Argentina: The proud Argentinians have a lot to gloat about. The capital city of Buenos Aries rivals any on the planet with round-the-clock entertainment and the natural landscape of Patagonia is legendary. Shared with Chile, the Argentine side of Patagonia hosts Los Glacials National Park and Fitz Roy National Park, a stone's throw from each other, and magnificent displays of towering granite peaks among turquoise blue waters and massive glaciers. Bariloche is the year-round adventure capital of the country with a mountainous background that provides skiing and snowboarding during the winter and biking, climbing, hiking, parasailing, and rafting during the summertime.
Bolivia: Although Bolivia is the poorest country in South America, it has a well-developed tourist infrastructure as its host's many off-the-beaten-path adventurers
looking to explore its wildlands. La Paz is the highest capital in the world with magnificent markets and indigenous commerce and a jumping-off point for the downhill mountain bike ride from La Cubre (the summit pass in the Andes outside of La Paz) to Coroico in the jungle, on the perilous and stunning, 'most dangerous road in the world'. The silver mine outside of Potosi (the highest city in the world) is a great side trip on the way to the country's number one attraction, the Salar de Uyuni. This massive salt desert 14,000 feet high in the Andes provides an awesome 4x4 adventure that takes 3-4 days which can be looped back to the town of Uyuni or continued on to Chile to connect with the Valle de la Luna onto San Pedro de Atacama (recommended).
Brazil: This seductive and sultry country has stolen many a travelers' heart with its abundance of culture, energy, beauty, natural splendors, wild environments
and aquatic playgrounds. The short, 30-day visa makes it impossible to experience even a tenth of what this dizzyingly incredible country has to offer but some of the most notorious highlights include the Amazon rainforest basin, best explored from the city of Manaus; Pantanal Wetlands. This is the largest wetlands in the world shared with Bolivia and the best wildlife viewing on the planet; Salvador de Bahia. This vibrant city is one of the oldest in the Americas with great beaches, surrounding islands, and a jumping-off point for Chapada Diamantina. Natal is the continent's closest city to Africa with domineering sand dunes that provide a playground for dune buggy adventures; Rio de Janerio is an obvious must-see and the towering Iguazu Falls are one of the most spectacular waterfalls on the planet shared by Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil.
Chile: This long, slender country is bordered by the longest mountain chain in the world in the Andes to the east, with a spectacular coastline on the Pacific to the west stretching from Antarctica up to Peru. The north is dominated by the massive Atacama desert where you can hike through the Lunar landscape of the high desert under the moonlight and sandboard down an ancient volcano. Trips here connect to and from Bolivia and the Salar de Uyuni. In the south, one of the best trips on the continent is the 4-day cruise through the Patagonian fjords from Puerto Montt to Puerto Natales and trekking through Torres del Paine National Park on either the four or seven-day circuit. Connect through here to Argentina and Los Glacials as well as Fitz Roy National Parks.
Colombia: Believe it or not, Colombia is now one of the safest places in not only South America but of any 'developing country' in the world. The cartels and drug trade have mainly retreated to extremely rural areas. Most major cities and tourist hubs maintain a clean and safe environment, which is extremely welcoming to travelers who shunned the country for decades. Cartagena is a great entry point, whether arriving through sailing the Caribbean from Panama or by flight, this colonial city is impressively preserved with a beautiful beach in Playa Blanca and the adventure jumping-off point of Santa Marta and Taganga a short drive away. The jumping-off point for the incredible trek to Cuidad Perdida is here, as well as awesome diving and snorkeling in the nearby Tayrona National Park. Bogota and Medellin are wickedly fun cities and the small enclave of San Gil in the mountains provides a plethora of adventure activities such as rafting, climbing, hiking, abseiling, and bungee jumping.
Ecuador: With tourism dominated by the offshore Galapagos Islands, mainland Ecuador often gets overlooked, with its many inland natural splendors reserved for the resilient adventurer that combs its countryside. Of course, the Galapagos Islands are a must-see for any trip to the country and we can arrange five-star, ultra-luxurious 5-8 day cruises around the archipelago or trips more budgeted. The perfect cone of Cotopaxi Volcano makes for a great expedition to its summit for mountaineers wishing to tackle the snowy peak, or an exhilarating downhill mountain bike ride from its base camp for a magnificent day trip, either way, it's spectacular. Banos is the country's adventure capital with great hot springs, whitewater rafting, climbing, hiking, bungee, parasailing, and a great place to ride a mountain bike down from the Andes to the Amazon.
Peru: The cultural and ecological offerings of this diverse country are no secret and the reason it's the most visited in all of South America. The UNESCO World Heritage Site of Machu Picchu is magnificent, whether you have the time to tackle the 4-5 day Inca Trail, or visited by train from Aguas Calientes. It also owns the best-protected tract of the world's most biodiverse forest in the Amazon. The frontier town of Iquitos is the ideal jumping-off point for a jungle expedition. The northwest town of Mancora draws surfers worldwide as it hosts the longest wave in the world (left) and the south shares the magnificent Lake Titicaca with Bolivia which is the highest lake in South America and a great transfer point to/from Bolivia.