Highlights of South America?

[kennas]

There are some must do's in the world and one is to visit South America.

In South America, try these:

Trekking Inca Trail and seeing a cloud shrouded Machu Picchu
The roar of Iguazu Falls
The animals of Galapogas Islands
Skiing in the Andes
All of Rio de Janeiro
The best colonial architecture in Cartagena, Colombia
Eating and drinking wine in Argentina

And, somewhere I haven't been yet, Patagonia....next year..


Anyone else got a highlight?

[fleeta]

What about the salt flats of Uyuni??

[kennas]

Originally Posted by fleeta

What about the salt flats of Uyuni??

Yeah, forgot that one. Haven't been there yet .... on the list..

[fleeta]

Ive just come from Uyuni (currently in San Pedro de Atacama) and it is absolutely amazing! The highlight of South America for me at the moment. I had an excellent 4WD tour with Hidalgo tours for 3 days, the landscape throughout the 3 days was amazing, Laguna Colorado and the flamingoes are spectacular as well.

[kennas]

Probably need to include the Amazon in there too. Not so much the river but the jungle on the banks. Get to see some amazing animals.

The quantity of fresh water released by the Amazon is mind boggling: up to 300,000 m³ per second in the rainy season. Per second! The Amazon is responsible for about 20% of the total volume of fresh water entering the oceans worldwide. Offshore of the mouth of the Amazon, potable water can be drawn from the ocean while still out of sight of the coastline.

Why don't we tap this and pump it to Africa? Or Central Australia?

The amazing animals I've seen include various monkeys, caimans, anacondas (from a couple of metres) toucans, ocelots, triantulas, and more.

See my Amozon photo album in the photo album section.

I've been to five different parts of the Amazon.

Puerto Moldonado which is way way up stream close to Cuzco (SE Peru), and you can fly there in 30 mins. The town is crap, but the jungle is great.

Iquitos which is NE Peru and probably the best river city to visit. It's a real hippy town with lots of people 'searching', and has a big ayahuasca tourism following. Some good cafes and restaurants.

Belem in NE Brazil at the mouth of the Amazon where the 1700s slave trade was centred. Don't bother.

Santarem the first major city upstream from Belem, another slave centrea and major rubber making region. Was where Ford got all their tyres from. Crap hole really, but some interesting things close by including a white sandy beach that you would think you were in the Caribbean.

Manaus which is the more official start of Rio Amazonas. It's at this point that the two largest tributories join and form the 'meeting of the waters', where the black coloured river Negro (due to staining from upstream trees) meets the muddy brown Solimoes and they run side by side for some time due to different speeds and temperatures. Manaus is a surprisingly huge town and seems to have an unusually large proportion of brothels. Just about every hotel I visited while researching there had rooms by the hour. Dangerous place at night.

If you're planning to see the Amazon I recommend Iquitos for ease of access, the town itself, and the number of lodges close by.

[Girona Airport]

i think amozan forest trip is an option for adventure lovers and mountain range in the west of south america is another oportunity

[kennas]

Originally Posted by Girona Airport

i think amozan forest trip is an option for adventure lovers and mountain range in the west of south america is another oportunity

Definately! I didn't go to the Amazon the first time I went to Sth America. What was I thinking! doh.