Los Llanos - Venezuela

Who would guess that the highlight of our trip to Venezuela would be three days staying in a spartan cabin on a flat 100,000-acre cattle ranch? The plains of Los Llanos cover a third of the country, from the Andes to the Orinoco. The climate is uncomfortably extreme – torrential rain and floods, followed by searing heat, wind and drought – but we have, by chance, arrived in February after the rains, and before the worst of the heat. This is the best time to visit (although, apparently, people visit throughout the year), when the plentiful wildlife congregates at dwindling waterholes. I feel I have stepped into a childhood I-Spy book in which each illustration has a fascinating, but improbable, assortment of animals and birds.

We arrive at the ranch, three hours' drive from Barinas, one of Venezuela's largest towns, late at night, bumping through pot-holes, and halting every few minutes to wake capybaras blocking our route. Hefty-headed rodents the size of large dogs, the capybaras are reluctant to budge, but eventually trudge grumpily to the verge, followed by gaggles of adorable babies.

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Mendoza - Argentina

Why go to the Napa Valley when you can fly to Mendoza, in western Argentina, drink more exotic and affordable wines, and go horseback riding across the magnificent Andes Mountains with sexy Latin meat eaters?
With more than a thousand wineries, including boutique bodegas like Vistalba, La Azul and Achaval-Ferrer, Mendoza has become one of the hottest destinations in South America, even for those who can’t tell a malbec from a tempranillo.

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Antigua

The small wooden cottage atop a steep hill has no air conditioning, but a soft breeze through louvered windows flutters the sheer white curtains at my balcony door. The trade winds that once carried tall ships from around the world to Antigua today carry to my room the smell of tropical flowers.

Andrew Michelin, whose family came from Europe to the Caribbean several generations ago, says he planned every detail of his small resort so visitors would have a true Caribbean experience. The roof of each cottage, for example, is made of galvanized metal, so if there happens to be a shower during your stay, you'll hear the sound of raindrops popping off a tin roof.

"When you first wake up, I don't want you to think even for a second, 'Where am I?"' Michelin says. "I want you to awaken and feel where you are, smell where you are, hear where you are."

That sense of place, of foreignness, of being far from home, goes a long way toward explaining the appeal of a small resort. Then too there is the intimacy that comes with being one of a handful of guests, rather than one of an anonymous crowd of hundreds moving through a high-rise megaresort.

The Cocos resort, where I spend my first two nights in Antigua, has just 19 cottages. There are no lines of people waiting to register when I arrive around lunchtime. In fact, I'm the only guest in sight, and the receptionist offers me something to drink before asking my name.

This is my Caribbean dream. When I open the door of my room, I want to see not a long hallway and a blank elevator door, but blue water and green hills. I like my flowers alive and growing, not arranged in a giant vase in the lobby. I come to escape lines, not to join them. Sure, I understand the appeal of on-site fitness centers, kids clubs, water sports, organized games, poolside fashion shows and the huge "native" buffets common in megaresorts, but I'll exchange all that for the feeling of escape from the modern world.

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Pantanal - Brazil

"Would you like to get your feet wet?" asked Chico. It was dawn over the Brazilian Pantanal and he was piloting our hot air balloon so that the basket in which we stood skimmed the trees and I could lean out and scoop up handfuls of leaves. He lowered us gently towards the lake which was black with caimans, a sort of junior crocodile.

Chico and I jumped up to sit on the sides of the basket as it hit the water. The caiman scurried grumpily out of our way. Water began to pour gently through the wicker of the basket, as the early rays of the sun glinted across the lake.

I felt wonderfully far from home and from my comfort zone. I had travelled 6,500 miles to find the hyacinth macaw, the largest member of the parrot family. Pairs of them had flown past our balloon, shrieking noisy conversation at each other. This magnificent bird, intensely blue with one yellow stripe and an orange eye, is endangered. I had come to make a television film advertising the creature's plight and seeking funds for the project dedicated to its survival.

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Patagonia - Argentina

If you listen hard, you can hear the Pacific rolling gently on to the black beach. Look out of the window, and all you see are forested mountains plunging down into the sea. In the distance, a glacier glows turquoise and blue.

Early morning in remote Patagonia can be quite unlike anywhere else on earth. On a clear day, like today, it seems like some temperate paradise.

Patagonia is one of those places that have acquired their own place in the public imagination, a mysterious province at the end of the earth, with mountains and rivers and the occasional colony of German or Welsh settlers. Few travellers go there for the very good reason that it is a very long way away and there is not much to do when you arrive.

They call this place Bahia Mala (“Bad Bay”) and we had reached it by plane, Jeep, and, for the last hour and a half, boat. On the last stage of the journey, we had been pursued by leaping dolphins, barked at by indignant sea-lions on a foul-smelling rocky island, and peered at by albatrosses.

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Cancun - Mexico

The manana attitude does not seem to exist in Cancun. The popular touist resort city has taken just a year to re-build after the devastating damage caused by hurricane Wilma.


Cancun suffered quite a blow after last October’s hurricane Wilma. Club Med has turned the misfortune into an opportunity — it’s rebuilt better than ever.


The pool area is beautiful and full of places to relax.


The snorkeling is top-rate at the Club Med resort.


One of the best activities at Club Med Cancun is Circus, where visitors can learn tricks on the flying trapeze.

— All Photos Anika Van Wyk, Calgary Sun

About US$1.5 billion has been spent rebuilding Cancun and the famous white-sand beaches have been restored, thanks to pumping in 2.7-million cubic metres of sand.

Taking the brunt of the Wilma winds was Club Med Cancun, Yucatan, which is situated at the end of
the peninsula.

But the famous resort decided to turn its lemons into lemonade.

It not only rebuilt, but the resort has dumped its party adults only atmosphere for a more upscale family friendly one. There are a new kid clubs (which will basically entertain children from dawn to dusk and beyond) and the baby welcome kit, which is waiting for guests in their room, includes a mini-tub, high-chair, crib, stroller, and bottle warmer.

You can find the full article here

Gocta - Peru - World's third-highest waterfall

This high, dry tropical Shangri-La was the domain of the Chachapoyas, a mysterious Andean race that predated the Incas. The new waterfall, dubbed Gocta after an ancient Chachapoyan village, is deep in one of the many blind valleys they inhabited between 800 and 1400 AD. You can still see their carved tombs, some with intact mummies, in the surrounding cliff walls.

According to the press release, Peru's government was hard on the case, promising safe tourist access and basic accommodations, hopefully starting in 2007 (don't count on it). Meanwhile, getting to Gocta requires bone-jarring days on terrifying roads and hours on steep and dubious valley trails. All to see a waterfall.

You can find the full article here

Santa Catarina Island - Brazil

The world dreams of escaping to Rio de Janeiro, but what about Rio natives themselves? Ask the boys and girls of Ipanema (or many other Brazilians), and you'll find that Ilha Santa Catarina, an island just off Brazil's southern coast, tops most lists.
Brazilians speak of Ilha Santa Catarina with wistfulness, as if the few hundred yards that separate it from the mainland are a world away from their busy lives. Yet they need sacrifice little for their journey, because in just over 400 square kilometers, the island packs in nearly all that is good about Brazil — with a few bonuses thrown in.
Famously picky about their beaches, Brazilians reserve high praise for many of Santa Catarina's 42 strands, which range from cliff-hugging prayer rugs to miles-long arcs of sand. A spine of mountains, luxuriant with the flora and fauna of the Mata Atlântica (Atlantic rain forest), runs the length of the island. Near the island's center, the peaks drop precipitously to the stunning, saltwater Lagoa da Conceição — a Swiss lake transported to warmer climes.
Just to the north of the lagoon begins a miles-long forest of rare, protected pines, while to the east sand dunes — some of them hundreds of feet high — create an almost lunar landscape. And on the western shores, whitewashed fishing villages seem to have been imported wholesale from the Azores Islands.

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Puerto Vallarta - Mexico

In the steamy city of Puerto Vallarta, time shares rule. Nearly every hotel, restaurant and souvenir shop wants to sell you a slice of a beachfront condominium. And they're not easily discouraged.

We needed to escape the onslaught, but still wanted to enjoy the balmy pleasures of PV's Bahia de Banderas bay area. Luckily, there are plenty of quiet seaside villages nearby that offer refuge from the time-share storm. We walked through the streets of Viejo Vallarta until we spotted a crowd of locals waiting at an unmarked stop at the corner of Constitucion and Basilio Badillo. For $1, we boarded a bus bound for Mismaloya.

Pop-trivia hounds know that Mismaloya is where John Huston filmed his adaptation of the Tennessee Williams classic "The Night of the Iguana." Many might also recall that this was the backdrop for the torrid affair between co-stars Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Liz and Dick we're not, but we could order some tequila and aspire!

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Antigua and Barbuda

The small wooden cottage atop a steep hill has no air conditioning, but a soft breeze through louvered windows flutters the sheer white curtains at my balcony door. The trade winds that once carried tall ships from around the world to Antigua today carry to my room the smell of tropical flowers.

Andrew Michelin, whose family came from Europe to the Caribbean several generations ago, says he planned every detail of his small resort so visitors would have a true Caribbean experience. The roof of each cottage, for example, is made of galvanized metal, so if there happens to be a shower during your stay, you'll hear the sound of raindrops popping off a tin roof.

At the Cocos resort in Antiqua the accommodations are 19 beach-front cottages that rely on sea breezes to cool the rooms. Because of the limited number of guests, the staff is highly attentive and most employees know your room number if not your name.

"When you first wake up, I don't want you to think even for a second, 'Where am I?' " Michelin says. "I want you to awaken and feel where you are, smell where you are, hear where you are."

That sense of place, of foreignness, of being far from home, goes a long way toward explaining the appeal of a small resort. Then, too, there is the intimacy that comes with being one of a handful of guests, rather than one of an anonymous crowd of hundreds moving through a high-rise mega-resort.

The Cocos resort, where I spend my first two nights in Antigua, has just 19 cottages. There are no lines of people waiting to register when I arrive around lunchtime. In fact, I'm the only guest in sight, and the receptionist offers me something to drink before asking my name.

This is my Caribbean dream. When I open the door of my room, I want to see not a long hallway and a blank elevator door, but blue water and green hills. I like my flowers alive and growing, not arranged in a giant vase in the lobby. I come to escape lines, not to join them.

Apparently, I am not the only person drawn to intimate properties. In fact, the rising popularity of small hotels is the biggest trend in the Caribbean, says Richard Kahn, a consultant to the Caribbean Tourism Organization.

It's really a return to the Caribbean of old.

You can find the full article here

La Manzanilla - Mexico

Laid-back La Manzanilla is often confused with the busy port of Manzanillo, less than an hour to the south. That "a" at the end makes all the difference. Big Manzanillo has a population of more than 100,000. Little "La Manz" may have 3,500 in peak season, including winter residents, native locals and the Mexicans who come from inland, their trucks packed with inflatable water toys, kids and grandparents riding overstuffed chairs in the pickup bed.

The town lies cupped in the protected southeastern reach of the Bay of Tenacatita, and even water-sissies like me can spend hours boogie-boarding the soft, rolling wavelets, riding right up onto the beach, with a bathing suit full of sand and the kind of silly grin you see on a 6-year-old, sure of her safe delivery to shore.

I've been coming to La Manzanilla three years running, staying in beautiful beachfront suites for less than $100 a night in high season. Get off the beach and you can easily halve that. If you hit the street taquerios for $1.50 tacos or cook up a nice pot of refrieds with serrano chilis to put inside the fresh tortillas made steps down the street, you can enjoy slacker paradise on a comfy budget.

Pencil in at least a couple nights out, though. The town has a good, eclectic mix of restaurants serving traditional Mexican dishes, super-fresh seafood and chef creations such as shrimp and spinach crepes, Thai curries and octopus salad.

You can find the full article here

Santiago - Chile

Hovering disembodied over the smoggy landscape, the snowy peaks seemed more spirit than substance — an illusion that I would soon be disabused of in my treacherous crossing of the Andes, but that was yet to come. On this September afternoon, the sun had finally emerged to sharpen the watery colors of the city, and as I topped the long climb of Cerro San Cristobal, I paused under the eucalyptus trees to rest a moment. I looked over my shoulder, and I caught my breath.

There they were, painted on the back of the sky like the backdrop of an Isabel Allende novel. Just as I had always imagined them.

Santiago is a city whose charms unfold gradually — and sometimes reluctantly, for many who abhor the traffic and the caustic gray vapor that descends and holds its inhabitants prisoner, sometimes for days. But when it finally lifts, those charms are something to behold.

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Cuba

Yes, and for the first half of the 20th century, Cuba was the holiday destination of choice for many well-heeled Americans, happy to enjoy the good life on the Caribbean's largest island at a time when many of the local people were living in poverty.

Fifty years ago today, a cabin cruiser named Granma landed in the south-east of Cuba. Her passengers were revolutionaries, including Che Guevara and Fidel Castro, who went on to win a famous victory against the island's dictator - and the US interests that lay behind him. Some Cubans (the disaffected, disinherited and dissident) say that the rot set in on 2 December 1956, and that Cuba has patently failed to achieve its potential over the past half-century. But despite decades of state communism, today Cuba offers more options for luxurious holidays than ever.

The island has far more depth and diversity than other Caribbean islands, and the culture has been preserved by the increasingly absurd-looking US economic embargo, which prevents Americans from travelling to Cuba. The Cuban people's rich heritage of music, dance and religion stands in stark contrast to the poverty into which their beautiful country has sunk - as do the new hotels, spa facilities and golf courses that are taking shape at a frantic rate, following Fidel Castro's oft-repeated acknowledgement that "Only tourism can save Cuba".

Despite embracing the tourist dollar - or, these days, euro - and the expansion of the top end of the market, Cuba doesn't yet offer the consistency of other Caribbean islands, however.

You can find the full article here

Los Llanos - Venezuela

Who would guess that the highlight of our trip to Venezuela would be three days staying in a spartan cabin on a flat 100,000-acre cattle ranch? The plains of Los Llanos cover a third of the country, from the Andes to the Orinoco. The climate is uncomfortably extreme – torrential rain and floods, followed by searing heat, wind and drought – but we have, by chance, arrived in February after the rains, and before the worst of the heat. This is the best time to visit (although, apparently, people visit throughout the year), when the plentiful wildlife congregates at dwindling waterholes. I feel I have stepped into a childhood I-Spy book in which each illustration has a fascinating, but improbable, assortment of animals and birds.

You can find the full article here

Peru's Sacred Valley

Down a rutted, twisting road, where dogs bark and children play in the dirt, lies an enclave apart from world-weary Peru.

Beyond a set of gates are two homes reminiscent of the U.S. Southwest — rich, warm earth colors, adobe-style construction, casual and slightly rustic furnishings — but with a difference: They are set in Peru's fertile Sacred Valley, where Incan nobles are said to have built their vacation homes.

Urubamba is at about 9,000 feet, about 3,000 feet lower than Cuzco, 45 miles away. It is not only easier to breathe here, but it also is easier to think in the quiet of this agricultural area, which some say is as spiritual as Machu Picchu.

You can find the full article here

Paraguay

The sun was already low in the sky when I arrived at the 17th-century Jesuit mission known as Trinidad, deep in the back country of southern Paraguay. It was late on a warm Saturday afternoon in October, and I was heading across a grass plaza to the main church, intent on examining a richly ornamented frieze depicting chubby angels playing musical instruments. Suddenly, a Baroque chamber concerto erupted from hidden loudspeakers.

As I paused to listen, the mission caretakers told me that the music was written not by a European composer but by the Guaraní Indians who lived for 150 years under Jesuit tutelage on missions spread over an area larger than California in what today is Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil. And with that, a vanished world instantly came alive.

The Guaraní missions are all that remain of a 17th- and 18th-century utopian social experiment — call it theocratic communism for lack of a better term — that has fascinated thinkers for hundreds of years. Voltaire, Diderot and Montesquieu all wrote about the missions, praising the egalitarian impulse behind them.

From the time the Jesuits were expelled from them in the 1760s, the missions began to decline and even vanish. In our own time, right-wing military dictatorships ruled all three countries well into the 1980s, and viewed any radical social experiment, even one from the past based on Christianity, as something to be discouraged.

Thanks in part to Roland Joffe’s 1986 movie “The Mission,” there was a renewed surge of interest in the movement in the 1980s. Still, it was only in recent years that Paraguay, Argentina and Brazil began to restore and promote the missions — which, at their peak, had more than 100,000 residents and produced not just music and books, but also metal utensils and food for export — as tourist destinations.

You can find the full article here

Mexico

We had flown into the tiny airport at Manzanillo swooping low, the runway almost an extension of the beach. Picked up by the estate's smart silver 4x4, we cruised through dusty Mexican towns, following the coast road north along the rugged Costa Alegre. An unmarked drive past a security checkpoint took us on to a dirt track and through a tangle of thick vegetation. And then there we were. The estate's manager, Maria, wearing a cool, flowing kaftan (available at Cuixmala's boutique), introduced us with a warm smile to Casa Alborada's staff, Pedro, Tita and Imelda, who were waiting to greet us with cold cloths and jugs of freshly made hibiscus juice. Sinking into the deep pink Moroccan-inspired day beds, we tried to take it all in.

Bedded into the hillside, all the rooms open on to a series of terraces, the pool - and the jaw-dropping view. The bedrooms, in contrast to the warm tones used outside, are startlingly white - white polished floors, walls and ceilings and built-in bed base and headboard. On to this pure canvas a shock of colour has been splashed; a deep blue bedspread in one, soft pink floral in another. The shuttered windows and doors a vivid cobalt. Style-wise it's an exotic mix of Moroccan and Mughal (giant elephant and cow statues, anyone?) and although the terracotta wash feels a little dated, somehow, beneath a harsh Mexican sun, it works.

The other villas cut into the hillside are Casa Puma, Casa Torre and Alix and Goffredo's house. All slightly different in style - Puma is more traditionally Mexican, Torre is currently under renovation with a stunning new infinity pool - what they all have in common is the view. A green sweep of forest flows towards the ocean - and silhouetted against the horizon, Sir James Goldsmith's clifftop retreat, La Loma, a bizarre blue and gold-domed Moorish extravaganza.(...)

Taking us on a tour of the estate, Maria pointed out the huge crocodiles lounging by the lagoon (native) and zebra (not) as we headed down to La Loma. "Laure had a whim for exotic wildlife," Maria explained. "Sir James imported three zebra; now there's a whole herd." This wild, untrammelled land is also home to endangered jaguar, puma, deer and rattlesnakes.

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Rio de Janeiro - Brazil

In the whitewashed bohemian outpost of Santa Teresa, far from the Rio de Janeiro of tourist mythology, the beach hedonism of Zona Sul neighborhoods like Ipanema and Copacabana seems almost irrelevant. Here, local artists have claimed 19th-century hilltop villas that are sandwiched between squatter slums and offer stunning views of the coast.

At lunch in unpretentious Bar do Mineiro, a grizzled artist offered advice on how to spend an evening out in Rio. “There is no soul in the Zona Sul,” he said. “If you are going out, you must only go to Lapa.”

He was talking about Santa Teresa’s neighbor, which shares the same historic architecture and still-dubious reputation as Santa Teresa. The two are linked by the bonde, a precarious but unforgettable tram that passes over Lapa’s aqueduct, and by the stairs connecting the Convento de Santa Teresa to Rua Joaquim Silva in Lapa.

Lapa offers an alternative to the slick, soulless clubs of the Zona Sul (or South Zone), whose anxiousness to convey international-style exclusivity cannot allay the nagging feeling that Rio’s real action lies elsewhere. Revitalization has begun to take place farther afield, in places like Lapa, the scene of a rebirth of samba, where spontaneity and history commingle.

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Grand Santiago Hotel, Santiago - Chile

The location
An outstanding building set in lush gardens in a suburban area. It has views of the Andes and is less than a 30-minute drive from the airport, downtown Santiago and the beaches and ski slopes.

The draw
A dramatic 24-storey glass-domed atrium is a commanding entrance to the recently renovated and rebranded Grand Hyatt. It's an oasis or "urban resort" where you can relax and pamper yourself. There is a well-equipped gym in the Ako spa, two tennis courts and a lagoon-style swimming pool with a waterfall.

The drawback
Its location on a busy road. The constant flow of traffic makes it difficult to stroll around the area.

You can find the full article here

Uruguay

"The summer season is ridiculously short," despaired Steven Chew, as our Buquebus ferry bounced across the River Plate towards Montevideo. "Just 15 days starting from 27 December. Blink and you'll miss it. We'll witness the aftermath. Note the air of desperation as the drinks cabinets run dry. Mind you, for anyone uninterested in the new year party scene, Uruguay is a great place to visit right through to May, especially on the back of a trip to Buenos Aires. It's better value, less crowded, less hyped and altogether more relaxing than Argentina."

Chew, 34, from England, is a most agreeable Latin American guide. He has been composing bespoke holidays here for 14 years. Thanks to his connections, doors that ordinarily remain shut fly open, which, in a closed society like Uruguay, is exactly the knack one needs. I hoped to harvest his expertise.

"What exactly does one do in Uruguay?" I asked.

"If you need to ask, you probably shouldn't go," he winced. "It is a source of pride among Uruguayans that their country lacks any world-class attractions. No Iguaçu Falls. No Patagonia. No Andes. But there is something wonderfully old-fashioned about Uruguay, and so beautifully uncomplicated."

Uruguayans and Argentines are close River Plate cousins. They look and speak the same, but differ widely in outlook. Uruguayans are so conservative, patient, low-key and unconventionally Latino, that they could almost be Scandinavian. Argentines, on the other hand, are self-conscious and fashion-conscious sophisticates. "Argentines look down on Uruguayans like the British denigrated the Spanish in the 1970s," said Chew. "They consider Uruguayans slow, dithering and backward in every sense."

First impressions of Montevideo: craggy, tumbledown, faded, crumbling, leafy and reminiscent of the eastern bloc circa 1965. The clocks are one hour ahead of Buenos Aires, but in every other respect this city is 50 years behind, basking in the glories of its shipping and offshore-banking heyday. Hillman Imps with 500,000 kilometres on the clock jostle with Austin Healeys.

Having thrown cursory glances at Montevideo's cultural gems (the Mercado del Puerto, the dilapidated Beaux-Arts architecture, the magnificently restored Teatro Solis and the museum dedicated to Joaquin Torres Garcia - the painter and sculptor who introduced Constructivism to Latin America), we set off by non-Imp car eastwards along the River Plate to take possession of the Uruguayan Riviera.

Uruguay is easy driving country. It has a population of around three million, most of whom inhabit Montevideo, leaving the countryside virtually empty. Yet I found it hard to believe, as we sped past concrete shacks with heavily cannibalised motors standing on bricks in front gardens, that Uruguay has won the soccer World Cup twice.

Two hours later, the new-build river-view apartment blocks of Punta del Este came into sight. Reputedly a hedonistic sandpit for rich Porteños (natives of Buenos Aires) and Brazilians with millions who come here for the beaches, the security and the friendly welcome, this former resort was once favoured by the Rat Pack, Brigitte Bardot, Gina Lollabrigida, Yul Brynner and Che Guevara. Today it is the gentrified holiday/weekend spot for well-scrubbed nuclear families. It's worth crossing the River Plate for, but not the Atlantic. What has spun off from "Punta" to the east, however, at the villages of La Barra and José Ignacio which overlook that point where the River Plate turns into the Atlantic, is far more compelling and sophisticated.

You can find the full article here

La Boca - Buenos Aires - Argentina

Culebra Island - Puerto Rico

Machu Picchu - Peru

The Lares Valley sprawls out to the east of Machu Picchu. Hikers generally pass by the snow-capped mountain Helancoma and thread through Andean villages, past mountain lakes and on to Inca ruins in the town of Ollantaytambo. From there, hikers walk or catch a train to Machu Picchu.

Others trek past the remote Inca city of Choquequirao, set on a ridge high above the glacier-cold River Apurimac, southwest of Machu Picchu. From there, it’s about three to five days’ hiking to Machu Picchu. The route is among the longest and hardest paths in the Peruvian Sacred Valley, looping travelers over steep and slick mountain switchbacks, across rivers and waterfalls.

Of course, these paths are often second choices or last-minute alternatives for travelers, and they lack the cachet of actually hiking the Inca Trail. You don’t see the same banquet of Inca ruins, and you enter Machu Picchu from below, rather than crossing beneath an Inca Sun Gate to descend into the city.

Still, the alternative routes are cheap and relatively unspoiled. Some tours cost $500 to more than $1,000. Yet travelers can pay as little as $160 for five days of hiking, guides and meals if they are willing to bargain hard with the hundreds of tour agencies that line the streets of Cuzco, a bustling city nearby that serves as a jumping-off point for many Machu Picchu treks.

The treks wend through remote villages and traverse farmers’ fields. You sleep in backyards, meet shepherds and watch Quechua-speaking women weave blankets, or mantas, on hillsides. You walk the same paths as farmers lugging bananas and avocados to market and see few, if any, other groups of tourists.

“This seemed a little bit less touristy and farther off the beaten path, and that was exactly what I was looking for,” said Amanda Rosenblum, 25, of Los Angeles, who hiked five days west through the Sacred Valley with the tour operator Andean Treks. “I twisted my ankles, I wrecked my knees descending a rock-strewn hillside with no path for an hour, and I fell on a cactus while bouldering. I am so glad I went.”

Though Machu Picchu itself limits the number of people allowed in each morning, travelers can still just show up, buy tickets to the ruins and enter with little waiting. Many tourists simply bypass the treks altogether and catch a four-hour train from Cuzco to Aguas Calientes, the tiny tourist town set just below Machu Picchu. From there, it’s an hourlong hike or a 20-minute bus ride to the ruins at the summit. Tourists who time it right can squeeze the entire trip into one day.

You can find the full article here

Peru

Some destinations are perfect for a one-week holiday, others are better suited to two. But to make the most of Peru, you need at least three weeks, plus a meticulously planned itinerary.

The absolute musts are Machu Picchu, Cusco and the Sacred Valley of the Incas, Lake Titicaca, Arequipa, and the still under-visited treasures of Sipán, Túcume and Chan Chan in northern Peru. The lure of the Amazon is hard to resist, it's a shame to miss the weirdness of the Nazca Lines, and the seabird and condor sanctuaries of the south are essentials for anyone with a love of the wild. However, too many off-the-peg tours rush you first to the guaranteed crowd-pleasers - Cusco, the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu - with the option of bolting on other big-ticket attractions such as Titicaca, the Amazon and the Nazca Lines. That's a mistake. Rushing straight to Cusco invites altitude sickness while Machu Picchu is a hard act to follow: much better to save it for the main course, with the lost civilisations of the north for dessert, and Lima's limited attractions relegated to one final time-killing day on the way home. So, start in Lima and head south, travelling in an anti-clockwise direction until you are north of Lima.

If you're organising your own trip, you will have to give some thought to getting around. You could hire a car - the roads for the most part aren't bad, but distances are very long and landscapes intimidating. I would hire a driver/guide. Most of the more upscale Peru specialists offer this option and I think it's worth spending extra for the experience of a lifetime.

You can find the full article here

Colonial Houses in Maracaibo - Venezuela

Antigua, Guatemala

Why Antigua?
Antigua is a peaceful town in an excitable landscape. Above its mellow cobbled streets loom the volcanoes Agua, Fuego and Acatenango, and among the fine old casas lurk shattered churches and ruined monasteries, relics of those times in Antigua's 400-year history when earthquakes have reduced it to rubble. Unlike the sprawling Guatemalan capital a short drive away, Antigua has an international feel. The average tourist tends to be a long-haul traveller attending one of the many Spanish schools or using Antigua as a first stop before backpacking through Guatemala. Perhaps as a result, there's a strong drive towards preserving Antigua's character, and it still feels like a real town.

You can find the full article here

Mexico

Mexico is this month's Lonely Planet's "Destination of the Month".

Mexico is a fascinating blend of throbbing city life, rich cultural traditions and untamed natural beauty. More than tacos and mariachi, Mexico offers jungles and high-plains deserts, beach life, unmissable Maya and Aztec ruins and the colourful Day of the Dead.

Deep South
This magnificent classic journey leads travelers from Mexico’s colonial heartland to its glorious Caribbean beaches. Start by exploring fascinating Mexico City, including a visit to the awesome pyramids of Teotihuacán.
Then head east to colonial Puebla before crossing the mountains southward to Oaxaca, a lovely and lively colonial city with Mexico’s finest handicrafts, at the heart of a beautiful region with a high indigenous population.
If you have time, divert south to one of the sun-baked Pacific beach spots south of Oaxaca, such as Puerto Escondido, Zipolite or Bahías de Huatulco. Then move east to San Cristóbal de Las Casas, a beautiful highland town surrounded by intriguing indigenous villages, and Palenque, perhaps the most stunning of all ancient Maya cities, set against a backdrop of emerald-green jungle.
Head northeast to the Yucatán Peninsula, with a stop at historic Campeche before you reach colonial, cultural Mérida, the base for visiting Uxmal and other fine Maya ruins nearby. Next stop is Chichén Itzá, the Yucatán’s most awesome ancient Maya site.
Now head directly to Tulum on the Caribbean coast, a Maya site with a glorious beachside setting, and then make your way northward along the ‘Riviera Maya’ toward Mexico’s glitziest resort, Cancún. On the way, halt at lively Playa del Carmen or take a side trip to Cozumel for a spot of world-class snorkeling and diving.

Brasilia - Brazil

For a view, request a west-facing room in the adjacent sister hotel, Manhattan Plaza (0055 61 3319 3060, www.manhattan.com.br). Double rooms in both hotels from £97. Blue Tree (0055 61 3424 7080, www.bluetree.com.br). A 15-minute drive from the city centre, this large, five-star lakeside resort hotel has a huge pool and designer flourishes. Great for a stopover, it can fill up with conferences. Double rooms from £79.

What to see
JK Memorial
Retro shrine to the city's founding father in Praça do Cruzeiro. Highlights include original furniture by Niemeyer and the President's last car, a maroon 1973 Ford Galaxy. Closed Monday.

Setor Militar
A mighty complex of military buildings designed by Niemeyer in the 1970s, including the sword-like Cúpula da Espada de Caxias.

TV Tower
Skeletal tower with an observation deck and superb views of the city. Be prepared for unsavoury lifts and a touristy market at its base.

Catedral Metropolitana
Designed by Niemeyer, this icon of Brasilia has graceful - but damaged - stained glass.

Praça dos Três Poderes
The city's official heart is a terrific ensemble of architectural masterpieces created by Niemeyer in 1958, including the elegant Palácio da Justiça and Palácio do Planalto - worth seeing at night.

Congresso Nacional
Crowned by two eyecatching "dishes", the Brazilian parliament is normally open to visitors, but check. Take your passport.

Palácio do Itamaraty
Designed by Niemeyer in 1962, this is a favourite of many visitors and residents, and includes a sensational staircase like a twisted spine. There are guided tours in English on weekday afternoons.

Santuário
Dom Bosco Radiant with blue stained glass, this restful church in Sul (Quadra 702) honours an Italian priest who in 1883 prophesied the rising of a city such as this.

Superquadras
Brasilia's superblocks are a successful fusion of housing, amenities and commercial streets. A good original example is Quadra 308 in Sul, which is close to Niemeyer's Igreja Nossa Senhora de Fátima with its striking triangular roof.

Tours
Brasilia's sights are spread around the city, so ask your tour operator to book a private tour by car with an English-speaking guide. Sightseeing trips can also be arranged through hotels or local travel agents such as Prestheza (00 55 61 3226 6224, www.prestheza.com.br). Some buildings may be closed for government functions.

Where to eat and drink
Prices are for a meal for two, with drinks.

Spettus (0055 61 3225 1596). An enormous and busy churrascaria in the southern hotel sector (Quadra 5). Streams of waiters come bearing barbecued meats on mighty skewers. Best for ravenous carnivores. £35.

Dudu Camargo (0055 61 3323 8082). A small, refined and upmarket contemporary restaurant amid the Sul superquadras (Quadra 303). The atmosphere is quiet, the cooking superb and the area good for an after-dinner stroll. £80.

Carpe Diem (0055 61 3325 5300). A buzzy bar and restaurant in Sul (CLS 104), great for caipirinhas and people-watching in the superquadras. £36.

Bargaço (0055 61 3364 6091). Pontão do Lago Sul is a popular lakeside stop on the outskirts of the city with three large restaurants that are busiest at evenings and weekends. Bargaço specialises in fish and seafood. £38.

Further information
Well-illustrated but only available in Portuguese, Guiarquitetura Brasília (Empresa das Arte, £8) is a detailed guide to the city's buildings. The JK Memorial has a selection of architectural books, as do branches of the Siciliano bookstores (www.siciliano.com.br). Brazil (Lonely Planet, £16.99) is helpful for touring, while useful websites are www.turismo.gov.br, www.brasiliaconvention.com.br and www.infobrasilia.com.br.

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Guesthouses in Brazil

Pousada Picinguaba, Picinguaba

Surrounded by virgin rainforest near a tiny fishing village halfway between Rio and São Paulo, the French-owned Pousada Picinguaba is a chic retreat for adventure-seekers. As the road stops at the nearby beach, a trek through the forest takes guests to 10 whitewashed rooms that are as serene as they are stylish. Guests can visit nearby islands on the hotel's 40ft schooner whilst fresh Brazilian cuisine is served at candle-lit tables overlooking the bay. Pousada Picinguaba, Vila Picinguaba, Ubatuba (00 55 12 38 36 91 05; www.picinguaba.com). Doubles from €180 (£129) half-board.

Etnia Pousada, Trancoso, Bahia

The Seventies hippy heyday of the picturesque village of Trancoso lives on at Etnia Pousada - albeit with a modern twist. The fashion and design experience of Italian owners André Zanonato and Corrado Tini is reflected in the boho-chic ambience of the eight-bungalow hotel. An eclectic celebration of all things global and stylish, the rooms reflect their names - think Japanese minimalism in "Kyoto", Arabian arched doorways in "Marrocos" and vibrant painted woodwork in "Gipsy". For those keen to take a slice of pousada chic home with them, the hotel has an antique shop on the famous Quadrado square nearby.

Etnia Pousada, Trancoso, Bahia (00 55 73 36 68 1137; www.etniabrasil.com.br). Doubles start at US$176 (£104) including breakfast.

Casas Brancas, Búzios

Follow in the footsteps of Bridget Bardot - and style-savvy Cariocas - by driving two hours north of Rio to the fishing village of Búzios, the St Tropez of Latin America. Casas Brancas may be one of the oldest pousadas in town but its age belies a timelessly chic and peaceful retreat. The property's interior has a Mediterranean minimalist feel with sheer cotton curtains, old tiled floors and indigenous hangings. A tangle of nooks and crannies leads to 32 sea-facing rooms. Caipirinha in hand, bossa nova playing in the background, its perfect position over the bay makes it the ultimate setting for a sundowner.
Pousada Casas Brancas, Alto do Humaitá 10, Búzios (00 55 22 26 23 1458; www.casasbrancas.com.br). Doubles start at Reais434 (£107) including breakfast.

Pousada Maravilha, Pernambuco

The craggy volcanic landscape of the 21 islands of the Atlantic archipelago of Fernando de Noronha is a haven for protected wildlife, from spinner dolphins to sea turtles. One of the main objectives of Pousada Maravilha is to protect its stunning environment - without scrimping on comforts. Its eight bungalows and apartments are the only ocean-facing accommodation on the archipelago. Views are optimised by Japanese-style baths on private decks, while diving, snorkelling and surfing are on offer for the more active. As visitor numbers are limited by the government to protect the landscape, expect deserted beaches, more wildlife than people and a break from the real world.

Pousada Maravilha, Fernando de Noronha, Pernambuco (00 55 81 36 19 0028; www.pousadamaravilha.com.br). Doubles start at Reais955 (£234) including breakfast.

Relais Solar, Rio de Janeiro

Set amid the cobbled streets of the Santa Teresa district, one of the most artistic enclaves of the city, the five-bedroom guesthouse is housed in an old colonial villa. Each room - named after a tropical bird - is fresh, bright and modern. Stylish murals cover the walls while the furniture, fabrics and artworks are the creation of local craftsmen. And for those seduced by the décor, most items are available to buy.

Relais Solar, Ladeira do Meirelles 32, Santa Teresa, Rio de Janeiro (00 55 21 22 21 2117; www.solardesanta.com.br). Doubles from US$75 (£44) including breakfast.

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Panama: Interview with Colin Jackson

Although Jamaica and Panama are great places to visit I could never call them home. But my journey has made me want to discover more of this part of the world because it's such a unique place. For me, this trip was just the beginning.

'Who Do You Think You Are?' with Colin Jackson will be shown on 20 September on BBC1 at 9pm. The 'Who Do You Think You Are?' book, published by HarperCollins, price £14.99, is at all good bookshops. To find out more about tracing your family go to bbc.co.uk/familyhistory

My top view

We visited a place called Moore Town in Portland, Jamaica, from where we had one of the best views of the Blue Mountains. We were about 2,000m above sea level so we had an incredible panoramic spectacle and the climate was just perfect. It was about 26C up there and the air was so fresh. Down in Kingston it would have been around 38C.

My favourite beach bar

During our trip to Jamaica we had only one day off so we travelled down to Treasure Beach, to Jake's Place Place (001 876 965 3000; island outpost.com), which is owned by Chris Blackwell. It's a very cool café-bar and hotel on a beautiful beach. Although I can get bored sitting on a beach all day, Jake's is the perfect setting to relax, enjoy the sunshine and listen to the ocean.

My top city

We filmed in the Plaza Major in the old part of Panama City, the Casco Viejo. Here you'll find some of the most beautiful buildings in the city. Right next to the Presidential Palace there is a wonderful old cathedral and the buildings are Spanish colonial in style. The houses in the square are so stunning you can't help dreaming about buying one and renovating it.

You can find the full interview here

Panama

The most amazing engineering work in Central America has hidden for years the natural, cultural and historical landscapes of a country with so much to find out.

What started as a dream for emperor Carlos V and a nightmare for French engineer Ferdinand de Lesseps, became a reality thru the influence of US government in the beginning of the XX Century: the Panama Channel, a titanic engineering work, made possible to join two oceans, the Atlantic and the Pacific, after ten year of construction, 352 million dollars investment and 25.000 dead by malaria, the plague and yellow fever. When the steamer Ancón crossed the Channel in 1914, Panama became "the bridge of the world and the heart of the universe".

In spite of the pompous title, the thing is that the Channel has been for years a add for foreign investments and tourism, that has extended thru the capital and the Channel's basin, avoiding extraordinary places like the forests of Darién, the villages of the Kuna Indians or archipelagos like Bocas del Toro, tropical refuge of the Antillean culture.

Panama has drunk of many cultures: from the Spanish colonizers; from the French, North Americans, African and Chinese who came to construct the Channel; and more, from the Amerindian that inhabited the isthmus centuries before the arrival of Columbus.

To its cultural patrimony scattered all over the region we must add its fascinating nature: Panama means "abundance of fish, trees and butterflies" in native language. Their fifteen national parks and more then twenty protected areas are the home of more than a thousand species of butterflies, as well as of magnificent birds (the Panamanian forest welcomes in 967 species, more than all the set of species of the U.S.A., together Canada and Mexico), an important wild fauna and a tropical flora where they emphasize his 1,200 species of orchards.

Nature and urbanism coexist in this country like in no other. Even the Channel opens to passage through a forest inhabited by tamarind monkeys, jaguars, pumas and anteaters. The capital is surrounded by tropical forests, protected by two national parks whose leafy vegetation grows until the limits of the city. One of these parks, the one of Soberanía, occupies a vertical strip of flat earth and hills throughout the east margin of the Panama Channel. Its educative footpath more well-known is the Camino del Oleoducto, of great ornithological interest. At this same park, the footpath El Charco ends at a lake of crystalline waters. A stretch recovered of the old layout of the Camino de Cruces, historical footpath used by the Spaniards during the colonial time can also be crossed.

The list of Panamanian natural corners would give a book, although we will only emphasize here other two, next to the Soberanía National Park: the Altos de Campana, declared first national park of the country in 1966, and the Coiba National Park, in the Pacific, witch includes the small island of the same name and 38 smaller islands. It's formed by an extension of tropical forests and a marine perimeter with the second greater coral reef of the Pacific.

The years of American dominion are patent in the old military belt that fits the Channel and that is formed by bases, administrative offices, schools and residences that little by little are transformed in schools and hotels. This is the case of the Canopy Tower, erected in the edge of the Soberanía Natural Park. A good day of year 1963, in the heat of apogee of the Cold War, a North American strategist had the shining idea to install a radar in Panama to protect the Channel of a hypothetical missile coming from the distant Soviet Union or of the neighbouring island of Cuba. Thirty and five years later, instead of watching missiles, the Canopy Tower allows the observation of birds and instead of the military of the United States, the tower is occupied by Panamanians and tourist arrived from the most remote corners of the world. Wrapped literally by the forest and constructed on a hill, the tower has become a privileged lodge with six rooms and one library for students and enthusiasts of Ornithology.

Long before the Americans, the Spaniards disembarked in these latitudes and founded cities like Portobelo, in the coast. The steep mountains, the hardness of the climate and the impenetrable forest were considered natural conditions that favoured the defence of the city, reason why the first colonizers decided to end here the Camino Real, road that left from Panama La Vieja, uniting the two seas by land.

From Portobelo the Spanish galleons loaded with treasures weighed anchor, which made it object of desire by pirates and privateers. Sir Francis Drake, the most famous English buccaneer, sacked and destroyed the city. The same which would become his tomb shortly after, because they tell that its body rests in a lead coffin in the depths of the bay. But mainly this enclave makes honour to the name that Columbus gave him: "Puerto Bonito". With discreet decay and sincere hospitality, Portobelo offers to the visitor some of the more interesting colonial ruins of Panama, spotted by oxidized cannons and deteriorated constructions that yield before the advance of the forest. Declared Patrimony of the Humanity by UNESCO, it counts with a hundred houses during his time of maximum splendour, in addition to two churches, a hospital, some suburbs and defensive fortifications. Patrimony to consider is a house of customs from the XVI century - that lodges a modest museum -, the church that lodges the Cristo Negro.

More than half of almost the three million inhabitants of the country live in Panama City, the capital. In permanent evolution and change, this large city by itself writes a chapter of the History of the New World.

A History that begins in Panama La Vieja, eight kilometres from the present capital. Founded in 1519 by Pedro Aryan of Ávila, Diego de Almagro and Francisco Pizarro left from here to the conquest of the Inca Empire. They only remain the rest of the cathedral, the town hall and the real houses, of defensive cut - taking advantage of the affluence tourists, a craft market has been created in front of the ruins with the most representative objects of the country in souvenir format.

Panama La Vieja was an opulent, capital city, home of the government, Episcopal seat and heart of the American commerce. Another pirate, in this occasion Henry Morgan, sacked it and set it afire in repeated occasions. In the XVII century, the governor transferred it to what we know today as Casco Antiguo, in the San Felipe district. Literally. The city was transferred with all its religious orders, streets and avenues. And the result was a success: to take a walk by the Casco Antiguo is an encounter with the decay, History and the Bohemian.

The narrow paved streets, the forged iron balconies and the cornices of the Casco Antiguo evoke images of the glorious past of Panama as a commercial centre. A past not shamed by the ruthless course of the time and that, therefore, is pleasantly declining. Here nothing seems to go off key. So soon one contemplates the impressive gold altar of the cathedral of San Jose or the ruins of the convent of Santo Domingo, to march past before the rows of black vultures next to the Mercado Público.

Between these two cities, Panama La Vieja and the Casco Antiguo, rises the modern large city, with titanic towers and shining skyscrapers. The avenue Balboa, parallel to the Pacific Ocean, Punta Paitilla and the España Avenue, the capital financial centre, is the exponent of the contemporary Panama. In Bocas del Toro, exponent of the Antillean legacy of the country has in Island Columbus its epicentre. It is recommendable to spend a couple of days and to cross the different islands that serve refuge to numerous species of birds, with solitary beaches - Bluff Beach or Bocas del Drago -, that can only can be accessed by boat. A last recommendation: don't go away without knowing the animated night life.

Where to sleep
In Panama City, the Hotel Panama (Internet: www.elpanama.com), the first luxury hotel from the 50's. In the Channel, Gamboa Rainforest Resort (Internet: www.gamboaresort.com), a luxury complex surrounded by the forest. The Panama Channel Rainforest Canopy Tower (Internet: www.canopytower.com), one old control tower reconverted hotel and ideal for the observation of birds. Near Portobelo, Meliá Panama Canal (Internet: www.solmelia. com), five stars in a tropical landscape. In Bocas del Toro, the Acqua-Lodge Caracol (Island Caracol. Internet: www.puntacaracol.com), an idyllic complex of five wood cabins only accessible by boat.

Where to eat
In the capital, Tinaja Restaurant (Street 51-Bella Vista. Tel: 263 78 90) offers typical plates with folkloric dances. In Causeway, Alberto's (Tel: 507-314 1134), an Italian restaurant with a view of the city skyline.

Tierra del Fuego - Argentina

We settled on a three-week January visit -- midsummer in the Southern Hemisphere -- including a five-day foray to the Horn on a small, modern Chilean cruiser. It wasn't a square-rigger, but it would have to do if we were going to go together. With fair winds, we would see Cape Horn from its relatively protected eastern side, and with extra luck we might get to set foot on the island itself. Actually rounding the Horn? The cruise line's map showed a dash back up the eastern flank to the safety of the Beagle Channel. That, too, would have to do.

Weather records showed temperatures in the low 40s and high 30s and three to six inches of rain per month as normal for summer in Tierra del Fuego, the archipelago of about 74,000 square miles of mountainous islands at the continent's tip. We bought thermal underwear.

Cold rain greeted our arrival in Ushuaia, the capital of southern Argentina's Tierra del Fuego, where we were to pick up our little cruiser. E. Lucas Bridges, a son of the earliest settlers, called the place "The Uttermost Part of the Earth" in his fabulous 1947 book of that name, but this was just our jumping-off point. Cinder-block houses and gable-roofed buildings of corrugated metal marched up the green-gray mountain flanks to vanish in the mist above the sheltered harbor. At my first visit in 1977, a century after Bridges's father, Thomas, and other missionaries founded the place, it was still a gritty setting for about 2,000 hardy souls who would have been right at home on "Survivor." Tourists were so rare that my souvenir coasters all spelled the town's name wrong.

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Hotel Mocking Bird Hill, Jamaica

The Caribbean in winter is tempting but you do have to pick your hotel carefully if you want to avoid being dragged onto a rum-fuelled "pirate cruise" by Barry from the entertainment team. For a more relaxing time, I recommend Hotel Mocking Bird Hill in the north-east of Jamaica. It's a small, solar-powered 10-room hotel in the rainforest between the Blue Mountains and the coast.

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Jamaica

Arriving at Montego Bay airport brought back the memories of my own father's attempts to drum into me and my siblings the names of Jamaica's national heroes; names such as Paul Bogle, Nanny of the Maroons, Marcus Garvey, Samuel Sharpe and, of course, Mary Seacole. Where better to start than in this tourist hotspot on the north-west coast?

Here, beyond the smart hotels and gift shops, you'll find the cobble-stoned Sam Sharpe Square. Sharpe, a slave leader, seemed particularly relevant to our visit, since next year marks the bicentenary of the abolition of the transportation of slaves from Africa to the New World - although it would be another 26 years before Britain completely abolished slavery.

This was just the place to relate something of the past to my daughter for here stands a brick building once called "the Cage", a lock-up for runaway slaves and drunken seamen, and four large sculptures of slaves.

"Is that Mary Seacole?" asked my daughter, pointing to the sculptures.

"No, that's Sam Sharpe with some other slaves," I explained, trawling through my memories of my father's history lectures. "He was born in 1801 in Jamaica and was a slave throughout his life though he became an educated man. It was because of his education that he could read the Bible. He was highly respected by his fellow slaves and became well known as a deacon at the Burcell Baptist Church in Montego Bay, where he preached about Christianity and freedom."

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Mexican Days: Journeys Into the Heart of Mexico By Tony Cohan

For San Miguel de Allende, a 16th-century colonial town northwest of Mexico City, has, over the years, indeed been overrun. We find it saturated with outsiders at the beginning of Tony Cohan's travelogue "Mexican Days," as the writer, an American who has made his home in the town for many years, sits on a bench in the central plaza, watching the "Japanese tourists with digital cameras" and the "oversize gringos in Bermuda shorts lacing the air with English."
Yes, San Miguel can seem like "a paradise," a "site of fiestas and miracles, ecstatic religion and fiery revolt, unearthly beauty and curative air -- a place for dreamers and artists." But paradises are easily spoiled.
To make matters worse, a film crew has come to San Miguel, along with such actors as Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek and Johnny Depp, to make a picture called "Once Upon a Time in Mexico." With a horde of Hollywood types essentially taking over the town, Mr. Cohan seems ready to cast himself out of paradise. When a magazine editor calls, asking him if he'd like to journey around Mexico for an extensive travel piece, it doesn't take him long to flee.
Thus begins what is mostly an engaging travel narrative. Mr. Cohan is a great observer of detail, whether in the smog-choked streets of Mexico City or at a haunting resort in the Mayan jungle or among the urban ruins of the old silver city of Guanajuato.

You can find the full review here

Fernando de Noronha - Brazil

We are on a boat dive off the archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, about 345 kilometres north-east of mainland Brazil. Its 21 islets are tips of a volcano that has been extinct for about 20,000 years, now a pristine eco-sanctuary that offers the best diving in Brazil.

At three degrees south of the equator, the water is always warm, visibility often stretches to 30 metres and marine life is diverse, from sponges and sea urchins to barracuda, rays and moray eels.

Fernando de Noronha's main island is 10 kilometres long and home to about 3000 people (mostly marine park workers, pousada (small hotel) owners and tourist guides), but its most famous residents are the spinner dolphins, one of the reasons UNESCO declared the archipelago a World Heritage Site in 2001. About 2000 dolphins hang out in the Bahia dos Golfhinos, arriving at dawn to rest after a night hunting in the open sea.

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Punta del Este, Uruguay

'Punta' is the only place in the world worth spending the week between Christmas and New Year's Day." Bold words from the fall issue of Town Country Travel . What is "Punta," anyway? Its full name is Punta del Este, Uruguay, and it's "the preferred summer vacation spot for the Latin American elite." Expensive by South American standards, it nonetheless represents a bargain for those used to European exchange rates. St. Tropez at Ocean City prices, if you will.

Beaches there are brava (rough and dramatic) on the ocean side and mansa (calm-watered) on the river side. The celebrity action (Leonardo DiCaprio has been spotted) is a short drive up the coast in La Barra and Jose Ignacio. But the best views are from Casapueblo, the museum, atelier and Dr. Seuss-ish "habitable sculpture" of artist Carlos Páez Vilaró on the Rio de la Plata.

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Argentina's outlaw 'saint'

Luis Adelardo Dominguez looks uncomfortable. Smartly dressed in tan corduroy slacks and a plaid shirt, a cell phone neatly holstered at his hip, he kneels awkwardly to pray beside a dusty roadside in Corrientes, an agricultural province near Argentina's border with Paraguay.
After a four-year job search, Mr. Dominguez, a well-educated corporate manager from Buenos Aires, finally has found new employment. He has come to Corrientes to light a candle to mark his good fortune, pray and thank Antonio "Gauchito" Gil, his favorite saint.
Gauchito Gil is no saint recognized by the Roman Catholic Church. An itinerant Argentine cowboy and outlaw born in obscurity in the late 1840s, Gil nevertheless is revered as a kind of South American Robin Hood and is widely credited by Argentina's rural poor to have performed a miracle with his last breath.
"I wanted to work because I still felt useful," says Mr. Dominguez, 60, tears of emotion welling in his eyes. "I would have done anything -- except kill, rob or lose my dignity. I planned to come and visit Gauchito Gil's shrine to ask his help.

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Costa Rica's Osa Peninsula

It's a world without walls, an endless, noisy darkness. With nothing but mosquito nets to ward off the shrieking, roaring wildlife, I have settled my three young children to bed on their first night in the Costa Rican jungle. The concept of an open panorama of steamy rainforest meets raging Pacific was hugely appealing from the security of our four-walled home thousands of miles from this black confusion of cries, thuds and growling. The bamboo-hewn bedrooms of our base for the next two weeks have storm shutters, but the living areas have no choice but to merge with the jungle beyond.

A vista of almond trees crowded with scarlet macaws and the surf of the ocean behind persuaded the grown-up tenants of Casa Bambu to leave the room exposed to the elements at night with the reward of a lilac and orange dawn signalling an end to our nocturnal terrors. As more experienced travellers will surely testify, a first night in the jungle is always the worst. By the time you watch the sun set for a second time, the deafening call of the howler monkey no longer conjures images of a furious lion in the bed next to you, but reminds you of the handsome family that swung through the garden's mango trees earlier that day. The dark-furred howlers were just one of the marauding gangs that crashed through the trees around our bamboo house, chucking star fruit and bananas at the noisier monkeys playing Frisbee in the garden below.

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Whale Watching in Patagonia - Argentina

On a small boat floating in the beautifully still and clear Atlantic water off the coast of Argentine Patagonia, we were instantly circled by three 50-foot whales. Some drew so close we could feel the spray as they snorted loudly from their blowholes, as if by way of a friendly, if a little soggy, greeting.

Designated an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999 and recognised the world over for its remarkable marine life, the Peninsula Valdés in the Chubut province of Argentina is an ecologist's dream. The Southern Right Whales come to the sheltered bay of the Golfo Nuevo between June and early December to mate and raise their calves before heading further South in search of food. José Luis told us there was an estimated population of 600 whales in the Gulf during this period.

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Colombia

In Colombia, the only South American country with coasts on both the Pacific and the Caribbean, the Andes chain splits into three massive ranges and, after flattening out for a while, sprouts up again as the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, the highest coastal mountain range in the world. Deserts, savannas, a fair chunk of the Amazon, and thick rain-drenched jungles make up the rest of the terrain. Colombia’s fauna ranges from the keen-sighted praying mantis to the rare spectacled bear and includes as many, if not more, species of birds than Europe and North America combined. Atmospheres of ancient Amerindian myth, shamanic magic, Catholic devotion and African mysticism pervade the entire nation.

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Mexico for babys

It shouldn't be that difficult finding somewhere dry and hot for a winter break with a baby in tow, yet most travel agents I called were surprisingly unresponsive and only too eager to wrangle me into a kids' club hotel. Inept recommendations included somewhere blistering, without air-conditioning (how would sir like the baby cooked?); a "charming cliff-top hotel perched on a cascade of steps" (sounds like fun with the pram); and my favourite, "How about a free sunhat for your baby?" In Borders, I discovered just how far down the pecking order I had dropped. Guidebooks for pet owners outnumbered those for parents three to one.

And then it hit me. Warm climate, warm people - why not head for Latin America? An inspired idea or so it seemed until, at Mexico City Airport, the security official started tut-tutting in front of us and insisted on bringing over his colleague. Was there a problem? No. It was simply to let him take a peek at la preciosa. Imagine that happening at Gatwick.

Our first stop was Morelia, a 16th-century colonial city that feels like it has been dozing ever since. The centro historico is built in a Baroque style (called Plateresque, apparently) around the tree-filled Plaza de Armas square dominated by an imposing cathedral and flanked by rows of shoeshine stalls down one side and gazpacho stands selling fruit cocktails (or cócteles energicos) along the other.

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Iguaçu Falls on the Argentina-Brazil border

When we reached the elegant Hotel Tropical das Cataratas early one Saturday afternoon last fall, its charming pink facade was shrouded in a thick, soupy fog. More sensible travelers might have settled into the leather sofas in front of the Belvedere Room fireplace and waited out the weather with a tumbler of Scotch. I have to admit that was tempting.

But my two friends and I were on a very tight schedule; we had a long weekend, less than 80 hours, in South America. We couldn't let bad weather stop us.

We scrambled across the road to the edge of a cliff high above the Rio Iguaçu, squinted into the misty curtain and prepared to be dazzled, like the first European explorers in 1541, by the majesty of Iguaçu Falls.

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The Argentine Pampas

With all of Buenos Aires's chic shops and tango parlors and late-night steakhouses, a city visit is not enough to grasp this country, the size of the United States east of the Mississippi. For that, one must head to the pampas, the flat prairie of fertile topsoil 12 feet deep that stretches west without a hill to the base of the Andes, and to Patagonia, the windblown sheep country to the south. Fortunately, more than 500 estancias -- large traditional working ranches -- have opened their doors to tourists nationwide for this very purpose.

Most estancias convey some of Argentina's cultural essence -- rustic pioneer or gaucho (classic Argentine cowboy) history and food, with horseback riding, hiking, swimming, fishing, bird-watching and the chance to watch or help out in cattle or sheep-herding work (roundups, branding, shearing, calf-roping). Some make it easy to see why "rich as an Argentine" used to be a common phrase: They specialize in breeding polo ponies or Arabian horses for racing. Other estancias in Patagonia have become full-service ski resorts or base camps for mountaineers planning climbs of famous Andean peaks.

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Tobago

Tobago is surrounded by some of the richest and most colourful reefs in the Caribbean, with 40 different kinds of coral and more than 600 species of fish. Where we were, at Buccoo, the water is so shallow that the only way to get a close look without damaging the coral is from a boat. A marine park since 1973, the bay has five reef flats containing elkhorn, brain, starlet and star corals, beautiful in their own right, but also home to manta rays, reef sharks and more brightly coloured fish than the entire cast of Finding Nemo.

By the time we reached Nylon Bay the water was calmer - and, thankfully, so was my churning stomach. The sandbar was given its name after a honeymooning Princess Margaret quipped that the water was as clear as her stockings. As well as offering an opportunity to cool off in the shallow waters, the bay is also the place to indulge in a DIY skincare routine - the seabed mud is said to have rejuvenating properties.

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La Rural, the annual Argentine Rural Society Fair in Buenos Aires

Plesantly tepid water poured down Señor Sol's regal head, washing away a rich lather of shampoo. An outsized blower dried his auburn hair into crisp curls. His pedicure created a sheen. There was a hint of a smile on his sensuous pink lips. Ah, the life of a young Hereford stud ... especially on championship eve at La Rural, the annual Argentine Rural Society Fair in Buenos Aires.

Jorge Luis Ayala waits his turn to wash his bull. More Photos »
Señor Sol is one of 4,000 gorgeous breeders — cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, horses and poultry — that are on display for the two winter weeks straddling July and August at the 50-square-block fair grounds in Palermo, the city's wealthiest neighborhood. La Rural is also an opportunity for upper-crust ranchers and farmers — called estancieros — to gather at what has been the country's great annual social event ever since it started 120 years ago.

There are livestock fairs all over the world from Fort Worth to Paris, but nothing quite compares to the pageantry, historical magnitude and pure fun of La Rural, which attracts more than a million spectators — Argentines and foreigners — many of whom crowd the viewing stands to watch the judging of the champions.


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Paraguay

You can tell a lot about a country from its national heroes. In Paraguay they revere Francisco Solano Lopez, whose statue still stands in the centre of the capital, Asuncion. Lopez was a tyrant, who ruled Paraguay in succession to his father from 1862 to 1870. He was also a paranoid megalomaniac, who murdered members of his own family on suspicion of plotting against him, waged a disastrous five-year war against Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay in which three-quarters (yes, three-quarters) of his people died, and who kept as his mistress an Irish gold-digger called Eliza Lynch, notorious for parading on the battlefield in the latest imported Paris fashions while the flower of Paraguayan manhood starved beside her. As a nation, it seems to be a good definition of the word "forlorn".

This benighted nation has an unenviable reputation: the most corrupt country in South America; the smuggling and counterfeiting capital of the continent; a state burdened by almost 200 years of dictatorship - a yoke only thrown off in 1989. Yet because Paraguay is so far off the beaten track, it is a good place to find the real spirit of South America. The typical small town in Paraguay is a montage of peeling paintwork, dusty streets and weatherworn faces with gently creased smiles. It feels like the Wild West but with no imminent danger of anything much happening.

This land-locked nation is a sleepy backwater where, it is said, some of the pale-skinned locals are descended from Nazi war criminals. It is a country of exiles. Graham Greene loved it. He lived and wrote at the Hotel Gran del Paraguay in Asuncion, a fading colonial relic which manages the undemanding achievement of having the best restaurant in Paraguay. Among the exiles are 10,000 Mennonites. The men wear black and the women are clothed from head to toe, their pale faces scorched pink by the harsh sun. Conversation is in the throaty burble of Platdeutsch (low German), and the local paper is named Aktuelle Rundschau.

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Maracaibo - Venezuela

At the Western Venezuelan end, there is Maracaibo capital of the Zulia State, second only to Caracas and one of the country's top oil centres. It is on the coast of the lake named after the city and discovered on August 24th 1499, by Alonso de Ojeda a sailor of Columbus' crew in his second trip to America.

The city was founded three times. First in 1529 by the German Ambrosio Alfinger, who named it Maracaibo or Villa de Maracaibo. The lack of activity in the zone made Nicolas de Federman evacuate the village in 1535 and move its population to Cabo de la Vela nearby Coro. A second attempt by Captain Alonso Pacheco turned into failure. The third and definite foundation of the city, occurs in 1574 when Captain Pedro Maldonado, under Governor Diego de Mazariego', command establishes the village with the name of Nueva Zamora de Maracaibo to honour Mazariego's place of birth, Zamora in Spain. Since its definite foundation the town began to develop as a whole.

The name Maracaibo comes from the brave Cacique (Indian Chief) Mara a young native who valiantly resisted the Germans and died fighting them. It is said that when Mara fell, the Indians shouted "Mara cayo !!" (Mara fell !!), thus originating the city name. Other historians say that the first name of this land in Indian language was "Maara-iwo" meaning "Place where serpents abound".

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Places to Visit in Buenos Aires - Argentina

"Buenos Aires City Info" has a very nice page including the major monuments of Buenos Aires here.

Edward Albee Travels to Easter Island

This tiny speck of South Pacific lava can be reached by boat, of course. That's how the Polynesians got there around A.D. 700, but it's a long, long trip by water. It's a long, long trip from anywhere by any means, but is it worth it? As they say in certain parts of our Middle West — "You bet!"

It took me 50 years to get there from the time I first heard of it. I'm not certain there was any semi-sensible way to get there (from anywhere) back then, but it was on my list, along with Egypt, the Aztec and Mayan cultures, Ayutthaya (the old capital of Siam, sacked by the Burmese in the 18th century), the Roman cities of Sabratha and Leptis Magna on the Libyan coast and other essential destinations. Now that Libya is open to us and has made available the prehistoric painted and carved art of the Fezzan Cliffs, I'll get there, having accomplished the others.

Way before the movie "Planet of the Apes" showed us the Statue of Liberty half buried in the sand, I have felt the need to experience cultures which grew, fell into decadence and vanished. These are probably cautionary tales even beyond their aesthetic marvel.

Why did Easter Island take so long to accomplish even after it was feasible? Well, people looked at me as if I was crazy: "You're going where!?" "You're kidding!" "For a couple of statues!?" I got busier and busier as the years went on, and so I put Easter Island on my "someday" list, along with the Gobi Desert and Antarctica (I know, that last one has gotten easy).

As my 78th birthday approached (three months after my 77th, it seemed), it occurred to me that unless I was planning to ask St. Peter to be my travel agent I'd better get cracking. I found an architect friend who wanted to go with me, and it was arranged, and we went. Was it worth it? As I wrote a couple of paragraphs back, "You bet!"

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Madagascar

Land of contrasts, multi-faced, magic and mysterious, from Southern deserts to the High Lands' hills, the amateur of adventures and discovery will find it uneasy to chose. Speleology, climbing, canoeing,
rafting, bike, paragliding and other adventure sports, can be practised on this huge and spectacular playground, with tropical colours and in a cinemascope's atmosphere and decor style.

An expedition in Madagascar is unforgettable ! Apart from some classical tours, everything is to be done.
If there has been speleology since the beginning of the colonization, games on living waters and on the rocks only begin to gather adepts. We must aknowledge that the ground is rather good for such activities.

Varied landscapes and climates, generally welcoming people.

In fact, the main problem is logistics ! The trails are often in a disastrous condition and a long-distance trek must include a procession of porters, carts heavily loaded with equipment, powerful 4-wheel drive vehicles and a good knowledge of the ground. Each tour takes quickly the appearances of an expedition, but it is the price to discover fantastic spots. Launching new routes - pleasure getting too unusual in Europe, has something exciting, unique.

To turn up in villages where they have forgotten the last visit of a «Mompera Vazaha» (European priest), like extra-earthlings, arousing fear and curiosity, then after the «fomba» (tradition), have a drink, between men from different cultures, it is wonderful.

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Fortaleza - Brazil

The name Fortaleza means "Fortress". The first building in the what is called today Fortaleza was the Fortress Schoonenborch, built in 1649 by the Dutch, who at the time had invaded and were occupying cities in the Brazilian northeast, such as Recife and Natal. After the Dutch were expelled, the city changed name a few times, until settling with Fortaleza.

Two words define the capital of Ceará State: sun and party. Sun is absolute on 25 kilometers of beaches; Fortaleza is the Brazilian coastal city with most sunny days throughout the year. Party is the permanent state of spirit of the people and the city. Forró, typical musical style on the region of northeast, is on the people's blood, on the beaches, on the bars, on the restaurants, on the hotels, in the dance clubs, on the streets of Fortaleza.

If people's happiness and hospitality and the cultural animation are characteristics that make people love Fortaleza at the first sight, other elements also contribute to include the city on the required route of the visitor on Brazil's Northeast. Modern capital, it has become one of the preferred beach of Brazilian and Latin-American visitors due to the combination of a privileged nature with an excellent infra-structure, sophisticated tourist equipments, good reception and services. Besides, the government of Ceará is fully aware of the importance of tourism in the local economy, and the State is the one which makes most investments in marketing to attract tourists from Brazil and abroad.

Place of lobsters, Fortaleza has luxury hotels, resorts, excellent restaurants and bars, diversified commerce and an intense nightlife ensuring the best time to the visitors. Because of all these factors, each day more and more tourists are walking by the sidewalks on Meireles beach with shorts, slippers and colorful shirts, appreciating the poetic movement of the raftings (called, in Portuguese, jangadas). The capital of Ceará possesses one of the largest and best equipped networks of hotels and restaurants in the North East Region of Brazil. The Jangada is a kind of symbol of the city and lobster is one of its most typical dishes. The city has a hot climate and affords a warm reception to visitors, attracted mainly by the beauty of its beaches. Beach Park at Ponta das Dunas is the largest water park in Brazil, offering also one of the best hotel resorts in Brazil.

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Puerto Vallarta - Mexico

On the beautiful Mexican Pacific Coast, where the state of Nayarit joins the state of Jalisco, the home of tequila, mariachi music, famous artists, movie sets, and stunning handicrafts, lies Puerto Vallarta, one of the most popular tropical destinations in the world.

Located about halfway down the Pacific coast of Mexico, it is about a four hour drive to Guadalajara (45 min. by air), about 1,000 miles (driving) to Mexico City. San Cristóbal, in the southern state of Chiapas, is almost 2,000 miles away; and it is a little more than 2,000 miles to the border with Guatemala. From Puerto Vallarta to the US border is about 1,275 miles to Nogales and roughly 1,760 miles to Tijuana traveling by vehicle. Vallarta can be reached by land through Federal Highway 200, by sea, or by air.

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A Mountaineering Expedition on Pico de Orizaba - Mexico

Opting out on the Mexico City smog, from Denver we flew into the Caribbean port town of Vera Cruz. This would allow us, we reasoned, to enjoy a happy margarita on the beach after the climb. The day after we arrived was spent piecing together bus schedules from the coast up into the Cordillera de Anahuac and the tiny town of Tlachichuca. There were no direct buses to Tlachichuca, so the day was spent dragging our expedition duffels from bus to bus, heaving them in and out of various taxis, and struggling though many desperate conversations with bus personnel about times, schedules and routes. I had forgotten that climbing the volcano was actually only PART of the adventure.

Venturing across Mexico by local buses isn't the easiest or safest way to go, but it does expose you to the amazing people and reality of small town life in Latin America. Along the way, the geography changed from the humid coastal lowlands and Pacific oil palms to the dry and rugged cordillera. When we got to the Reyes compound in Tlachichuca, it was almost 9 pm and we were grimy from a day spent wading through Mexico's rural bus system. We settled with Reyes at the office of the hostel, where he uttered his famous line, and were set up with a few nights lodging and transport up and back from the volcano.

Other people at the Reyes had just come back from the mountain and sat around on couches in front of a pot-bellied stove staring at the wall across the room. They were exhausted and sunburned, their faces all red and windblown. A few quick conversations revealed that only about half the group made the summit in spite of the good weather. These also revealed that three Russians had died on Orizaba just the week before in a fall on the glacier. There was the scared story of one climber who got to 17,000 feet and blacked out, having to be helped down the mountain to the base of the glacier roped to another climber.

The ones who made it were rather upbeat about the whole thing, but everyone was so tired that little of this enthusiasm shone through. After dinner one of Reyes' staff mountain guides held a fascinating slide show on climbs in South America and Nepal. But by the end of it half the people were fast asleep on the couches. We walked around the place briefly after hearing the stories, letting everything sink in.

Reyes runs a slick service out of Tlachichuca. He has an old soap factory that he has converted into a climbers' hostel. It occupies half of a 'chuca' city block and has an enclosed wall that gives it the feel of a "compound." Various implements of machinery adorn the main building such as the huge oak mixing vats for the lard and lye, belt-driven mixer paddles and the vast old furnace. In the main building there is a gear room and a few couches around a pot belly stove.

Everywhere people have posted flags, business cards and stickers from mountaineering clubs all over the world. A rack room upstairs holds 20 bunk beds with woolen blankets. In the courtyard outside there is a covered garage which houses three Dodge Power Wagons, huge and beefy 4WD vehicles for taking climbers up the road to Piedra Grande, the base camp for the summit attempts. 1952 and 1962 models, they have been fully restored and are probably the most reliable transport to Piedra Grande. We fell asleep that first night in the rack room listening to the snores of the other climbers. Outside, a nearly humorous cacophony of dogs, roosters, burros and car horns continued all night.

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Mazatlan - Mexico

The nickname which has been given to Mazatlán... "Pearl of the Pacific", has nothing to do with pearls, it is a gracious compliment to this very friendly Pacific resort city. Mazatlán is a very interesting city and embraces tourism with a zest, but Mazatlán is more than just a resort. Mazatlán could survive just fine without tourism. The tourism industry in Mazatlán is not the most important item on this city's agenda. This translates to a more kicked back attitude toward tourism and this can be a big plus to tourists. Much of the hype and constant pressure from hotels, timeshare companies and the tourist sector in general for the tourism dollar is more sedate here. This equates to a more relaxed vacation to the average tourist.

Mazatlán is home to the Pacifico brewery, which makes one of Mexico's most popular beers. The local shrimp fleet is the largest in Mexico, there is a large commercial fishing fleet as well and Mazatlán is also home to numerous other industries. If you stay where most tourists stay, Zona Dorada, you would never know Mazatlán was such an industrious city. So Mazatlán is a little different than most resorts. Mazatlán is also a city with an incredible history.

When you visit Mazatlán, you should prepare yourself for an active vacation. Mazatlán has great beaches, many attractions, a variety of interesting historical sites and many interesting monuments spread out all over the city. Just visiting the monuments and statues could take up an entire day. Of course, if all you want to do is enjoy the surf and sun, this is OK too. The beach and the water activities associated with resort vacations is what vacations are all about for many travelers. Mazatlán offers you many different choices for your vacation, kicked back - full relaxation, active - adventurous, ecological - exploratory. You may come to Mazatlán to relax but the lure of exploration is a constant possibility if you happen to venture very far away from your hotel.

Mazatlán has been known for years to big game fisherman worldwide for the excellent sport fishing here, as evidenced by the number of sportfishing fleets. Mazatlán is also a base for nearby freshwater bass fishing tours. Excellent Dove, Duck and Quail hunting is readily available in the outlying areas.

Mazatlán is home to one of the worlds greatest parties, Carnival. Mazatlán during Carnival is an unforgettable experience. Carnival, usually the last week in February or the first part of March, is a 100 year old Mazatlán tradition. The expertise that goes into the planning of this event is evident everywhere during Carnival. This is truly one of the great celebrations in the world. If you wish to visit Mazatlán during Carnival you should make your reservations well in advance as this giant party is no secret among the Mexicans and savvy travelers.

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Machu Picchu - Peru

Modern visitors wanting a visceral taste of Machu Picchu's impregnability can hike 20 minutes past the city to a sheer granite cliff face. Public access beyond this point is prohibited, but the wooden barricade adorned with a prohibido el paso sign is only for the benefit of the insane. From here the trail threads its way down across the precipitous cliff face on a narrow ledge. The sight makes your skin crawl. Halfway across, stretched over thin air, is a large gap spanned by a few logs that Inca guards once slid back and forth as a "drawbridge" to control access. An invading army stood no chance.

But how did a civilization with no iron tools and no wheel manage to chisel and move huge 15-ton blocks along this Andean ridge? Large teams of men apparently dragged the boulders from nearby quarries, positioning them atop building walls via earthen ramps. Half-worked boulders at the small quarry inside Machu Picchu still bear notches where bronze chisels were inserted into cracks. Experts believe heat was then applied to help split boulders. The building blocks were sculpted to fit one another precisely, without mortar—no small task considering how many times the massive blocks had to be moved to get the right fit. Today, even after centuries of earthquakes and weather, you can't slip a razor blade between the stones of some walls.

Archeologists speculate Machu Picchu was built in the 1400s as more than simply a citadel or fortress. Its alignment with sacred Inca mountains, rivers and astronomical points suggests agreement with celestial and terrestrial deities was at least as important as inaccessibility from invaders.

A short walk up the pyramidal mount called Intihuatana in the center of Machu Picchu gives visitors a vivid sense of the city's spiritual magnetism. At the top is a man-sized obelisk. It's said that Inca priests "lassoed" the sun to the obelisk at each winter solstice so it couldn't continue its northward retreat and leave them in darkness. In Quechuan, the language of the Incas, Intihuatana is interpreted by some to mean "hitching post of the sun."

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Hotel Lagoa e Mar - Bahia - Brazil

Praia de Jauá, the beach of Jauá, is situated north of Salvador da Bahia at the 'Estrada do Coco' and is „one of the most beautiful beaches in Brazil“ (magazine GEO, Spain), with its mile long white sandy beaches. At some parts reefs form natural pools when the tide is out. The southern beaches are almost deserted. In Jauá itself there are even more restaurants, bars, supermarkets and other shopping facilities and visitors can sample a host of Bahian food and drinks in any of the more than forty beach pavilions.

Distances from the hotel: Beach 350 m; Salvador Airport 17 km (app. 20 min by car); Pelourinho - Historic Centre of Salvador 40 km (app. 45 min by car). There is a regular busservice between Jauá and Salvador and some neighbour villages (not at night).

The Hotel Lagoa e Mar is situated in a tropical garden on the banks of a natural lake and consists of twelve spacious circular bungalows (app. 40 m²). The complex has a swimming pool with a separate pool for small children, sun terrace (with bedchairs and sunshades), bar with reading-room, playground and a restaurant.

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Salvador da Bahia - Brazil

Bahia's capital of Salvador (the name of the city was "Bahia" until it was changed by officious meddlers at the beginning of the twentieth century) sits on a spit of land sticking south south-west into the Atlantic Ocean. And although it sits well within the tropics at a southern latitude of thirteen degrees, it receives a refreshing sea-breeze which seldom falters until the wee hours of the morning when things have generally cooled off anyway. The city sits on a huge bay, a Baia de Todos os Santos (the Bay of All Saints), and the topography is predominently hill and valley.

And it's this rugged geography which is so disorienting to people new to the city. Neighborhoods (bairros) tend to be built on the heights, with thoroughfares twisting around and between. Streets zigzag and change names, and a lot of them are one-way, necessitating roundabout ways of arriving at any given destination. It can take a long time to catch on, but by the same token it can add even more of an element of mystery to the place.

One of the principal characteristics of the city is the outgoingness of the people. People talk to strangers here, are friendly to them. People are not divided by that initial suspicion of strangers that marks so many other places, at least as far as where sociability is concerned. It's easy to meet people.

But there's another characteristic which often takes first-time visitors to Salvador by surprise: I'm referring to the city's urbanscape, its architecture, building and home styles. Colonial Pelourinho was built while Bahia was the economic powerhouse of South America, and many of the buildings are splendid. Most of the rest of Salvador was built on a shoestring, and the results range from the unpainted claybrick shacks of the poor to the reinforced concrete buildings one sees everywhere (usually in need of a painting), to the more expensive modern and generally undistinguished apartment towers found in the middle and upper-middle class neighborhoods. People expecting leafy tropical bungalows may be disappointed. This is an urban, third-world city, with plenty of crowds and traffic jams. It does, however, retain its renowned Bahian soul, and tropical serenity (along with those leafy tropical bungalows) is very close at hand.

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