So….Where Am I Going, Anyway?

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how a good definition of adventure is,  “something that doesn’t work out like you planned.”  With my wrangling to get a Suriname Tourist Card,  this journey has already been an adventure,  and I haven’t even left yet.

With that in mind,  here is my planned route. 

Leg 1:  “Adventure”  Seattle->Aruba->Curacao->Suriname->French Guiana->Brazil

Leg 1 is the high adventure portion of this trip.  Overland routes through strange and new countries,  taking lots of local busses,  and dugout canoes across wide rivers in order to reach my destinations.  Once in Brazil,  the adventure continues,  as I’ll be taking a mud road that gets bad during rainy season.  I’ll be there in a temporary lull between a small rainy season and a large rainy season….probably.  As with most things weather related,  the rain doesn’t pay especially close attention to statistics published in the tourist guide.

Leg 2:  “Tourist view of Brazil”  Macapa->Manaus->Rio de Janiero->Brasilia->Iguassu Falls-> Montevideo (Uruguay)->Buenos Aires (Argentina)

Leg 2 is a much more well-trodden path of tourism.  It’s the Amazon rainforest and Rio for Carnival.  It’s Brasilia to view the architecture of a city planned and built in just 41 months.  It’s the giant set of waterfalls on the border of Argentina and Brazil,  and the relaxation of the large modern cities of Montevideo and Buenos Aires.   This is the part of the journey where I play the tourist,  watch the amazing sights,  and stay with new friends.

Leg 3:  “Whatever comes up”  Buenos Aires to ???

 

The final leg of my journey will take me from Buenos Aires to somewhere else, which could be any of Santiago, Chile,  Easter Island,  Torres del  Paine National Forest,  Galapagos Islands (Equador), Machu Picchu (Peru),  or the great salt flats of Bolivia.  Or perhaps I’ll just hang out in Buenos Aires for a month and drink and eat well.  This leg of my journey I am deliberately leaving a blank slate.  I’ll have about a month left between the time that I wash up in Argentina and having to be back home in Seattle.  I don’t know what I’ll want to do at that point,  but I’ll talk with lots of other travelers,  see what I feel like,  and just play it by ear. 

Unless,  of course,  adventure happens,  and it doesn’t go according to plan.  Then who knows.  I could end up nearly anywhere.