Rent-A-Friend in the Andes, South America

I now have a greater appreciation for the achievements and zeal of the spanish conquistadors in their search for El Dorado. Exploring the mountains and gorges of the Andes can be an expensive pasttime. National Parks which attract foreigners can cost more for a day than an annual pass costs to visit all National Parks in Western Australia. Lots of parks have prices for locals and flexible inflated prices for foreigners. I am happy to treat these fees as just another tax for the luxury of travel which at least is going to a good cause to help preserve forests and nature.

However, the real investment opportunities lie in the rent-a-friend business, usually advertised as trekking guides. Many parks have 3 or 4km of fairly tame self-guided walks, but it is hard to get past the authorities to do more serious hiking without a local guide, particularly if you are treavelling alone. Perhaps this too is another way to force foreigners to voluntarily inject more money into the community, but these rent-a-friends can sometimes be quite a burden. I love the way they still expect a tip on top of their fees even after you have helped them find the best way across rivers or around glaciers.

I steer well clear of the old hands, as they are like stubborn draught horses who decide for you where you want to go, how far you want to walk and where and when you want to camp. Instead, where it is mandatory to buy a rent-a-friend, it is most prudent to choose the youngest and most inexperienced that you can find. These are much more likely to be able to keep up and to continue to accompany you on unscheduled diversions and route changes that become necessary to satisfy your curiosity - in particular, if you don`t pay them in advance.

Pizarro was a very patient man to have tolerated this for so many years without a single complaint in his journals, although I do note that most of his conquests were undertaken outside of the tourist season.