Time needed to Travel: 3-6 months
This is one of the best continents to travel through during your world trip. You will have the greatest 
experiences for the leaset amount of money! For one week of travel in Europe, Australia/New Zealand, or the States, you will be able to spend one month (give or take depending on how you spend money)traveling through the countries of South America.
I would suggest to start your trip through South America by attending a local spanish school for 2-4 
weeks. This will allow you to at least get by with some phrases and allow you to have fun speaking another language. If you have already taken spanish in high school then it is a good refresher class that will help you in restaurants, shops, and bars. Along with the spanish schools, they give you the option to do a home stay instead of staying in a hostel! I would suggest the home stay, because you will learn the language faster. The hosts family does not care about what time you come home so don't let that be a determining factor about where you decide to stay! Or you can always find a hostel to stay in that would be the cheapest option.
The South American landscape varies greatly from the highest captial in the world located in La Paz, bolivia, down to the beaches of Rio De Janeiro, Brazil. There is so much natural beauty from rivers, jungles, the Galapagos Islands (where you will find one of kind species), glaciers, and huge waterfalls. You will not get bored in any country that you travel through.
You will learn that the people of South America are very friendly! They will help you if you need anything! You will probably run into There are a lot of cultural experiences that you can learn along the trip like learning spanish or portuguse to learning different dancing styles like the samba or salsa!
The one and only sport that the people of South America care about is futbol (soccer). You will soon realize that his is the passion of the people. The people watch games religously the national and club
teams. When traveling through Rio De Janeiro, Brazil don't miss the largest soccer stadium in the world called Maracanã. If you are lucky enough to be traveling through Buenos Aires, Argentina in the spring or fall you will be able to witness first hand the Superclassico Boca Vs. River. This game is more than a game to the people of Argentina! Be careful in la cancha (stadiums) as there are riots that get out of control!
South America is my favorite place to travel, but I do warn you that South America is one the most 
dangerous places to travel though too. I just give you the advice to travel "smart" through these countries. You will have no problems if you don't "flash" money, carry your camera in your hand (put it away after you take a picture), and respect everybody. I also encourage you to not leave your backpack laying on the floor of an internet cafe or restaurant, or you will soon realize that it will disappear very quickly!
Most popular way to travel through South America
Bus
Traveling by bus is the most popular way to travael through South America. I would suggest that when you fly into this continent that you stay a couple of days in that city. Once you are ready to travel to the next city all you have to do is buy a bus ticket at any local tourism office or head to the bus station that is usually very easy to find. (You will save money by going to the bus station to buy your ticket, 
because the tourism offices charge you commission to get the ticket). There are usually serveral different bus companies that you can choose from in a bus station. The different companies usually cover different cities or different times. Most bus companies do not cross over international boarders, but it is better if you find a company that does that way you don't have to change buses at the boarder (which can be a dangerous experience depending on the countries you are crossing).
Some bus rides can be very long, but it is definitely the cheapest way to travel. For a 24 hour bus trip (which is not uncommon) you might only pay $20 US Dollars instead of buying a plane ticket for over $100. If you are traveling on time constraints I would suggest to fly, but if you have the time I would suggest that you take the bus.
For example, if you are trying to travel to Iguazu Falls in northern Argentina you can fly into Buenos Aires, Argentina and then stay a couple of days in the downtown area. It is a good idea to buy a bus ticket a day or two ahead of time just to make sure that you have a ticket on the day you want to travel. Once you have your ticket all you have to do is show up about 5-10 minutes before it is scheduled to leave. The buses in South America are very prompt and will leave you if you are not there at the specific time on your ticket. It is as easy as that. You do not have to fly to every destination as if you were traveling through the states without a car. Taking bus trips also allows you to meet more travelers and hear their stories!
Group Tours
In most major cities there will be one or two very popular hostels that you will hear is the "best" one to stay in. In reality it doesn't matter what hostel you stay in, but some hostels do have tourist offices come in and speak to travelers about 5-7 day trips! I know that specifically in Santiago, Chile there is a hostel that is pretty tight called la casa roja (the red house). About once a week they have a company come in that takes a 15 passenger van two routes. You can go the Northern route through the salt planes and into Bolivia or you can go south to Torre del Paine. They go through a slide show and show you the different things along the route they are going to take you. I know that group tours aren't always fun, but if you are traveling by yourself this is a great way to meet other travelers who you might start traveling with through the rest of South America!
So when you get into a new city ask the hostel or ask a tourist office if there are any group trips that they offer. If they don't offer any go to the next office! Group tours also allow you to have a guide that is experienced and knows more about the area than you do so that you will learn more! You will always have more fun with people than by yourself!
Flying
If you are using your world ticket to travel through South America you will only be allowed two plane flights within the continent. So I would suggest flying into either Northern/Southern South American, and then have your exit flight leaving from the opposite part of the continent. If you are chasing the sun and flying from South America to New Zealand/Australia almost every flight leaves from Santiago, Chile. So you need to plan accordingly so that you can just bus to different cities to be the most economic with your money!
If you do decide to fly to different locations in South America instead of taking the bus some airline companies do put together special packages if you choose 2 or 3 seperate cities. Depending on the season of travel the tickets can be somewhat reasonably priced. I know that LAN airlines has a lot of promotions that they do that do have good value depending on where you are traveling. Click the following in order to see the promotions page: Promotions at LAN. If you are thinking about flying through Brazil the low airfare carrier is called Gol. You can find cheap tickets to fly from Sao Paolo/Rio de Janeiro to different cities in the north or south of Brazil! Click herer to see the web page: GOL. You will have to change the language to english in order to navigate through the web sites. The good thing about Gol is that there is insurance when you buy the flight that they return the money if something happens that you can't make your flight!
Bikes
Before my trip around the world I would have never considered riding a bicycle through another country. I didn't even think it was posible, but this might be the best way to actually travel through a country, and get to really know the country and the people that live in little towns!
There are people that you will run across that might be riding a mountain bike across one country or multiple countries in South America. I met a couple from Canada that had started in Peru and biked to South America. They both had a bike that had two saddle bags. They had the craziest stories, but in one week they probably experienced more than a traveler who travels a country for 1 month by an airplane. You will have to eat local food, drink canned or bottle water, and find accomadations that are not 4 stars!
If you do decide to bike through South America I would recommend to buy your bike in your country before you leave. You need to be able to have a durable mountain bike that will last through a long journey. You will not be able to buy that kind of bike in a lot of South American cities.
Renting a car
I met another traveler while I was in South America. He lives for the outdoors and decided to rent a car to drive through South America. Here is what Reed Whiting had to say about renting a car:
"Renting a car in Argentina was pretty hassle free. I actually
expected more of a problem, but it went just as smooth as renting a
car in the states. Now the prices are a different story. You can
expect to pay 2-3 times mroe to rent a car in argentina than the
states and you also will have to pay a huge fee if you dont return the
car to the same location. I spent around 2500 to rent a car for a
month and drive half way across argentina. I must say that the
experience and freedom that came with having wheel was well worth the
price. I experienced people and places that I never would of known
existed without it."
Festivals (This part of the web site is under construction)
Popular destinations in South America include:
Argentina: Buenos Aires, Iguazu Falls, Rosario, Cordoba, Mar Del Plata, Patagonia (Perito Moreno Glacier, Mendoza, Ushuaia, Barilloche
Brazil: Sao Paolo, Rio de Janeiro, Floranoppolis, Salvador de Bahia
Bolivia: La Paz (Highest elevation for a capital in the world)
Chile: Santiago, Vina del Mar, Torres del Paine, Salt Plains
Colombia: Bogota, Cartagena, Cali, Medellin
Ecuador: Galapogos Islands, Guayaquil, Esmeraldas, Quito
Paraguay:
Peru: Lima, Cuzco, Machu Picchu
Uruguay: Colonia, Montevideo, Punta del Este
Venezuela: Caracas, Coro, Isla de Margarita
