The lure of South America

BY JODI BRYANT

For seasoned travellers Jan Hewitt and Tony Collins, dining out on scorpions, grass hoppers and ants and diving with sharks is all part of the holiday adventure.

The Northland residents' latest escapade spanned six weeks over January and February and encompassed parts of mid and South America, exploring both new and places the couple of 25 years had travelled before.

"We had a few countries on our bucket list in Central America plus we wanted to return to see families in South America from our last visit a few years ago," explains Jan, a regular traveller since the 80s.

Tony, on the other hand, began ticking off his bucket list in recent years, which has included their two previous trips to South America.

"This was an extension of those two trips but we also wanted to catch up with the host parents of both our boys from when they did year-long rotary exchanges in Chile and Argentina respectively," Tony explains, adding that Jan has more of the travel bug than he.

"It was more of a resignation that she is going to travel anyway so I better go with her and, meanwhile, my aspirations of buying a boat keep going on hold," he laughs.

Nevertheless, that didn't stop him having the time of his life with his best friend and partner.

"I think New Zealanders often tend to focus on Europe and the northern hemisphere possibly because of heritage but South America is so accessible, has such a varied culture, the weather is great in our summer holiday period when we can get time off work and once you are there, it is reasonably good value for money.  The direct flights certainly help as opposed to when you had the Australian stop over. While Spanish is the primary language communication is not too difficult."

The couple's itinerary began in Mexico City, and took them to Merida and onto Cancun. Then it was onto Cuba and Havana, Colombia to Cartagena on the Caribbean Coast and Medellin. Then Ecuador and out to the Galapagos Islands before Quito, the Cloud Forest and onto Chile and Argentina, where they stayed in Santiago with friends before heading to Buenos Aires and then home.

"The worst thing about going somewhere new is there is never enough time to see everything and when you interact with other travellers along the way, you hear of so many other amazing places that you want to explore," says Tony.

But their itinerary catered to this to some extent with a combination of planned excursions and activities and free time to allow the flexibility to take advantage of anything that piqued their interest. They both highly recommend having a travel agent who has experienced some of these regions personally.

"In Santiago, one of our son's host families arranged what they thought we should see and that was great because we got a real local perspective of Santiago which was quite different from the last time we had done it solo," Tony says.

Unlike, many, it didn't take the busy working couple long to unwind.

Says Tony: "We are lucky that we don't get jet lag and can generally start enjoying any break as soon as we start and then switch back to work almost as easily."

So, switching into holiday-mode, they soon found themselves living it up on sunset cruises, sipping margheritas poolside, swimming in enclosed cenotes (natural swimming holes) amongst stalactites and stalagmites, bats and fish, carrying out walking and food tours, zip-lining and visiting ruins, to name but a few.

The couple cite highlights as swimming with hammerhead sharks in the Galapagos, the hustle and bustle and beauty at just about every corner you turn in Havana and some of the astounding ruins. But Columbia turned out to be the biggest surprise.

"It has never been on our radar and was somewhere we tacked on because it was convenient to do so between Cuba and Ecuador but, when we got there, we were surprised how developed it was and how environmentally-aware people were in the urban environment. The cities are easy to get around with great public transport. Also, it was amazing to see how generous they are with the neighbours in Venezuela; The number of refugees they have taken in and the support they have given, as well as the political leadership they are demonstrating with in the continent.

"I would definitely say it's a must-do stop-over if anyone is lucky enough to travel to the continent."

So how much stepping outside their comfort zones did this adventure entail?

"We have pretty big comfort zones so there wasn't really anything that we had to think twice about doing," says Tony. "We did all the 'normal' stuff, like eating scorpions, grass hoppers and ants - "

Wait – what? ... Normal?

"We have done similar before and I think you just start with the perspective that lots of people have done it already so it can't be that bad and then you treat it as any other food," Tony explains.

"Same with zip-lining and diving with sharks but in the case of the sharks, it still makes it an amazing experience."

With the highlights usually come the lowlights but Jan and Tony have to rack their brains to think of any.

"There's none of great note," muses Jan. "But the beaches along the Caribbean weren't as picturesque or as clean as ours."

"And, as you can imagine, there was a lot of flying involved," adds Tony. "So, after a while, the airport side of things was a bit of a grind but there are worse problems in the world to have."

Was it hard returning to reality?

"No, six weeks of travelling out of a suitcase, and a lot of time in airports was tiring and I was ready to come home," answers Jan. "Usually five weeks of 24/7 with Tony is long enough, but we managed to make six weeks and still enjoyed being in each other's company."

"Reality is what pays the bills and allows us to do this sort of thing," adds Tony. "We know that not everyone has this opportunity either through circumstances or priorities so we are really grateful for what we have and the experiences along the way.

"It was a lot of travelling packed into a really short time that gave us enough memories and experiences to last a lifetime."

During their travels, Jan and Tony regularly updated a holiday Facebook page with a selected audience of their friends and family.

And it's looking like the boat dream will have to wait a little longer; the couple say South America is still not completely ticked off their bucket list and plan to return for more diving in the Galapagos Islands. However, their next travel stint will be a little closer to home: to Christchurch to visit their new grand-daughter.