We all have that one bucket list adventure. A deeply personal vision of a destination we feel compelled to experience within our lifetime. Perhaps for you, it’s sunrise over Machu Picchu having completed a private Inca Trail trek through the primordial Peruvian Andes. Or stargazing on Bolivia’s Salar De Uyuni under the blanket of stars found in one of the world’s most unpolluted skies. Or meandering the bustling markets of Lima before sampling several of the most authentic foodie experience in South America accompanied by locals.
You see, often the problem lies not in articulating your dream vacation, but rather in the logistical challenges of getting there. A bucket list adventure, voiced truthfully, is profoundly individual. It’s not copied, influenced, replicated, or reproduced – it’s your own, molded by your personal passions.
So when it comes to galvanizing loved ones to be as deeply invested in your dream vacation as you are, that can be difficult. And if their excitement isn’t matched to yours, it’s disheartening, and from there, easy to compromise and concede to another plan that becomes increasingly further away from your bucket list trip to South America.
This pattern is by no means exclusive to women, but it may be more common. Combine that compromise with children and careers, then concerns about safety and security – and the possibility of jetting away on that self-fulfilling trip feels never more out of reach and distant.
The Power of Solo Female Travel to South America
Well, here’s our answer: the solo female adventure to South America. Offering the antidote to compromise, a chance to unapologetically fulfill every personal wish and ambition during a luxury South America tour.
With Aracari, solo female travel to South America isn’t as radical as it sounds on the surface either. There are no oversold group trips, or lonely tables for one, or pokey single-bed occupancy hotel rooms.
Instead, you’ll find entirely private and personalized experiences, one-to-one expert guides, our local friends in the city, and safety measures such as chauffeured private vehicles, and so on and so forth.
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Our Guru of Solo Female Travel to South America
You might wonder, what makes Aracari so specialized in safe and smart solo female travel? Well, here’s our superpower: our business is built on one woman’s love for exploring.
When Marisol founded Aracari back in 1996, she didn’t hold back until companions permitted her plans to go ahead. Plunging into a life-changing solo adventure – one which would result in an almost three-decade-strong business – Marisol’s sights were set on delivering authentic high-end travel in her birth nation of Peru.
That first trip, along with the countless others that followed, helped form forever connections with both people and places, many of which feature in our itineraries to this day. Such connections wouldn’t have been possible without being present in those precious moments. Without being able to travel at whim, with a personal sense of direction leading – and not one being diluted by one too many navigators. Today, Marisol continues to balance trips with close friends, with her solo adventures. She has recently returned from a trip to Asia, where she spent incredible days in a place known as “The Galapagos Islands of the Indian Ocean” due to its unique flora and fauna.
Marisol’s experience and passion for solo female travel and our unrivaled expertise in tailormade travel make us poised to share five of its best-kept secrets. The empowering benefits of experiencing a destination alone, as your authentic self.
The Five Best-Kept Secrets of Solo Female Travel to South America
1. You Hold the Map: This Private South America Tour is Yours
It might sound obvious but a trip to South America as a solo female is truly a chance to write your own script. Perhaps for the first time, travel is on your watch. That means however specific your interests may be, this trip is the chance to properly indulge them. At Aracari, we offer a personalized trip design service for every client. An opportunity for our specialist travel designers to unpick exactly what your luxury South America trip looks like. By appreciating your vision in all its color, we can begin to build an unforgettable experience around you as a solo female traveler to South America.
But what does that look like in practice? It means if you’re passionate about the art world, we can curate two days around some of Peru’s rarest private art collections. These appointment-only visits are exclusive to our guests and accompanied by a true art specialist – someone who has often written books and held seminars on the very artifacts found in such rooms. Knowing that you are a female solo traveler to Peru – will mean that your experience will be entirely private and delivered at a pace suited to you.
Or perhaps, it’s the wild outdoors that has your heart when it comes to solo female travel to South America. If so, a week in the remote beauty of Patagonia, stretching through Chile and into Argentina, ought to fit the brief. Here, you could spend days exploring the rugged landscape with a private guide – or in a small group – before at night, settling down into the sublime luxury of an Awasi lodge, one of our top picks for this year’s 2023 Aracari Travel Hotlist.
The point is, you’re the author of your own route. No request is too specific or too niche for others in your party – because well, you are the party.
2. Solo Travel Allows for More Authentic and Meaningful Connections
As John Steinbeck put it in Travels with Charley, ‘two or more people disturb the ecologic complex of an area’. In a continent as culturally rich and diverse as South America, solo travel here permits much more delicate and thoughtful interaction with local communities and cultures.
That’s not to say it’s impossible to encounter small group activities that foster authentic connections, in fact – we are seasoned professionals in curating such experiences. However, it is easy to see how an individual meeting between a traveler and a local may result in a more accurate insight into the host’s everyday life. When both parties are much more comfortable without onlookers and a relaxed atmosphere creates space for genuine connection.
At Aracari, our many different cultural experiences offer the chance to connect with locals in a very personable way. Take for instance our visits to the highland communities of the Sacred Valley. Here in the village of Lamay, we offer the chance for our solo travelers to spend time with the local community during experiences that foster meaningful connections. There are cooking classes, agricultural workshops, and weaving demonstrations – that can all take place one-on-one for an unforgettable afternoon in the mountains.
Tailoring these trips for solo female travelers in South America means that transport to and from these remote locations is of course always private, in a chauffeured vehicle and accompanied by an Aracari guide and driver.
3. Precious Encounters: Connect with People you’d have Never Otherwise Met
Choosing to venture on a luxury South America trip can result in lifelong friendships. And, although you left home as a solo female traveler, you could in fact connect with a wonderful group of locals during your vacation.
At Aracari, our family is made up of guides handpicked because of their knowledge and passion, but also because of their personable nature. Across our destinations, we have friends in the city who are not only experts in their field – but also charming locals who are longtime friends of Marisol and team Aracari.
Penelope Alzamora, for example, is a professional chef and a Lima native whose culinary experience and natural charisma will make any of our guests feel at home. Our guests can opt to spend a glorious day in the coastal suburbs of Lima with Penelope, exploring the charming town of Punta Hermosa and its local market, before cooking up a treat at Penelope’s beachfront condo.
The even better news is that we have people like Penelope all over our region, keen to welcome Aracari guests into their world. And, since such activities can be organized as a private experience or as part of a small group, you could find yourself connecting with other Aracari travelers passing through a town or city at the same time.
For us, this is one of the most sacred qualities of solo travel, chance encounters with people all over the world – whom you may otherwise have never met.
4. A Chance to Just Be: Reconnect, Reset, and Remember Who You Are
In the chaos of busy modern lives, how often do we really get a chance to just be? To indulge in stillness and quiet, to not have to think of a to-do list but rather just rest, reconnect, and reset. A solo female trip to South America presents the perfect opportunity to do just that. And our continent is home to some of the most spectacular wellness retreats in the world, hidden away in the serenity of untouched landscapes.
One of Aracari’s favorites is Willka T’ika, nestled deep in the Sacred Valley of Peru. Developed as a healing center focused on the cultural heritage and spiritual tradition of the Andes, Willka T’ika has just 26 suites, set grounds filled with flowers, trees, local herbs, and medicinal plants. It’s the ideal space for solo female travelers to South America who are interested in practicing yoga and meditation. Here guests can make the most of the crystal healing bed, have an Andean massage, or take a hot solar bath infused with fragrant flowers from the garden.
But of course, reconnecting with oneself doesn’t have to happen in a wellness retreat either. Enjoying a solo dinner in one of Lima’s acclaimed restaurants, settling into a hotel luxury suite, or meandering the colorful streets of cities like Cartagena with a private guide – are all just as effective for reflection.
5. Privileged Access: Enjoy Experiences Available only to Solo Travelers
The beauty of opting for a solo trip to South America with Aracari is that some of the experiences we offer are so exclusive, they are only available to solo travelers.
Our near three decades’ worth of experience in luxury travel to South America means that we are connected to some of the most influential creatives on the continent. From award-winning sculptors to master painters, from global ateliers to world-renowned chefs – these people are our wonderful friends, but they are also listed in our exclusive black book of contacts. In fact, it’s connections such as these which led to the formation of Aracari Shop – our online curation of Andean luxury sourcing the premium pieces from the art world to be purchased by our astute global audience.
But as you might imagine, people of such stature aren’t the kind who will welcome group tours into their workshops or kitchens – even Aracari guests. However, what they will do is enjoy a private meeting with individual clients with a keen interest in their specialist field. Aracari has been privileged to arrange several such meetings over the years, connecting our solo traveler clients to everything from private dining experiences to exclusive studio visits with introductions to incredibly distinguished artists. And we’d be just as thrilled to do the same for you.
2023: Could this be your year of solo female travel to South America?
We hope that within these words, we’ve shown you the power of exploring alone. Helping you to see how realizing your bucket list vacation to South America isn’t just possible, but preferable.
Marisol and her team of experienced luxury travel designers will tailor every detail to you – seamlessly making all the adjustments for a solo female traveler in South America.
So, why not now? Let us connect you to the magic of vacation you’ve spent a lifetime dreaming of.