The cheap prices, the beautiful people, the adventure backdrops, the pumping nightlife—Argentina had it all except for one thing: nice beaches. For that I had to take a three hour ferry east from Buenos Aires to Uruguay, where I could start my journey to their two most talked about beaches: Punta del Este and Punta del Diablo. You wouldn’t be far off calling Uruguay mini-Argentina, but higher numbers of blue-eyed and blonde-haired inhabitants with an edgier vibe of punk and goth teenagers tell you you’re not in the land of tango and glaciers anymore.

The famous Punta del Este hand

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It’s hard to find a Things To Do Before You Die list that doesn’t mention Rio de Janeiro’s Carnival. The biggest party in the world couldn’t be in a better place. Rio is blessed with lush, green, rolling mountains and perfect beaches wide enough for the crowds of up to one-million people that attend free concerts and New Years Eve celebrations. Little islands dot any beach view and the subtropical climate make it a fine place to visit all year round. But on to the party. Carnival is the celebration before the first day of Lent, when Catholics fast and pray for forty days before Easter. It’s about acting out all the behavior you need to abstain from until Easter, but I think these days it’s increasingly hard to find Carnival participants who subscribe to the original purpose. At least in Rio, Carnival celebrations continue well into Lent. The official action gets going on the Saturday before Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent) and ends on the following Tuesday. You’ll know it has started when people break out in random dance and song on buses and streets. Some Brazilians argue the year doesn’t really start until after Carnival.

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If you visit only one city in South America in your lifetime, chances are it’s going to be Buenos Aires (literally “good airs”). Safer, cheaper, and more family-friendly than that likely number two city Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires is heaven for tourists who want to stay busy with never-ending sights. The only problem is the city is so huge (one of the largest in the world with 13 million people) that you will only get a taste. You will know Buenos Aires like an ant knows your house, but hopefully it’s the good parts like the pantry and cookie jar. Let’s take a twenty-four hour ride through the best of what Buenos Aires has to offer.

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I resisted for a month. Travelling through central Argentina, through fun college towns and wine land, I told myself I wouldn’t visit Patagonia. I don’t have the hiking gear or the cold weather clothing. I don’t have the money. But then I saw pictures of the glaciers staring at me from a cheap hostel computer screen. Apparently it’s true — you don’t need to be in Antarctica to view these enormous rivers of ice. I’d be stupid to miss this. Three days and a $200 flight ticket later I was sitting in steerage class to El Calafate, near the Southern tip of Argentina.

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Most tourists don’t come to Chile to do a tour of the big cities. They start in San Pedro de Atacama way up north, in the driest desert in the world, and then quickly pass through middle Chile before heading deep into the Lakes District where volcanoes, hot springs, forests, and of course, lakes, await them. A brief stopover in Santiago, a safe and modern metropolis lacking in any sort of charm or personality, may turn them off from visiting one of the most interesting cities in South America less than ninety minutes away, Valparaiso.

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It’s very unlikely that you will come to Peru and not visit Cuzco, the Incan capital gateway to Machu Picchu, a finalist in an American Idol-style vote for the new seven wonders of the world. But the Lost City is not the only thing the city has to offer.

If you are coming into Cuzco by stomach-turning bus journey through the Andes, you will descend from the mountains and first notice the city’s cathedral dominate the landscape. Located in the Plaza de Armas square, the cathedral shares space with countless tourist restaurants, bars, and a couple dozen independent female masseuses. There is no doubt the Incans left a long time ago, replaced by the tourist horde and the locals that cater to them.

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So you arrive in Quito, Ecuador, are greeted by cheerful children who put leis around your neck, take the modern subway from the airport to downtown, and have your bags carried by friendly locals past the impossibly blue fountain to your hotel.

Then you wake up with a cramped neck…and your flight attendant tells you to put your seat in its upright position.

While Quito isn’t the roughest introduction to South America (Caracas, Venezuela or Recife, Brazil wins that prize), you may still wonder if you made the right choice when you step outside the airport. Within a few seconds once inside your cab, a woman with an almost lifeless one-year-old strapped on her back will ask you to buy a pack of Trident gum for 25 cents and vendors will come to your window at red traffic signals, in between the dilapidated storefronts and buses that blow noxious black smoke into the heavily polluted air. But all this is character waiting for your appreciation, nearly 3,000 meters up in the sky. Continue Reading…