How much does it cost to travel around South America? And can someone give me advice?

I'm not picky (aka I'll gladly stay in hostels and take cheap buses), I just need to be safe, since I'm a white American woman who will be traveling alone.





I should be doing three one-month internships, two in Ecuador and one in Peru. I'll be able to travel some around Ecuador on weekends, and I'm intending to do at least two weeks after the Peru internship with my family. (So I can see all the great Inca stuff).





Since I'll already be down there, though, I would like to travel around. I want to do Buenos Aires and Montevideo for certain, but I'd like to see more than just these two cities. Where would you recommend I go? How should I travel? And if I were to stick around for three months, how much would it likely cost? (Between lodging, transportation, admission fees to sights and food...) Thanks!How much does it cost to travel around South America? And can someone give me advice?
Budget can be fixed only when you know where you want to go to and what you intend to visit and do.





Iguazu Falls (unesco world heritage) situated at the border of Brazil and Argentina is a must. It can be reached from towns of Foz do Igua莽u (Brazil), Puerto Iguaz煤 (Argentine) and from Ciudad del Este (Paraguay).





Galapagos islands (Ecuador) is another unesco world heritage place.





Cuzco Machu Picchu and Inca trail in Peru.





Colonia del Sacramento (Uruguay): still another Unesco site





In fact, South-American countries have many top places and world heritage sites.





As for places to see and things to do, I suggest you have first a look at the web sites of the tourist offices of the countries and cities you want to go to.





You may find them with a specialized travel directory such as Willgoto http://www.willgoto.com








Enjoy your trip.How much does it cost to travel around South America? And can someone give me advice?
Don't miss Bolivia, it has some great touristic sites (Titicaca lake, Uyuni Salt Flats, Jesuit Missions, Amazon rainforest, etc.) and it is probably the cheapest country in Latin America. As long as you take reasonable commonsense precautions, you should be safe.





There is a directory of Bolivia attractions at: http://www.boliviatravelsite.com/boliviaattractions.php
advice? dont drink the water
Use a South_America Travel Pass to book all your flights!





http://www.flightcentre.ca/flights/air-p鈥?/a>





http://www.oneworld.com/ow/air-travel-op鈥?/a>





http://www.airtimetable.com/airpass_sout鈥?/a>





http://www.lastfrontiers.com/flights_air鈥?/a>





ARGENTINA:


Buenos Aires


Iguazzu Falls


Mendoza on your way to Chile


Usuahia, etc.





CHILE


Santiago





URUGUAY:


Montevideo


Punta del Este in Summer


Colonia del Sacramento





http://www.hostelworld.com/countries/arg鈥?/a>





http://www.hostelsclub.com/country-en-2.鈥?/a>





http://www.hostels.com/ar.html





http://www.hostelargentina.com/





http://www.hostels.org.ar/