Getting engaged in South America! Tour Stories on The Chasqui

When we found out that a couple had got engaged on one our tours in South America we had to find out more! Sophie kindly told us her story about her wonderful group tour to Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil!

Sophie & Deiniol’s Story

“We did the Buenos Aires to Rio Flyer tour. My partner booked it as a surprise as he knew that Iguazu Falls was on my bucket list. I came across the falls by chance online and ever since then had always wanted to go visit!

The trip was incredible, my favourite parts were Colonia, Paraty and of course, Iguazu Falls. Paraty was just so serene and beautiful, I think I could have stayed longer there. It had quaint shops with loads of nice things like handcrafted jewellery and home-ware. Plus all the locals sold their handmade crafts on the streets which was great too.

Colonia was another lovely town, peaceful like Paraty but the wild parakeets in the trees certainly let you know they were there! It was really nice to hear them throughout the day. Buenos Aires was a fantastic city. I highly recommend the hop on hop off bus tour, as it kept us busy all day and we got to see most of the city. In Rio de Janeiro we did the city tour which I would do again. They take you to all the best sights and give you snippets of facts and stories about favelas and the history as you journey through the city. It ended perfectly by going up Sugarloaf Mountain to watch the sunset! Perfect end to an amazing trip.

We had loads of great local food throughout the tour. In Iguazu there is a fantastic all you can eat called Gaucho just down the road from the hotel. It had great salads and veggies and perfectly cooked meat all for around £10!

As for the engagement, my partner did it on the Brazilian side of Iguazu Falls. We had an amazing day on the Argentinian side the day before – we walked up to the top walkway with the most spectacular views, did another walk around the middle and then did the Devil’s Throat boat ride which was so much fun. I hate boats but I would definitely do that again! Even though you get soaked it doesn’t take long to dry off on a hot day!

The day of the engagement we opted for the helicopter ride first thing in the morning. It really put the falls into perspective seeing it all in one go, it was so beautiful. Then we went to the bird park straight after which was wonderful. It is home to so many healthy birds which was really great to see.

After, we went on to do the falls on the Brazilian side. We got the bus to ‘The Path of the Falls’ stop and walked the route to the falls, where there were some seriously stunning views.

A hundred pictures of the waterfalls later my partner sneakily pulled me to one side on a more private pathway and popped the question! Totally taking me by surprise in the most beautiful place I have seen on Earth, of course I said ‘yes’!

We shared the news with our fellow travellers and got to enjoy the rest of the day by the Iguazu Falls. Later in the evening, Jana our Tour Leader had left us a bottle of wine with a note and handmade paper diamond ring around the neck of the bottle outside our hotel room, to congratulate us again. This was so sweet of her!