Geoguessr Plonk It Guide - South America
Argentina: internet domain
.ar
Brazil: internet domain
.br
Brazil: camera generations
12.2%: gen 3 87.7%: gen 4
Argentina: camera generations
59.8%: gen 3 40.2%: gen 4
Argentina: palm trees
A high amount of palm trees can be found in this region in northeastern Argentina.
Brazil: grass hills
Acre has a unique landscape of small grass hills and sparsely growing trees. The roads often do not cut around the hills like in most of Brazil, but ride the hills instead. A similar landscape can also be seen near Maraba in the state of Pará.
Argentina: good sunrise coverage
Along the RN40, from Mendoza to Tunuyán, you can see this beautiful sunrise coverage.
Brazil: poles #1
Alongside ladder poles, round poles can be found across the south of Brazil, especially São Paulo. These poles are cylindrical are made of concrete. note: This map and the following wooden pole map was created using statistical analysis of semi-urban and rural locations. 434 locations of 3 poles per location were used across 16 states that were thought to have mixed poles. Regardless of the state, the center of large cities will often have round poles.
Brazil: area codes
Area codes are common to see in Brazil. They are often notated using parentheses, or at a minimum as two separate numbers. Phone numbers are sometimes without area codes, and without them will be 8 numbers long for landline and 9 for mobile. The pattern for each of the states is very learnable and useful. The area codes are grouped by first digit, so even just learning those can already help a lot. Notably, area codes ending in 1 will always be around major cities and state capitals.
Argentina: car meta
Argentina has a black Google car in gen 3 coverage. note: Within South America, only Argentina, Peru, and Uruguay have a black Google car.
Argentina: chevrons
Argentina typically uses white and red chevrons. note: Argentina is the only American country with these chevrons.
Argentina: license plates
Argentina uses two types of license plates: a black one, which will be visible on street view with a black dot in the middle, and a white one with a blue bar at the top. note: The black dot can only be found on Argentinian license plates, while the blue bar can be found in Brazil as well.
Brazil: palm trees #4
Açai palms produce fruits that are popular globally. Most of these palms are found near Belém, but can be seen across the Amazon. They are distinct in the way the leaflets droop downward along their unusually thin trunks.
Brazil: palm trees #3
Babassu palms have long, robust leaves comprised of many leaflets. Trunk length can vary from short to tall. They are found throughout the Amazon, or more rarely, down the east coast.
Argentina: beech forests
Beech forests are commonly found in the state of Tierra del Fuego.
Brazil: water tanks
Blue Fortlev water tanks are often seen on Brazilian roofs.
Brazil: road markers
Blue road markers with the road number and kilometer can be seen on the sides of roads.
Brazil: chevrons
Brazil uses yellow and black chevrons, as opposed to most of South America, which uses black on yellow chevrons.
Brazil: palm trees #2
Carnaúba palms have short but strong, fan-like leaves and a trunk that is smooth at the top and spiked at the bottom. They are common Ceará but are also in Piauí and Rio Grande do Norte.
Brazil: palm trees #1
Coconut palm trees have long leaves, can grow very tall, and have thin trunks. They are common across the northeastern states and sometimes further west or south along the coast. note: Coconut palms grow across the world and are not unique to Brazil.
Brazil: coffee beans
Coffee beans are by far the most common in Minas Gerais, but also can be found in Espírito Santo and northeastern São Paulo.
Argentina: slopes
Comodoro Rivadavia is built on the slopes of Chenque hill, making the city recognizable.
Brazil: acronyms
Each Brazilian state has a two-letter acronym. These show up most prominently in the numbers of state roads (found on kilometer markers). They can also be found in other contexts however. The state acronums show up when you zoom out a little bit on Google maps, which is also possible in the minimap while in-game. However, for quick and competitive games, it can be very useful to learn them by heart anyway, as this can help a lot with eliminating scanning time.
Brazil: exposed rock
Espírito Santo, and the surrounding areas, often have large mountains with exposed rock.
Brazil: Eucalyptus Grandis
Eucalyptus Grandis, when fully grown, is a very tall tree with plantations all over Brazil. You can find them in both large and very small plantations, as well as randomly growing anywhere. You can see them all over the south, but there are some large plantations in Amapa too.
Argentina: gen 3 coverage
Far western Argentina typically features a mountainous landscape. note: It is rare to find mountains in eastern Argentina.
Argentina: flat and barren
Flat and barren landscapes like this are typically found in central southern Argentina.
Argentina: gen 4 coverage
Generation 4 coverage is only found north of Comodoro Rivadavia in Argentina. Everything south of it has gen 3 coverage.
Argentina: grassland
Grassland with a few separated tree plantations is generally found in this area.
Argentina: flat grass
If you see this kind of vegetation with flat grass and a low number of bushes, you are almost certainly in the state of Tierra del Fuego or southeastern Santa Cruz.
Argentina: vineyards
If you see vineyards with mountains in the west and flatness in the east, you are most likely in the outskirts of Mendoza. note: There are multiple wine regions in Argentina, but the Mendoza wine region is the most recognizable one of them all.
Brazil: gen 3
In Generation 3 coverage, you can see two different cars: - A white car with a stubby antenna. There is a diagonal coil wrapped around the antenna. - A white car with no antenna. The car's color is not always visible, meaning you will often see either just the stubby antenna, or no hints of the car at all. The stubby antenna with a diagonal coil can also be found in Ecuador, Colombia, and Mexico.
Argentina: sandy soil
In the Chaco and Formosa provinces, you will often see sandy soil with an abundance of vegetation, mainly low trees and bushes.
Brazil: insulators #1
Insulators that resemble brown mushrooms are only found in Pernambuco.
Brazil: insulators #2
Insulators that resemble white mushrooms are found in Bahia and rarely Brasília.
Brazil: elevation map
It can help to have a rough mental map of where you can find mountains, and which regions are more flat. The highest mountains are generally found near the southeastern coast.
Brazil: satellite dishes
It is fairly common to see transparent satellite dishes, which within Latin America is generally unique to Brazil.
Brazil: license plates
License plates in Brazil were white until 2018. Now, a white plate with a blue stripe on top is used. Red is still used for commercial vehicles.
Brazil: palm trees #6
Macaw palms have thin leaves compared to other palms, and often have a visible spear shaped top. They are very common around Mato Grosso do Sul and the surrounding states, but can be seen much further out sometimes. These palms should be used with caution, and single trees are much less of an indicator than multiple trees.
Brazil: roofs
Many houses throughout Brazil have orange tiled roofs.
Brazil: poles #3
Markings on poles are used by the electricity companies to identify them. This pole ID is long, yellow pole paint with a black code. The ones that start with a letter are found in Bahia and Pernambuco.
Argentina: melting snow coverage
Melting snow coverage is seen on the eastern RN293 close to the Chilean border in southwestern Santa Cruz.
Brazil: rolling grassy hills
Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, and Espírito Santo often have rolling grassy hills.
Brazil: palm trees #5
Moriche palms have leaves with a rounded fan shape. They are most common in Amazonas, Acre, and Roraima, but can be found in all of the Amazonian states. note: These palms can additionally be found very commonly in the Amazonian parts of Colombia and Peru.
Brazil: road signs
Most Brazilian road signs have the backs painted black.
Brazil: coverage map
Most of the coverage in Brazil is along the eastern half, with only sparse coverage in the Amazon. It is useful for beginner players to start forming a rough mental map of where the (limited) coverage is in the western half. When you get Amazonian rounds, this can prevent you from wildly plonking hundreds of kilometers away from the nearest road.
Brazil: poles #7
Most poles in Maranhão have a small beige plate with numbers built into the surface of the pole. This pole ID can be found in Pará and Piauí more rarely.
Brazil: dry soil and shrubs
Northeastern Brazil can be identified by its dry soil, shrubs, and succulents (the Caatinga landscape). In rainy season coverage, the shrubs are still recognizable, but can be deceptively green.
Brazil: poles #6
Pole IDs in Paraná are usually made up of black paint and yellow or white painted text.
Brazil: Portuguese
Portuguese is spoken in Brazil, as opposed to most Latin American countries which speak Spanish. Compared to Spanish, some essential differences are that Portuguese uses -ão rather than -ón, -ch instead of -ll, and -nh instead of ñ.
Brazil: postcodes
Postcodes (CEP) are seen frequently on street signs in Brazil (though sometimes hard to read). The first two numbers will depict an area, a state, or multiple states. These numbers go anti-clockwise from São Paulo, ending in Rio Grande do Sul.
Argentina: red bricks
Red bricks, similar to what is common in Bolivia, can be found in the northwest of the country, especially in western Jujuy.
Argentina: red soil
Red soil is typically found in the Misiones province. note: Brazil and Argentina can look similar in this region. Make sure to look for other clues first.
Argentina: mountain ranges
Red soil with a barren landscape and mountain ranges, can often be seen on the RN76 in Parque Nacional Talampaya in western La Rioja.
Argentina: road lines
Road lines in Argentina are mainly dashed white, double yellow, or a mix in between.
Brazil: road markings
Roads in Brazil will usually feature double yellow middle lines, with white outer lines. Roads can occasionally have a single dashed yellow line.
Argentina: poles #1
Round concrete poles sustaining three electricity lines in an alternating pattern are very common in Argentina. Doubled up poles like this in the second image is also a good clue for Argentina. note: Similar doubled concrete poles can occasionally be found throughout Bolivia.
Brazil: grassy plains
Rural locations in Roraima are mostly open grassy plains with large, distant mountains in the background. Occasionally, you are on roads within the mountains. Furthermore, the grass in Roraima is distinctly thin, and grows in bunches.
Argentina: salt pans
Salt pans in Argentina are typically found in Jujuy. note: They can also be found in southwestern Bolivia and northeastern Chile, but without gen 4 coverage.
Argentina: grass hills
Semi-coastal grass hills are seen in southern Buenos Aires, especially northeast of Bahía Blanca.
Brazil: poles #4
Similar to the Bahia and Pernambuco poles, Goiás poles also use long, yellow pole paint with a black paint code, but it always starts with a number. They also have a rarer yellow on black pole ID, which can be either paint or a plate.
Argentina: lakes
Small lakes near the road are occasionally seen in the province of Buenos Aires.
Brazil: soil
Soil in most of Brazil is distinctly red. It can range from a light pink around Mato Grosso to a deep maroon near the Paraná River. The soil is usually not red in the northeast, or in the majority of Rio Grande do Sul, however. note: The nearby Argentine province of Misiones has deep red soil, as well as a handful of other countries and regions around the world.
Brazil: poles #2
Some states also use wooden poles. They are most commonly seen in Rio Grande do Sul, Roraima, Amazonas, and Rio de Janeiro.
Brazil: soybeans
Soybeans appear as small, leafy soil grown plants. They are most commonly grown in Mato Grosso, Paraná, and Goiás.
Brazil: sugar cane
Sugar cane is by far most common in the state of São Paulo, and in the coastal northeast states, especially Alagoas and Pernambuco.
Argentina: bad sunrise coverage
Sunrise coverage with bad image quality and multiple blurs is found on a short part of the RN251 and RN22, west of Río Colorado.
Argentina: t-junctions
T-junctions in La Pampa sometimes have these yellow rectangular signs, with a chevron pattern on the bottom, and the Road Number(s) above, with an arrow on both sides.
Argentina: sawdust car
The "sawdust" car is found in center-south Argentina and has a unique sandy dust on its visible black back.
Brazil: the Amazon
The Amazon is a dense rainforest that comprises 40% of Brazil's total area. Not many roads are within it, but those that are, mostly go through either biodiverse forest or grassy hills with sparse trees.
Brazil: gen 4
The Generation 4 cars you can find in Brazil have a visible front, and have one of the following three color patterns: 1). blue 2). white with a blue stripe 3). white
Brazil: lush green fields
The landscape in Rio Grande do Sul can be hilly or flat with lush, green fields. Southern areas can have some resemblance to Uruguay.
Argentina: tree plantations
The majority of tree plantations in Argentina are located in the Entre Rios province. note: Uruguay and southern Brazil have them as well. Make sure to look at other clues before guessing.
Argentina: puzzle tree
The monkey puzzle tree can be found in western Neuquen. The most specimens are seen on state road 23. note: They are seen on the other side in Chile as well.
Brazil: poles
The most common poles in Brazil have some resemblance to a ladder in the bottom portion. They are rectangular, have long segments running through the bottom, and small holes near the top.
Argentina: dangerous roads
The western part of the RN65 in western Tucumán can easily be recognized by this small, dangerous road in the clouds. note: This road can look similar to the "Road of Death" in Bolivia.
Brazil: curbs
There are frequently white painted curbs on Brazilian roads.
Argentina: taxi map
These Argentinian cities have unique and recognizable taxis.
Brazil: pines
These distinct trees, called Paraná pines, have long horizontal branches with leaves only at the end. They grow mainly in the southern Brazilian states of Paraná, Santa Catarina, and Rio Grande do Sul.
Argentina: highway markers
These highway markers are unique to Argentina and indicate the highway number on top. note: The markers on national highways are indicated with RN, while RP indicates a provincial highway. National highways will be labelled white on the map, while provincial highways will be labelled green.
Argentina: mountains
These mountains are typically found west of Córdoba. note: They are not as high as the mountains in the west.
Argentina: red mountains
These red mountains are unique to the RN68 valley in southern Salta.
Argentina: snowy mountains
These snowy mountains to the north can only be found in Ushuaia. note: Ushuaia is the southernmost city of Argentina and the province capital of Tierra del Fuego.
Argentina: volcanic rocks
These volcanic rocks in gen 4 coverage can only be found on the RP43 south of Antafagasta de la Sierra in northwestern Catamarca.
Argentina: horse trekker
This horse trekker can be found in southwestern San Juan. note: A similar trekker can be found on the other side of Chile.
Brazil: poles #5
This small yellow or orange plate attached onto the pole by thin metal or zip tie is found in Rio Grande do Norte and Pernambuco. This ID is usually much higher up the pole in Pernambuco than in Rio Grande do Norte.
Argentina: snow coverage
This snow coverage is found on the eastern RP25 in eastern Santa Cruz.
Brazil: long stems
This species of plant, with long stems and many leaves growing up, are very common in Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, and Paraíba. In the dry season, you can still make out the distinct long stems without leaves.
Brazil: pols #8
Utility poles in Paraná on intersections are sometimes painted with the street name. This can sometimes extend to Santa Catarina or Rio Grande do Sul if there are ladder poles in the city.
Brazil: tall grass
Very tall grass can often be seen in the center of the country, most notably in the Tocantins, Goiás, Bahia, and Minas Gerais states.
Argentina: rock formations
Villa Dique Florentino Ameghino in northeastern Chubut is surrounded by these rock formations. note: Sometimes you will be able to see this dam in the west.
Argentina: scenery
While Argentina features a plethora of different landscapes, most of the country is relatively flat, mostly treeless, and sparsely populated. In the absence of better clues, you should consider Argentina when you see landscapes like this with a very "wide open," desolate feel.
Argentina: wooden hook poles
Within Argentina, these Latvian style wooden hook poles are unique to La Rioja and Mendoza.
Argentina: poles #2
Wooden poles are somewhat common in Argentina, they can be found either with a crossbar or without. note: Wooden A-frame poles in South America are only found in Argentina.
Argentina: guardrails and reflectors
Yellow and red rectangular reflectors can often be seen on Argentinian guardrails. note: Within South America, they can be found in Uruguay. However, Uruguayan guardrails can be differentiated from Argentinian guardrails by the shape of their support.
Argentina: road markers
You can find these unique markers on provincial roads in Córdoba.
Argentina: driving side
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Brazil: driving side
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