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Mark Berman - South America Blogger, Photographer, Traveler & Author of South American Postcard

Travel Blog about South America - South American Postcard, photos of me all around South America!

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About Me & South American Postcard

Mark Berman - South America Photographer, Traveler and Author of South American Postcard
As South American Postcard continues to grow as I visit more places each year and add stories and photos, the site has become a fantastic resource and educational source not only for travelers but also for local South Americans interested in places and photos from their own countries. The focus of South American Postcard is to show what it is really like to be on the ground as a backpacker in South America. I am interested not only in places and cities but also the journey between these places. Taking photos from moving vehicles is one of my favorite things to do, I get photos I could never get twice - I love it! I write about the places I visit and have been told that my stories make you feel like you are really there. Enjoy!

I've Travelled In South America Over The Past 15yrs

Hi, my name is Mark and welcome to South American Postcard, a website about my travels in this great continent. I spent 6½ months here in 2008/2009 on 3 seperate trips and continued my South American travels in 2010/11 for an extended period which lasted a year and a half. I spent 7 weeks in Venezuela and 2 weeks in Brazil on the Amazon river in December/January (2011). Then I went back to Colombia for 5 months where I lived in Santa Marta/Taganga. From July 2011 I travelled through Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia until December. I began my 5th trip to South America in May 2012 and visited Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and the Ecuador coast! I have been living in Colombia over the past 6 and a half years (2012/2013/2014/2015/2016/2017/2018). In April/May 2013 I visited Venezuela again. In July 2013 I visited San Gil, Barichara and Bogota in Colombia. In September 2013 I visited a few places in Uruguay and southern Brazil. In December 2013 I visited Guatape and Penol in Colombia. During April 2014 I backpacked through part of Chile from the north down to Santiago and headed over to Argentina and up through places like Mendoza. In August 2014 I went for a 3rd time to Venezuela which was great. Late 2014 I visited a few places in Colombia like Valledupar and Panaca. In March 2015 I headed back to the Amazon River in Brazil and backpacked through the 3 Guianas also. In July 2015 I was in Ecuador for the 5th time and in September/October I was back in Bolivia and Argentina. In early 2016 I travelled some places in Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil and am currently living in Colombia. In September/October 2016 I was in the Peruvian Amazon! In February/March 2017 I was in Brazil! October/November 2017 I was in the Patagonia in southern Chile and Argentina! 2018 has been busy also with travels in Colombia and Ecuador. In 2019 I realocated to Bolivia for the year. In 2020 I am holed up in Colombia waiting for the corona virus pandaemic to end! This is now my 7th time in South America!

My Travel History in South America

I was not initially planning more than 1 trip to South America, however, after my first time there for 2 months I came home feeling that although I had had a fantastic time, I had not even touched the surface of possibilities that could be experienced. After 2 and half months back home, I decided to go again and explore and have more adventures, this time after nearly 3 months there I came home feeling satisfied and well spent. I hadn't thought about writing about my travels on a website at this stage.

Home again for 6 months and I was itching for more South America. For my 3rd trip I adopted a completely new approach on how I would travel there, I had learnt a lot and wasted a lot of time on my first 2 trips, this time I wanted to cover as much ground as possible and see much more. It was my 3rd trip when I started to really enjoy the long-haul bus journeys, which I hadn't previously and I took many more photos, by now I was planning to write about my experiences!

I have now been in all 13 countries to varying degrees and for varying times, some countries several times and some for a short time, I want to see more of these countries and The Patagonia is also on the list. I have travelled the 'Gringo' trails but also to many places off the beaten track, I have been the only foreinger in town on a few occasions.

I couldn't speak Spanish on my first 3 trips but I learnt a lot while traveling. During 2010 I went to university for 3 months in Medellin - Colombia for Spanish, it helped a lot. On my first 3 trips communicating with locals was not always easy, sometimes impossible without doing hand signals and visual actions, I suspect many travelers to South America have a similar experience lingo-wise. These days my Spanish is quite good.

This is a warts and all account of my travels in South America so far. Enjoy!

My most well trodden paths respectively are Colombia, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile. Venezuela, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and The 3 Guianas.

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