When guidebooks unhelpfully overhype attractions, they certainly don't pull any punches when it comes to South America. The irritating and meaningless phrases "a tale of contrasts" or "a country of extremes" are thrown around mercilessly in a bid to passionately sell books, rather than dispassionately review and inform.
So what makes South America so "extreme"? Is it the FARC guerrillas of Colombia - now emerging from their jungle coca fields with bloody noses and white flags - or the much-maligned slumdog goose-egg owners of Rio's famous favelas? Is it the infuriating mounds of burning trash seen on EVERY journey taken by land from the frozen landscapes of Tierra del Fuego, to the gaping mouth of the Amazon River at crime-ridden Belem city? Or is it perhaps the unnecessarily white-knuckled journeys travelers are forced to undertake, as their untrained public transport drivers overtake, inconsiderate at best, extremely dangerous at worst?
Paradox can be found anywhere, and in every annoying or inhuman situation can be found hope and morality. Just as India should not be painted as a nation of rapists, it would be remiss to write off South America as a landmass of terrorists and criminals, although enough of them did come here as Spanish Conquistadors or German Nazis.
It's true that third world countries often contribute their fair share of litter to the countryside, but the South American ones also have a long tradition of protecting large swathes of their incredibly beautiful natural world - from Argentina's Lake District to Bolivia's high desert plains, through Peru's dense cloud forests. National Parks are some of South America's best kept secrets and best weapons of environmental self-defense, and without them, you can kiss goodbye to some of the most incredible places we have on Earth (Galapagos being an obvious stand-out).
The driving standards here, however, are just poor. No paradox, no joke, no positive feel good factor to be found - someone should take these fuckers off the roads until they are schooled in the usage of the three simple levers and a steering wheel. I won't miss the commonplace car accidents we have seen, especially the unforgettable ones.
Attitudes here are stereotypically and infuriatingly Latin. No-one really gives a shit about anything or anyone outside of their immediate family. While this seems to be a belief held by the older generation about all succeeding generations, even in the West, here it is given a particular credence by people who seem to be willing to bend over and take lateness, rudeness, laziness and many more, much worse, anti-social behaviors.
"Well, you are in Peru!", says one traveler, clearly ignoring the fact that not only did no-one solicit her vacuous opinion, but that she is apologizing for someone else's rudeness, whilst trying to justify it, somehow, by indicating ALL Peruvians are rude, and why did I not come to the same bigoted conclusion and just expect that Peruvians would be rude in the first place?
Now this might seem like some traveling backpacker trying to be important, looking so knowledgeable about the country she is in, justifying her own existence by sticking her nose in other people's business, but this attitude demonstrates just how far the termites have spread in terms of papering over the cracks of the cultural anti-social behaviors of third world countries like Peru, Bolivia and Brazil.
Self-confessed liars, cheaters and blaggers abound here. You don't hear English people saying that we are a nation of conmen - repressed shopkeepers, perhaps, but not conmen. Or the Swiss alluding to the fact that you have to be careful of them, because they will themselves cheat you out of whatever is in your pockets. In South America however, people will happily tell you that their fellow countrymen are complicit in all manner of wrongdoings, haha, how funny, etc. Sounds stupid right? Insignificant?
Well it would be were it not for the fact that this cultural attitude helps maintain a status quo of criminality across all sections of society. Whether it is the extrajudicial police death squads of Brazil, illegal loggers exterminating indigenous tribespeople in Peru, extreme violence against women almost everywhere, and much more besides. "Well, you are in Peru!". Now, THAT is starting to sound a little stupid, right? What a cop-out.
Most of the ex-pats we encountered in the 9 countries we visited were cop-outs - only a few were working for a better life. The cultural 'easy-life', lazy attitude found in South America is appealing to people running away from the problems of Western life - real difficulties such as holding down a job and not getting arrested, and washing yourself with soap. With people like this flooding the region for decades, it's easy to see why countries like Ecuador are beginning to lock-down their tourist visas making it more difficult to travel. This doesn't benefit South America at all. Rather, from what we have seen, tourism is a major driving force behind better environmental awareness, archaeological preservation and a better education for local people through a wider worldview.
Much has been written about the corruption rife in South American pseudo-socialist governments, mostly stemming from the same 'can't change, won't change' attitude of the same stripe mentioned above. "Yes our police are corrupt. Yes our government is corrupt." What are you gonna do about it? Not much, but not nothing either - it's not all bad news. The riots in Brazil have forced politicians to at least listen more intently to the people, if not make the wholesale changes that are needed. Meanwhile, Chilean voters sent a clear message to end Patagonian water exploitation and pollution by effectively ending plans for several large water dams which would have displaced people and wildlife, caused widespread environmental damage and succeeded in enriching only the top political players on the Dark Side of Chile's politics. These plans were stopped and so there is hope.
With a little more progress of the kind seen in Chile's new energy policies, Ecuador's National Parks protection, and Colombia's engagement of terrorist factions into the political process, then we might see a South America that Bolivar and San Martin might have been proud of.
We saw many interesting and effective projects set up by Latinos and ex-pats alike, designed as forces for positive change. From green urban planning in Buenos Aires to Jaguar conservation in Bolivia and self-built hydroelectric systems in remote Ecuador. It seems that for now, without an en masse cultural change, these ideas will have to serve to stem the tide of destruction that has already changed South America forever. These are all ideas the West can support and learn from.
With glaciers disappearing, access to various sites being curtailed up the Yin Yang (ostensibly due to high tourist numbers) and prices rising all the time, now seems like the best time to see the continent. Leave it too late and you will miss out! Or so it seems. The real paradox is, the more responsible tourists who go, the better protected it all is, because more often than not, the custodians of the interesting and important sites in South America are simple and uneducated people who inherited the land from their ancestors. These people are some of the least equipped and least motivated to look after their own backyards, and unless we show them that what they have is valuable, and that they shouldn't fuck with it too much, it will all be gone.
If South Americans will just get up off their macho asses and do away with the ridiculous belief that they are the center of the universe (a problem compounded by sexism and religion), then the world might, just might, see a future where we won't have to describe South America as the land where the Giant Anteater and the Jaguar USED to roam. Or the land where ancient pre-Colombian statues USED to stand - and what better response would that be to the asshole Islamists who would destroy mankind's history in order to write their own version of the truth and therefore literally get away with murder.
While these pressing issues ARE an immediate concern, they are not all-encompassing. After 25 months and 17 days on the continent, we saw so many unexpected and incredible sights that will come back for more. We will come back not to solve South American problems, but in spite of them. There is so much to do and see and learn here that it would be madness not to. The continent really did confound expectations, and whatever you think you know about South America - it's probably bullshit.
South America scored highly on historic cultural interest, natural beauty and wildlife and the sheer range of things to do, especially in Argentina. The best countries by far were Ecuador and Argentina (where we now have good friends).
We are glad to be leaving, but more glad to be coming home, even if after two years we are a little nervous to be doing so. Enough mountains, jungles and deserts for now, but like I said, we will be back.
Adios y hasta luego
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