10 Ways to Love Latin America

10 Ways to Love Latin America

Latin America has a certain magic that leaves you intrigued by its array of cultures, history and people. It adds colour and energy to your soul and makes you realise that there is so much more to life than the nine to five job that most of us are used to.  It is however very difficult to fully understand or appreciate such a fascinating corner of the world without contemplating some of the lessons that I picked up along my travels without which I don’t think that I would have loved it as much as I do.

1) Learn to Speak Spanish

What do Cubans think about Fidel ? What does a seventeen year old girl from the extremes of the Andean mountains want to do with her life?

Some of my most amazing experiences have been simply speaking to normal people on the bus, in isolated villages or shady plazas. One fantastic ability that people on this continent have is to communicate. Whether it is by waving their hands around in a frantic and passionate discussion or poetically describing the city and its history, people will tell you their deepest secrets regardless of whether you know them or not. But how can you participate in these friendly exchanges if you don’t speak the language?! If you want to really discover something amazing, try to get past language barriers and embrace a way of thinking and a culture that is so far removed from what you know.

I had a few lessons at the Academia Latinoamericana de Espanol in Sucre, Bolivia. I would recommend this school for its professionalism, its price  ($5 to $10 depending on group size) and the variety of other cultural activities they have such as salsa and cookery.

2) Immerse yourself in Culture

Many of the countries that make up this continent hold a way of living that many of us cannot even imagine. A great way to experience another person’s way of life is to become involved in cultural exchanges. I visited Isla Amantani on the Peruvian side of Lake Titicaca and I stayed with a family who had not changed their lives to fit in with modern ways. Their farming techniques, their dress, and their customs have not changed for centuries. The family treated me as a daughter and talked about how difficult life can be on this splash of land in the world’s highest inland sea.  I would also encourage staying in a Casa Particolar (see my blog for details of a fantastic casa) in Cuba wherever possible as you will meet the most sincere people around and come face to face with the real Cuba that the hotels want you to ignore.

3) Dance! It is only when you see a warehouse full of gyrating, seductive Latin men dancing with immaculately dressed senoritas that you will experience the vibrance and passion of a continent obsessed with musical rhythms . A trip to any country in Latin America will be lacking in substance and style unless you put your dancing shoes on and learn how to salsa in Cuba, to tango on the streets of Buenos Aires or to samba in Rio. You will not have a choice: dancing is infectious here and you simply will not be left alone until you join in!

My favourite night out was with a group of crazy Argentineans in Cordoba. This city is brimming with students who make it their mission to party all night every night. I was taken to what can only be described as a refugee shelter where the young and beautiful come to dance to live Quarteto music. I have never seen so many people dance !

4) Taste the Food If travel is about discovery then dig into some of the best food I have ever tasted! Since visiting Venezuela I have become addicted to fried yucca and green plantain. I have never quite been able to get over how good the meat is in Argentina and how fabulous Chilean wine is. Peru has some delights too; anything Creole is delicious! Eating and drinking are to be enjoyed with new found friends so why not accept that invitation to drink mate in Argentina to the strumming of a guitar in the park? Food and drink are an essential part of Latin American culture so make sure that you explore every part of it.

If you go to Lima visit Baranco, the artisan’s neighbourhood, to sample national Peruvian dishes at a daily food market. The desserts will actually make you think you have died and gone to heaven’s kitchen.

5) Learn to Love Nature

South and Central America have some of the most diverse landscapes in the world. Essential viewing is the Salt Flats of Uyuni. This vast terrain of nothingness tricks you into thinking that you have stepped into a hall of mirrors and leaves you feeling that this land full of contradictions has changed every notion you had of the Earth. Green, yellow, red, white and turquoise lakes and moon like rocks will inspire your ideas of extra- terrestrial beings and their far away universes. Prepare yourself for the mythical flight of the condor, heights that will leave you literally breathless and apparently bottomless canyons.

6) Be Adventurous

Try activities that you would never do at home. Though I felt as though my heart was going to leap out of my chest at any moment, sand buggying in the desert of Ica was one of the most thrilling activities ever. After a wild ride over what used to be a vast sea millions of years ago, you can stop and watch a perfect sunset before you go home (safely). Diving in Utila, Honduras is not only the cheapest place in the world to do this but also so much fun and stunningly beautiful. What I loved about diving was learning something so new and different to anything I could  experience in my country.

7) Understand a Region’s History

You simply cannot understand a country without at least an idea of its history. The highlight of my trip was the Inca Trail in Peru. Not only is it a scenic hike but it is fundamental to Peru’s Incan past. Full of mystery and spirituality, Macchu Picchu was the home to the Incan intellectual elite. This fascinating walk left me in awe of a culture which apparently escaped to another dimension….. Potosi in Bolivia is another interesting city if you are interested in colonial development and Tikal in Guatamala is a breathtaking long lost Mayan city which peaks above the jungle canopy. To get a good idea of Incan history then I would highly recommend visiting the Museo de la Alta Montana in Salta, Argentina and the Museo del Inka in Cusco, Peru.

8) Be Pro-active about Poverty

Anyone who visits some of the counties in South and Central America will be affected by the poverty there. It is a sad fact that you can not escape.  I chose to volunteer for Project Peru (www.projectperu.org.uk) , an organisation which has provided a home for a number of children born into extreme poverty and it organises other social projects which directly benefit Peru’s most vulnerable sectors of society. If you are considering doing the Inca trail, why not get a few friends to sponsor you and use it to say thank you to a country which will offer you so much hospitality and warmth? I also visited Project Peru’s refuge in the shanty towns around Lima and I spent a few days entertaining (and being entertained by) the children there. Volunteering is a fantastic way to get yourself involved with local culture and to do something really productive with your time.

9) Accept things as they are

You will have to face it: Latin America can be slow and frustrating for the average traveller. My worst experience was being stuck in a blockade in Bolivia between Sucre and La Paz. The police had no idea what was going on and neither did anyone else around me. After being stuck in a queue of traffic for over twenty four hours, I started to wonder whether I would ever get out of there alive! That is just how things work there. Lateness seems to be an integral part of Latin culture, pragmatism doesn’t appear to exist and the most modern of technology doesn’t seem to have made it there. All you can do is accept it and try not to stress out too much about it.

10) Find the time to take a break from the chaos of travel

Let’s face it, independent travel is  tiring. What you need to do is relax and there is nowhere better than the Caribbean coast of Central America to do that in. My ultimate favourite spot for doing just that is Bocas del Toro in Panama. This group of islands gives you the option to party on Isla Colon or to mix exclusively with the locals on Isla Bastimento. There is not much to do there but sunbathe, visit paradise desert islands and snooze in a hammock as you watch the sun go down over the warm Caribbean ocean.  And don’t forget the rum.