I’m pretty certain that when planning a trip to South America, safety is one of the biggest concerns. Let’s face it, horror stories from travellers and news articles are going to stick in your mind more than the typical ‘OMG it was the best trip ever!’ stories. If you look at the published statistics on violence (or in my case go for a family meal and have stats read at you), it doesn’t exactly reassure you either so here I am to tell the story from my personal experience. I spent 5.5 months travelling from Mexico City down to Brazil and survived to tell the story!
My response to everyone was ‘everywhere can be dangerous if you put yourself in the wrong situation’. I’m not naive, I’m fully aware that Colombia is more dangerous than my town in Cornwall but I can also see past that and know how to make a situation safer using common sense. I met various men, women and couples that had been mugged while on their trip, I even met a girl that got stabbed while fighting back to keep her mobile (check point 3 below) but on the other hand, I met hundreds that didn’t.
6 tips to keep you safe!
- Don’t walk anywhere alone a night. This may seem like a given but there are many times I’ve been like ‘it’s just a short walk to my hostel, I’ll be fine alone’. But realistically, nights out were the most common time that people I met were mugged
- Try to book a hostel that has lockers! About 2 months in to my trip I become too complacent with this and hardly locked away my valuables and although I was lucky, I unfortunately met many travellers who had some stuff stolen in hostels. It’s something so simple you can do to keep your belongings safe!
- Don’t fight back. It’s hard to know how you would react if you were to get mugged, however, all the bad stories I heard were made worse by fighting back to try and keep your belongings! I always told myself if it happened to me, I’d just give my stuff over. Nobody wants to lose their phone or money but do I want to risk any serious harm for these objects? No!
- Trust your gut. I got stuck in some sticky situations with taxi drivers, protests and language barriers but if you do, trust your gut instinct. Everyone knows basic safety and react appropriately for the moment. You’re stronger than you think you are if you’ve got the balls to book the flight
- Be discreet with your valuables. When out and about, keep low amounts of cash, keep your camera/phone on you at all times within eyesight and don’t only take cash out when stood still. I got pick pocketed once in Ecuador after visiting an ATM, luckily I had stored my cash in a safe money belt under a couple of layers of clothes so all they got from my pocket was a snotty tissue😂
- Enjoy it! This trip is a once in a lifetime experience, enjoy it and don’t spend your whole time worrying what could go wrong. Accept the bad days, learn from it when you can and as long as you use common sense, I have no doubt anybody will be fine travelling this beautiful continent.
I hope this has helped anyone with nerves, please feel free to comment or email me with any questions!
Lucy’s Travel Diary 