The Aysen region is one of the great undiscovered destinations of Chilean Patagonia.
Here you will find the world renowned white-water of the Futaleufu river, the marble caves on Lake General Carrera, the San Rafael Glacier, the Quelat Hanging Glacier and stunning scenery.
This part of the country is the least densely populated, so if you want to get away from the crowds this is the place to come.
Access has always been difficult to the region – the principal airport Balmaceda and it was only opened up less than 30 years ago, with the construction of the Austral Road from north to south.
Bariloche is the jewel in Argentina’s Lake District Crown.
Beautiful mountains, forests and lakes make this area perfect for anyone who likes the outdoors.
You can kayak, bike and hike around the stunning scenery of Nahuel Huapi National park.
Or perhaps hike to amazing viewpoints with panoramas over a geographically stunning area of great beauty.
Bariloche also offers the Cruce Andino Lake Crossing into Chile. The best time to visit the area is October-April.
The central coast is a rugged coastline very reminiscent of California – here you will find a string of small fishing coves, holiday towns and cities.
The ramshackle city of Valparaiso, with its colourful houses perched on the hills overlooking the bay, is a cultural icon, with its Museum home of Pablo Neruda, the Chilean Nobel prize-winning poet.
The coastal town of Zapallar is a great place to get away from it all and recharge the batteries.
The Humboldt current means cold water temperatures and currents that are not conducive to sea swimming, but does provide some of the best seafood in the world.
There are plenty of seabirds, including pelicans, and seals as well as sea lions.
The Paraguayan Chaco is a semi-arid, sparsely populated area in Northern Paraguay, and is a rich ecosystem.
The local fauna includes jaguar, ocelot, tapir and giant armadillo and many more species of animals and birds.
Apart from the indigenous peoples, this area has various Mennonite settlements.
Among them is Filadelfia, founded in the early 20th Century and whose inhabitants still live their lives according to their beliefs, and are run by large cooperatives.
Chaco make for a fascinating visit.
The Chapada Diamantina is a National Park in the interior of the state of Bahia in North Eastern Brazil.
It covers an area larger than that of the Netherlands and is a series of flat-topped mountains interlinked by forested valleys, rivers, waterfalls and swimming holes.
The park can be explored on day trips from Lençois or on several day trekking itineraries.
The rainy season is December to March and a great time to see the waterfalls.
If you want to beat the crowds then go in April / May or August to October.
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W. Kyle, USA. 4-day Inca Trail trek, Cusco and Sacred Valley, April 2025 Food was awesome, at our Cusco hotel and on the Inca trail. There were so many highlights: the way our guide explained in great detail about all the birds, plants (especially all the different orchids), in addition to his knowledge on all the ancient historical sites was quite amazing. It made the trail more like an adventure, instead of a hike. All of the people at the hotel in Cusco were very helpful, especially Kevin, who brought oxygen to my room Saturday morning when I was still having issues adjusting to the high altitude in Cusco. The other tour guides, Eddie on the walking tour of Cusco, and Mateo, who did the Sacred Valley tour were good. Andean Trails was recommended by Responsible Travel, my first contact for this adventure.
W. Kyle » 4-Day Inca Trail Hike To Machu Picchu, Peru
D. Joselow and family, USA. Land-based Galapagos holiday, April 2025 The accommodations were great - clean, comfortable, and well located. The food was good, especially the farm lunches. We also really enjoyed the meals on the boats. The overall organization of the trip was terrific. We were a big group and everything ran as expected. We could not have felt better taken care of. Everyone was very kind and very gracious. Honestly, the entire trip was exceptional. We definitely loved the wild life, on land and on/in the water. Learning the history was also great. The Interpretation Center on St Cristóbal was small but very informative. We also loved our boat trips - Kicker Rock, Española,Tuneles. Guide Maritza is a treasure. She has great energy and a clear passion for the place. She was patient and good humored, exceptionally hard working and incredibly knowledgeable. We were told she was a last minute substitute. We sure got lucky. We didn’t know we were going to have our own private guide for the entire time. That actually made the trip and I would recommend this to anyone traveling to Galapagos. The boat crews on St Cristóbal and Isabela were kind and funny and thoughtful. We had a blast spotting dolphins and whales and other creatures. The crew members were always looking out for us and doing everything they could to make us comfortable. Everything felt very local - the farms and ceviche evening and brewery were all about our hosts. But the boats and buses and hotels and restaurants felt the same. The kids rented surf boards and had a great time talking surf with the owner. We found warmth and kindness everywhere so hopefully we did no harm and showed appropriate respect and appreciation. Honestly we can’t imagine a better trip. We would absolutely recommend the itinerary - and Andean Trails - to anyone. We chose Andean Trails because someone we know used the organization to tour the Galapagos and had a great trip. We wanted to do a land-based trip and couldn’t find another organizer who seemed to have the expertise and offered various land options. This was a pretty unusual trip for us, our first time out of the U.S as a family. We didn’t closely examine other Andean Trails offerings but would certainly recommend the group to others. I have to close by thanking you for all your help. We had lots of different questions and lots of different needs in throughout the planning. You were very patient on all of it. That made us very confident that the trip itself was going to be as wonderful as you were. It was. Thanks so, so much. This was a bucket list adventure. I am not sure how any future trip can compare.
» Galapagos Island Hopping: San Cristóbal, Isabela and Santa Cruz
