Checklist

Although we just started writing this blog, we have been planing the trip and getting ready for a while now. Because Sanni has been in Brazil before, she is much more prepared than I am. Luckily I had a boring start of the summer trying to find a job, so I had a lot of time to do some research and get mentally at least half as prepared as Sanni is just by being herself. I even made a nice little goolgedocs with all the vaccinations and basic information about the countries we are heading to. In this blog entry we are going to explain all the things that are already done and the things that should have been done. Simultaneously this serves as a checklist for us, so we will remember to do everything we need to.

Anneli: Vaccinations and medication: ✘ Yellow fever (keltakuume) ✘ Typhoid fever (lavantauti) ✘ Hep A+B ✘ MMR booster ✔ Malaria prescription (Doxycycline) Everything has been bought and vaccination appointments are scheduled. Gear checklist: ✘ Backpack Educated advice wanted! Tried Deuter AC 50+10 SL and Fjällraven Kajka 55W. Both good, but loving the Kajka and heard a lot of good things about it too. ✔ Mosquito net ✔ Hiking shoes/good shoes for walking My sister bought me Patagonia shoes that I'm testing right now. ✘ Sleeping bag for tropical climate Money and safety: ✘ Credit cards ✘ Travel insurance

Sanni: Vaccinations and medication: ✘ Typhoid fever ✘ Tetanus booster (jäykkäkouristustehoste) ✔ (Yellow fever and Hep AB still effective) ✔ Malaria prescription (Lariam) The medication can cause sleeping problems, nightmares and depression-like symptoms, which means that it has to be tested before leaving. Wouldn't want her to start hallucinating in the middle of the night in the jungle... Gear checklist: ✔ Backpack (Deuter AC 60+10) ✘ Mosquito net ✔ Hiking shoes/good shoes for walking She's not sure whether sneakers will be secure enough, but on the other hand, will we do that much hiking? ✘ Sleeping bag for tropical climate Money and safety: ✘ Credit cards ✘ Travel insurance

Visas
A lot of people have reminded us about visas. In our case they are not necessary, because we won't be staying in any country for three months or more.

Route
We have a vague idea about the route - we know where the journey across the continent begins and where it should end (Salvador, Brazil - Bogota, Colombia). What we do know is that we are not going to fly and that 5-star hotels are out of question. We have some must-visit-destinations and know where to stay at, but mainly the trip is still quite unplanned. Here some examples:

• Salvador. We'll spend the first few days, including new years, in the capital of dance and music. Where will we stay? Can we find somebody, who wants to have two strangers in their house for the New Years, should we start looking for hosteles or will the beach and sandcastles be enough?
• Paraguay. Even though the country is interesting and different from the other Southern American countries, we don't have too much time to spend. We're planning on pass through the country within a week. How to do that if there are no roads? Luckily for us, the river Paraguay runs across the country. Could we by any chance travel by boat from south to north?
• Bolivia. The plan is to cross the country by train. It is called Trem de la muerte, Train of Death, Kalman juna. What will happen during the trip? Will we explode because of altitude sickness, will we tumble down into the depths of Bolivian mountainside or will we get killed by angry cocaine dealers?
• Machu Picchu. Tickets - how, when, where?
• Means of travelling. Buses, trains and kind drivers - that's what we're counting on. As far as we are concerned, travelling in Brazil is quite simple. What about all the other countries? What will we do if there are no roads?

Next up: route planning and presenting the first version for our great audience. Next entry won't hopefully take this long. Stay tuned!