South America Local Customs

  Me trying mate.
by Dizzyhead
 
  • Me trying mate.
      Me trying mate.
    by Dizzyhead
  • People drinking mate in the street.
      People drinking mate in the street.
    by Dizzyhead
  • Detail View of Showerhead, including electric tape
      Detail View of Showerhead, including...
    by glabah
  •   Local Customs
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  •   Local Customs
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Most Viewed Local Customs in South America

1.

Tango   Buenos Aires

Tango, Buenos Aires

 36 Reviews  Everywhere you go in Buenos Aires there is someone performing Tango on the street. Crowds gather, the music play, the dancers put on their show in full dance regalia...... If you stop to watch; then... 

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2.

Beach   Rio de Janeiro

Beach, Rio de Janeiro

 33 Reviews  When you are in Rio you quickly realize that we all love the beach, no matter if the weather is fine or not, but we always find any reason to be close by the sea. Even when the sea is flat you will... 

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3.

Portuguese needed... or not?   São Paulo

Portuguese needed... or not?, São Paulo

 6 Reviews  it's difficult to travel here without knowing some rudimentary Portuguese (even Spanish helps a lot! for some reason most Brasilian/Portuguese people can understand Spanish, but not the other way... 

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4.

Local Traditions   Cusco

Local Traditions, Cusco

 11 Reviews  There are little ceramic bulls on all the rooftops in the Sacred Valley. They are supposed to bring good luck, and fertility, to the household. Many roofs had a cross between the bulls. Some roofs... 

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5.

Bahian dress   Salvador da Bahia

Bahian dress, Salvador da Bahia

 4 Reviews   When you enter Pelourinho in Salvador you’ll be met by baiana women wearing traditional Bahian dresses. The outfit of a baiana woman is turban, starched skirts of colourful pattern, shawl over the... 

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6.

Information / Sources   Machu Picchu

Information / Sources, Machu Picchu

 12 Reviews  You probably have read this again and again in the Peru travel guides, but it's true --- Burping publicly is considered very offensive, disrespectful and rude when in Peru. Here in USA, one of my... 

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7.

Cultural Tips   Caracas

Cultural Tips, Caracas

 50 Reviews  Allow me to quote myself (hhhaHAHhahahaAh) in Spanish: "Ha quedado ampliamente demostrado que para ser Presidente de Venezuela lo único que se necesita tener son signos vitales". That is...it has been... 

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8.

Mate: A strong herbal tea   Montevideo

Mate: A strong herbal tea, Montevideo

 9 Reviews  Le mate est un incontournable en Uruguay, il fait partie de la vie de tous les jours. Il peut se boire seul, mais c'est surtout une boisson de partage. Drinking mate is normaly with friend, in a... 

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9.

Thumbs Up! Speak Portuguese   Manaus

Thumbs Up! Speak Portuguese, Manaus

 4 Reviews  Brazil is not a bilingual country and, in Manaus, as well as the rest of Brazil, most people are not fluent in English or any foreign language. In shops and turistic points you' ll probably find... 

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10.

Traditions and festivals   La Paz

Traditions and festivals, La Paz

 7 Reviews  This is a traditional festival which happens once a year. there are plenty of dancer that choose to dance a lot of sort of dances. i can name some of them: morenada, diablada, tobas, tinkus, pujllays,... 

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11.

Taste mate   Buenos Aires

Taste mate, Buenos Aires

 21 Reviews  Hola Napa :o) You can find a good "Mate Cup" anywhere in Buenos aires...even in the Supermarket. They are made in several different material. Wood, Calabaza (which is NOT plastic, Plata...there are... 

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12.

Cachaça and Caipirinha   Rio de Janeiro

Cachaça and Caipirinha, Rio de Janeiro

 4 Reviews  Cachaca is a spirit native to Brazil and is distilled from fresh sugarcane juice. Considered a member of the rum family, it is lighter than other rums which are molasses based. Cachaca has a light,... 

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13.

Good food !   São Paulo

Good food !, São Paulo

 3 Reviews  The city's Italian community is large and vibrant, and much of their culture has found its way into the daily lives of every paulista (i.e. someone from São Paulo). However, the Italian influence is... 

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14.

Local Food   Cusco

Local Food, Cusco

 7 Reviews  We had to try some and it did taste like a cross between chicken and pork. It's a delicacy and is usually the most expensive thing on the menu. Even though it tasted rgood especially the crispy... 

 See All 52 Local Customs in Cusco

15.

Bahian Food   Salvador da Bahia

Bahian Food, Salvador da Bahia

 7 Reviews  Bahian cuisine has the influence of Portuguese, African and Indian cultures with a predominance of local exotic ingredients. Is characterized by the generous use of malagueta chili peppers and dende... 

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16.

Llamas   Machu Picchu

Llamas, Machu Picchu

 7 Reviews  There are 16 llamas in Machu Picchu, with colorful pompoms on their ear tags—I think they serve as lawn mowers on the terraces. They limit the llamas to 16—if a baby is born, the oldest or sickest one... 

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17.

Old Caracas (Centro)   Caracas

Old Caracas (Centro), Caracas

 5 Reviews  Native house of the Liberator Located between the corners of San Jacinto and Traposos, it is the place where the 24 of June of 1783 were born Simón Antonio of the Santísima Trinidad Bolivar Palacios... 

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18.

Street artists/art   Montevideo

Street artists/art, Montevideo

 2 Reviews  This man draws with smuts; he works at Mercado del Puerto, and his pieces are really good. Este hombre hace dibujos a la carbonilla; trabaja en el Mercado del Puerto, y sus obras son realmente... 

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19.

local people   Manaus

local people, Manaus

 4 Reviews  from the Manaus Region, have become very much aware of their Heritage and try to preserve their way of life and culture. much of their land has been confiscated, burned and left the tribes on a knifes... 

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20.

Kisses   Buenos Aires

Kisses, Buenos Aires

 8 Reviews  Five hours down the coast from Buenos Aires, lies the laid back beach resort of Pinamar. We went for the weekend to see what it had it offer and because this is high summer season, it was busy,busy,... 

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21.

Local Drinks   Cusco

Local Drinks, Cusco

 9 Reviews  A Pisco Sour is a cocktail containing pisco (8 parts), lemon or lime juice (4 parts), egg whites 1, simple syrup (3 parts), and bitters 1 dash. All but the bitters are shaken vigorously and the... 

 See All 52 Local Customs in Cusco

22.

Fitas   Salvador da Bahia

Fitas, Salvador da Bahia

 5 Reviews  I went to Salvador in 2007 and had my wrist covered in these beautiful Bahia Wish Bracelets. Long story short, I long ago forgot about them and the story behind them until I recently came across them... 

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23.

Parillas   Montevideo

Parillas, Montevideo

 1 Review  One of the great things that Uruguay shares with its northern and southern neighbours Brazil and Argentina is the love of meat. The number of excellent steakhouses or parillas is infinite, and the... 

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24.

fishing   Manaus

fishing, Manaus

 1 Review  fishermen at the port of Belem...the main income source for many in the 70s, has been still is I suppose, a spectaculare pasttime for tourist, when the Fishermen brought their catch home in the late... 

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25.

Dog walkers = Paseadores de perros   Buenos Aires

Dog walkers = Paseadores de perros, Buenos Aires

 17 Reviews  In almost every area where there is a park near by you will find these talented dog walkers. How do they manage to walk more than 6 dogs at a time amazed me. During a walk along the Botanical... 

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Reviews from VirtualTourist Members

The heros of Islas Malvinas

by globetrott

Have you ever heared of "Islas Malvinas" ? When taking a look at the inscriptions of maps, books or postcards in Argentina you will hardly ever find the expression "Falkland-Islands" but always instead the name "Islas Malvinas"! That is the local name for the Falkland Islands and in Fireland and other areas of Argentina you will find in almost every village and town a monument for the soldiers, who were fighting for them just a few years ago. The monument in my pictures here is the one in Rio Grande, it is actually a series of monuments along the main road N3 and is also the wall of the local army barracks.Take a look at any map in Argentina, the Falkland islands will always be written there "Islas Malvinas (Arg.)" - just like they would be part of Argentina and GB would have lost the war...

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In Fireland iron will rust extremely slow

by globetrott

When driving around in Tierra del Fuego / Fireland you will see a natural phenominon in many places: old Iron might have a tiny little bit of rust, but even after decades it still looks pretty the same. And so you will see there cars and other machineries standing somewhere in the landscape, rusting just a bit but not thrown away. There are several reasons for that, first of all the fact maybe that once such a machinery was taken to the end of the world with a lot of shipping-costs,they might still sell some of its parts as spareparts to someone or use them for other machineries.All of these vehicles are displayed in the garden around the Misión Salesiana de Santo Domingo, where I took all of these pics they might also serve to explane some functions to the pupils of the school of agricultureThe locomovil in my main picture is more than 100 years old and still not falling apart like it...

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Molas - a great souvenir from the San Blas Islands

by globetrott

Reserve some extra money for a special souvenir, when you are lucky to be able to visit the San Blas Islands off the coast of Panama. Molas are these works of their art called, and the native ladies fix such molas to the front and to the back of their costumes, but they sell them also like pictures / paintings to the tourists.These are cloths, with different colors, sewed and fixed in a very special way stripe by stripe.I bought a lot of them and a few of them are shown in my pictures here.Some of them are shown behind glass in my home and some others were tranferred into great & interesting cushions !

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A list of Peruanismos

by chancay

Here I have a for "latinos" probably well known list of peruvian slang meanings...- El Peruano no se emborracha: ¡se mete una bomba! - EL Peruano no saluda: te dice ¡Hola won! - El Peruano no tiene amigos: tiene patas - El Peruano no se cae: se saca la mierda - El Peruano no se burla: se caga de risa - El Peruano no está enamorado perdidamente: está templado hasta el culo - El Peruano no sale con una chica: tiene un plancito - El Peruano no está con una mujer sólo por el sexo: está enchuchado - El Peruano no convence: tira floro - El Peruano no se lanza: se avienta - El Peruano no besuquea: chapa - El Peruano no es un tipo que molesta: es una ladilla de culo - El Peruano no molesta: jode - El Peruano no se baña: se mete un duchazo - El Peruano no se molesta: se pone hecho una mierda - El Peruano no te golpea: te revienta a patadas - El Peruano no tiene amantes: tiene calentaos - El...

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Wildlife

by pepples46

Mico..as they're called in Brasil...Callitrix penicillata kuhliOtto we called him, a black- tuffed-ear Mormoset, kind of Monkey. they have no thumb, five straight fingers, catching stuff looks quite a bit of an effort. but they fast.nowadays they are actually on the endagered spezies list. Otto was bought in Salvador da Bahia and lived with us for 2 years in Nova Lima, quite free, he knew where the food came from, quite tame too..but very spirited and territorial, forming monogamous partnerships and raising the young, while mum is doing....other thingsthe common Mormoset..Callitrix jaccus...is very common and when you look in the trees of Rio's suburbs, you can see many of them, and so can they.common Mormoset

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Hiking the Salkantay

by cium

While hiking, do as the locals do and chew (chacta) coca leaves. There is a whole ceremony involved in chewing too, but for your purposes just chew a quinto, meaning five leaves together folded up. It will take care of or prevent altitude sickness and will give you energy (and NO, coca leaves are not a drug and are not cocaine). It's a hard hike but not too hard either. Go slow if you get tired, take your time and if you are already working out you will be fine. It's so amazing that the magic of the place will give you all the energy you will need. Layer up, sierra weather is tricky. One minute very warm/hot the next very cold. Bring extra pairs of socks, a hat, scarf and a great attitude. Please don't forget to tip your porter.

the Voice

by pepples46

of America Latina, Mercedes Sosa, born in Argentina,her songs voices socio-political questions, and the old native indian songs of South America. I meet her a couple of times a very kind and gifted woman, greatly respected by her peers..the voice of America Latina.references can be found on the net

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the Culture

by pepples46

of the Incas spread over more than 2000years, that's pretty awesome to me.the Altiplano and the Aymara's on of the oldest Inka tribe. their woven handgraft is pretty colourfull and widespread on the markets, often the only income they had.

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The coffee - Le cafe - El cafe

by Maillekeul

Well, coffee in South America is supposed to be the best ! Well, except from the brasilian one (excellent !) and notwithstanding that I have not been to Colombia, I may tell you that you won't drink a good coffee in the other countries ! Why ? Because the best one is exported and they don't know how to prepare it here ! Really funny though : in a restaurant, you might be served : 1. coffee in a small bag (like tea !), 2. a Nescafe box with boiled water, 3. pure coffee with boiled water !!!Bon, le cafe d'Am-Sud est cense etre le meilleur, non ? Eh bien, hormis le bresilien (excellent !) et le colombien (je peux pas dire, j'ai pas goute le pays), je peux vous assurer que vous ne buverez jamais de cafe d'exception en Am-Sud ! Le meilleur est exporte et la preparation n'est pas au top ici ! C'est marrant, d'ailleurs : dans un resto, on peut vous servir : 1. du cafe en sachet (comme le the),...

Children

by andal13

South America is a young continent... An important percentage of the population are the children. Unfortunatelly, not always the children have a child's life; the infantile work is a social flagellum, and a common situation here. Peddlers, musicians, beggars, workmen, can be seen everywhere.Sudamérica es un continente joven... Un importante porcentaje de la población está formado por niños. Desgraciadamente, no siempre los niños tienen vida de niños; el trabajo infantil es un flagelo social y una situación común aquí. Vendedores ambulantes, mendigos, obreros, pueden ser vistos por todas partes.

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Local traditions and culture in South America

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Local Customs: Cities in South America
  1. Buenos Aires Local Customs
  2. Rio de Janeiro Local Customs
  3. Lima Local Customs
  4. São Paulo Local Customs
  5. Cusco Local Customs
  6. Santiago Local Customs
  7. Bogotá Local Customs
  8. Salvador da Bahia Local Customs
  9. Quito Local Customs
  10. Machu Picchu Local Customs
  11. Caracas Local Customs
  12. Montevideo Local Customs
  13. Cartagena Local Customs
  14. Manaus Local Customs
  15. La Paz Local Customs
  16. Fortaleza Local Customs
  17. Mendoza Local Customs
  18. Ushuaia Local Customs
  19. San Pedro de Atacama Local Customs
  20. Foz do Iguaçu Local Customs
  21. Cali Local Customs
  22. Isla Margarita Local Customs
  23. El Calafate Local Customs
  24. San Carlos de Bariloche Local Customs
  25. Puerto Iguazú Local Customs
  26. Arequipa Local Customs
  27. Valparaíso Local Customs
  28. Isla Margarita Local Customs
  29. Florianópolis Local Customs
  30. Santa Marta Local Customs
  31. Curitiba Local Customs
  32. Cuenca Local Customs
  33. Recife Local Customs
  34. Natal Local Customs
  35. Punta Arenas Local Customs
  36. Parati Local Customs
  37. Punta del Este Local Customs
  38. Porto Alegre Local Customs
  39. Barranquilla Local Customs
  40. Colonia del Sacramento Local Customs
  41. Isla de San Andrés Local Customs
  42. Guayaquil Local Customs
  43. Medellín Local Customs
  44. Viña del Mar Local Customs
  45. Uyuni Local Customs
  46. Iquitos Local Customs
  47. Puerto Natales Local Customs
  48. Bùzios Local Customs
  49. Puerto Montt Local Customs
  50. Ilha Grande Local Customs

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Questions and Answers

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Q:  Hi, I fly into Santiago at the end of the month; I am travelling through S. America for three months. Looking to see if my... 

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A: > 5 days Iguassu Falls The amount of time you spend here depends on if you go to the Brazilian side, or what you like to do. There are a lot of hiking trails on the... 

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