So my Dad had a massive heart attack while cruising around the horn of South America. He ended up in an ICU in Ushuaia, which is the southernmost city in the world and markets itself as the end of the world. I'm making my way there now to support him and my visually impaired mother. It's a hellish trip, red-eye tonight to Toronto, 13-hour layover in Toronto, red-eye tomorrow night to Santigo, seven-hour layover in Santigo, flight to Buenos Aires, and then finally into Ushuaia late Tuesday.
I've never been to South America before. Does anyone have any pro tips? I'm reading confusing things about the currency, MEP, blue market, different rates for foreigners, etc. I also don't speak a lick of Spanish. Is the water safe? Are there scams I should worry about?
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I’m sorry to hear about your dad. I’ve been to South America several times. Always drink bottled water. Most of the atms have an English option to help you out for cash. Credit cards are good to go but nice if you have one without foreign transaction fees. Google translate is excellent. You could get an eSIM through Airalo or such which should be cheaper.
Regarding the water which several people have noted is important, it might be overkill but use bottled water for brushing your teeth/rinsing your toothbrush.
But I would like to offer my condolences for your father. Its an amazing thing you are doing for him to be there by his side. He's Lucky to have you in his corner.
Best of luck to you on your journey and my thoughts and prayers for you and your family.
Holy, that's a lot to unpack. Wishing you the best.
The best advice I can give about travelling in latin america is to always order carbonated water "un agua, con gaz" to hydrate. That way you know it wasn't filled with tap water and re-sealed. (personal experience).
Let your credit card cos. know you're going to multiple countries. Maybe a few local currencies in your pocket. Smallest bills possible.
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Ushuaia is touristy so you might luck out with English in some areas. I’ve found the people to be kind and have never been scammed that I know of anyway. If you plan to go out to get a mental health break, ask which areas are safe to go to and someone should be able to help you out.
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Sorry to hear about your dad, especially given what a remote location he’s in. Bottled water is a must, you don’t want to take that gamble otherwise. I’ve done many trips to Central America and one to South America, don’t chance it.
Before you fly out go to a travel clinic with your mother and follow their recommendations. I’m in Central America with my very young son right now. They gave us malaria pills for him, a MMR vaccine a touch earlier than normal and some generic antibiotics just in case. I imagine your mother being slightly older may have additional risks the travel clinic could advise you on.
Good luck
Edit: I just saw you’re already on your way. I have no idea what Ushuaia is like but buy some basic medicines at the airport in case, and use google maps whenever you have access to wifi to pre load destinations into your phone so it can run off of GPS without the need for an internet connection
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Last edited by PaperBagger'14; 02-18-2024 at 10:11 PM.
Sorry to hear what you and your family are going through.
"Lo siento yo no hablo español" is a good Spanish phrase to learn. It means "I'm sorry, I don't speak Spanish". With translation available on your phone these days it may no longer be as useful as it used to be.
You also should look into to grabbing an eSIM which will give you relatively inexpensive wifi while you're away. You can get them for countries you expect to be in for awhile.
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Just to add to the bottled water bit- find out what the local bottler of Coke or Pepsi sells as their brand of bottled water. For example in Canada Coke make Disani brand water. Not sure what it is like there, however in some other countries the other brands may just be tap water bottled. Maybe filtered a bit, but not as clean as you'd want.
Thanks for everyone's kind words and tips. A couple people reached out via PM as well, which was really nice.
So the extra kicker today was my bag went missing. It was logged as being offloaded in Toronto, but never came down the carousel. So I used my long layover to go downtown and replace everything. I'm not checking it this time, even if I have to take an elbow to get an overhead bin.
I'll be extra cautious about water and I have US cash.
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I didn't make it quite as far as Ushuaia, but went as far as Punta Arenas. I realize this isn't a pleasure trip, but Argentina is a fascinating place. I think there will be a decent amount of english spoken, and I think the people will be warm and friendly.
As someone mentioned earlier, it may be summer down there, but it may be really cold and windy. Wet cold, unlike Calgary, which can be miserable if you are not expecting it.
Edit: I don't recall the water being particularly bad, but I suppose it is better safe than sorry.
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I’ve been to Ushuaia, (we picked up our Antarctica expedition ship there) you’ll be fine for language, there is a lot of English speakers there. I’m sure the medical people will speak excellent English too.
Hopefully your dad has medical insurance and the insurance company was contacted as soon as possible so they can provide directions on care. What I mean is, they may have certain conditions/requests which should be taken. I don’t think there is much choice for medical facility but they would have a preferred one and, assuming he will get transferred to Santiago or Buenos Aires, provide direction. The sooner they are contacted, the more they are likely to cover. If you haven’t already, contacting them while in the country might be easier.
Let the gate/check in agents for the airline know why you are going. If there was ever an opportunity for them to upgrade you, that would be a good reason. My thinking here is you’re going to be tired from worry and travel and if you can get a more comfortable seat, you may have a better chance for sleeping so you can be a bit more “on” when you eventually get there and need to be alert to help your parents.
For money, US cash is the best currency. The hotel or hospital staff can help facilitate any money conversion you need. It would likely be easiest to give them your US and have them give you Argentinian if you need it. As said above, let your bank know you are going away.
Hope everything goes well and please ask if you need any help/advice.
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Ushuaia is touristy, not speaking Spanish won't be a problem.
The water is fine, you don't need to worry about bottled water unless you're overly worried. You also don't need to worry about a malaria medication. Cash wise, when I was there you could only get ~$150 out of an ATM at a time and that came up with a $10 fee so just keep that in mind.
In terms of safety and scams, I wouldn't worry too much in Ushuaia. Buenos Aires you might have to keep your wits about you at times depending on where you are.
Hope your dad is okay.
Fun fact - Ushuaia, while 'the end of the world' in the south, is only 54 degree lattitude. So it's kind of less 'the end of the world' than much of northern alberta and the territories.
One more fun fact - the Canadian government gave Argentina beavers to start a fur trade in the 40s & 50s. Beavers have no natural predators in Ushuaia so they've taken over and are destroying the ecosystem. At one point, there were allegedly talks to send bears to solve the problem since they would hunt the beavers.....
Last edited by Torture; 02-20-2024 at 10:00 AM.
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All the best to Pseudo and his family. I hope it goes well for you.
Unrelated but I watch youtube videos of countries as a backdrop when I am working. Just watched one on Argentina and was blown away at how nice and modern it seemed. Also, many scenes reminded me of Canada. Was neat.
Something like this:
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