South America; Lima, Peru.

South America: Banos/Montanita, Ecuador.

South America: Galápagos Islands, Ecuador

When researching the cheapest and best way to experience the Galapagos islands on a budget we promptly discovered that information wasn't aplenty; so here's everything you need to know to do the islands on a shoestring or under $1000 USD. 

Firstly, booking flights is cheapest out of Quito, a lot of travel companies and websites will tell you otherwise however if you fly with Avianca like we did you can pick up return flights from Quito to Santa Cruz for under $350, we booked 2 days prior. 

When your arrive in the islands, you will need to pay $110 to enter the park, this is a standard.

If you are staying for a week or longer and aren't doing an overpriced cruise or live-aboard, the cheapest option is to choose one island to set up base and then do day trips to the surrounding islands. We chose to stay on Santa Cruz, it's a good island for backpackers as the nightlife is fun and there's a lot more young travellers on a budget whereas other islands are more accommodating to wealthy families and honeymooners.

Some hostels can be upwards of $100 a night, and hotels are out of the question if you're on a budget. The cheapest way is to find a place to rent. We rented a 4 bedroom suite for $115 (each) a week. The benefit of this; we had a fully functional kitchen, air con, comfortable beds and hot showers for less than what you would pay for a hostel for a single night. 

For our first day we went to explore the Charles Darwin museum, which is a fun and free activity. Santa Cruz is easy and cheap to travel around, do not pay anymore than a single US dollar to get anywhere less than 10 minutes away. Other free activities you can do include The Highlands, beach swims with sea lions and cruising the town. There's literally animals and sea life everywhere, you just need to be patient and explore the island. 

Food is one of the only things you will quickly realise is more expensive to do yourself then to go out. The cheapest feed can be found on a street corner, you can get a $5 two course meal with a drink only walking distance from pretty much anywhere. 

If you are an avid diver or you just want to get the most out of the surrounding islands, you can find the cheapest day tours and diving tours at Academy Bay, located along the main strip opposite the dock, no advance booking required. As we didn't plan for a long trip we booked 3 full days of tours;

Tour 1: Isla Isabela/snorkeling 

Tour 2: North Seymour 2 tank dive

Tour 3: Gordon Rocks/ Bolotome 2 tank dive

At a cost of $160 per tour per person; this included transport, breakfast, lunch and English speaking instructors and tour guides. You can not find a cheaper price than this, believe me, we tried. 

On your dives you can expect to see manta rays, sharks, sea lions, turtles, hammerheads, large tropical fish and vibrantly coloured coral. However, do not be disappointed or surprised if all you see is a few fish, there's a lot of variables to consider and in the Galapagos anything can happen. 

Lastly if you're looking to experience the nightlife you can't go past Bongo, they play decent music and on Thursday the ladies get free drinks! Other than this, most places will do 2 x frozen cocktails for $10 or under you just need to look out for a cheap drink menu.

The Galapagos isn't something every backpacker plans on doing, however if you're smart about your money and your willing to do your research you can experience everything they have to offer for under $1000.

South America: Quito, Ecuador

South America: Medellin Colombia

South America: Santa Marta/Palomino/Minca, Colombia

A short 6hr bus ride north of Cartagena is the small beach city of Santa Marta. You can get a shuttle from pretty much any hostel for around $20 USD. The bus unexpectedly broke down half way there so we got a decent roadside lunch and after a lot of mucking around we finally arrived! 

We only had a quick stint in Santa Marta so we used our time to hike the toranga national park, where the jungle meets the beach and a crazy horse ride through the rocky terrain will have you holding on for dear life. We ventured back to our hostel, made home made dinners and lazed by the pool before catching a 2 hour bus to palomino to stay the night and explore around the beach town.

Palomino is a sweet little get away and it's hard to believe it's such a short drive away from the hustle and bustle of the city. When we pulled up in our bus we were welcomed by the locals, who offered to carry us and all our luggage on the backs of their tiny dirt bikes. 

The town of Palomino is made up of one long street where you can find all the market and vendor stores, then there's multiple roads branching off that lead all the way to beach front hostels with jungle views. We stayed in hostel dreamer, and only moments after we had arrived we were back on the dirt bikes ready to go tubing in the near by river. As we started to drift down, we were approached by one of the locals who advised us that due to the rain it would be very dangerous to tube, avoiding his advice he decided to come with us and after a litre of rum and vodka, we finally drifted all the way down to the ocean with only a GoPro fatality. Tubing is definitely one of the best activities you can do in Palomino; surrounded by the jungle, drink in hand, slowly making your way down the river with all your mates seriously can't be beat and at $5 for the whole day you'll be hard stretched to find something better.

To get the most out of Columbia we found ourselves on the road again, after only enjoying one day/night in Palomino. We took a shuttle east of the town to a mountainous coffee village called Minca. 

When we arrived we were greeted with a strenuous hike up a vertical mountain to our tree house hostel; Casa Olma, by far the most amazing view point to watch the sunset into the horizon. We spent a short night and day taking in the town, practising yoga, busking with the hostel volunteers and sleeping in hammocks before heading back to Santa Marta to catch a bus to the busy town of Medellin. 

If you're strapped for time and you want to see the best of what Columbia has to offer I suggest each one of these towns as they all differ from one another, have their quirks and are cheap and easy to travel between.

Medellin, here we come!!

South America: Cartagena, Columbia

Cartagena is by far one of the most beautifully vibrant, weirdest towns I've ever visited.

Firstly old town Cartagena is a colonial maze of the most incredible breathtaking terrace houses with the biggest wooden doors you've ever seen, then there's the newer side of town - malls, skyscrapers, the most amazing coffee houses, colourful clubs, the lot. You can get lost anywhere in cartegena and never feel like you need to find your way back home.

While aboard the Galitano we recruited a few extra travellers and while exploring our first Colombian destination we decided to set up camp at Casa Luna! For a few dollars a night, hot showers, comfortable beds and good food came as an absolute luxury. 

After a few days of relaxation and getting use to having our feet panted firmly on solid ground we decided to take a trip to Volcano De Totumo to get nice and dirty in the mud pits. This is probably the weirdest thing you will ever experience, the pit is roughly 2000m deep, however you can stand completely upright and not sink, the mud is thick and gooey and for a split moment you will feel like a kid again. After you're finished in the pits the guides take you to the river to get bathed by Colombian ladies, and believe me you will never feel so clean.

To finish off our few days in Cartagena, we explored the town, climbed some castles and had a quick reunion with the Galitano del Mar crew before heading off to Santa Marta to continue our Colombian adventure.