South America for a family - is it possible on a budget?

[theduchessstill]

I would love to take my two dc to South America . It will be just me and the two of them. They both love wildlife and ds1 in particular would be interested in the culture of wherever we went - as would I.

I want to have things as easy as possible in terms of eating etc, so a resort with easy access to trips to the wider location would be ideal. They will join in with kids' clubs if they are on offer, and do enjoy water parks and the like, but they're not obsessed with these things and would appreciate being somewhere 'different', so these are by no means essential.

I usually end up spending about 3k I suppose - as a total including food, spending money etc etc. Obviously I know I'd need to spend more, but how much more?

Any advice would be great - I feel like the dc will be the perfect ages for this kind of trip next year (12 & 10), as in young enough to be awed, but old enough to appreciate it all and put up with some compromises. But I don't know if I can save enough by then...

South America is HUGE!!! Where are you thinking of? I’ve been to 4 South American countries and the air fare will eat into your budget. Also, I know of beach resorts in Brazil, for example, but no wildlife! That’s in the Amazon Basin. You have to fly in. When you get there, it’s all included but it’s expensive. You don’t get a wildlife excursion from most hotels.

I could perhaps say Buenos Aires where you can go to the Iberia Wetlands and The Pampas but again, not on your budget.

If you mean Central America such as Costa Rica you might stand a chance. Companies like Families Worldwide or Family Adventures Worldwide might help. (Check out the names). We have used such companies and their tours are excellent and you meet other families too.

Nowhere in South America is cheap. Especially wildlife tours. There are budget hotels but the travelling and flights can cost quite a lot of money.

Families Worldwide has Belize, Costa Rica, Peru, Ecuador and Brazil. I just looked at Peru and it’s around £1700 for an adult and a bit less for the children. So you need £1700 more than you normally spend. You would need to factor in spending money. These trips are great value. However, they are not static and not a water park in sight. I would imagine Brazil, Costa Rica and Belize will have beach stays included. These might appeal.

It’s not dangerous on an organised trip. It’s not dangerous at all if you go to tourist areas. Don’t slum it. It’s not worth it. Nice accommodation is included in the tours. Why diy?

I just looked at Peru and it’s around £1700

EXCLUDING flights!

The trips I've done are MUCH more expensive on an organised tour. However in some places I wouldn't do it without such a guide. I would self drive Costa Rica, but most other places my non existent Spanish would stop me. That and the time limit.

What you're describing sounds like a different holiday destination than SAmerica. Water parks, no. Trekking to a waterfall and swimming in it, yes.

What about Mexico?

Flights will be your big expense. I’m looking at flights to Costa Rica this Christmas. Indirect flights are around £800 pp. Flights to Mexico are cheaper

Oh yes - Excluding flights! A quick look failed to spot this. So at least £4000 more then! £5000 including flights, transport and accommodation sounds unlikely. Thinking about it, we paid about £2500pp for Peru with flights about 10 years ago!

The bother of organising such a trip with children in tow isn’t really a DIY one. Just getting into the Rainforest, for example, is hard work. I have not met anyone who has done that themselves. There are several internal flights in most South American holidays and I think the guides we have had have been brilliant. Definitely better than self guiding.

I did a DIY trip to South America four years ago. Just me and DD (then 12). We went to Peru, Ecuador and Galapagos for one month in total.

Galapagos was out of this world amazing. A true trip of a lifetime. It sounds like your DC would love it.

We went fairly basic and mostly stayed in hostels (but I drew the line at shared dorms). We used a guide for the Inca Trail. It's impossible not to. We did a jungle trek and river tubing trip using day trips organised by the hostel.

I think you'd struggle with your budget though. We did everything as cheaply as we could and we still spent just over £3k per head (this price includes everything including all spending money, travel insurance and even the transport to the airport.)

We're going to SE Asia this year on a similar trip. It's costing almost half, even though I've booked much nicer accommodation this time! It was the flights that made it so expensive.

Any worthwhile boat trip around the Galapagos is expensive. They must include a certified guide and you cannot DIY on the various islands. Just going to one island or going to the populated ones only isn’t seeing these islands.