2007: the year it all started for Get South
After returning to her home country, Argentina, Irina realized there was a real shortage of travel info in English. At tourist offices English often wasn’t spoken (and many times it still isn’t), information, also in ho(s)tels, was almost always just provided in Spanish, and there was nothing available about your next destination.
In January 2008, after a lot of travelling and hard work, Irina launched the first edition of Get South, a pocket guidebook for Argentina. In the next editions, Uruguay & Chile were also included, on demand of our enthusiastic Get South travellers and tourism professionals. In almost 10 years, 21 editions of Get South have been printed and distributed all over the three countries we cover: Argentina, Chile & Uruguay. For thousands of independent travellers it has been their guidance on their trip through the south of South America and this makes us proud!
The new Get South: online travel website & handy E-guidebooks
After 10 years of yearly travels to all destinations and facing deadlines to print we needed a change. No more printing, from October 2017 we are 100% online with a travel website for Argentina, Chile & Uruguay and more and more online guidebooks will be available to download.
Multiple reasons made us decide to make this change. We’ll still be travelling of course to gather the info but it’s an amazing feeling to be able to upload and update information whenever we want, on a regular basis and without any space limit. Secondly, printing is expensive and distributing 100.000 copies a year can sometimes be a logistical challenge. And most important, we were craving for a new challenge. Making this change gives us a motivation boost and it keeps our spirits young!
Now, let’s start this journey together!
People, companies, tourist boards, brands … interested in a partnership with Get South, just contact us. We don’t bite! 😉
The Get South team
Irina Schugurensky
Hello! I’m the founder of Get South. In real life I’m full of contrasts. From one hand I love to be relaxed at home and take it easy, to cook delicious exotic food and to work on my computer with not too many people around me. From the other hand, when this lasts to long it gets really bored. Every few months I have to break free, travel and do something exciting.
You can’t blame me, I was born with the travel virus in my veins: born and raised for 7 years in Mozambique, an Argentinean dad with Eastern European blood and a Chilean mom, lived during my childhood in various places throughout Argentina and Chile … No wonder I was curious to go travelling as a student, and my first trip was to the continent where I was first put in a crib: Africa. One month became 6 months, my parents almost got a mental breakdown (young female solo traveller around Africa), and after my studies I even decided to go back. I worked 4 years for an overland company based in South Africa before returning to the country I call home: Argentina.
I always wanted to have the freedom and flexibility of working for myself, with my ideas and creativity. It’s a wonderful feeling I have achieved by doing Get South. It was a hard battle to start it up from scratch, but it has all been totally worth it!
After all my travels through Argentina, Chile & Uruguay my favourite destinations and experiences are:
Argentina
Destination: Los Esteros del Iberá. Close encounters with tons of wildlife and it’s still an off the beaten track destination.
Experience: Diving with the sea lions in Puerto Madryn. You just have to try this and you’ll see why I listed it here!
Chile
Destination: Pucón. The vibe, the scenery and loads of (adventure) activities at a relatively close distance from town.
Experience: Road tripping the Carretera Austral. Get ready to drop your jaw around every bend on the road!
Uruguay
Destination: Cabo Polonio. It’s different, beautiful and the atmosphere is so relaxed. For me your top pick in Uruguay.
Experience: Horse riding from Valizas to Cabo Polonio. We still talk about it, it was fun and so incredibly pretty.
Jimmy Leys
I’m a Belgian and I grew up in my parents’ bakery. Thankfully I was a sports addict, otherwise you could have rolled me around the globe. Damn, I still miss the bakery every day, I’m a chocolate and sugar junky for life!
But running a bakery is extremely hard and unhealthy. Since I was young I always said I was never going to live my parents’ life. I studied tourism and started working for tour operators who sent me to Spain, France, Italy and Greece. I loved my job; meeting people, the long and exhausting but also fun days and the daily problem solving challenges. But the real change was when I went travelling a year through Asia, Australia & New Zealand. When I went back home I tried to fit in again; many attempts, including different jobs, but I have to be honest, I never succeeded to adapt anymore. My mindset had changed and my family and friends probably realized before me I wasn’t going to stay in Belgium.
So how did I end up in South America? Well, in 2013 during one of my travels, I hopped on a bus in Mexico and, to make a long story short, I looked in the eyes of an Argentinean/Chilean woman and these two seconds totally changed my life. Irina and I have been together ever since, and what a match: pure love, two passionate travellers, backgrounds in tourism and both definitely not the average type of people. Our love brought us even something extra, the most beautiful gift in life, our little boy Tristán.
Irina revealed her favourite destinations and experiences so I will do the same:
Argentina
Destination: Don’t ask me why, but going to Cafayate always makes me excited. It’s probably the wine, the incredible landscape and the cozy village that put a spell on me.
Experience: Iguazú Falls: I know, it’s a cliche, but this place is so magical. I could keep on going there. Pure bucket list material.
Chile
Destination: Puerto Raúl Marín Balmaceda: It’s not easy to impress me anymore after all our worldwide travels, but this destination just blew my socks off! It’s remote, but make sure you make it there!
Experience: The trek from Parque Patagonia, north of Cochrane, to Parque Jeinimeni, near Chile Chico, in the breathtaking Carretera Austral area. You’ll encounter very few people in this stunning landscape full of wildlife. But it’s not for first timers, lots of river crossings.
Uruguay
Destination: Punta del Diablo: A cozy village, great vibe, loads of beaches, great surf and a stunning national park next door. I love it!
Experience: I totally have to agree on this one with Irina: Horse riding from Valizas to Cabo Polonio.
Tristán
Hola, I’m Tristancito, born in 2015 and I’m the newest member of the crew. I’m sweet as sugar but also as naughty as a little puppy dog. But with my bright eyes I make sure mom and dad always forgive me. I love exploring with them, as long as they don’t travel too quickly, then I get cranky. Travelling is so cool & fun, I’m learning so much and I love to be carried around on my dad’s back in my special trekking backpack! My favourite word is “heladito”, I remind my mommy and daddy daily that I really like my icecream!
I’ll make sure that mom and dad share their secrets about travelling with a baby or kid through Argentina, Chile & Uruguay.
