Why South America?

In December 2005 we visited Buenos Aires, Iguazu Falls, Rio de Janeiro, and the Amazon. We loved it. We decided that when we did our “world trip”, South America would be a wonderful place to start. It has so much physical beauty, interesting culture, and warm and friendly people. We thought about the different ways we could travel. We looked at traveling on our own, with another couple, on a customized tour on our own, and then we found the overland adventure companies which opened up the option of local transport trips and overland truck trips. We liked the idea of traveling with a small group, and we liked the idea of using the truck as opposed to relying on local transport. We became really excited until we noticed that one of these companies had age restrictions. No one over the age of 55. They confirmed it to us by e-mail. We were too old. Undaunted, we contacted another company called Oasis Overland. No age restriction. If we were fit enough to keep up, we were welcome on the trip. We hugged each other. We were fit enough – after all, we both run marathons! (It will be interesting to see if we continue to brag about being fit once we start our adventure!) Oasis offered a 15 week trip from Rio to Quito traveling in a specially designed truck with about 25 other people. The hook – they advertised camping on the beach!! We booked. Sixty per cent of the time we will be camping and the other 40 we will be staying in cheap hotels. My biggest fears: bedbugs, bandits, and altitude sickness. Here is the connection to our trip itinerary:
http://www.oasisoverland.co.uk/truck_expeditions/south_america/kingdoms_carnivals/