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.

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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.

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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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