What's the best time to go to South America if I want to see the whole continent?

Question

I was thinking about going to Rio in Feb for Carnaval, then heading south into patagonia, then back up north through Chile & Peru, then into Colombia and Venezuela before taking the amazon back into Brazil to go fly home. I'm planning on spending six months to do this. My problem, though, is that I may need to wait until late April/early May to go because of work obligations. So...should I go ahead as planned but leave in April/May or should I wait a few months so I don't freeze my **** off in Patagonia? June-July-August are the coldest months there, right?

Answer 1

I think you need to figure out when is the best time to tour all the major areas you listed.  Then make your plans.  And yes, our summer is the coldest time in Patagonia.  However, even December , January and February can be very wet, windy, and just plain miserable at times.

Rain is a major problem in Brazil, and the jungle areas of Peru. Life kinda comes to a standstill and if you're there you aren't going anywhere for awhile, so bring a book or two.