[Vectis Birder]

As I have already mentioned on the forum elsewhere I am off back to Ecuador later this year to do voluntary/trainee bird guiding and, if I can, teaching English (doing the course in Portsmouth in September) for a few months.
I am after some general info as I am hoping to not just travel in Ecuador but also Peru and other South American countries.

My main concern is the usual - dosh. I have a small income of the equivalent of $320 a month (that's after all the usual boring stuff, bank loan, etc, has been accounted for) so how much do I need to live on (food and lodging is taken care of), roughly? Would that be enough? Just a rough idea, as I know it's a case of how long is a piece of string and all that - sticking around the same area, yes it would, but there's no point being in an area for months and not going further afield.

Secondly, how easy is travel around the continent? I'd use ground transport mostly, if possible, because of the cost of flying.

One more thing, how costly is it to obtain anti-malaria medication, etc, there or is this best sorted here in the UK beforehand, such as I did before going to Ecuador the first time?

I'm hoping to go maybe November/December time, but it may be sooner if I can accumulate funds. This might well involve selling my new car and settling the debt on that (not entirely sure if getting rid of the car is such a good thing because I'll need it when I eventually make my way back to Britain - but it would give me an additional $170 a month), then using the remaining money as I can't stick my job at B&Q for much longer!

I'm learning Spanish and that's coming along quite well.

If anyone can think of any good advice, I'd love to hear from you.

Cheers
VB

[Jos Stratford]

In short, I'd say that $320 a month is certainly enough, especially given that accomodation is provided if I understand correctly. Anti-malarials almost certainly cheaper there, but not 100% sure on this as I never take the things (the one exception being the only time I have ever got malaria!). Teaching jobs in South America are easy to find if you've got the TEFL or its more recent incarnation, but be careful over choice of school - there are many jobs out there a whole lot worse than B&Q as relates to working conditions.

[Vectis Birder]

Cheers Jos.

I know there's some dodgy institutions, so I'll be careful. That's if I do the TEFL route, I'm more interested in bird guiding, but TEFL is a useful thing to fall back on.

[jimbob]

Travelling around is fairly easy in Ecuador and peru, my mate and I took a lot of overnight buses which are cheap but do vary in degrees of comfort! Bolivia is another story altogether, even cheaper than Ecuador and Peru but buses are awful and frequently breakdown; one journey took us 13 hours rather than the scheduled 6! Still a great laugh mind, all part of the experience we decided! Now in Argentina which is a bit more pricey than Ecuador but its luxery here! So easy to do anything and you dont have to worry so much about what you are eating (I got food poisioning at the Bolivian salt plains, not the place you want to get ill). Spent the day at Iguazu falls, what a place! Would recommend it down here.
Jim.

[Xenopsaris]

Hi VB

> One more thing, how costly is it to obtain anti-malaria medication, etc, there or is this best sorted here in the UK beforehand, such as I did before going to Ecuador the first time?

I've spent quite a bit of time in S America and the malariologists there recommend not to take anti-malaria medication at all. Their theory is that with anti-malarials if you get malaria by the time you realise it you're full of resistant parasites. They much prefer to treat malaria with quinine, chloroquine and other drugs once you have malaria. This may contradict what the London School of Tropical Hygiene or the American CDC say, but we're talking about the people who are researching at the sharp end so to speak. In my experience, if you pick up a tropical disease, it's far easier to treat it in a tropical country than outside as they knwo what they're doing.
Just a thought...
Regards, DT

[johnraven]

I spent three and a half months in South America, mainly in Argentina (it was very cheap then, in 2002), Bolivia (best country for me), Peru and Ecuador, on a budget of 10 dollars a day (same as you?), and it was fine.

I strongly recommend Bolivia, as it is significantly cheaper (my accommodation was usually around 2-3 dollars a night), there is an excellent diversity of habitats and I had no problem with transport (I found the buses to be fine, without significant holdups).

Learning spanish is obviously vital. I took malarials (bought there, cheaply) when in the most malarial areas (ie lowland jungle, swamp), but I find I cant keep taking them for long periods. I also was told by an expat researcher out there that foreigners shouldnt take them as a matter of course, but my take on it is that it depends how long you are there for. If you're there for a few weeks on a holiday in a high infection area, take them I reckon, because they do work. But month after month of the bloody things gets soul destroying.

There was no bird book for Bolivia then, not sure about now. That was annoying. Ecuador was a joy due to the excellence of the bird book. At the end of my holiday I haggled an excellent deal with one of the smaller jungle lodges, near Coca, for 20 dollars a night with my own personal all day bird guide! Top deal, I thought.

You'll love it. I did. I want to go back.

[mmdnje]

HI Everyone. Without turning this into a medical debate, there are no "malariologist" in Ecuador that would suggest not to take malaria prophylaxis. As a matter of fact there is a national initiative as we speak to vaccinate against yellow fever. Short term (<1year) espossure to antimalaria drugs does not select out organism. Believe me, prophylaxis works. Hope you enjoy you stay in Ecuador. We may cross paths, hopefuly in the field and not in a hospital. jose

[Vectis Birder]

Thanks people.

[Birdingcraft]

Originally Posted by Vectis Birder

As I have already mentioned on the forum elsewhere I am off back to Ecuador later this year to do voluntary/trainee bird guiding and, if I can, teaching English (doing the course in Portsmouth in September) for a few months.
I am after some general info as I am hoping to not just travel in Ecuador but also Peru and other South American countries.

My main concern is the usual - dosh. I have a small income of the equivalent of $320 a month (that's after all the usual boring stuff, bank loan, etc, has been accounted for) so how much do I need to live on (food and lodging is taken care of), roughly? Would that be enough? Just a rough idea, as I know it's a case of how long is a piece of string and all that - sticking around the same area, yes it would, but there's no point being in an area for months and not going further afield.

Secondly, how easy is travel around the continent? I'd use ground transport mostly, if possible, because of the cost of flying.

One more thing, how costly is it to obtain anti-malaria medication, etc, there or is this best sorted here in the UK beforehand, such as I did before going to Ecuador the first time?

I'm hoping to go maybe November/December time, but it may be sooner if I can accumulate funds. This might well involve selling my new car and settling the debt on that (not entirely sure if getting rid of the car is such a good thing because I'll need it when I eventually make my way back to Britain - but it would give me an additional $170 a month), then using the remaining money as I can't stick my job at B&Q for much longer!

I'm learning Spanish and that's coming along quite well.

If anyone can think of any good advice, I'd love to hear from you.

Cheers
VB

I am happy to hear and excited for you that you are headed to South America for an extended period of time. I've had extended visits in the neotropics since 1993 and hope to move there permanently soon.

If food and lodging is already taken care of, with that amount of money per month, sounds like you should be fine. Of course it all depends upon what you want to do- if its birding most of the time, then that should cost very little using public transport and visiting free areas to bird or making deals with places that charge.

As far as staying in one area goes, much of South America is so diverse that even staying in one spot for a couple of months might not be enough time. Amazonia for example.

It is pretty easy to travel around the continent by bus; some first class rides are well worth paying the difference over the rides that go on for hours on end. Also take into account that break downs will probably occur outside of Bolivia as well along with travel delays due to landslides, regional strikes, who knows!- Ive run into those three possibilities in Ecuador on more than one occasion. Also, be aware of the chance of robbery on certain bus routes. Locals can let you know about that as well as other travellers. The good thing is that birding will be exciting no matter where you are.

I dont know about costs of malarial medicine but if taking it I would get it beforehand to avoid hassles. Might be able to get yellow fever shot for cheap in Ecuador though. I would also defnitely take those anti-malarials when entering such areas. For eg.: coastal Ecuador, if you stay in towns of Coca or Lago Agrio, Iquitos, Peru.

Me alegro oir que estas aprendiendo espanol.

Other advice- contact local birders to get gen and bird with them, visit Yasuni and Podocarpus park (just ridiculously incredible birding) in Ecuador, be careful and have a fantastic time- Ecuador is great as you know, wait until you see Peru and Bolivia!

[Vectis Birder]

Originally Posted by Birdingcraft

Me alegro oir que estas aprendiendo espanol.

Si, si. Estoy aprendiendo actualmente español. Muy lentamente!