It is not all planes, trains, and automobiles!

Planes, trains, and automobiles? More like buses, cabs, ferries, and feet! Since we started our land travel over four months ago we have used planes three times--when we first flew to Peru, to Santiago from the Atacama Desert, and to Puerto Natales from Santiago. We've rented a car once in the Atacama Desert. Otherwise, we have relied solely on buses (both local and long-haul), remís/taxis/Uber, and our own feet. Has it always gone smoothly? No! But we have learned a lot, collected plenty of "remember that one bus/taxi" stories, saved some money, traveled with the locals, and seen some amazing scenery. 

The planes, the one rental care, and that bus/van ride in the desert that we will ALL remember! 

Taxis aren't just for getting around town down here. In Peru, we took a two-hour taxi ride to Ollantaytambo, and another several hour ride back to Cusco that included a few hours touring some ruins while our driver hung out. And at less than $50 each those trips were a steal for our family! Even the smallest towns we've been in have taxis or remís (like a private taxi/chauffeur), but we don't use them much. We tend to take taxis/Uber anytime our stay is more than a 15-minute walk from the transportation terminal. We can each handle our backpacks just fine, but we (Frank) also carry a 15kg of school books--need I say more? Those rides usually only cost us around $5.

That cute bag has 15-16kg of books in it! Taxi drivers are always a little surprised! Our taxi experiences have all been pretty awesome so far.

Peru was definitely where we learned that long-haul bus schedules weren't to be trusted when it came to arrival times! Road work and traffic often had us arriving later than planned, but only once so far has a bus delay caused us to miss a connection and a night of booked accommodations and required me to cancel/buy bus tickets, book a hotel, change border crossing plans, and cancel/book a rental car! That one experience has led us to take our slow travel even slower, intentionally adding an overnight stay between bus connections rather than trusting a five-hour layover. This also gives us time in towns that we would have otherwise skipped (like Rio Gallegos, Argentina, where locals really liked hearing about where we were from and what we were doing in their town!). 

#buslife can sometimes mean a lot of traffic delays, patiently waiting for hours between buses, and getting coffee as soon as the cafe opens, but the crew is holding up well! Our rides have been a mix of boring, fun, and oh so memorable. #whatisthatsmell 

Peru is also where we learned about the seat options! While some short routes only have "classic" seats that recline a smidge, most routes we have been on have at least semi-cama (semi-bed) seats and the really nice ones are full cama (bed)! The semi-cama seats usually recline somewhere between 120 and 140 degrees and have some sort of footrest. The full cama recline a full 180 degrees with a footrest that extends the full bed even further! We have decided that full cama is pretty much always worth the extra money, and pretty much a requirement for any route over 12 hours. It's like you have your own little cocoon! And since I travel with an eye mask and earplugs, I have actually been enjoying these bus rides. We also get to see so much of the country, including lots of animals that some people pay for tours to go see (I mean, we have seen LOTS of llamas, alpaca, guanaco, and ñandu!).

While the semi-camas are fine (top), the full cama (bottom) has spoiled us!

We have crossed four international borders via bus so far and each was done a little differently based on the customs and immigration procedures, but one thing has been consistent--the bus drivers are PROS at moving people along and helping direct everyone (including international travelers) through the process. Sometimes they basically go to the counter, get a window cordoned off just for the bus, then we all skip a huge line of other people crossing. That's helpful! Our most recent border crossings in Patagonia added a new dimension--ferries! Twice we crossed the Strait of Magellan while riding a bus. The bus just drives onto the ferry and off we go! We can get off the bus and enjoy the fresh air during the crossing, too (really appreciated on the "hella hot" bus). And being boaters and having lived in Seattle, we always enjoy a ferry ride. 

"We're on a boat!" Crossing the Strait of Magellan via ferry at Bahia Azul.

While in Cusco we took the local bus quite a bit, but haven't really had a need to since then. I think that will change as we head to more cities in northern Argentina, so that will be fun to learn! You can also take "collectivos" in some towns, where a mini bus fills up with people and heads along a route. We actually used a collectivo for our border crossing between Peru and Chile and it worked out really well. 

And...we walk! Once we check in to a new place we head out and grab some food or groceries and get the lay of the land. Everywhere we have stayed has had a supermarket or bodega within a five minute walk. When we need something, we just go grab it! I love that there are so many small stores serving the communities so that the streets don't have to be full of cars heading off to big-box stores. Do they have those? In some places, yes, but they have so much more, too. Let's take our current place in El Calafate, Argentina as an example. The home is across the street from a park and two blocks off the main tourist street. Within a less than five-minute walk I can get to a grocery store, two different fruiteria/verdulerias, a panaderia, a school supply store, a sex toy shop, a hardware store, two barbers, a few pharmacies, a candy store, a health food store...and that's all without even stepping foot on the main tourist street that is full of shops and restaurants. 

Ok, it looks like a lot when piled on the ground together, but for four people it's not bad! When we make a move we each have our big backpack, at this point we each use a purse/daypack for "other" stuff, we have a computer bag, Frank carries the book bag, and I usually have a bag that we use for our lunch/food for the journey. As crazy as it seems, we are some of the lightest-loaded tourists we see!

I guess there is one other way we get around and that's tourist transportation. When we've booked tours (like Rainbow Mountain, the Inca Trail, Nazca flight, penguin tours, etc.) we've either been picked up at our lodgings or at a meeting point and taken buses/boats to the sites. Some places won't pick you up from an AirBnB so we just walk to the nearest hotel, but otherwise all of the tour pickups have been easy since we are usually staying right in town. 

Ok, I think that covers the "how the heck are they getting around South America" question! But if I've left something out, just leave us a comment or hit me up on Instagram and I'll get back to you!

~Jo, Nomadic Momma