Replying to South America

Planning a trip down to S. America next summer. Curious for those who have done it how you went about it.

I was looking into some camps ... SASS and Evolve. I did some ski camps back in the day and it was nice having everything planned out, riding with pros who know the mountains ,etc but they are pretty expensive.

Also curious for those who have done it on your own how you found the experience? Would you have done a camp fi you could go back and do it again?