Some Interesting Stats for South and Central America

Yellow Bird house
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Okay, this article is long overdue, but we've been very busy since June 9th.  Primarily, I've been working on making a list of all the items that American Airlines stole from me...yes, I still don't have my backpack.  Anne has been busy tracking down receipts, as American Airlines requires receipts for everything over 100 dollars.  Who on earth saves receipts on everything?  Thank god REI has the capabilities to do printouts for everything that we have purchased.  I completely understand why everyone brings their oversized suitcases on to carry on.

Yellow Bird from the inside
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Central and South America was good and bad.  Seeing Iguazu Falls, hiking the Inca Trail, and diving with hammerheads in Galapagos were among the favorite things done on this trip.  Getting salmonella several times, staying on lake Titicaca, and dealing with American Airlines has taken several years off of my precious life.

This portion of Plan B (Central and South America) had been cut short due to financial restraints, but not to worry, the time came off of Belize where we have already been to on several occasions.

Million dollar views of the Caribbean from the rooftop terrace
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And here are the stats:

Airline costs for this leg of the journey:  $6094.20......ouch

Costs of getting money from ATM's:  $37....Wells Fargo reduced fees to 2 bucks on several of our transactions.  Thank you.

Total amount paid in departure taxes:  $335...That's just to leave the 6 countries we visited.  This amount is above the airline taxes which we paid earlier.  Completely unacceptable.

Most paid for departure tax:  $38/person...Ecuador...(Socialists)

Rough estimate for Galapagos alone:  $4300...this does not include airfare to Ecuador.  This price will only go up with visitor limits to the islands anticipated in the future.

Number of times that Ciprofloxacin saved my butt:  3

Total spent on South and Central America:  $14855.97

Interesting to note that airfare made up 41 percent of all costs.  This percentage must be put in check for Europe and Africa, financially speaking of course.

Central and South America cost more than anticipated.  Argentina still remains a good bargain, but places like Costa Rica are way overpriced (i.e.: we shared a lunch at Denny's which cost $15) and therefor will not be returned to.  Europe and Africa are set for August 4th, so stay tuned.

bkh