South American Vacation Destinations

Cuba is a fascinating place to visit because it is almost frozen in time due to the difficult political situation over the last few decades. It is relatively easy to visit from most of the world, with the obvious exception of citizens of the USA for whom there have been major restrictions.

The famous sights of huge 1950s American cars and colonial architecture of Havana are mixed with the obvious poverty, but it still retains a vibrant musical culture. There are many tourist beach resorts in Cuba, popular with divers, but for a real cultural trip the smaller cities of Cienfuegos and Trinidad are an excellent place to visit.

Please follow this link for my Cuba article

Tourists go to Rio for Carnival. Many Brazilians go to Salvador. It is a great carnival city in Brazil.

Salvador, in the state of Bahia, north east Brazil (or Sao Salvador da Baía de Todos os Santos as it was named in the past) was the first colonial capital city of Brazil and, although power shifted to Rio de Janeiro in the late eighteenth century, then to Brasilia in 1960, it retains much of it's past grandeur and colonial architecture. One of the main reasons to come here, however, is the wonderful mix of cultural influences that make the cuisine, music and lifestyle here so different even to other parts of Brazil. The population of over three million, consists mainly of people with African origins descended from slaves, although there have been many other strong influences through Salvador's history. Salvador is also famous for it's carnival and street parties.

See the full article about Salvador here

Mexico is a fascinating country, with a huge variety of cultural things to see and do and an amazing history. There are a lot of ancient ruins in a good state of repair, some set in wonderful jungle settings.

A few years ago I went on a cultural tour of Mexico, visiting Mexico City, Merida, Chichen Itza, Uxmal, Oaxaca, Palenque and Monte Alban, using planes and busses and this article is a review of the places to visit in this interesting country.

Read Full review about Mexico here

And please see the full Photo Gallery Here...

Iguacu (or Iguazu) waterfalls are some of the most impressive in the world, not the biggest, widest nor tallest waterfall, but 275 separate waterfalls spread over a three-kilometre crescent between Argentina and Brazil. Most of the falls are in Argentina, but the best views are from the Brazilian side.

While on vacation in Brazil, after a wonderful few days in Rio de Janeiro and before heading into the The Amazon Jungle and Salavador (The Carnival City) I spent a few days at Iguacu, staying at the wonderful Tropical Das Cataratas Hotel.

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The Amazon and Rio Negro (The Black River) in Northern Brazil are wonderful places for a vacation. It is possible to stay in the jungle in a floating hotel, near the confluence of Amazon and Rio Negro or in the nearby city, Manaus the gateway to the Amazon.

There is plenty to see and do in the jungle including piranha fishing, jungle-trekking and visiting the small fishing village communities. There are also rare pink fresh water dolphins and caiman (alligators) to see.

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Machu Picchu in Peru is one of those views that you just have to see once in your life. Everyone has seen the classic photo, always apparently taken from exactly the same place on the descent down a mountain towards the ancient site. My trip there, however, was rather eventful and almost a disaster, but I have very fond memories despite something going wrong at almost every stage.

This article is about my trip and some travel advice for Peru and the Inca Trail from Cusco (or Cuzco) to Machu Picchu.



Read full article here