We were pretty spot-on with our budget for our four months in South America. We were a little unsure about how the economic conditions would impact us in Argentina, but it somewhat stabilized as we were there, at least for the type of expenses we had (groceries, restaurants, etc.). Peru wasn’t as quite the value destination as Argentina, but we still enjoyed a great quality of life there. It is hard to pick a winner for the food – Argentina was extremely high quality with the Italian influence, but Peru had interesting and unfamiliar fusion cuisines and ingredients. All in all, it was a great leg!

Where We Were

Countries visited: 2 – Argentina, Peru (both new!)

Cities visited (overnight): 7 – Buenos Aires, Lima, Paracas, Arequipa, Chivay, Cuzco, Aguas Calientes (all but Buenos Aires were in Peru)

Number of hotels: 6 (including one for our long layover in Lima coming home, review below)

Number of hotel nights: 6 (one night each, including two hotels in Paracas) 

Number of apartments: 5

Number of apartment nights: 116 

Total lodging budget: $3,405

Total lodging actual: $3,491

How We Got Around and What We Did

Total transit budget: $5,000

Total transit actual: $4,806

Number of flights: 5 

Total food/entertainment budget: $5,595 ($295/week for 19 weeks)

Total food/entertainment actual: $5,703 ($300/week, pretty spot on!)

Totals

Total budget: $14,000 for 19 weeks ($737/week average, pretty much our usual amount) 

Total actual: $13,994 for 19 weeks ($6 savings, our closest budget-to-actual ever!)

Number of weeks over budget: 8 

Number of weeks under budget: 11

Least expensive week: Week 4, January 22-28, $428, the middle of our time in Buenos Aires

Most expensive week: Week 1, January 1-7, $1,801, our arrival week with the largest flight expense

The Best Parts

Best experiences (chronologically):

• Walking through Buenos Aires beautiful parks, museums, and landmarks\
• Attending a Boca Juniors match at the famous Bombonera Stadium
• Learning about pisco and Peruvian food
• Interacting with alpacas
• Making a new friend on our tour to Colca Canyon
• Experiencing the passionate(ly angry) fans at the Garcilaso match
• Seeing the Inca ruins around Cusco and the Sacred Valley
• Our overnight trip to Machu Picchu and walking alone through the doorway to the main part
• Seeing the vibrant colors of the Rainbow Mountain

Best meals:

Vegetable “table” at La Azulada (Buenos Aires), steak dinners at Duque Fuego (Buenos Aires), seafood “table” at La Azulada, (Buenos Aires), my birthday lunch at Tio Dario (Arequipa), empanadas from Panaderia Morretti (Arequipa), and other Peruvian dishes (too much trouble to look up the favorite restaurants): lomo saltado, aji gallina, chupe de mariscos, and nikkei sushi

Review of Casablanca Guest House in Lima – Very comfortable for our layover – We spent several hours here during a long layover. The location was much more convenient to the airport than Miraflores or beyond. Nice neighborhood with lots of parks. The room was very comfortable and far better than spending all those hours at the airport. Cash only but luckily they were able to accept payment in US dollars so it all worked out.