Discover South America

Although Christopher Columbus is often credited as ‘discovering’ the North American region, he never set foot on any land that subsequently became the USA or Canada; furthermore, a number of other explorers are credited with ‘discovering’ the continent up to five hundred years before Columbus came looking.

What Columbus did do, however, was succeed in raising awareness of the Americas in general and in his four separate voyages to the ‘new world’, he first set foot on mainland America in Venezuela, South America, in 1498, paving the way for the whole of South America to be ‘conquered’ by Spanish, Portuguese and other European explorers: the rest, as they say, is history.

Today, South America is a rich and culturally diverse continent, providing a mix of Native American and European cultures, from Venezuela and Columbia in the north all the way to Chile and Argentina in the south. Indeed, to explore the entire continent would take months, if not years, but it’s possible to see many of the highlights in just a few weeks with a little careful planning.

To avoid the perennial traveller’s bane of ‘doubling-back’, make a note of all the intended destinations and work out a route that facilitates arriving in one city and departing out of another. South America is a vast continent, so avoiding retracing steps is crucial if time is of the essence.

Buenos Aires, the cosmopolitan capital of Argentina, is an excellent starting point. Considered to be the richest city in South America, Buenos Aires perhaps feels more European than Latin American, with grand avenues and narrow bustling streets hosting countless cafes, bars and Plazas. This is also a great place for those with a penchant for dancing, with Tango classes widely available across the city.

A little further north is the Iguazu Falls, which straddle the border between the Brazilian state of Parana and the Argentinean province of Misiones. Consisting of 275 separate waterfalls along a 3km stretch of the Iguazu River, this area is nature at its most impressive and was shortlisted to be one of the new ‘7 wonders of nature’.

From here, one option is to carry on into Brazil, stopping at the countless sites en-route to Rio de Janeiro. However, it may be better to make a beeline west across Argentina and into Chile. San Pedro de Atacama is a small town east of Antofagasta and is notable for being the driest place on earth. Stargazing is a popular ‘activity’ here, with the night views of the heavens unequalled anywhere on the continent.

South America’s impressive short and long distance transport infrastructure – flights – can then facilitate the trip north to Cusco in Peru. An impressive little city in its own right, Cusco is also the base for those wanting to trek the Inca trail, which is thirty miles of high-altitude walking meandering gradually towards the ancient city of Machu Picchu, a UNESCO world heritage site since 1983.

Travel to South America and around it, is straight-forward, catering for people on all budgets. For those preferring to take to the air between key locations rather than hitting the highways, there are many international airports dotted throughout this vast and varied continent, which is good news for those with tight timescales, or simply an eagerness to get directly to the heart of all the good bits.