Knowing a bit a Spanish comes in handy when talking with locals on a Bolivia tour.
Spanish a bit rusty? You and me both. In general, Spanish is used throughout Latin America - but you'll definitely encounter dozens of other languages too. On a Belize trip or Guyana tour you'll find English as the official language, with other languages spoken in varying regions. For example, along the coast you're most likely to hear Creole spoken. Spanish is the main language in Belize towns that border Guatemala to the west and Mexico to the north and it's possible to run into several other languages such as Mayan, German, Chinese, Lebanese, and Arabic. While on a Peru tour you'll discover that most highland Indians are bilingual. Quechua is the preferred language and Spanish is their second tongue. You'll come across varying dialects in Argentina (think European Spanish). And in Brazil you'll need to brush up on your Portuguese.
You'd be surprised how much you can get by with just a few Spanish basics. So, to those who took German in high school while everyone else was taking Spanish (yours-truly included) ... I give you Useful Spanish Phrases To Make You Sound Like You Know What You're Talking About.
hello·················· hola (ola)
See you soon········hasta luego (ahs-ta lu-way-go)
good morning········ buenos días (buay-nos dee-as)
good afternoon·······buenas tardes (buay-nos tar-days)
good evening/night·· buenas noches (buay-nahs no-chays)
How are you?·········¿Cómo está? (co-mo ehs-tah)
Thank you·············gracias (grah-see-ahs)
You're welcome·······de nada (day nah-dah)
please··················por favor (por fah-vor)
excuse me·············permiso (pear-mee-so)
What?··················¿Que? (kay)
("Que" side story: My first time in Peru, I was speaking with an airport official and in response to his comments I kept saying "K" as in "O-K" and every time I did so, he repeated what he just told me. It took me at least four "Ks" to realize we were having a little lost-in-translation moment.)
sir·······················Señor (see-nior)
madam·················Señora married /Señorita not (see-nior-ah or see-nior-ee-tah)
My name is...········· Me llamo... (may yah-mo)
today·················· hoy (oye)
tomorrow···············mañana (mah-nia-na)
yesterday··············ayer (ahy-yehr)
vegetable··············vegetal (vegh-hay-tahl)
with ice/without ice···con hielo/sin hielo (cahn ee-ay-lo/seen ee-ay-lo)
fish····················· pescado (pay-scah-do)
meat····················carne (car-nay)
How much is it?········¿Cuán-to cues-ta? (cuahn-to cues-ta)
What time is it?········¿Qué hora es? (kay or-ah es)
water··················· agua (ah-guah)
a bottle of water······ una botella de agua (una bo-teya day ah-guah)
I am cold················ Tengo frío. (Tayng-go free-oh)
I am hot················· Tengo calor. (Tayng-go ka lor)
I am hungry············ Tengo hambre. (Tang-go ahm-bray)
I am thirsty············· Tengo sed. (Tayng-go sed)
I am a vegetarian····· Soy vegetariano/a. (soy veh-ghe-tar-ee-ah-no)
An “a” follows if you are female, on all feminine nouns or whenever you are describing a female.
The holiday of a lifetime. The company is Alaksa-owned and thhat makes a big difference to the experineces you get i.e. meet genuine First Nations tribes people. The amount of wildlife was beyond my expectation, and seeing everything on sucha small, intimate boat made it even more spoecial and unique.
Liz O
7 hours ago
Adventure Life covered all the details in planning our trip to Ireland. Any questions we had were answered immediately. Any trip glitches, which always happen when traveling, were resolved immediately. There were no worries, just fun!
Kathleen Weller
22 hours ago
It was an outstanding, up-close, educational vacation of nature, culture, history, animals and geology! It was everything they promised! Binoculars were plentiful on the boat, but I'm glad I brought my own. Food was excellent. Rooms had black-out shades. Pack/wear multiple layers of clothing (I carried a small backpack when off the ship). Crew were delightful and very accommodating! Remember to jump FEET FIRST first when taking the optional polar plunge! Spend as much time outdoors as you are able and ENJOY!!!
Janet Dutton
5 days ago
Excellent travel advice and service
This is my second experience working with Adventure Life. I’m sold. Jess Heuermann is an experienced traveler and provides a lot of useful information when planning a trip. These are the questions I like to ask at the outset - What’s it like to go here, there, what would you suggest, what do people report, can we add any additional side trips? Jess took the time to answer my questions and seek additional information to share with me. Petchie Colina is outstanding in helping with travel logistics and final preparations. Adventure Life has excellent guides and offers private guides and small group adventures. We enjoyed the opportunity to talk with the guides and drivers to learn more about their countries, cultures and histories. A highlight was having the guides pick local restaurants where we could share meals together. Highly recommend.
Claire Cordon
6 days ago
Our six-day tour in Iceland went smoothly with one exception. We had asked for two rooms each night. Somehow we were booked with one room with three beds. It could not be fixed at the first hotel in Reykjavik because the hotel was fully booked. Once informed of the problem, however, Adventure Life rebooked for two rooms for the remainder of the trip. As an 85-year-old traveler, I appreciated that one could participate at different physical levels at many of the stops. Iceland is a great place to visit but on the expensive side.