THE 10 BEST Patagonia Sights & Landmarks - Tripadvisor

Hello mongolia! How is everyone doing? I am here today as an ambassador from argentina, wishing everyone here a great day in the name of said subreddit. So, why am I here? argentina has started this community program called "Embajadores de REDDIT" or "Reddit ambassadors", with the objective of visiting the subreddits of different nations so that we can have a friendly interaction and get to know eachother a bit better! This year, I will be argentina's ambassador on this subreddit. During the post, I will be touching different topics. Feel free to skip around them or ask any questions you might have, and I will do my best to respond! And if you have any doubts, interests, or questions that haven't been covered in this post or the comments, please do visit argentina to ask more! We are happy to welcome you!
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The Food
To start, I would love to tell you guys a bit about my country, and as a foodie, I will start with the traditional foods you may find in Argentina. The most common and iconic meal here is the Asado, which is a type of barbeque traditional in southern latin america. You see variations of it in Brazil and Chile, but it is in Argentina and Uruguay where it shines. Given that Argentina is known for its meats, massive pastures, and agriculturally friendly weather, it should come as no surprise that it is tradition here to eat meat in great quantities. There are regional variations on what meats you'll most commonly find, but the typical Asado you will find in the centre of the country (that is to say anywhere between Buenos Aires and Córdoba, two massive cities) is mainly composed of beef and pork, and it is a tradition (one that has been impacted by Covid, sadly) to share the meal with friends and family every sunday! We usually cook the asado on a parrilla (grill) over either a wood or charcoal fire (gas grills haven't caught on here), and the end result is a delicious lunch or dinner.
Now, how do we get all the meat down? Usually, we go for wine, which is another of my country's strong suits. The Andes mountain range works as the geographical backbone of the country, and it is prime ground for wine making, with the province of Mendoza being particularly famous for producing internationally acclaimed wines of amazing taste and quality, but that isn't the only drink we have here. Mate, an infusion made from yerba mate leaves, traditionally drank from a cured gourd which is passed around in a circle, with everyone sharing the same gourd and straw (another covid impacted tradition). It is Argentina's (and southern south america's) version of tea, to give an approximation.
Now, I mentioned regional foods, but these two are eaten everywhere. Truth be told, most "regional" foods in Argentina are found all across the country, only one region tends to consume them much more heavily than others, and one example of this is the empanada. Usually associated with pizza in the plains region of the country, the empanada really shines in the rocky, mountainous steppes of the north west, in the North West region of the country. I had the pleasure of visiting the city of Salta and trying the local empanadas, and I will say there is a reason why that city, and province of the same name, is known for empanadas the same way Mendoza is known for wines, but... What is an empanada? Well, it is a type of dumpling, filled with many possible fillings, although the most common ones are cow meat, ham & cheese, and corn, usually baked in an oven or fried. They are absolutely delicious, and work well as street food, even though you usually get them in sit down restaurants.
That covers the far north, but what about the south? That is where you start losing track of the cow meat in the asados, and goat begins to take its place. The south of argentina, the Patagonia region, is known for its mostly arid and desolate weather, where the grass needed to properly maintain cows is not found, but this lends itself to ovine friendly regions, making goat and sheep the go tos. Traditionally, goat is cooked a little differently, usually roasted whole over an open flame. The gamey flavour of the animal really shines through in Ushuaia, the southernmost city of the country, where you get goat that is fed with rock moss instead of grass, making the meat taste particularly great.
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The Country
Anyway, enough rambling about food. Let's talk hard, cold facts. Argentina is the 8th largest country in the world, spanning 2,780,400 square kilometres in territory. It is divided into 5 regions: The regions of the North West (where you find the best empanadas), North East (where yerba mate comes from), Cuyo (where we make wine), pampeana (the plains/grasslands where cow and pig is the most prevalent, and what got Argentina the nickname of "the world's barn"), and Patagonia (where the goats and whales and penguins are, but we don't eat the last two). We have 210 years as an independent country, but have been around for longer under the kingdom of spain, which we promptly kicked out in 1810, helping kickstart the liberation of the entirety of south america in the process. Our official language is Spanish, although it is not your usual spanish. As an immigration happy country, we had our fair share of migratory waves, one of them being italian. This caused Argentina to develop its own way of speaking spanish, which sounds completely different from the rest of spanish speaking countries (except for uruguay, because they had the same happen to them), yet it still remains perfectly understandable to other spanish speaking nations of the world. Our economy (or what is left of it) is mainly based on agriculture, our culture is infuenced heavily by Spain and Italy in the pampa and cuyo regions, the Patagonia region has a bit more UK and German influence (yes, its because of the nazis), and both regions up north are more influenced by local south american cultures such as the guaraní tribes, as well as the fronteering countries.
As a people we tend to be fairly cheery (except for Córdoba. Those guys are jolly as F**K. They also have a very unique way of speaking that nobody really has a clue as to where it came from), and we have gauchos, which are the south american equivalent to the American Cowboy. The gaucho is a rural man, who lives off of the land, with a strong tradition in farming, cattling, and horse riding (something I will come back to later, as I wanna ask you guys about this). The gaucho is an iconic image in Argentina, always sporting their traditional pants called bombacha de campo, a handkerchief around their neck, a hat or a beret, boots, and the signature facón, an argentinian knife often described as an extension of the Gaucho's hand. A gaucho without a facón might as well be handless, some say. It is the gauchos who helped kick spain out, and make the Asado and Mate what they are today. now, there is a distinction between countryside and city folk here. City folk are your typical "on a rush to work" folk, with no time for bs, and usually hot headed (we are very passionate people), but they still tend to help you if you need directions somewhere without a second thought. Country folk? Those are truly generous, kind, easy going people, although a little more reserved.
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One last fact about Argentina is the flag. Parting with the european tradition of making french flag copycats, or using the red, white and blue colour palet, Argentina had its flag designed by Manuel Belgrano in 1812. The blue and white represent the sky. In the centre, you have el Sol de Mayo (the Sun of May). The flag takes its colours from the sky, but it was actually based on the escarapela (cockade in english), which... we really don't know where it came from, but just like the cordobesian accent, it is here to stay. It was used to show patriotism and support for the independence of the country. A little romantic perspective of the flag is that, no matter where an argentinian is, if he or she looks up at the sky, they will see a part of the argentinian flag.
The Sports
Argentina is well known for our sports. We excell at polo, rugby, hockey, and football, although our national sport is pato (which means duck). As horse happy people, gauchos devised this game in which you ride a horse and have to throw a leather ball with handles into a net. Think of it as a mix between football and quiddich, but with horses instead of brooms. Now, where does the duck come in? Let's just say that the use of a leather ball with handles is a bit more recent than the sport itself. You can fill the blanks there.
I am no expert on sports, but Argentina is very keen to let you know that we LOVE football, and with the recent loss of Diego Maradona, you might have seen what that sport - and that man - means to us. Football here is seen as a way to escape the slums, it is the sport that unites everyone, be it from the richest, to the most poor, and it has shaped argentinian culture to a massive degree. The loss of Diego is truly a massive blow to the morale of the country. He was seen as a god on earth by some, a legend, a hero, and a pain in the ass to the british (something we LOVE to have). Due to his passing, football is going through a tough spot.
Rugby is also on a tough spot but... How do I put this? Currently, the argentinian rugby team didn't homage Maradona, which is the argentinian equivalent of turning a cross upside down in a christian church, and at the start of the year, there was a murder in which 7 rugbiers fought one guy, and by fought I mean they attacked him from the back and kicked him to death on the floor, so rugby is a bit tainted as of late.
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Anyway, enough talking about Argentina for now. I will save some info for the comments.
Mongolia
Here in Argentina, we don't really study much of asian history at school. Can't say I remember studying about Mongolia, which is a shame, as I know your country and culture have been around in one form or another for hundreds, if not thousands of years! Wether it is falconry, throat singing, and as I mentioned before, the absolute mastery of horses, your country is rich in traditions that here in Argentina, we sadly do not know much of. I want to know what you guys would consider interesting about your country! What are your traditions, food, sports? What are some places you would recommend an argentinian to visit? I want to learn more about your culture, your country, and your history. Whatever you guys would like the people of the world to know about you, I am eager to hear it! I hope we can learn from eachother and share a great day!
Some questions I like to ask, especially to countries I don't know much about: Do you have more than one local language? What are some traditional clothes from your culture? What are your traditional foods/dreens/cheeses (for some reason, every country has their own cheese, which I find fascinating)? What is the dumbest thing your country is known for? What stereotypes are true, and which ones are false?
To finish this post, I wanted to thank the moderators for giving me the green light to post this, as well as all of you for taking some time of your day to participate.

I just wanted to throw some ideas out for Latino cultures; I think the initial release would only have Mexico, Argentina and Brazil on it ; maybe Gran Colombia as a wildcard and for its popular demand on similar games; so I wanted to show some ideas for other Latino cultures that could be added. (I still made my predictions of how Mexico, Argentina and Brasil would work)
Industrial Era:
Culture: Gran Colombia
E.U: Llanero: Coming from the Llanos region of the Orinoco; Llaneros were outlaws that roam the moorlands of what its today Colombia and Venezuela
E.Q: Hacienda: Inland estates build by the Spanish that worked as self-sufficient farms and factories, Haciendas were built on most Latino American countries and after independence of many countries, hacienda were still used.
Type: Expansionist
Culture: Rio De la Plata: I add them for two reasons; 1) they are what Gran Colombia is for Colombia, Venezuela, and the other Countries that were part of gran Colombia, but to the Southern Cone countries, making them relevant for the Patria Grande ideology. 2) as a Latino who lives in South America, Argentina is usually look as one of the most advances countries of South America both in education and culture, so I think they fit better as Contemporary culture.
E.U: Gaucho: A term to refer people living on the moorlands of the southern cone, combining the horse riding brought by the Spanish with the boleadoras of the indigenous people of the Patagonia region; Gauchos were skilled skill as rangers.
Note: Gauchos cannot be the Argentinian E.U if they are cotemporary.
E.Q: Estancia: On the Southern Cone, Estancias were rural states used for animal husbandry, specially cattle and sheep; but it was also use as stable for horses
Type: Militaristic
Culture: Paraguay
E.U: Aca Caraya: Calvary used on the Triple Alliance war, used as escort for Francisco Solano, they prove to be loyal and effective while fighting alongside their president; the Aca Carava is guarani for “Shinning Helmet”
E.Q: Guarani Jesuit Reduction (Misiones Jesuitas Guarani): Build by the Spanish for conversion of Guarani people to Christianism, this massive mision also was used as a small settlement where labor was used for food surplus; around 7 of this type of misiones were constructed on Paraguay; After the expulsion of the Spanish, this site became towns for the mestizo population.
Type: Aesthete
Culture: Bolivia
E.U: Colorado: A military corps used during the Independence of Upper Peru, later still used by Bolivia on multiple wars against neighboring countries, resisting against their expansion; starting as guerrilla and ending up as personal guards for the Bolivian president.
E.Q: El Tío: During colonial times, the mines of Potosi were one of the biggest sources of silver for the Spanish, exploiting the indigenous people to work on this dangerous mines, the Spanish implanted multiple statues of demon-like figures to scare the recently converted indigenous people into working hard in the mines; after the independence of Bolivia, Potosi remain an important mine for the country, and the demon statues of the mine had been adopted by the population and the miners as a deity of mines that had to be respected, the now named El Tío (the uncle) became an deity born from the syncretism of indigenous and catholic beliefs; for miners, El Tío statues are a sacred place, where they usually leave booze and cocas leaves to appease the god ; during catholic festivities, a llama is sacrifices at the entrance of the mines to appease El Tío, this practices still hold up to this day.
Type: Agrarian
Culture: Chile
E.U: Primera Escuadra Nacional: The first Naval squadron used by the Chileans during their independence; this vessel dominated naval battles against the Spanish and were later used on other countries like Peru for their independences.
E.Q: Chilotan Architecture: An Architectural style and school that originated on the Chiloé Archipelago; characterized by the use of wood as their main material, born from the syncretism of Spanish and Native architecture, this style made a multiple Wooden Churches and stilted houses on the coast of the archipelago; protected by the UNESCO as a heritage site.
Type: Builder
Culture: Perú
E.U: Rabona: Woman who helped and accompanied the Peruvian and Bolivian infantry on campaigns, appearing since independence wars, this woman served as logistic unit during civil wars, attending the male infantry, but still Rabona were armed and fought themselves during battle.
Rabonas were usually of mestizo origins and fought alongside their husbands.
E.Q: Andean Baroque Church: An Mestizo Architectural style originated on the Andean regions of Peru and Bolivia, inspired by Baroque Churches; this churches were adapted to their highland Andean locations, still different from its European origin, indigenous motifs like images of the sun, the moon and native flora and fauna of the area decorated the church.
Type: Aesthete
Cotemporary Era
Culture: Argentina
E.U: Lipán M3: An unmanned aerial vehicle created by the Argentinian military since the 1996; these were the first of its kinds on South America after their implementation on 2008; been the first aerial combat intelligence aircraft produce by Argentina.
E.Q: Salón de Tango: Born at Rio De la Plata from the mix of African. Indigenous and European dances, Tango has become cultural phenomenon that has characterized Argentinian culture on modern and cotemporary times; becoming an UNESCO Cultural Heritage piece, making Tango and the place where its both learned and shown, a part of Argentinian identity.
Type: Scientific o Aesthete
Culture: México
E.U: Adelitas: During the Mexican revolution, Adelitas join the battlefield of the revolution, working as both nurses and infantry; notable Adelitas like Petra Herrera and Maria Quinteras de Mera fought for fiercely for their causes.
E.Q: Cantina: On the rural areas of Mexico, cantina became a usual place for the working class and campesino men to frequently eat and drink, during revolution times, these places became important for the revolutionary working class, where they talked about their disdain towards the government and the treatment they got from their hard work.
Type: Militaristic
Culture: Colombia
E.U: Fierros: A word used on the countryside to refer firearms; the Colombian guerrillas are among the longest lasting one of the Cotemporary world, starting from Campesino origins who fought against the latifundio system of ownership; forming armed groups to protect themselves for their ideology; after the historic day of El Bogotazo, the period known as La Violencia started on Colombia; where all of the armed campesino groups escaped to the mountains and formed guerrillas like the FARC; with the decades of guerrilla warfare and the introduction of narcotraffic, a lot of guerrillas forgot their initial causes, turning into corrupt groups.
The term Fierro was used by Colombian writer Alfredo Molano on his book “Aqui les dejo esos Fierros”a book that talks about the current problematic of social reintegration of ex-guerrilleros to society. (Note: as a Colombian, the term Guerrilla has a lot of weight to it, but it would be dishonest to give a blind eye to Guerrillas, as they had shaped current day Colombia.
E.Q: Eje Cafetero: Known by the UNESCO as the Colombian Coffee Growing Axis, is listed as a cultural and heritage site of agrarian landscape; coffee has become and emblematic product of Colombia and major part of its exportation, the Eje Cafetero shows the adaptation of coffee plantation of Andean terrain, beside show great value in quality of harvest and shorter harvesting periods.
Type: Agrarian
Culture: Venezuela
E.U: Tanques Tortuga: This “Tanks” were produced in 1934; this weren’t actually tanks, but an armored car with a bizarre and bulky design; presented with another group of antiair armored cars; this cars were paraded in 1934.
For its bizarre and non-ergonomic design, this car did not see much light on the battlefield, only in 1945 there are written accounts of their uses in military combat, but their true use was as fear tactics towards Colombian military forces, who treated after they victory against Peru.
E.Q: La Petrolia : Venezuela has the largest oil reserves in the world and the exportation of this product help the country economy; La Petrolia is an historic and recreational complex, recognized as the first oil well area of Venezuela, dating from 1882, La Petrolia shows a collection of old oil wells and industrial zone where the product was storage at; been an educational place to see where the industry started.
Type: Merchant
Culture: Panamá
E.U: NeoPanamax: Panamax is a term to describe cargo ships that follow the strict requirements of the Panama Canal Authority (ACP); this ships have special requirements on Tonnage, Lengths and many other aspects; a New Panamax or NeoPanamax is a new and more contemporary kind of ship installed by the ACP after the “Panama Canal Expasion Project” proposed on 2006; the new models of NeoPanamax were first used at 2016, been a far superior version of the Panamax.
E.Q: ACP Administration: After the new constitution of Panama and the Torrijos-Carter treaties signed at 1977, Panama was able to gain full control of the Panama Canal from the US, starting in 1999, with full control the canal, it became part of the patrimony of the country and the ACP (Autoridad del Canal de Panama) was installed, making the canal more sufficient, safe and finally controlled by Panamanians.
Type: Merchant
Culture: Nicaragua
E.U: Sandinista: The Sandinista Revolution took place from 1979 to 1990, in which Frente Sandinista de Liberacion Nacional put an end to the dictatorship of the Somoza family, acting as guerrilla and inspired by the Cuban revolution, this group took the name from Augusto Cesar Sandino, a revolutionary from 1933 who fought against the US occupation of Nicaragua.
E.Q: Colección Modernista: Modernismo became a literary movement of poetry from 1888 to 1917, consisting of mostly Latino writers from different countries; the most famous and consider father of movement was Ruben Dario, a poet of Nicaraguan origin; Modernism is identified for taking pride of national Latino identities as one of their main focus, ideas of rebellion and erotism.
Ruben Dario and Modernista Poetry became important part of Nicaragua cultural identity.
Type: Aesthete
Culture: Cuba
E.U: Rio Damuji-Class Frigate: Build up from old Spanish fish crawler, these vessels became the biggest of the Cuban Navy.
E.Q: Hospital Panamericano: Before the Revolution, Cuba did had some great hospital and health facility born from Pan-American Generation (1930 – 1945); a generation of architects and engineers whose maybe goals was to improve the infrastructure of their countries and keep a national identity while doing it; Cuba was part of this with the construction of hospital for tuberculosis; a stand out from these hospital is Hospital de la Maternidad Obrera, constructed by architect Emilio de Soto; a hospital that was made with the qualities need to attends the wives of the working class and had some inspiration in Art Deco.
After the revolution ended, the new Cuban government started to missions that would mark Cuba in contemporary, curing both the sick and ending illiteracy; which Cuban people were able to achieve with hard years of work; especially on the medicine advances, Cuba has become one of the top Latin-American country for the study of health sciences, been the ELAM their greatest achievement on medical study.
Type: Scientific
Culture: Brazil
E.U: Pracinha: A military group send by Brazil to assist the allies in battle during WWII; deployed in places like Italy, this unit helped on campaigns and in the taking of Axis prisoners.
E.Q: Sambadrome: The physically place where Brazilian Carnivals, like Rio’s Carnival take place, consisting of the view area for the main parade and a long pathway for the performers to walk through; Sambadrome also is term to identify Samba schools, which usually are the performing troops in carnivals.
Type: Aesthete

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Note: I'm not sure whether a trigger warning for mentioning depression is appropriate here, but better to be safe than to be sorry.

Questions	Answers
Did you have any sort of health insurance during this time? (I'm thinking mainly in the United States where an unexpected visit can cost thousands)	yes. There are specific TRAVEL INSURANCE which cover medical and unforeseen expenses like the one you mentioned. I use Worldnomads, which costs me around $800 a year and cover the whole world.
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The hell?! Can you get that even if you stay in only one country? I live in the U.S. and it costs $500 a month for insurance.	I believe it depends from your country of residence. Ouch
This is such an incredible story! This is one of the coolest things I’ve ever heard or read. I just recently finished reading “The Motorcyle Diaries”. I gave you a follow on ig too. What’s the next country you plan on traveling through?	Thanks a lot!! :) I am planning to ride back to Australia via Asia. Not quite sure yet about the itinerary...since covid stopped me for now. Thanks again for the nice words!
Sorry to ask yet another money question, but I think this is the biggest block to doing something like this for most people! 1. When you went to LA initially (when you were 24), you say you pretty much only had enough money for the plane ticket. How did you sustain yourself when you arrived and how long did it take for you to 'get on your feet'? 2. How do/did you deal with 'scarcity' mentality of perhaps one day not being able to find a job (even an odd job, or a temporary position) and running out of money, and facing a more unstable housing/financial situation? Thanks!	Thanks for the question mate. Again, absolutely plausible. When I flew to LA, I had saved some money for the plane ticket and arranged a couch for the first 2 weeks with a friend of a cousin of a distant uncle (the only real connection I had a the time). Meanwhile I was trying to sell my motorcycle at home in Italy. I sold it 2 days after I left and my family helped me completing the sale and sent me the money overseas. I think I sold the bike for 1200 euros. That lasted me quite a while. I did back and forth from Italy to USA few times and I was getting some occasional jobs in Milan to pay for my trips. I made just enough to pay for flights and accommodation. But I remember that a lot of food was offered to me. I was sleeping on people's couches and at times I was eating one Starbucks Frappuccino a day. I know...not the best diet...but I think It was around $2.5 and full of sugar and coffee so It kept me going. Generally I survived thanks to people I met along the way and their generosity. I had a wonderful time in USA. Most people are really willing to help. Some other instead want to take advantage of you. Learned both lessons the hard way, I guess.
	Eventually, after thousands of closed doors, I managed to find an IT company that was willing to sponsor me for my visa stuff. It was a complicated time for me, mostly because I wasn't prepared mentally for such cultural gap and such challenges. When you are alone, without your family and friends around, and you have to take care of yourself and your life, you start to know who you really are.
	Somehow It is an experience that I would recommend to everybody. Those are some of the most intense yet rewarding experiences I had in my life.
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Thanks for answering! I was curious to know the reality of upping and moving somewhere without a job waiting for you or much money in your pocket and a frappuccino for your daily meal is certainly a peak behind the curtain!! But I agree with you that most people are kind and willing to help. I believe in that in general. I admire your resilience. I've certainly dealt with a lot of closed doors and isolation from family and friends too, but often get scared to "do what I really want" because I'm so afraid of being stuck somewhere without money. Wishing you continued success and safe travels!	I wish you good luck too! I am sure you can endure much you can think. Go for it!
Can I join you ?! Lmao This is my Dream .. good for you man . Good for fuckin youuuu !!! Share the love & grow strong .	Thanks for the support mate!! Go for it! You can do it!
How come you’re happy and I’m depressed as fuck?	I don't want to open a can of worms, but I was super depressed too. Depression is a state of mind in which you tell yourself that "something is wrong". Whether the wrong comes from inside or outside of you, your mind is telling you that there's something that needs to be fixed. It's a good indicator that you are on the path of healing yourself if you want.
	Sincerely, if one is not depressed a bit, these days, it would be completely unaware of your surroundings and even your own existence.
	Before leaving for Australia, I spent 2 and a half years in deep sadness (you can call it depression if you will), caused by several factors. I had a meaningless job (for me), I HAD TO live with my parents and I was even going through break up with my ex, which ripped my heart apart. I basically didn't get out of my room for 2 years, while I was helping my grandma on her deathbed and my dad was sick with Alzheimer. Fun, uh?
	I am not saying that it's good to be depressed, but you can choose to use it as a propeller to wish for something better. You can change your reality. It's entirely up to you, how you see the world and the opportunities you have in life to grow.
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I understand what you are trying to say but I have to disagree. It's a bit like telling a person with a broken back that if they wished hard enough to walk, they will walk just fine. Depression doesn't work like that. You may have made it out of it but to somebody that is currently in a deeply depressive state, the only thing they will hear is: "You aren't trying hard enough, you could do it but you just aren't even trying. You are a useless piece of shit because you are too lazy to change. It's entirely up to you! You useless fuck."	I agree with you. But I believe that there is somehow a bottom line...and when reached somebody will try to react to it and fight back. It's a self preservation mechanism.
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Nah, believe me, there is no bottom. If there were, there wouldn't be people killing themselves. I don't have any self-preservation left, for example. I'm so dead inside that I don't even bother to kill myself because I even lack that energy. It's just chugging along, time flies, and I'm not really there.	Seems like you are inside "the spiral" mate. You ll get out of it, trust me. Sounds silly but enjoying a bit of sun, seemed to have helped me at that time when I felt like that. In any case, just give it time and don't give up. Try to get outside and stay in nature if you can. It doesn't change much but It helps. Stay strong, mate. Give it time.
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I live in one of the most beautiful areas of the world (county Galway in Ireland), right at the sea. I can see it from my window and the beach is 5 minutes away. It doesn't help. I don't even have the energy to go outside, even on a nice day. You've been lucky to get out, all I ask is you not blaming people that can't. It's not a thing of willpower or sunshine. It's a thing of lacking any kind of willpower. I've been like this for over 20 years, sometimes better, sometimes worse. That's not a spiral anymore. It's a chute.	I'm sorry mate. I hope you ll get better anyway.
I was just looking at your Instagram photos... Wow! You take gorgeous photos and have such an interesting story to share. Have you ever thought about writing a book? It seems to me that travel and adventure magazines would also pay you to write stories for them. Just something to think about. Good luck!	Thank you, but I think that I'm not doing anything that hasn't been done before. I do like to share and help people see the world for the beautiful place it is...but that's about it. Thanks for the compliment, though!
Do you avoid public attractions where you have to pay a fee like castles, palaces or other famous tourist attractions. If you avoid them, are you curious about them and want to visit them but you don’t have enough money or don’t you care about tourist attractions?	Good question! I recently posted the story on my instagram about Machu Picchu in Peru, which I refused to visit because of the exorbitant entry fee. $70 USD to enter the site is an unreasonable amount...regardless the fact that it is undoubtedly a beautiful site to visit. I usually avoid big tourist traps, but sometimes you gotta pay. The most I've paid was $35 to enter Iguazu Falls and $35 to enter Perito moreno Glacier. Both worth it sincerely, even if overpriced. I left the others aside and went for the cheap ones instead.
I am from Greece.Where in Greece have you been?And how did you make money during these years to "pay the bills"?	Oh mate!! what a beautiful country! I had a great time there! I spent most of my quarantine and lockdown in Crete, but I entered Greece from Albania, then rode down to the Peloponnese and rode to Athens, Evia and even Santorini!! Check my insta for all the amazing places I've seen! I am still stoked for the great hospitality I received from the greeks and the amazing places I've seen!! For the economical part of your question, please see previous answers, where I explained in details the money factor.
How do you plan what route you will take? Do you navigate primarily with map+compass? GPS on your phone? Both? If M+C, what sort of compass do you use, and where do you obtain your maps for each country or locality?	Hello! I mostly use Google maps for my navigation and planning. Most of the info i get from the places I want to visit, are obtainable from the app itself. It's a brief guide but works for me. If in remote areas I use Maps.me, which works offline and has trails too.
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Have you tried getting a sponsorship from google for using their maps	I actually thought about it...but never really went through with it. Maybe they let me mount a gigantic 360 camera on top of my helmet and then I'll be stuck with it. Haha
How do you deal with dirty toilets in some areas where you cannot find any usable ones if that has ever happened? Also what do you do when there are none around, like on a desert road or something? This and my trust issues with getting help from strangers is what keeps me from even thinking about doing something like what you're doing.	Very pertinent question as I find myself sometimes with no toilets around. There's a basic system, which I wasn't really accustomed to...that is "squatting"...that help with the mentioned activity. When in the wild, you need to have the curtesy at least of (some privacy, obviously) digging a hole in the ground with a stick or something...and then covering it up when you are done with your business. Toilet paper and wet wipes have to be bagged and disposed in the first available garbage bag. This concerned N2, clearly. For N1, being a guy, it is quite practical. But there are a lot of girls travellers which simply "hide behind something". It is quite unorthodox but I guess you get used to it eventually. It's just a matter of doing it the first few times. Then It becomes ok.
What was the moment you thought, ''It was all worth it''?	It was when I arrived back in Sydney, after riding all around Australia... After the first few days of riding I remember I had still some doubts on my mind about resigning and selling everything, etc. When I returned in my own beloved town, it was like i saw myself in the mirror. I saw myself as the person I was before...and the one I had become. And I didn't like the person I was before...so I understood that my life had changed forever. I realized that giving everything up was worth the realization of who I was at that time. I also realized that I couldn't stop there...
Wah! Thanks for the AmA! I've always wanted to have a chat with people who like to travel the world. Your answers are very straightforward, I love that! Did you ever get into trouble with local people like pickpockets and tourist scam? Did you ever have any emergency medical troubles? Do you try to enjoy local street food? (If so, did you ever had any stomache because your body isn't used to that type of food?). Err I think I've made too many questions at once. Have fun & enjoy your life adventure, whatever you decide to do in your future!	No problems! It's a pleasure!! So, I never really had problems with pickpocketers. But I also always look around while walking in big cities. As I mentioned before, the only bad occurrence I had was in Canada, where somebody stole my rusty tools bag from my bike, while parked in Vancouver. I never had medical issue...hurray!!! I do LOVE to try all food. The "weirdest" the better! I think I have a fetish for local street food. So yeah, I eventually had a bit of stomachache but it was mostly my fault. I had a raw shrimp from a market in Mexico. Not wise! haha I built my immune system I think, just drinking tap water from everywhere. If locals don't die...I shouldn't either, right!? ;)
Is your ass now made of steel?	I had to draw a line in the middle of my bum to see where my cheeks were... ;)
Have you been to Bulgaria yet? How much did you see if you have?	No, I haven't. But It's definitely on my list.
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Are you taking reccomendations for places to visit in countries? Because i have a few reccomendations for bulgaria.	Of course!! 😊 maybe send those to me as DM so those don't get lost in the post. Cheers!! 🙏
Have you ever worried about not being able to get a job later on once you stop travelling, due to the big gap between jobs in your CV?	I am not an HR guy...but If I was... I would hire a guy that travelled the world on a motorcycle to have on my team, instead of somebody with straight AA, tons of certificates and no life experience. but maybe I'm wrong. ;)
100k+ on a KTM and no major problems? INCONCEIVABLE! Do you have an ADV th'd?	ahha I know right!??! It's actually almost 200000 km mate and still going strong with no mechanical issues!! Crazy!! I am in awe too! I am on ADVRIDER, yes. But don't have a thread about this.
When did you find out about COVID and how has it affected your travels? Thanks and warmest regards!	Oh man, that was such a bummer! I left italy on the 15th of Feb, 10 days before the first case in Lombardy. One week later it was already mayhem. As soon as the Italian disaster exploded, people started to look at me as carrier of virus...like they were doing with asians in general, no matter if they were from indonesia or mongolia or china. I entered Albania and there were rumors of borders starting to close. So I headed to Greece, since it is still EU and I could get sent back to Italy easily. After spending 4 months in Greece, I took the first available ferry back to Italy, where I am waiting for the pandemic to settle a bit. Then I'll leave again.
Hey Paolo, I recently rode a motorcycle across Vietnam and it got me inspired to ride from Alaska to Argentina, hopefully leaving next summer, virus permitting. I’ll most likely be riding my Honda CRF250L, not quite a KTM haha. Do you have any advice for a young man looking for more adventure?	Yes. Great bike first of all!! You ll love it! South america is kind of paradise for motorcycling so...yeah. I would recommend you to pick the right seasons to ride alaska and patagonia. Crucial for the outcome of your expedition.
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I appreciate it! I’ll definitely keep the seasons in mind for Patagonia and have already made sure to head to Alaska in the summer.	I mean, I went to Alaska in september and weather was amazing...and rode through patagonia in autumn which was chilly but absolutely fantastic! Less people and beautiful colours!
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Less people would definitely be a plus! What are the average speeds in South America or are certain country’s faster than others? I’m worried my CRF might not be fast enough in places.	Your bike is absolutely fine. Do not worry about that
Ciao! I am a italian too, precisely sicilian. Next summer I will probably travel all sicily, how much money do you think i need to bring, and how can I save as much as possible? I want to stay a bunch of days while traveling through cities. Like 3 days at Agrigento, for example. Any suggestions are welcomed! Sto scrivendo in inglese pure per far vedere ad altri i tuoi suggerimenti	Ciao! well, I cannot tell you how much you'll need to travel...even just Sicily. It depends where you are willing to sleep, what are you willing to sacrifice in terms of food and what time of the year you are planning to travel. Just know that food and accommodation are the most expensive elements of your trip.
Did you get any inspiration from Emilio Scotto’s ride around the world? Any plans (or desire) to try and break his record?	I do not know him. I also never read the Motorcycle diaries or Zen and the art of motorcycle. Also never seen long way around or tried to grow a beard like Che guevara.
	Just doing my thing, my own way. But there have been many before me for sure.
Did you ride in Nepal as well? If so, how did you find the roads and the journey through Nepal? Also what was your most adventurous experience here? I am a Nepalese so I am asking these to learn what people think when visiting my country.	I haven't been that part of the world yet. But It's on my list!!!
Did you ever get down and dirty with anyone?	Yes. Mostly with my motorcycle. :)
Why did you choose such a big bike? Is all the driving on roads? What modifications did you make before heading out?	I chose my dream bike. I had no Idea where I would have taken my motorcycle in the future. At the time of purchase, I was in love with it. I still am!
	I just added a lighter muffler, skid plate and rear rack. The bike itself is a marvel of technology.
	I go on and offroad. see my youtube videos... ;)
Hey man, back when you were trekking across south america, did you visit Venezuela?	When I was In brazil, It didn't occur to me to enter Venezuela. Then when I reached Colombia, the border with it was closed for vehicle due to the unstable situation. I really want to go. It's the pebble in my south american shoe. ;)
I have enjoyed watching your travels on IG. What is the scariest situation you have ever gotten yourself into while traveling?	Thanks for tagging along! I had few close calls with my bike...but I guess, If you ride a motorcycle, it is quite common. I almost fell into a canyon... Ouch
Hi Paolo. Where would you say the best roads were? I mean, good condition, few potholes. Where would you say the best views were? What kind of spare parts did you bring along to make sure you could always keep going?	Mmm best roads...i think ecuador had pretty spectacular new roads. At the time I think most roads were 5-10 years old and conditions were optimal.
	Best views probably Peru. Nothing can beat the view from a 6000 m mountain...
	You can't possibly carry all spare parts. You never know what could happen...but I did bring a spare front tube in case of a flat and some spare screws. Duct tape and cable ties are also a must for any traveller
[deleted]	I do not have a single moment which I consider my favorite. Generally speaking, I could say that the "feeling of freedom" that riding with no schedule and limitation gives, Is the happy memory that I will bring with me even when this experience will be over. The scariest is certainly the moment when I almost fell into a canyon, while riding in Peru. Colca Canyon is one of the deepest canyons in the world and I lost control of the bike, riding down on a tiny dirt road. Fortunately I managed to stop right at the edge of it...but It took me a good 10 minutes to recover from that close call.
Have you ever feared for your life? As in, did it ever cross your mind that you might get mugged or something? Have you ever been mugged while traveling or been in that situation? Do you carry some sort of knife or gun?	Never feared for my life. No. Maybe it's a bit naive of me but I've never felt in need to carry a weapon to protect myself. I don't think there are people out there willing to kill me to take my stuff. But i did cross countries where this kind of stuff happens. In any case, the probability that this would have happened was in my opinion way smaller than the contrary. In fact if you ever have the chance to talk to some of the other thousands of travellers that have been around for a while, none had the need to carry weapons or any sort of defense aid to protect their personage or belongings. Not even girls.
Have you had any accidents or near misses in your travels? If more than one, are there any that stand out?	Tons!! Unfortunately riding a motorcycle doesn't leave any choice. I almost fell into a canyon in Peru. That wasn't good. Also, close calls with maaaany trucks in Bolivia. There are no driving rules there much... I crashed at 100km/h in Argentina and crashed against a wall, in San Francisco, distracted by my GPS. Normal day at the office! 😅
What was your favorite place you’ve traveled to so far?	I have one favourite place, which I always mention because I support the underdogs... I also love nature and food, so...
	Ecuador is my favourite country.
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Any specifics or highlights about Ecuador you can share? Looking for my next trip with a friend!	Galapagos is like Jurassic Park. But with no fancy shopping center. Would recommend Baños and Cuenca area too.
What was it like going through the Middle East? I've always wanted to explore that part of the world.	Haven't quite reached the middle east yet. Stopped by the covid. booo
Any issues or denials to get your bike through customs anywhere?	Nope. Just showing my paperwork and off i went! So far I haven't been in countries that required Carnet de Passage.
I see you have good amount of followers on insta and You tube. Have you thought about using it as a source of income like travel bloggers do or have you already done that? If not have you thought about doing it? Also might be rude but how much did you save in those years that can last so long. I mean if i were to do it like is there any bracket amount you'd like to give us? Also what about your fam?	Not enough to generate income on both i think. But yeah, maybe I ll give it a go in the future. Not sure though...because you need to constantly being absorbed by the platform and create content to generate a good income...which I saw with other people became a burden, in the long run. I saved up 40k in 5 years of work. Best advice I can give is to spend your money wisely. Do not spend it in booze or clothes or any other unnecessary commodity that is not relevant in the long run. Being constantly focused on the preparation of the trip is 80% of what it actually takes to go fo it.
	My family has been generally supportive about my trip. They sometimes worry but they do because they care. They don't fully understand my life choices but they respect those because they realized I am the only one responsible for my own future.
What is the worst weather you have had to ride through, and how did you deal with it?	Oh man!! 2 days. One was when I rode 750km under frozen rain in canada, against 60km/h headwind, along lake superior. After i reached my destination, i watched the news and saw that they closed the road I just rode on because it collapsed, devoured by the amount of water that fell from the sky. Average temp was 2 degrees Celsius.
	The other day was when I arrived in Vancouver 2 years ago in march. 30 cm of snow. -5°C and worst snow storm in the last decade. If i didn't die that day...
Great AMA. Just watched a few of your YouTube videos. Do you have music playing constantly while riding? How has your music likes changed and is there any songs you still play today from the Australia trip? Thanks	I never listen to music while riding. I actually put some earplugs and try to enjoy the ride and let my thoughts flow. It's my meditation moment. Music I listen to change constantly...depending on mood and situation. I probably still have some ACDC tunes laying around in my playlists somewhere. ;)
How did you cross the Darian Gap?	There were 4 options: - shipping container (Not so cheap, time consuming and risky in terms of getting the bike out from the port) $750 - air freight (fast. 4 hours and you are from one side to the other. not cheap, quick and headaches free) $1000 - fishermen boat (slow. Unsafe? Bike gets covered in salt for 5 days) $600 - sailing boat (5 days cruise to the san blas islands. Expensive. But fun holiday overall) $1200
	I went with the plane.
Where you ever afraid or unsafe? I’ve wanted to backpack through South America, but as a single woman I’m afraid of putting myself in a dangerous situation.	It's completely understandable to be worried in that sense. What I can tell you is that there is nothing to worry about. There are women travelling solo in many ways (backpacking, cycling, motorcycle, etc) through south america and they are FINE! No problems. I can list you the "do and don't" about travelling, but I believe that having a bit of commons sense is crucial. If you look for female solo travellers on insta, you will find tons of them. I am sure that they can give you a better and more specific understanding of what entails to travel solo as a woman in third world countries. But again, DO NOT WORRY. It is SAFE.
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I did it in Europe and Iceland, but South America makes me more weary. What about bringing children? Did it feel safe for kids? Also, when it came to your hostel stays, did you ever see any families?	Kids will have a blast in SA! I met plenty of families travelling with kids. It is challenging because of the school thing but it is possible!! The internet and online classes nowadays...
	People in SA are very family oriented and have special care for kids. It is an incredible experience for kids to see a reality like the one over there.
	Hostels are not quite the best for kids, I admit it. You can find plenty of bnb alternatives and family rooms all over the continent. The same options are available all over the world (hostels, bnb, hotel, motel, apartments, etc).
I'm thinking of purchasing the same bike, is it the R model?. What made you choose this bike as opposed to something that is shaft driven? how did you find the chain maintenance aspect over so many miles? It's amazing there were no mechanical problems at all. Is there a specific brand tyre you use and how many miles would you get from a set? were there many puncturers or blowouts? Knowing what you know now, would you have changed anything with the bike or added something before beginning the journey?	I ride the 1190 adventure NON R model. I prefer chain because it's sincerely I wouldn't want to find myself with broken shaft in the middle of Bolivia. Chain can last up to 40-50k km if well maintained and lubricated. It doesn't take much of your time and it helps reminding yourself that you have to take care of your bike too. I really loved Shinko 705 as tyres. Cheap and super grippy in all surfaces. I didn't have many punctures at all. Maybe 4 in the whole trip! Lucky!
	Sincerely, this bike has been beyond perfect and I am still in awe by the reliability and performances of this machine. Kudos to KTM for making such a monstruos bike! If you are not into fast corners and putting your knee down in turns, the R model is actually better because of the customizable shocks. Mine comes with WP electronic suspensions which can't be replaced with others.
Hi Paolo, been a long time follower on Instagram (since South America). Great to see you on here! Initially when you went to work in Australia, did you receive a job offer before moving there, or did you find it once already settled? How come you still have residency in Australia when you've travelled the world for years? Have you ever received any sponsorships along your travels (E.g. from companies or Instagram itself)? If not, have you considered going down that route in order to support your continuous journey? Best of luck, and I look forward to see where the road takes you.	Hey! Thanks for tagging along since such a long time!!
	When I moved to Australia I didn't have a job. I spent the first months just looking for some temp gigs, while settling in that new country, at the time. It was crazy because in 2010 people here in Italy thought I went mad for leaving my safe job here, and moving to Australia with no job and as an immigrant. Turned out to be a good choice after all!
	I have residency there because I am also a citizen there. Got my Australian passport in 2014.
	I haven't received any sponsorship or any monetary endorsement from any companies through Instagram. I don't have enough followers I believe to be considered an "influencer".
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It's always a pleasure tagging along. That's fantastic. I want to work in a different country but all of those I've looked at only allow a work permit if you have been offered work or have experience in specialised manager positions. And as far as I know, one cannot apply for jobs while on a tourist/visitor visa. How did you work around that? Amazing achievement to receive your Australian citizenship in just 4 years! Ah, I see. What a funny world we live in.	I moved to Australia with a working holiday visa, which allowed me to work only for 6 months at the time for each employer. I started working for a recruitment agency and then got bought and hired by my other company, that eventually sponsored me for my residency.
How has your sex life been on the trip? Haha sorry, it does say ask me 'anything'. I guess what I'm saying more specifically is a lot of guys have a fantasy of doing exactly what you're doing and doing plenty of "socializing" in different countries no strings attached. Just wondering if your trip has been fun in that regard or if it's too difficult when staying in hostels etc	I did answer this question already but I'll go into few details again. Travelling in hostels is good and bad. You meet a lot of people but there's no privacy. I tend to respect other people generally so I avoid having sex on bunk beds, bathrooms and stuff like that (which happened to me instead). Not the best to have your bed rattling and having to wear headphones with loud music, trying to get some sleep. Haha
	Anyway, the main "issue" in travelling and socializing is that you always have to leave. So unless you go partying and go for the wild night...every night...it's not simple to get close to somebody, even in that sense.
	Anyway, my sex life was definitely complicated, compared to the one I had when living in one fixed place in Australia.
Amazing. A question: were you an experienced bike rider before you set off on your trip, or did you decide to use a bike on a whim, and learned as you went? How much biking experience would you recommend to someone before they try a trip like this? Also, what are your thoughts about using a bike vs a car? With a car, you can sleep in the back, making accommodations cheaper, and maybe a bit more luxurious than a tent, but they're also larger, more unwieldy things that cost more to fuel and repair.	Hey! I've been riding motorcycles since I was 14yo (even earlier). So I guess I was kind of an experienced rider, but I wasn't an experience long distance rider so... Not sure if it makes sense to you.
	I met different people who recently learned how to ride, doing the same thing I was doing with small learner bikes. I mean, there are literally no limits on what can you do if you want to do it and just...do it, without thinking too much about it.
	You know what they say... 4 wheels move the body, 2 wheels move the soul.
Have you been to the Philippines? If so what was your experience and opinion about the place?	Nooo! but definitely want to go there!!! I have a lot of Filipino friends in Australia and they told me about some incredible places to visit!
Just out of curiosity, when you go across continents. Do you start saving up weeks beforehand since the tickets will cost more than your usual expenditure and not to mention shipping your bike as well? Hopefully I can meet you in real life someday! I'm from Hong Kong but just started learning Italian during the pandemic! Grazie mille!	Kudos to you, my friend!! Learning Italian is quite the challenge! just know that even most italians can't speak proper italian, so you'll be fine once visiting the country! ;)
	I've been living off my savings so I've been just crossing countries like that. no much planning. Just hop on the bike and go. Shipping of motorcycle only occurred from Australia to South America and from Canada to Ireland. First one was by shipping boat and second one was with Air Canada Cargo. Incredibly, flying was cheaper.
Did you ever wish you had a smaller bike? I‘ve wanted to ask this question for years, ever since I saw a Ewan McGregor travel show, “Long Way Around.” In Ewan’s journey, he used a large BMW 1150/1200, and he was always joking about how jealous he was of the little bike (Ural 500cc?) his friend eventually rode. Thanks in advance!	Yes. I was wishing I had a smaller and lighter bike when I was riding on sand in Brasil or Australia. But then I was quite happy to have a 1200cc engine under my seat when I was going up on some 5000m mountains or during long 800km day rides.
	I mean, there is no perfect bike... And there are pro and cons with any kind of bike.
	You just have to pick yours and go with it!
Have you heard of the bike dog? The_bike_dog on insta	Yes!! I follow him on Insta!! Amazing feed!
Where are you now and what are your next 5 countries on your list?	Italy now! The next 5 up will depend on how covid behaves in the next few months.
Did you ever make it to New Zealand? If so what was you favourite place in NZ? If not, do you plan to in the future?	I've been to new zealand but not with my motorcycle. It is one of my dreams to ride there though. After what I've seen...
Amazing! Are you going to cross Austria? We have Schnitzel and Apfelstrudel 😉	Ahah Austria is next on my list of countries to visit. I PROMISE! ...i mean, i ride a KTM!
Have you ever been attacked by locals? If so, what was the reason?	The only locals that really attacked me were stray dogs in Chile. Hundreds of those in the streets. They get pretty hostile when in groups...and they aim at the wheels mostly. They chase you and bark at your ankles. Haha 50 meters of pure adrenaline
How do you arrange money for food and fuel? How do you see yourself living your old age given that you likely don't have enough savings for retirement.... to survive in your 50+ or retirement age?	I already addressed the money factor, but I will answer to the second question. I see myself as an old man...living in a 4x4 campervan, parked on some remote beach in Australia, alone, maybe with a dog... Probably with an empty bank account and no big house, but a life full of memories and hopefully a better understanding of myself as a human being. You are only afraid to die if you haven't fully lived, mate!
What do you enjoy about this lifestyle? And what’s a typical day like for you?	The best thing about this lifestyle is the freedom that comes with it. No alarms in the morning, nobody that tells you what to do, no schedules. Free.
	I wake up, have coffee and a small bite while checking my social media. Then I look at the map to see where and which routes could be feasible for the day. Then i pack and ride off. Half way in i look for accommodations in the potential destination. When I get there i check around and see if i like it or not. If yes I stay, otherwise i move on to the next location. This is something that only travelling on a motorcycle can give you. Fast change of location, no traffic, easy stop and go, low visibility. Then i find my spot for the night, unpack and enjoy my daily meal. Usually fresh veggies or some local products. At night i rest or sometimes exercise a bit.
Great AMA! 1. Do you ever wish you were with someone, to not be alone in your experiences? Or maybe for people to tag along for a while? (A 2nd person all the time might be a bit much if you like being by yourself). I’ve travelled a little bit by myself and really enjoyed being alone, but sometimes afterwards you might want to talk about an experience with someone who was there with you. I found the freedom of being alone more important, but I’ve never travelled as long as you. 2. Do you ever think of a future where you want to settle down? Maybe wife, kids, and all that? Did your wishes about that change while on the road? Good luck to you!	I have travelled with another rider and even a couple. Not for me. It is hard to find another person you get along with 100%, especially when you are used to have it your way for so long! Said this if you are a solo rider, travelling with a couple 2up, is complicated because they usually have different speed and needs. I prefer to not have a partner with me. It would change the overall experience and I wouldn't be able to be by myself in silence and have moments of absolute peace. You can't be in touch with yourself and embrace the change with another person constantly reminding you who you are and who you have to be. Unfortunately the downsides are sometimes the moments of loneliness...but again, I got used to it. And now i prefer it this way.
	As far as family and settling down goes...i am 40 years old and most of my friends are married, with stable jobs and kids. So yeah, it's a constant reminder of my choice in life. But so far, i am happy with what I have done. It's a choice and I am aware of the consequences.

About me: 22 year old British citizen who after graduating university wanted to take a big trip. I am already quite reasonably travelled and decided originally I wanted to travel South America for 6 months. In the end it ended up being 8 months and I recently just got back but I am so grateful I got to have this experience. I only recently just got back a few days ago so after some jetlag and some days thinking over my trip I decided to do this to help other fellow travellers who want to travel to South America.
Tips: Menu del Dia/Almuerzo/Cena: If you are ever travelling South America particularly in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia you will see an abundance of local restuarants doing these. Personally, for me these were tasty and gave you an experience of local culture and food. They are also very cheap, 2 USD more or less, and you eat a soup, a main and dessert filling you up for your day!
Free withdrawal ATM’s: If you had a Revolut card like me then these were very helpful. I can provide a list however South America does have these and take advantage. Colombia – Davivienda Ecuador – Banco Pichincha Peru – Banco BCP, Multired Bolivia – Banco BCP, Banco Fie Brazil – Bradesco Argentina – very expensive to withdraw here and I wasn’t able to find one in my short time spent in Argentina Paraguay – I don’t think Paraguay has any free withdrawal machines Chile – Scotiabank Uruguay – just used card as you get 25% back when paying with card here, also only spent 6 hours
Flexibility: I didn’t really have a plan apart from knowing where I wanted to go. I mostly just wondered around and found out about places from other travellers and even travelled with some for some time. I think keeping your schedule open is the best way to travel and you aren’t as stressed out from having to stick to a plan all the time.
Trip:
Colombia (2 months): One of my favourite countries in South America. An incredibly green and vibrant country which has anything you can imagine. Incredible mountains, lush green valleys, bustling cities, jungle, deserts and most definitely I witnessed the bluest sea I have seen in my life here. The people are friendly and welcoming and the culture across the country is very interesting. The only complaint I would have about Colombia is that the food is all fried and they don’t really have a cuisine but apart from that the country deserves its reputation and everyone I met who visited Colombia came out not wanting to leave myself included, I would highly recommend it here. I spent a month in Medellin learning Spanish and would also recommend Medellin as a great location to study Spanish.
I visited Bogota, Medellin, Guatape, Jardin, Cartagena, Santa Marta (for Minca and Tayrona National Park), Manizales, Salento and Neiva (for the Tatacoa Desert).
Ecuador (2 weeks): After 2 months in Colombia the bar was set high. Ecuador is a fascinating small country just a bit larger than my home country, the UK, but having much more diversity on the same level as Colombia. It was here I did my first hike up a mountain and reached altitudes of 5000m above sea level. I enjoyed my time here but for some reason Ecuador did not hit me like Colombia did and like other countries would. Ecuador did have stunning scenery which had me in awe such as both the Cotopaxi and Chimborazo volcanoes but for some reason in my trip isn’t one of the standout countries for me. I only spent 2 weeks here though of course and there is obviously still so much more to see so I will definitely be returning one day.
I visited Quito, Secret Garden Cotopaxi (for the Cotopaxi volcano), Montanita and Cuenca.
Peru (2.5 months): Another incredible country and one of my favourites, Peru is a fantastic country to visit and really gives you that stereotypical South American experience. Another incredibly megadiverse country from the beaches of Mancora to the north to the dramatic mountainous Altiplano region in the south, I fell in love with this incredible country. In Peru, I would say I enjoyed some of the best cuisine South America has to offer even if they have weird delicacies such as guinea pig. Here, I tried for the first time anticucho (cows heart) and ceviche, the national dish of Peru. Chicha Morada (a drink which is made with black looking sweetcorn) is something I will miss and was really tasty and of course Pisco sours, an alcoholic drink famous in Peru and Chile. The culture of Peru, particularly in the Andean highlands was beautiful particularly in Cusco where the majority of residents speak Quechua, an indigenous language, so for me this felt like a real experience of South America and I was grateful I got to witness it. I also fell in love in Peru with a beautiful Peruvian girl which is why I stayed here for quite a bit of time. One place I would highly recommend is Huaraz, the city itself is not very interesting but the cascading white covered peaks in the background of the city and the hikes it provides including Laguna 69 are well worth it. Machu Picchu for me was definitely one of the highlights of my whole trip, you see it on TV but when you are standing there looking, it just makes you feel special.
I visited Mancora, Trujillo (stayed in Huanchaco because Trujillo is quite unsafe), Huaraz, Lima, Cusco (for Machu Picchu and Rainbow Mountain) , Arequipa
Bolivia (2 weeks): Underrated. I understand Bolivia is gaining more traction now but what an underrated country which fully deserves its reputation as an upcoming tourist hotspot in South America. By far, one of the weirdest and peculiar countries I have ever visited but for me that added to the experience. La Paz is one of the most chaotic cities I have visited and again gives you a real experience of South America. The Salar de Uyuni I passed off as just a huge salt flat but wow when you are there it is magical… probably one of the highlights of my whole trip along with Macchu Picchu. Then you have the city of Santa Cruz de La Sierra, an enigma in Bolivia where I travelled to because I had curiosity. Not a very interesting city apart from the fact that it is built in rings but just the concept intrigued me. Coming into Bolivia, I had this perspective that Bolivians were on the main part indigenous looking however Santa Cruz, which resembles an American city, houses tall, white, blond haired Bolivians who are reasonably wealthy. Santa Cruz also represents a divide within the country with the Andes, indigenous peoples heavily supporting the current indigenous president Evo Morales. In Santa Cruz, he is not very popular and there are clearly different customs and views here which I found interesting. All in all, I enjoyed Bolivia and I think it is well worth the visit.
I visited Copacabana (for a few hours while I waited for my bus to La Paz), La Paz, Uyuni (for Salar de Uyuni), Sucre, Santa Cruz de la Sierra.
Brazil (1 month): I can’t really say much about Brazil… it’s a huge country and I only visited Rio de Janeiro and the Iguazu Falls. However, I loved both places and Rio de Janeiro is an awesome city which provides lots to do.
I visited Rio de Janeiro and Iguazu Falls.
Argentina (1 week): Again Argentina is a big country and I only visited Buenos Aires and the Iguazu Falls so can’t really gauge much. However, for me and I feel like this was a result of the ATM’s in Argentina which took 40GBP from me and the extortionate withdrawal fees, Argentina wasn’t one of my standout countries. Buenos Aires was great, it reminded me of home resembling European architecture a lot but I think next time I go to Argentina I will visit Jujuy, Salta and Mendoza as these seem more appealing to me.
I visited Buenos Aires and Iguazu Falls.
Uruguay (6 hours): Took a ferry across the Rio Plata to Colonia for the day. Nice little colonial town which is well worth the day trip if you have time from Buenos Aires.
Chile (4 days): Just visited Santiago which I enjoyed especially with the Andes in the backdrop. Would love to visit Patagonia and the Atacama Desert area next time. Chile is very expensive though and similar to European prices.
Paraguay (1 week): A mysterious country for sure. Took a 22 hour bus to get here but glad I checked it out. There is not much tourist infrastructure here and at times it felt like I was the only tourist in the country but that’s what I loved about Paraguay. It does not have lovely beaches or dramatic mountains like any of its neighbours but one region which really stood out to me was the Gran Chaco region which resembled African savannah. The capital Asuncion has some things to do but is very tranquil while Encarnacion is even smaller and is a nice place to catch some sun. One thing I found cool is that despite being a landlocked country, Paraguayans use the banks of rivers as beaches to enjoy the hot weather. I probably would not go back but I was glad to check it out as it is a very mysterious country which you don’t hear much about in contrast to its neighbours.
If you would like to know more about destinations on my trip feel free to ask.
Budget: I don’t have any spreadsheets detailing my expenses unfortunately, but I lasted the 8 months with only 10K GBP for everything. I feel like it can be done even cheaper as I made a few mistakes such as missing a flight so having to pay an expensive last minute one. Flights probably cost me 1.5K-2K GBP including flights to South America and back. I also ended up partying a lot more with friends in Peru towards the end of my trip so spent a lot more on alcohol whereas other months I would spend little and be quite disciplined. I would say aim for 1,000 GBP a month and you should be able to live quite comfortably in countries like Colombia, Peru and Bolivia. However, in Brazil, Argentina and Chile it is more expensive. A Revolut card really helped me out and saved me on a lot of international transaction fees.
Safety: This is the big concern when people come to South America and understandably so. When I arrived in Bogota back in February I was scared and couldn’t even take my phone out to take pictures because I was so worried. However, I never got robbed and only felt really unsafe in the centre of Medellin and in Quito in my whole trip. If you use your common sense and do what you do at home you should be fine. The people in South America are friendly and welcoming and only a minority spoil that reputation. Take precautions however especially in Brazil where the crime rate is the highest in South America. Whilst I did feel safe in Medellin, for instance, the threat is still there as I read in April 200 people had already been murdered in the city in 2019. There are lots of tourists in South America and most trips go hassle free.
What now?: I came back with a cushion of money to support me back home. Dazed and confused from a lot of jet lag and applying for jobs so I can get back on track and make some money. After 8 months I think I’m going to relax on the travelling for now as I feel a bit burned out but want to get back on the road next year. Not sure which direction I want to go in life but this trip has certainly opened my eyes and I don’t want to be stuck in an office job for the rest of my life… have been strongly contemplating teaching English in Peru but the money isn’t the greatest… who knows what the future holds though?

So I just did 5 weeks in Patagonia, which was supposed to be part of a 5 month trip throughout South America. However, recent circumstances didn't allow it. I'm lucky though to have gotten a real feel for this amazing region though and I'm lucky to be home safe and healthy. I thought I'd provide some details on the trip to keep us all sane.
Places Visited:
Punta Arenas - Wanted to see the king penguins there. In all honesty, I'd say skip Punta Arenas. Not much going on in the city, and there are plenty of other places in Patagonia where you can see penguins (for cheaper too).
Puerto Natales - Mostly a jumping-off point for Torres Del Paine obviously, but it's actually nice if you want to rest there for a couple of days before/after your trek. Nice waterfront in town and good restaurants. Super cool distillery here with awesome calafate berry gin (Last Hope)
Torres Del Paine - To me, it's the most beautiful place in the world. You really have to see it for yourself; the avalanches rolling off the mountains during the summer, the turquoise lakes, the granite towers. Yes, it can get a bit crowded on the towers trek, but really no more than any of the popular American national parks. Crowds aren't an issue on the other treks I found. Here are my pieces of advice about the W Trek

• I did a guided trek and it was fun but not really that necessary. I did full Equipo and that I might recommend though; nice not having to carry all the supplies on my back
• I would say moderate physical shape is necessary. No need to be a peak athlete or anything like that but if you exercise 2-3 times a week you will be fine
• I had amazing weather, but even with the best weather in the middle of the summer, it gets pretty cold at night. Bring warm pajamas if you can
• Book it as far in advance as possible; goes without saying. A lot of people had to do weird and inconvenient routes because of what was available each night

El Calafate - Not a ton going on in town so you can keep it to a couple of days, but Perito Moreno glacier is pretty amazing and a must in Patagonia. I'd recommend the boat ride but just hiking the walkways should give you a good idea of the scope of the glacier. Don't think the mini trekking is necessary. Stayed at an amazing hostel here too (America Del Sur)
El Chalten - Probably my favorite place aside from TDP. The hiking is absolutely world-class and the best part is that you can access all the hikes from town; no buses or transport necessary. I would give it at least 5 days - the hiking can get pretty taxing and you might want a day to rest. Laguna De Los Tres is worthy of the hype (that last km is NO JOKE, be warned), but to me Loma Del Pliegue Tumbado was just as amazing and doesn't get as much attention for some reason
Esquel - Not a ton going on here, but there's a funky town near it (Trevelin) settled by Welsh where you can get traditional welsh tea and black cake and can see Welsh architecture
Futaleufu - You absolutely have to go here if you're interested in whitewater rafting. The water and the mountains in the background are beautiful and the rapids are absolutely A+. Don't worry if you're a beginner; I have only rafted once before going here. The town and surroundings are nice too. Very green, almost like a warmer Vermont. Getting to Futaleufu is not as hard as it's made out to be. You take a bus to the Chilean border from Esquel and there's almost always someone there willing to give you a ride into town
Chaiten - A bus ride from Futaleufu. The town is like 5 or 6 blocks big. There's a cool hike on a volcano nearby that erupted 10 years ago and there are hot springs (I couldn't make it to). And there's a pricey but really great pizza place (Pizzeria Reconquista - I'm from New Jersey, I'm a pizza snob, trust me).
Chiloe - Another absolute highlight of the trip. I don't know why this place doesn't get a lot of attention; Chileans seem to know how cool it is. To get here, you can take a ferry from Chaiten or take one of the many buses from Puerto Montt. The island is super easy to get around too; lots of inexpensive collectivos. It has two national parks with really pretty hikes, lovely wooden churches and palafitos (stilted houses), quaint fishing villages, and amazing seafood. Castro is better located in the island for basing yourself, though I think Ancud is the nicer of the two major towns on the island as it's quieter and nicer
Puerto Varas - Irritatingly pleasant place and the best place to relax in Patagonia. Really nice beach and German architecture. Rent a kayak, or a bike, or just sit on the beach and drink pisco sours and read
Cochamo - It's dubbed the Chilean Yosemite. Nice hike but bad weather led to difficult hiking conditions for me. The hostel (La Bicicleta) has hands down the best hostel breakfast I've ever had. The town has a promenade that gives you a view of a spectacular fiord
Puerto Montt - Only good for transportation. Skip
Pucon - Similar feel to Puerto Varas but kind of pricey. Really wanted to do some of the activities (famous volcano hike), but shit started to really get bad with the coronavirus situation so I couldn't. Would have stayed for the hostel alone (Chili Kiwi) - a terrific place with a great location and social vibe
Santiago - Didn't explore any of it and just had to be here to fly out. Bad situation at this point, isolated in my hotel
Other notes

• Budget was about $8-9k for the entire trip so about 1.5-2k a month. Was generally on pace to meet that if you take out the flight from the US and guided TDP trek
• Didn't really find Patagonia terribly expensive like some say. More expensive than most of Latin America? Yes. Certainly not western Europe or US levels though
• I don't know Spanish. It's doable without Spanish knowledge but can sometimes get a bit inconvenient; not a lot of people speak English. You work through it; you can learn a few words and Spanish at least has cognates with English, unlike Japanese or Hungarian, etc
• Food is generally nothing special outside Chiloe and the seafood along the coasts
• Would have loved to have gotten to Bariloche, but circumstances did not permit it
• Don't worry about the long bus rides! The buses are actually pretty comfortable and have reclining cushy seats, though they don't always provide food so be warned there
• If you're going North or South, it can involve a lot of border crossing between Chile and Argentina; make sure you have the room in your passport. Entry stamp and exit stamp for every time you cross the border

Four ground sloth families are currently recognised: Megatheriidae, Nothrotheriidae, Megalonychidae, and Mylodontidae. All the groups had certain features in common, such as large claws, longish tails, and probably the ability to locomote both quadrupedally and bipedally, but they had many different feeding habits, and the families had some unique attributes. Many genera appeared only within the last one million years, and the latest fossils of some mainland species have been dated to only a few thousand years ago.
Megatheriidae contained the largest members of the group, Megatherium and Eremotherium, as well as the sea-sloth Thalassocnus; Nothrotheriidae, formerly a part of Megatheriidae, contains the famous Shasta ground sloth Nothrotheriops.
Megalonychidae (which contains the famous Megalonyx, as well as the smaller "ground" sloths of the Caribbean) will come up the most in this post, and members of this family had two features which set them apart; they walked on the soles of their hind feet, not the sides; and they possessed caniniform teeth at the fronts of their mouths, where the other groups lacked teeth. These teeth are important later in this post.
Mylodontidae, containing sloths such as Mylodon, Glossotherium, Scelidotherium, and Paramylodon, was the only ground sloth family to be armoured with bone ossicles beneath the skin, a fact which will also be important in this post. The family is cryptozoologically-significant for the remarkable skins discovered in Patagonia in the 1890's, which led to a belief among some turn-of-the-century European scientists that Mylodon or Glossotherium might still survive. Modern two-toed sloths were formerly placed in Megalonychidae, but current thinking groups them close to Mylodontidae.
Ever since the first fossils were discovered in the 18^th Century (Megatherium was among the first prehistoric animals to be described), people have wondered whether these animals might not still be alive in some remote part of South America. Chronologically, the attentions of theorists were focused on Paraguay, Patagonia, Central America, and finally Amazonia. This post will list the evidence for living ground sloths in the fourth, most recent, and probably most likely centre of investigations, the Amazon. It covers all the main cryptids, but is by no means a complete study, only a general outline and introduction.
But first, a little cultural fact. In the film Ice Age, Sid the ground sloth questions why sloths never appear in cave paintings or any other sort of prehistoric art, and I'd wondered the same. But it turns out that there may be depictions of ground sloths in ancient art. A painting found in Cerro Azul, Guaviare, Colombia, depicts a very large, boxy-headed, possibly clawed animal which has sometimes been identified as a Megatherium. If it does show a ground sloth (and not, say, a giant short-faced bear), it includes a notable detail: while all ground sloths had tails, this animal is tailless, so if it is indeed a sloth, it shows that the tail was not something that the artist(s) either noticed or cared to depict.
Ecuador
A colleague of cryptozoologist J. Richard Greenwell claimed to have encountered a large animal very like a ground sloth by a cave in Ecuador in the 1980's. Though I've been unable to get my hands on a copy of the primary source, enough details are provided in Mysterious Creatures (2002) and Still In Search of Prehistoric Survivors (2016). The animal was 10' long, with shaggy hair and a head like a horse. Although it walked quadrupedally, it reared up onto its hind legs to feed on vegetation.
There is also a creature in Shuar folklore which some have compared to a ground sloth, the ujea. When cryptozoologist Angel Morant Forés travelled to Ecuador, locals told him about this animal, but couldn't find anyone who claimed to have seen it for themselves. So, the ujea inhabits a border region between cryptozoology and folklore, and should probably be treated with caution.
All sources say the ujea is a nocturnal creature which makes terrifying sounds. Forés said the description he was given reminded him of a ground sloth, but consulting anthropological books, it's difficult to see why; folklorists describe this vicious monster more like a gorilla than anything else. But when we turn to the modern Shuar themselves, a more sloth-like picture is indeed painted. This traveller was given both a drawing and a verbal description of the ujea, and the picture is alluringly like a ground sloth, with its shaggy red hair, long tongue, and terrific claws. According to this account,

The ujea is a weird mix between a bear and a human. Apparently the Shuar used to hunt these. As you can see in the picture the stench was enough to knock a grown man unconscious. These aren't dangerous to humans as they eat the nectar of flowers.

This is our first encounter with some characteristics which will pop up again and again. The noxious stench is the most prominent recurring feature, but in this case it might not be taken as evidence, since other creatures in the post are also depicted as foul-smelling. The other feature, one which doesn't crop up as often, is the hairless chest and undercarriage; in the Shuar drawing, the ujea's red hair only covers the back and the head.
But overall, Ecuador seems to be poor territory for possible living ground sloths. There is only one actual sighting, which dates from decades ago, and of the borderline-mythical ujea it's said that "the Shuar used to hunt these" — used to. Why stop, unless the animal has vanished?
Bolivia
Bolivia is equally poor real estate, and is only really mentioned for the sake of completion, and to introduce another characteristic which will reoccur: the suggestion that these animals are primates or bears, not ground sloths.
The Bolivian representative of possible living ground sloths is called the jucucu, and very little has come to light about it (Casey Anderson investigates in the field on an episode of Monster Encounters). All I can say about this one is that it's bipedal. Cryptozoologist Dale A. Drinnon thinks it's a primate, but it's name carries a possible clue pointing to an alternative identity: in other parts of South America, the spectacled bear (Tremarctos ornatus) is called ukuku and jukumari, names immediately reminiscent of "jucucu". There's also the supposed hairy hominid ucumar of Argentina, which some have suggested is a spectacled bear or even a modern Arctotherium.
Peru
Moving into Peru, we finally encounter a tradition of an animal which, having discounted every other identity for valid reasons, really seems like it could only be a ground sloth, assuming of course that it's real. This is the segamai, an animal told of by the Machiguenga people, who insist that it's a real animal which still exists in the cloud forests and foothills near the Vilcabamba Mountains.
The name segamai means "Oenocarpus fibers," in reference to the fact that the animals dark, matted hair is said to resemble the fibers which grow on Oenocarpus palm trunks. It is the size of a cow, with a head "similar to" that of a giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), and can walk quadrupedally and bipedally. It feeds on Cyclanthaceae plants and palm hearts, and lives in caves in the afformentioned cloud forests and foothills. The Machiguenga go in terror of it due to its aggression, its imperviousness to bullets, its terrific roar, and its noxious stench, which can knock a man out.
Of all the possible living ground sloths mentioned in this post, I think the segamai is the best. Except for claws, we see almost all the recurring physical, behavioural, and borderline-mythical characteristics, including the new details that it's impervious to bullets and feeds on palm hearts. There really seems to be nothing else it could be. When anthropologist Glenn Shepard Jr. asked the Machiguenga if the segamai could be a spectacled bear (which they know well), they "expressed great surprise and affirmed that the two animals are completely different". A bear discounted, the only other plausible possibility besides a ground sloth would be some form of giant monkey, but all New World primates have flattened faces, unlike the segamai's anteater-like snout. However, there is another Peruvian cryptid called the isnachi, a giant monkey with a baboon-like face, which lives in the cloud forests, is very aggressive, and tears open palms to eat the palm hearts. The similarities with the segamai are obvious, although the Machiguenga do not describe it as a monkey or an arboreal animal, and the isnachi itself is not said to have such distinctive hair.
In any case, one Machiguenga student who travelled to Lima told Shepard that he had seen a segamai at the Natural History Museum—when Shepard checked, he found that the museum featured a scale diorama of a ground sloth. However, there's a disconcerting sequel to this incident: when he told his fellow Machiguenga about the model, he remarked that now he'd seen one, he knew the segamai was not just a myth, showing that the younger generation of the time regarded its existence with scepticism, meaning it may be extinct or on the path to extinction, if it does truly exist. Indeed, despite their insistence that the segamai still lived in the forest, the latest sighting they could tell of in 2001 had occured in around 1976.
Brazil: Amazonas, etc.
The most famous of all supposed living ground sloths is the mapinguari, which was originally described as and regarded as some sort of large primate, a giant monkey or even the "Brazilian Bigfoot". Some sightings definitely refer to primates of some sort, but this post is naturally only concerned with the sightings that may refer to ground sloths. The first accounts gathered by David Oren, the mapinguari's foremost investigator, described a long-haired man-sized animal with a monkey-like face, which left backwards tracks and bottle-shaped tracks. The descriptions he received from hunters who claimed to have shot specimens was more like a ground sloth: the mapinguari, they said, stands 6'6'' when standing bipedally, and is very heavily built, heavy enough to break the roots of trees. Its fur is long and coarse, its head is like that of a horse or a donkey but shorter, and its claws are shaped like those of a giant anteater but the size of those of a giant armadillo (Priodontes maximus), an animal noted for its oversized claws. It has four canine teeth, and its tail is short and broad (unlike a ground sloth, unless "short" means "short in comparison to something with long tail").
It is invulnerable to bullets unless hit in the head or navel, and smells like a combination of rotting meat and faeces. Its own faeces resemble those of horses, and are said to contain recognisable, poorly-digested plant matter. It feeds on bacaba palms, which it tears apart to get to the palm heart, and has a loud, frightening cry like that of a man yelling. It can walk quadrupedally or bipedally, but its bipedal gait is clumsy.
Oren has collected more than one hundred sightings, including seven accounts by hunters who claimed to have shot specimens. Obviously there are far too many sightings to detail here, but I'll mention one which is atypical. This is the sighting of Luis Jorge Salinas, who claimed to have seen a mapinguari family near Manaus, and to have shot a young one. He described a few unique features, such as humped backs, "tortoise-like" necks, and bare chests and abdomens. He identified the animals most closely with an illustration of Megalonyx wheatleyi.
Oren has written two papers arguing that the mapinguari may be a living ground sloth, both of which are online ("Did Ground Sloths Survive to Recent Times in the Amazon Region?" in Goeldiana Zoologia and "Does the Endangered Xenarthran Fauna of Amazonia Include Remnant Ground Sloths?" in Xenarthra). Alongside more obvious features, he suggested that, because of the inward curvature of a ground sloth's tracks, anyone seeing a series of them might interpret them the wrong way around, leading to a belief that the animal has backwards feet. The round, "bottle" track said to be left by the mapinguari may be the imprint of a ground sloth's powerful tail.
The only other explanation which has been put forwards (for the "sloth"!mapinguari, not the primate) is that the animals are actually spectacled bears which have migrated far to the east of their normal range. Salinas, questioned about this by naturalist Richard Rasmussen, rejected the possibility.
Another Brazilian Amazonian cryptid which Oren lumps together with the mapinguari is the juma.
Brazil: Rondônia
The most distinct of the various Brazilian cryptids which have been lumped together with the mapinguari is the kida harara, which is told of by the Karitiana people of Rondônia. It's also called kida so'emo, owojo, or o'i ty, the final name actually meaning "giant sloth," though it's unclear if this is their own term or if if was introduced by cryptozoologists interviewing them. Most of the Karitiana agree that their kida harara is the same thing as the mapinguari.
The description of the kida harara offered in anthropological works differs from that of claimed eyewitnesses. Folklorists (perhaps taking descriptions from people who never claimed to have seen it?) give somewhat inconsistent descriptions: its hair ranges from red to black, its size ranges from that of a man to that of a tractor to 10' tall, and it is covered in hair or has smooth skin on its chest. Sometimes it has long teeth. One Karitiana who saw a gorilla in the Porto Velho zoo compared it to the mapinguari in size and colour, but a claimed eyewitness who was shown a photo of a gorilla made no such comments. Other characteristics are more consistent: it has strong arms, hooked claws, a sloth-like head, a noxious smell, and bulletproof skin, so it can only be killed with a lead slug fired at the head. At least one Karitiana claimed it was bulletproof because it has lots of small pebbles inside its skin. It lives in caves and is aggressive, and may kill people by bear-hugging them or dismembering them. It tears apart babassu palms to eat, and sleeps standing upright.
Which of these details come from claimed eyewitnesses is not certain, although one man who claimed to have seen it said it had a bare chest and long fangs. From these accounts it really sounds more like some sort of ape-like monkey, despite its alternative name and claws. Most of the sightings below, on the other hand, cannot refer to a primate.
The Karitiana village of Kyõwã is or was a hotspot for sightings. Apparently the inhabitants frequently heard it felling trees during the night, and on one occasion it actually entered the village, promoting a temporary evacuation. At another time, they saw a "giant sloth" in a stream and shot at it, with no effect. Josh Gates interviewed a man who claimed to have seen one which he mistook for an anteater—because of the claws—until it stood upright and revealed itself to be taller than a man.
The most famous sighting was reported by the Karitiana hunter Geovaldo, who claimed to have encountered it while hunting peccaries. His father saw the trail of destruction left by the animal in the undergrowth. According to the New York Times, Geovaldo was knocked out by the animals smell, but he told Josh Gates and Pat Spain that he shot it and then ran away. This does not necessarily mean he was lying. Perhaps the NYT got the wrong end of the stick, or perhaps Geovaldo was too embarrassed to admit on camera that he had essentially been defeated by the creature.
Whatever happened, the animal he claimed to have seen was large and powerful, impervious to bullets fired at the body. When he first saw it, it was standing bipedally, but it went down onto all fours to chase him. Its arms were huge and hairy, armed with huge claws, and it had a terrifying scream.
On Beast Man, Pat Spain very helpfully records his "animal identity parade" interview of Geovaldo. The Karitiana immediately responded to a model of Megalonyx jeffersoni, and quickly decided that this was the animal he saw, as it was almost identical. Of course, this doesn't mean it was a Megalonyx or even a ground sloth, only that it looked identical to the modern image of one (the only difference Geovaldo mentioned was that his animal had larger claws). The really useful part of the interview is seeing which animals Geovaldo says it wasn't—an anteater, for instance. But more importantly, alongside trick pictures such as elephants and rhinoceroses, Geovaldo is unable to identify the spectacled bear (no reaction) and the gorilla ("some sort of monkey"). Even if you don't believe his story, this shows that bears and apes are alien to this Karitiana hunter.
Venezuela
Finally, Arnošt Vašíček says that Orinoco Indians report a 16' long "giant sloth" which browses from the tops of trees and digs up roots with its large claws. There are no first hand accounts. I'm not sure what to make of this one: it's more reminiscent of the giants reported, historically, from Paraguay, Argentina, and Matto Grosso do Sul on the opposite side of the Amazon Basin.
The Whole Animal
Discounting the sightings which may refer to bears or primates and keeping those which could not, we're left with a fairly uniform portrait. If all the accounts refer to a single animal, it is a quadrupedal and bipedal animal rather taller than a man when standing upright, with long and dark fur, and large curved claws. In three accounts it has a bare chest and underside. Frequently it is said to live in caves, just as prehistoric ground sloths did, and it feeds on bacaba and babassu palm hearts and berries, as well as some plant leaves. It is aggressive and cannot be killed immediately by bullets unless shot in the head or abdomen, and usually has a very noxious odour. However, there are some apparent inconsistencies in the descriptions, particularly regarding the head, and nobody else has ever mentioned the humped back claimed by Salinas. Other than the short or absent tail, the physical and behavioural profile is generally consistent with a medium-sized ground sloth. Its association with peccaries leads me to believe that, if it exists, these small animals may follow it to feed on out-of-reach vegetation which it pulls/drops to the ground.
To explain why it hasn't been formally discovered yet, Oren cites its nocturnal behaviour, its rarity, the fact that flesh rots quickly in the jungle, the fear it inspires, and the foul smell which prevents people from keeping parts of its body.
Up until now, we've only been considering whether or not these cryptids could be generic ground sloths, but as I explained in the introduction, there were four families of these animals, each with their own unique characteristics. If the Amazonian ground sloth is real, which family would it belong to? For that matter, is it a single animal, or could there be more than one type of ground sloth abroad in the jungle?
Although you'll often read on popular websites that the mapinguari may be a living Megatherium, this has never been seriously considered due to that animal's far greater size (but I may make a future post regarding the slim possibility of a historical Megatherium in Paraguay). Speculation is largely confined to two families, the Mylodontidae and the Megalonychidae.
David Oren first proposed that the mapinguari would be a mylodontid, explaining its bulletproof nature—the mylodontid ossicles combined with the fused ribcage, he thought, might be able to repel bullets. However, he later found that the mapinguari has four peg-like "canine teeth," meaning it must be a megalonychid. This might raise some questions about the mapinguari's bulletproof skin, since megalonychids did not have ossicles, but in reality an animal doesn't need bone armour to be quasi-bulletproof. Thick skin and/or matted hair might do the job equally well, and one account of the mapinguari does explicitly say it has a "bulletproof pelisse". Oren also says the mapinguari's gait is megalonychid, so I assume it walks on the soles of its hind feet.
The kida harara is a problem, because it's described as having both "fangs" and "little pebbles" under its skin—a perfect description of a mylodontid's ossicles, while the fangs are megalonychid traits. If it is a ground sloth, it's impossible for it to have both features, so it seems that the Karitiana may be mixing up two similar-looking ground sloths, a megalonychid and a mylodontid. The mylodontid isn't necessarily still alive, though: in a toss-up between the two, I'd favour the megalonychid being more likely to be alive, because its diagnostic characteristic—"fangs"—is unmissable, whereas the ossicles of a mylodont would only be visible if the animal were killed.
But if there are two extant kinds of ground sloth, a megalonychid and a mylodontid, it could perhaps explain some of the inconsistencies in appearance. However, most accounts don't have enough detail to make an attempt at such a specific identification, and trying figure it all out would make this post far too long. The question is particularly thorny as so many characteristics—such as the noxious smell and bulletproof skin—are reported from all these cryptids.
It should be mentioned that, although a noxious stench and/or immunity to bullets are features of a large amount of other South American monsters, in the mapinguari and similar cryptids they are described by eyewitnesses, so they aren't just mythical characteristics which have been pinned on.
A Missing Photograph
There is very little material evidence of the mapinguari. David Oren owns a cast of a front-limb footprint made by a large knuckle-walking animal; Josh Gates, after hearing a tree being torn down, recorded an apparently unidentifiable animal call; Pat Spain blasted a slowed sloth call and felt that he may had heard a response; and Richard Terry picked up the heat signature of an unusually large animal.
Anthropologist Felipe Ferreira Vander Velden thinks that if the mapinguari were real, it would already have been photographed, and even Luis Jorge Salinas admits that no photograph has been taken. But this isn't too surprising, as most of the people who claim to have seen it would have no reason to be carrying a camera. And in fact, one photograph of the mapinguari has allegedly been taken, under rare circumstances, but has never come to light. According to Karl Shuker's Still In Search of Prehistoric Survivors (2016),

I have learnt from Dr Andrew Johns that in July 1953, a hunter confronted by an enraged mapinguary and forced to hide from it inside a fallen hollow tree had apparently succeeded in killing it when, bellowing loudly, it had reared up onto its hind legs—thus exposing its vulnerable navel, at which the hunter had taken aim with his 16-calibre shotgun after loading it with heavy shot that he normally set aside for hunting tapirs. The hunter had encountered the mapinguary deep in the jungle about 5 hours from his camp along the Rio Açaituba, in a sparsely-populated region of northern Brazil's Pará State. After returning to his camp and telling everyone there about his dramatic experience, the hunter and some friends journeyed back to where he had killed the mapinguary and carried its carcase to the river. There, a passing boat took word of the killing to a local priest, who came and not only observed but also took photographs of it. Moreover, one of these photos, depicting the beast's head and shoulders, supposedly appeared in an issue of Diario de Commercio, a Manaus newspaper.

It sounds promising, but I'm not confident that the photo, if found, would depict a ground sloth. If it took the hunter five hours to reach the spot, how long would it take him and his friends to carry a bulky, cow-sized animal back to the river? Would they be willing or even able to carry such a load through dense jungle, only to leave it rotting in their camp, never to profit by it or really show it off? And what about the abominable smell so often mentioned? This animal couldn't have smelled so bad, or the men definitely wouldn't have carried it, or left it lying in their camp. The only possible explanation I can think of is that perhaps the shot animal was a young one, and had not yet developed its great weight or awful stench. But the term "mapinguari" in the 1950's more often referred to a primate, so perhaps this is what the photo, if genuine, depicts.
If the photograph is eventually discovered and thought to depict a ground sloth (or any other non-aquatic unknown animal), it would be highly zoogeographically significant. Although we don't know if the hunter travelled north or south from the river, Shuker writes that the shooting occurred in Pará—and since the Açaituba apparently forms the border between Pará in the south and Amapá in the north, this suggests to my mind that the shooting occurred south of the river. This is very important. The Açaituba see to be the name given to the stretch of the Amazon which continues on its course while a tributary system branches off to the south, only to rejoin the Açaituba further downriver (at the very least, it's definitely within this periodically-flooded region). This means that everything south of the Açaituba until you get to the tributary is essentially a giant river island. Any animal living immediately south of the Açaituba which cannot swim or fly—and the mapinguari is said to avoid water—is stuck on this island, some 67 miles long and 30 miles wide at its widest point.
Conclusion
There are two extremely circumstantial facts that I think might bode well for the continued existence of a ground sloth. Firstly, when On The Track of Unknown Animals (1955) was written, there were no real reports of ground sloths from the Amazon. This did not stop Heuvelmans from suggesting that this is where living ground sloths would be found, and half a century later, there are more than a hundred ground sloth sightings from Amazonia. He had predicted the existence of not an animal (yet), but of a cryptid itself, based purely on zoogeographical knowledge.
Similarly, when David Oren first proposed that the mapinguari is a ground sloth, the descriptions he had were not, in the whole, so very reminiscent of such an animal. It was the little details, tracks and hair and feeding habits and the like, which made him think it was a ground sloth. Yet within the next ten years, he had accounts which gave it unmistakably ground sloth-like features such as the claws and the horse-like head. Again, an identification made on relatively slim information using zoological knowledge was later backed up by new information.
Selected sources

• Eberhart, George M. (2002) Mysterious Creatures: A Guide to Cryptozoology ABC-CLIO, Inc. ISBN 1-57607-283-5
  
• Oren, David "Did Ground Sloths Survive to Recent Times in the Amazon Region?" Goeldiana Zoologia (1993)
  
• Oren, David "Does the Endangered Xenarthran Fauna of Amazonia Include Remnant Ground Sloths?" Xenarthra (2001)
  
• Salinas, Luis Jorge (2010) Amazonas: ¿Pleistoceno Park? Un testimonio real, Edición de LULU, ISBN 0557520665
  
• "Segamai: Survival of the Pleistocene ground sloth?," Biological and Social Assessments of the Cordillera de Vilcabamba, Peru (RAP Working Papers 12, June 2001)
  
• Shuker, Karl P. N. (2016) Still In Search Of Prehistoric Survivors: The Creatures That Time Forgot?, Coachwhip Publications, ISBN 978-1616463908
  
• Vašíček, Arnošt (2005) Planeta Záhad: Tajemná Minulost, Mystery Film, ISBN 9788023954845
  
• Felipe Ferreira Vander Velden "Sobre caes e indios: domesticidade, classificacao zoologica e relacao humano-animal entre os Karitiana," Revista de Antropología 15 (2009) p. 125-143
  

FlatEarthScience
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The class “Dinosauria” was originally defined by “Sir” Richard Owen of the Royal Society, and Superintendent of the British Museum Natural History Department in 1842.

• In other words, the existence of dinosaurs was first speculatively hypothesized by a knighted museum-head “coincidentally” in the mid-19th century, during the heyday of evolutionism, before a single dinosaur fossil had ever been found.
• The Masonic media and mainstream press worldwide got to work hyping stories of these supposed long-lost animals, and then lo and behold, 12 years later in 1854, Ferdinand Vandiveer Hayden during his exploration of the upper Missouri River, found “proof” of Owen’s theory!
• A few unidentified teeth he mailed to leading paleontologist Joseph Leidy, who several years later declared them to be from an ancient extinct “Trachodon,” dinosaur (which beyond ironically means “rough tooth”).

Firstly, it should be needless to say that it is impossible to reconstruct an entire hypothetical ancient animal based on a few teeth!

• But even more importantly, it is dubious that a myriad of ancient reptile/bird and reptile/mammal transitional forms necessary for the blossoming theory of evolution, would be hypothesized and then conveniently “discovered” by teams of evolutionist archeologists purposely out looking to find such fossils!
• And it is even more dubious that such fossils have supposedly existed for millions of years but were never found by or known to any civilization in the history of humanity until evolutionism’s Masonic renaissance in the mid-19th century!

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“Why are there no discoveries by native Americans in all the years previous when they roamed the American continents? There is no belief of dinosaurs in the Native American religion or tradition. For that matter, why were there no discoveries prior to the nineteenth century in any part of the world? According to the World Book Encyclopedia, ‘before the 1800’s no one ever knew that dinosaurs existed.’ During the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, large deposits of dinosaur remains were discovered …Why has man suddenly made all these discoveries?” -David Wozney, “Dinosaurs: Science or Science Fiction”

No tribes, cultures or countries in the world ever discovered a dinosaur bone before the mid-1800s, and then they were suddenly found all over the world in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Argentina, Belgium, Mongolia, Tanzania, West Germany and many other places apparently had large deposits of dinosaur fossils never before seen.
All these places were inhabited and well-explored for thousands of years before this time, why had no one ever found a dinosaur fossil before?
...

• According to the book, “The Dinosaur Project,” paleontological journalist Wayne Grady claims the period following this, from around 1870 to 1880 became “a period in North America where some of the most underhanded shenanigans in the history of science were conducted.”
• In what was known as “The Great Dinosaur Rush” or “Bone Wars,” Edward Drinker Cope of the Academy of Natural Sciences and Othniel Marsh of the Peabody Museum of Natural History, began a life-long rivalry and passion for “dinosaur hunting.” They started out as friends but became bitter enemies during a legendary feud involving double-crossing, slander, bribery, theft, spying, and destruction of bones by both parties.
• Marsh is said to have discovered over 500 different ancient species including 80 dinosaurs, while Cope discovered 56. Out of the 136 dinosaur species supposedly discovered by the two men, however, only 32 are presently considered valid; the rest have all proven to be falsifications and fabrications!
• None of them once claimed to find a complete skeleton either, so all their work involved reconstructions. In fact, to this day no complete skeleton has ever been found, and so all dinosaurs are reconstructions.

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“Discoveries and excavations seem not to be made by disinterested people, such as farmers, ranchers, hikers, outdoor recreationists, building construction industry basement excavators, pipeline trench diggers, and mining industry personnel but rather by people with vested interests, such as paleontologists, scientists, university professors, and museum organization personnel who were intentionally looking for dinosaur bones or who have studied dinosaurs previously. The finds are often made during special dinosaur-bone hunting trips and expeditions by these people to far-away regions already inhabited and explored. This seems highly implausible. More believable is the case of the discovery of the first original Dead Sea scrolls in 1947, which were unintentionally discovered by a child, and which were all published by 1955. In some cases of a discovery of dinosaur bones by a disinterested person, it was suggested to them by some ‘professional’ in the field to look or dig in a certain area. Also very interesting to note are special areas set aside and designated as dinosaur parks for which amateur dinosaur hunters are required to first obtain a dinosaur hunting license.” -David Wozney, “Dinosaurs: Science or Science Fiction”

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Whatever destination these establishment-funded archeologists and paleontologists set, it seemed they found incredible numbers of fossils in tiny areas.

• In one of the largest dinosaur excavation sites, called the Ruth Mason Quarry, over 2,000 fossils were allegedly discovered.
• Casts and original skeletons assembled from these bones are currently on display in over 60 museums world-wide. Florentino Ameghino, head of paleontology at La Plata Museum is amazingly responsible for 6,000 fossil species supposedly discovered throughout his career all in Argentina.
• Dinosaur hunter Earl Douglass sent 350 tons of excavated “dinosaur” bones to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History throughout his career, all coming from the “Dinosaur National Monument” in Utah.
• During an expedition to Patagonia, Dr. Luis Chiappe and Dr. Lowell Dingus supposedly discovered thousands of dinosaur eggs at a site of only a few hundred square yards.

Many experts have mentioned how such finds of huge quantities of fossils in one area, by just a few highly-invested individuals, goes against the laws of natural probability and lends credence to the likelihood of forgeries or concentrated planting efforts.
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“‘Dinosaur’ bones sell for a lot of money at auctions. It is a profitable business. There is pressure for academics to publish papers. Museums are in the business of producing displays that are popular and appealing. Movie producers and the media need to produce material to sell to stay in business. The mainstream media loves to hype alleged dinosaurs finds. Much is to be gained by converting a bland non-dinosaur discovery, of a bone of modern origin, into an impressive dinosaur find, and letting artists' interpretations and imaginations take the spotlight, rather than the basic boring real find. There are people who desire and crave prestige, fame and attention. There is the bandwagon effect and crowd behaviour. And then there are people and entities pursuing political and religious agendas. Highly rewarding financial and economic benefits to museums, educational and research organizations, university departments of paleontology, discoverers and owners of dinosaur bones, and the book, television, movie, and media industries may cause sufficient motivations for ridiculing of open questioning and for suppression of honest investigation.” -David Wozney, “Dinosaurs: Science or Science Fiction”.

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The fact that “T-Rex” bones have sold at auctions for upwards of $12 million shows how lucrative the field of dinosaur-hunting can be, and it just happens to be Museum officials who serendipitously seem to make the most prolific finds!

• The first dinosaur to ever be publicly displayed was the “Hadrosaurus foulkii,” at Edward Drinker Cope’s Academy of Natural Sciences in Philidelphia.
• The bones were co-discovered by Joseph Leidy, Cope’s esteemed professor, and the man responsible for the “Trachodon” toothosaurus.
• The original Hadrosaurus reconstruction, which is still on display today, shows a huge plaster cast bipedal reptile standing upright using its tail as a third-leg.
• What few people know, however, is that no skull was ever discovered and no original bones were put in the public exhibit.

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HONK HONK!

“A visual and a sculptural artist were promptly hired to invent a skull, and from the illustrations of another artist, who had depicted the Iguanadon, the two artists drew the same face for the Hadrosaurus foulkii. The people involved could now technically defend the existence of this dinosaur, if someone were to ask. The stunt worked out so well, and fooled the public so thoroughly, that they could later change the head of the creature without anyone noticing. To this day, Hadrosaurus foulkii is on display at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. The bones are said to be kept behind heavy, closed doors, but a plaster copy is exhibited in their place … So we learn of an iguana skull being substituted for the skull of a dinosaur on display. Was the public told at the time? What are we not being told today?” -David Wozney, “Dinosaurs: Science or Science Fiction”

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What we are not being told is that this is the rule and the not the exception.
To this day not a single complete skeleton of any dinosaur has ever been found!
All the museum displays, models, mannequins, cartoons, and movies of prehistoric monsters you have ever seen are all imaginative reconstructions based on incomplete skeletons arranged in a manner paleontologists believe to be most realistic.
Furthermore, the skeletons exhibited in museums are all admittedly intricate fabrications made of plaster, fiberglass, various epoxies, and other animal bones, not original fossils.
When “dinosaur” bones are transported and prepared they use strips of burlap soaked in plaster to jacket over the fossils.
Then after applying a tissue separator to keep the plaster from direct contact with the bone, the soaked burlap strips are laid on until it is totally encased in a protective mummy-like coating ready for safe transport.
In an article titled “A Fossil’s Trail From Excavation to Exhibit” one insider remarked that, “Through moldmaking and casting we can totally fabricate limbs, ribs, vertebrae, etc., for the missing pieces of an articulated skeletal mount.
Plaster, fiberglass and epoxies are often and commonly used. In reconstruction work on single bones, small to large cracks can be filled in with mache or plaster mixed with dextrin, a starch that imparts an adhesive quality and extra hardness to regular molding plaster.
We’ve also had success using epoxy putties. Large missing fragments can be sculpted directly in place with these same materials.” In other words, Museum personnel work with plaster and other materials to transport and fabricate skeletons and missing or incomplete bones all the time.
In fact, the huge “dinosaur bone” displays found in museums across the world are admittedly carefully prepared fakes! No independent researcher has ever examined a real dinosaur skull!
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They claim all the actual fossils are kept in high-security storage, but only a select few paleontologists are ever allowed to examine them, so the ability to ascertain their authenticity is kept from the general public.
“Most people believe that dinosaur skeletons displayed in museums consist of real dinosaur bones. This is not the case. The real bones are incarcerated in thick vaults to which only a select few highly placed researchers hold a key, which means that NO independent researcher has ever handled a tyrannosaurus rex bone.

When people unaffiliated with the paleontological establishment attempt to gain access in order to study these dinosaur bones, they are met with refusal upon refusal … Only around 2100 dinosaur bones sets have been discovered worldwide, and out of these, only 15 incomplete Tyrannosaurus Rex bone sets have been found. These dinosaur bone sets have never formed a complete skeleton, but from these incomplete bones sets, paleontologists have constructed a hypothesis about the appearance of the whole skeleton, which they have modeled in plastic. If thousands of longnecks and large carnivorous reptiles had really roamed Earth, we wouldn’t only have found 2100 dinosaur bone sets, but millions of bones, with ordinary people tripping over them when digging in their vegetable patches.” -Robbin Koefoed, “The Dinosaurs Never Existed”
“When children go to a dinosaur museum, are the displays they see displays of science or displays of art and science fiction? Are we being deceived and brainwashed at an early age into believing a dinosaur myth? Deep probing questions need to be asked of the entire dinosaur business. There may have been an ongoing effort since the earliest dinosaur ‘discoveries’ to plant, mix and match bones of various animals, such as crocodiles, alligators, iguanas, giraffes, elephants, cattle, kangaroos, ostriches, emus, dolphins, whales, rhinoceroses, etc. to construct and create a new man-made concept prehistoric animal called the dinosaur. Where bones from existing animals are not satisfactory for deception purposes, plaster substitutes may be manufactured and used. Some material similar or superior to plasticine clay or plaster of Paris would be suitable. Molds may also be employed." -David Wozney, “Dinosaurs: Science or Science Fiction”

Type “Dinosaur Skulls” into a search engine and you will find a variety of replicas, tailor made dinosaurs, and “museum-quality” skeletons.
One of the largest and most-renowned suppliers of fake dinosaurs is the Zigong Dino Ocean Art Company in Sichuan, China which provides natural history museums worldwide with ultra-realistic dinosaur skeletons made from real bones! Chicken, frog, dog, cat, horse and pig’s bones are melted down, mixed with glue, resin and plaster, then used as base material for re-casting as “dinosaur bones.” They are even given intentional fractures and an antiquated/fossilized look to achieve the right effect. Their website boasts, “Over 62% of our output goes to American and European markets, which means we will understand and are familiar with the intricacies and regulation of exporting to these regions … Since we are a partner of Dinosaur Museums, all products are made under the guidance of experts of the Chinese Academy of Sciences … We have gained a global sales network reaching the USA, Brazil, France, Poland, Russia, Germany, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, exhibited in Peru, Argentina, Vancouver, Cincinnati, Chicago and other places.”

“I have heard there is a fake-fossil factory in northeast China, in Liaoning Province, near the deposits where many of these recent alleged feather dinosaurs were found.” -Alan Feduccia, University of North Carolina Paleontology Professor

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“The possibility exists that key dinosaur bones on display have been artificially modified through sculpture and carving. Bone sculpture is not an unknown human activity. Many cultures participate in creating man-made objects out of existing bones, totally unrecognizable from the original shape. Is the dinosaur industry a customer of this sort of business? Is it possible that dinosaur skeleton replica are secretly assembled or manufactured in private buildings out of public view, with bones artificially constructed or used from a number of different modern-day animals? Why bother having any authentic original fossils at all if alleged replicas please the public?” -David Wozney, “Dinosaurs: Science or Science Fiction”

Another problem with dinosaurs is their unnatural structural dynamics.
Many dinosaur skeletons and reconstructions feature bipedal monsters like the T-Rex with a forward-leaning torso and head far larger and heavier than its counter-balancing tail.
Many museum displays cannot even stand up under their own weight; it is highly unlikely that beasts this large and disproportionate could exist at all. The loads acting on their skeletons are so great that calculations indicate the bones of the largest dinosaurs would buckle and crack under their own immense weight! Experts have also pointed out that dinosaurs would have to have moved much slower than portrayed in movies to prevent sudden shocks to their skeletons.
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“This idea of slow moving animals does not agree with the bio-mechanical analysis of dinosaurs, which indicate that the Dinosaurs were agile, active creatures. This is the paradox between the Dinosaurs size and lifestyle. Many displays and drawings of dinosaurs appear to be an absurdity, showing a two-legged animal that would be totally off-balance, with the weight of head and abdomen much greater than weight of tail, which is supposed to act as a counter-balance.
Is the dinosaur industry a case of science trying to meet public desires or expectations? The movie Jurassic Park is an example of showing dinosaurs much larger than any current displays in museums. After the movie came out, it is interesting to note that many articles were written asking ‘Is this possible?’ I can recall a report of dinosaur DNA being discovered preserved in amber, which later turned out to be false.” -David Wozney, “Dinosaurs: Science or Science Fiction
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“Overall, several millions of dollars have been spent promoting the existence of dinosaurs through movies, TV, magazines and comics. The world of movies and paleontology are like Siamese twins. People’s view on the existence of dinosaurs is based not on firm evidence, but on Hollywood fixated artistic impressions. Documentaries colorfully illustrate each dinosaur’s characteristics, like colors, weight and muscle mass, but Don Lessem (advisor for Jurassic Park) admits that this is pure guesswork - consider for instance the question of how much these dinosaurs weigh. Don Lessem says, ‘Scientists don’t know how much dinosaurs weighed!’” -Robbin Koefoed, “The Dinosaurs Never Existed

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Dinosaurs are presented to the public with colorful artistic reconstructions, drawings, models, mannequins, gigantic skeletons in museums, cartoons and movies showing these beasts in explicit detail, but the fact is from the assigning and arrangement of bones in each species, to the impossible to discern soft tissue, skin, eyes, noses, color, hairyness, texture etc., just like the many supposed Ape-Man species, all dinosaur reconstructions are 100% fictional fabrications created by invested and inventive evolutionists.
They purposely present dinosaurs to children in the media to spark and bias their young imaginations towards their machinations. Cartoons like “Ice Age” and “The Land Before Time,” movies like “Jurassic Park” and “Dinosaur Island,” coloring books, dolls, plastic toys, elementary school textbooks, and huge displays in children’s museums certainly have an effect on budding young minds.

• National Geographic and the Ice Age movies were produced by Mason Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. and 20th Century Fox.
• The Masonic production company Universal Studios created Jurassic Park and The Land Before Time. They are owned by Comcast, whose main shareholders are Masons JP Morgan and the Rothschilds.
• Discovery Channel which features many dinosaur documentaries is also financially advised by N M Rothschild and Sons Limited.

Former Paleontology student Michael Forsell claimed on a radio interview with leading paleontologist Jack Horner, that he was “a total fraud, fabricating evidence and perpetuating the myth of dinosaurs.” He continued on saying “I started my career in the field of paleontology, only to leave my studies once I realized the whole thing was a sham. It’s nonsense, most of the so-called skeletons in museums are actually plaster casts. They even do it openly on documentaries now, preserving the bones my ass! I struggled as a student, mainly because I could not tell the difference between a fossilized egg and an ordinary rock, and of course there is no difference. I was treated like a leper when I refused to buy into their propaganda, and promptly left the course. Dinosaurs never existed, the whole shebang is a freak show, they just grab a couple of old bones and form them into their latest Frankenstein’s monster-like exhibit. We are all being fooled and it’s wrong, but together we can stop it.”

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Many claim that since dinosaur fossils have been radiometrically dated to be tens of millions of years old that their authenticity is thus proven.

• The fact is, however, that the methods used to date dinosaur fossils involve not measuring the actual fossils, but the rocks near where they are found.
• Most fossils are found near the surface of the earth, and if a modern-day animal were to die in the area, paleontologists would be likely to date them the same age!
• Dr. Margaret Helder in her book “Completing the Picture, A Handbook on Museums and Interpretive Centers Dealing with Fossils,” she writes, “Scientists used to be very impressed with the potential of radiometric for coming up with absolutely reliable ages of some kinds of rocks. They do not feel that way anymore.

Having had to deal with numerous calculated dates which are too young or too old compared with what they expected, scientists now admit that the process has many more uncertainties than they ever would have supposed in the early years. The public knows almost nothing about uncertainties in the dating of rocks. The impression that most people have received is that many rocks on earth are extremely old and that the technology exists to make accurate measurements of the ages. Scientists have become more and more aware however that the measurements which the machines make, may tell us nothing about the actual age of the rock.”
One of the main reasons that globies “needed” the existence of dinosaurs was to answer the complicated problems present in the theory of evolution including: sea-dwelling animals evolving into land-dwellers; reptiles evolving wings, feathers, flying and becoming birds; as well as other reptiles evolving warm-blood, live births, breasts and becoming mammals.
Through their imaginary multi-million-year timeline and a variety of supposed transitional dinosaur forms, the paleontological establishment has been promoting various sea-dinosaur, reptile/birds and reptile/mammals to bridge these gaps. Many professionals and experts in the field have disputed such findings as often as they have been presented, however.

Dr. Storrs Olson, a Smithsonian Institute Scientist, wrote, “The idea of feathered dinosaurs and the theropod origin of birds is being actively promulgated by a cadre of zealous scientists acting in concert with certain editors at Nature and National Geographic who themselves have become outspoken and highly biased proselytizers of the faith. Truth and careful scientific weighing of evidence have been among the first casualties in their program, which is now fast becoming one of the grander scientific hoaxes or our age.”

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No authentic feathers have ever been found with dinosaur fossils, though a few exposed hoaxes certainly attempted to fake it.

• Dr. Olson called the adding of feathers to their findings “hype, wishful thinking, propaganda, nonsense fantasia, and a hoax.”
• In the 1990s many fossils with feathers were supposedly discovered in China (suspiciously close to the Zigong Dino Ocean Art Company), but when examined Dr. Timothy Rowe found the so-called “Confuciusornis” was an elaborate hoax.
• He also found the “Archeoraptor” supposedly discovered in the 90s was composed of bones from 5 different animals! When Dr. Rowe presented his findings to National Geographic the head scientist reportedly remarked “well all of these have been fiddled with!”
• National Geographic then proceeded with their news conferences and media stories about the Archeoraptor fossils being genuine and having found the missing link in evolution.

“In 1999, National Geographic magazine was busted when they presented, in a colorful and fancily presented article, the missing link. An Archeoraptor dinosaur, which was supposed to support the basic tenet of evolutionary theory, that dinosaurs had slowly developed over millions of years. Their proof consisted of a fossil, where carefully arranged bone imprints gave the impression of a creature half dinosaur and half bird. The scam was discovered during a CT scan which uncovered unnatural bone links. National Geographic magazine was later forced to admit, when pressured, that the fossil was man-made!” -Robbin Koefoed, “The Dinosaurs Never Existed

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Paleontologists claim that “Archaeopteryx” is another transitional form of bird evolved from dinosaurs, but this theory falls on its face against overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
Other species like Confuciusornis, Liaoningornis, and Eoalulavis have all been found to be contemporary with the Archaeopteryx and are indistinguishable from present-day birds.

Alan Feduccia from University of North Carolina, one of the most famous ornithologists in the world stated, “I’ve studied bird skulls for 25 years and I don’t see any similarities whatsoever. I just don’t see it. The theropod origins of birds, in my opinion, will be the greatest embarrassment of paleontology of the 20th century.” Larry Martin from the University of Kansas, a paleo-ornithologist says, “to tell you the truth, if I had to support the dinosaur origin of birds with those characters, I’d be embarrassed every time I had to get up and talk about it.”

Even if dinosaurs did evolve into birds to fill their evolution gap, it does not explain how something like the common housefly could have evolved.

• Flies flap their wings simultaneously 500 times per second, even the slightest dissonance in vibration would cause them to lose balance and fall, but this never happens.
• How could they “evolve” such an amazing and specialized ability? Why were dinosaurs never discovered before the evolutionist renaissance in the mid-19th century? Why do paleontologists think they can reconstruct an entire species of ancient animal from a few teeth? Why have so many dinosaur “discoveries” turned out to be hoaxes?
• Why are all “authentic dinosaur fossils” kept under tight lock and key away from any independent analysis? Why has erosion and weathering not destroyed all these supposed prints and fossils that are allegedly millions of years old?
• If dinosaurs were supposedly wiped out by a meteor impact or other such global catastrophe, why is it that all the other various animal species that exist today were not similarly wiped out?

There are many more questions which need to be answered before anyone in their right-mind should consider the existence of dinosaurs anything but a convenient evolutionist myth.
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“The paleontological establishment can control which hypotheses will be constructed through textbooks and the curriculum. In this way, students are brainwashed into a pseudo-reality controlled by the text material and the teacher’s authority. A short practical example; a random dental bone is found at an excavation site and from this dental bone, the rest of the skeleton is guessed at. We are not kidding about this. The entire dinosaurian field of the paleontological program is a sham.” -Robbin Koefoed, “The Dinosaurs Never Existed
“During the nineteenth century a new world view of evolution was being pursued by then influential people such as Darwin and Marx. During this era of thought the first dinosaur discoveries were made. Were these discoveries ‘made’ to try to make up for inadequacies in the fossil record for the theory of evolution? The following issues raise red flags as to the integrity of the dinosaur industry and cast doubts as to whether dinosaurs ever existed:

1. dinosaur discoveries having occurred only within the last two centuries and in huge unusual concentrated quantities going against the laws of nature and probability;
2. dinosaur discoverers typically and generally not being disinterested parties without a vested interest;
3. the nature of public display preparation, calling into question the integrity and source of fossils, and allowing for the possibility of tampering and bone substitution, and the possibility of fraudulent activities on a systemic basis;
4. existing artistic drawings and public exhibits showing off-balance and awkward postures that basic physics would rule out as being possible;
5. very low odds of all these dinosaur bones being fossilized but relatively few bones of other animals;
6. implications of dinosaur discoveries to the theory of evolution and the belief that man was created in God's image, suggesting possible hidden and subtle political or religious agendas served on a naive and unsuspecting public; and,
7. a lack of funding for organizations and people questioning or being skeptical of each and every discovery and public display. The possibility exists that living dinosaurs never existed.

"The dinosaur industry should be investigated and questions need to be asked. I am unaware of any evidence or reason for absolutely believing dinosaurs ever were alive on earth. The possibility exists that the concept of prehistoric living dinosaurs has been a fabrication of nineteenth and twentieth century people pursuing a nonsense globe cult agenda. Questioning what is being told instead is a better choice rather than blindly believing the dinosaur story. ” -David Wozney, “Dinosaurs: Science or Science Fiction”