GRINGO TRAIL

Let’s say you got three months to plan your trip to South America you might want to consider the following;

So, in the first month before the trip you want to make sure that you have at least booked all your flights in advance.

However, you might find it challenging to choose where you would like your first destination to be, I would suggest you choose Cuba as your entry level into the Latino world.

Why Cuba?

First of all, for many westerners Cuba is a bit hard to get in due to their communist and controlling government however this shouldn’t even get in your mind to put you off Cuba after all you’re not going for a government meeting or on a political trip. Anyway enough of the politics so the reasons why you would choose to go Cuba first is because of the authenticity of the Cuban culture especially in Havana were you can’t get enough of the live salsa music in the streets, this sort of music environment and vibrancy drives you into the Latin American mood. Cuba as a country still hasn’t developed much so it’s kind of stuck in pre revolutionary era before the communists took over, in this case the environment around you is so 1950’s before the revolution.

After making Cuba as your first Latin American destination then I can say you can choose your next favoured destination in Latin America after Cuba.

The next Phase of getting ready for your Latin American trip is the sort of music you want to listen to give you that Latino Fever.

I would suggest before you head to south America to listen to the Buena Vista Social Club Album especially if you’re planning to go to Cuba first this album will give the sort of music to expect when you hear live performers on the streets of Havana

I would also recommend to have a taste of the reggaeton music genre as this is the most listened to genre in Latin America.

I cannot rule out that watching movies related to south America will boost up your morale and excitement

For the movies I suggest you watch Narcos on Netflix if you’ve got Colombia on your list especially if you’re planning on visiting Medellin or Cali though don’t expect to witness any sort of gang banging as it is portrayed in Narcos.

Another good movie I would recommend is City of God filmed in Brazil it will give you a sort of idea on how life can get tough inside the favelas.

Oh, one more thing if you happen to go you happen to go to Colombia you might need to pack some heavy clothing as the weather in Colombia is not necessarily that hot like in most tropical countries only in one place called Cartagena.

Also, I would advise you to look up vlogs on YouTube to sort of give you an insight of what to expect in the Latin American countries because you will feel a different vibe and presence from each country. However, in my opinion I would say most Latinos share a common culture and also the people I would personally describe them as realists.

Don’t worry about the food to expect as most of their food is similar to European in this case, I mean it’s not sophisticated like the one you would expect in south east Asia

Lastly don’t forget to learn Portuguese for Brazil as it’s the only Latin American country that doesn’t speak Spanish and trust neither you going to find many Brazilians that speak Spanish nor English.