Introduction
From the Andes to the Amazon, from impenetrable rainforests to glacial fjords, South America is the ultimate outdoor adventure seeker's paradise. With its spectacular ancient cultures and rich ethnic mix, the people are as diverse as their dramatic landscapes.
The Amazon Basin and its remote jungle outposts have lured explorers, bounty hunters and cult leaders, while the elegant salons of Buenos Aires and the stylish beach resorts of Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela attract a more hedonistic following.
Plunge into this tropical mix: samba til dawn at the Rio carnival, ride the Death Train across the Bolivian scrublands, climb a tepuy in Venezuela's Gran Sabana, cruise the fjords in Chile's archipelago, go whitewater rafting through Peru's Sacred Valley, swim with sealions in the Galapagos, or simply sip a glass of chilled Chardonnay while you count the sheep in Patagonia.
