point in time between May-August.

I am trying to learn about budget travel in SA as quickly as I can.

Apparently, no trains to travel between countries. I assume buses. Any low cost carriers?

I was thinking about Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, and possibly Easter Island and/or the Galapagos Islands (yes, the last two would be a "splurge", lol)

Am a female, and somewhat concerned about safety. Not big into the "nightlife", so mostly plan to be in by early evening.

So, about 6-8 weeks to travel in SA within a 4 month timeframe.

Thinking about 3-4 weeks of travel, Recife, and then 3-4 weeks of travel

But could do all 6-8 weeks ot travel either before or after, Recife.

Thoughts? Suggestion? :confused:

Some thoughts:

- be aware of the distances involved eg Lima/Buenos Aires is 3 days by bus, Rio to Recife getting on for 2. Also be aware that some routes are really not very safe eg Peru/Argentina via Bolivia

- you might want to look at busstation.net and platforma10.com. The latter is a booking engine for intra-SA bus travel. Lonely Planet will also be your friend here

- check budget airlines as there are often similar fares available

- investigate SA air passes eg LAN Airpass

- consider organised tours such as those offered by Imaginative Traveller: they have various multi-country tours from 2-3 weeks with basic (ie budget) options, and don't include air fares to start/finish destinations

- have fun!