Green Toad Bus Peru Bus Passes

Sounds cliche these days, because everyone seems to attach the slogan 'by backpackers for backpackers' to their product. But that's just what we are: backpackers for life! We are still out there working in hostels and with travel operators, socialising with backpackers at hostel bars and cafes and with every chance we get we are out discovering the world for ourselves with our backpacks strapped to our backs. That's how we know our products are good, because we would have used them if they were available when we started travelling in the region.

Some of us arrived to Latin America as backpackers and others were born here, but we all made friends with the owners, operators, and just plain travel freaks who make up the backpackers scene on the continent and whom make it possible to offer our bus passes at such low prices. Our hope is that you have the travel experiences in South America similar to those experiences which made us come to the conclusion that this is the best region in the world to backpack!

After studying tourism, Val decided to see the world before sending others to see it first. While travelling Latin America he realised that's where he wanted to stay. Val became a guide, leading tours all over Mexico, Central America, Cuba and South America for 5 years. These tour were conducted on either local transport or overland trucks where groups would camp all over South America. It was while doing these tours that he saw the potential in a product like the Green Toad Bus pass, which fills a niche between organised tours and independent travel.

Photo: This is Val jumping off the boat in Paraty (Brazil). We reckon he looks scared, but he swears he wasn't hehehe.

Anybody engaged in a conversation with Rick for the first time will eventually ask where he is from. Not just for polite small talk, but because his accent is indistinguishable! Rick was born in Italy, but grew-up in New Zealand, and from early adulthood hasn't stayed still for very long. In South America, Rick has been a Jungle guide in Ecuador, an assistant to Brazilian rock bands, and worked in many hostels all over. Today you will probably find him dancing on a hostel bar in Peru, and be warned, he will have you up there dancing with him in no-time.

Photo: Outside a travel store sign in Buenos Aires which has a slogan Rick lives by: Be a traveller, not a tourist!

Born to a Brazilian dad and Argentinian mother, Diego gets to choose what country he comes from depending on who won the football that day! Diego has done his own backpacking around South America travelling all over Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Peru and Columbia. He studied tourism and became a guide leading people around the Iguassu Waterfalls and national parks. Diego worked in hostels in Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, the Pantanal area, Florinopolis and the USA before moving back to Foz do Iguacu to open his own. He also has his own travel agency in Foz, which the Green Toad Bus also works out of. If he's not backpacking or working in the hostel and agency, you will find Diego on the Iguacu river on his wake-board. 

Photo: Diego is also a black-belt in Taekwondo, and here he is doing his Jacky Chan moves at Machu Picchu.

Tamsin L'Estrange was born in Venezuela, raised in the Canary Isles and grew up in London. After studying musical theatre at college (don't judge her yet - she's much cooler now!) she randomly became a hairdresser before getting tired of asking people where they were going on their holidays and went off on hers!

At 18 she went off on her first trip round South America on her own and loved it so much she did it again at 21. By the time she was 25 she'd gone back and forth so many times she finally just moved to Brasil to save on airfare.

She is currently based in Paraty where she organises tours, plans parties and generally gets people drunk.

Photo: This is how most people meet Tamsin, grooving in a bar in Paraty