SAFETY

There are questions on the safety of travel in South America. I have therefore summarized in this page my personal experience from more than 3 months of independent travel in South America in 1996.

Crime

We visited all three countries with the worst reputation in South America: Colombia, Peru and Brazil. We took the usual precautions against the crime, i.e. keeping our money carefully hidden, watching our belongings, avoiding, if possible, walking later in the night and in poor parts of the cities also during the day. We were travelling in two or three, mostly by buses and sleeping in the cheapest hotels or in tents when trekking in mountains.

We encountered two pickpockets during our journey. The first situation occurred in Rio de Janeiro in a city bus going from Copacabana to the city center. A group of two or three people worked together. One blocked our way in a narrow passage and the others were examining our pockets and backpacks from behind. They were not agressive and tried to be inconspicuous. As we had nothing in the upper pockets, they were unsuccessful. The second pickpocket was trying to take something from the pocket of my friend on a street in Arequipa, Peru. The result was the same. Another not so clear situation occurred in Bolivia, in the Chacaltaya hut near La Paz, when one man of the staff was looking into the bag of my friend, when the bag was abandoned for a while.

We encountered no problems in the hotels, even if we often used to store a part of the baggage for few days in hotel deposit, when going to a trip. We also encountered no problems in long distance buses, even when travelling during night (in Peru we travelled the routes Puno-Cuzco-Arequipa and Huaraz-Trujillo-Tumbes at night, in Colombia the route Cali-Bogota).

In summary, the situation in South America seems to be not so bad. We met many travellers, even single women, who had no severe problems. Of course, there are reports of severe attacks from time to time, so nothing can be excluded. Two friends of mine were robbed in Venezuela, the country which we did not visited.

Travel

There is some risk from the travel itself. The roads in Andean countries are poor and some buses, especially in Bolivia, as well. Narrow roads are passing steep mountain slopes without any security barriers. The route from La Paz to Coroico is a particularly good example. It is better to use a small microbus instead of a big bus in this route.

Natural Hazards

Earthquakes, volcano eruptions, avalanches, floods - everything is possible but not very probable. The danger from animals is not high but it is better to have a guide when going deeper in the rain forest. Also to avoid to get lost. We encountered three small snakes in the nature, the one seen at our camping site on the pampa trip from Rurrenabaque (Bolivia) was dangerous and was killed by our guides. Vacation against yellow fever and anti-malaria tablets are recommended, although we encountered surprisingly small number of mosquitoes. I was bitten lightly in a leg by a dog when going on a trail near Baños (Ecuador). After clearing and disinfecting the bite, this produced no problems.

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