We’d heard a lot about the bus ride over the Andes mountain range from Santiago to Mendoza with its famous ’29 curves’, and it didn’t disappoint. 

Magnificent Mendoza has 48,000 trees lining its streets, an oasis of green at the foot of the Andes. The region is responsible for 85% of Argentina’s wine production, and we’re determined to experience as much of it as we can.

Hiking to Aconcagua Base Camp (‘Confluence’) is a five-hour, 14km round trip. The trail head is a three hour drive from Mendoza, so the trek is doable as a (longish) day trip. It’s well worth the effort, with spectacular views of the highest peak in South America.

Wine tasting in Mendoza for a week we discovered Argentinian wines are so much more than just Malbecs.

Beautiful Bariloche, in the Lake District of Argentina, feels like a small slice of Switzerland. Perched at the edge of the Andes instead of the Alps, it offers stunning mountain views and all the chocolate you can stomach.

Patagonia, covering the bottom third of South America, is home to the second largest ice field outside the arctic and some of the most spectacular hiking in the world. In our first week of hiking in Patagonia we discovered why El Chaltén is the Argentinian heart of the region.

The phrases ‘must-see’ and ‘bucket list’ get thrown around alot, but visiting Perito Moreno Glacier in the Southern Patagonian Ice Field is one of those locations you really should try to get to.

Two weeks in Buenos Aires is an absolute luxury. We don’t try and ‘see it all’, but gosh we see a lot.

Córdoba, Argentina is the second-largest city and is known as an educational and scientific hub. We spent a couple of days exploring the city.

We’re exploring Jujuy, the hidden gem in the northwest of Argentina. The drive alone deserves to be on any list of top ten drives around the world.

The Province of Salta has a tagline of ‘Salta the Lovely’ for good reason. The landscape varies from green, lush subtropical jungles to arid valleys filled with rainbows of sandstone.

Southern Bolivia leaves you breathless both from the altitude and the scenery. We’re entering Bolivia from Northern Argentina and making our way from Villazon to Uyuni.

The three-day tour of the Uyuni Salt Flats is one of the most popular things to do in Bolivia. The salt flats, along with the nearby Reserva Nacional de Fauna, are full of natural wonders.

Sucre is a small city in the middle of Bolivia with a vibrant colonial old town. Exploring Sucre is the perfect way to spend a few days chilling out before getting on the road again.

Isla del Sol is a small slice of Incan ruins and Bolivian farming life on Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world.

La Paz is a gritty city, not a pretty city. The old town feels a little like a grand old dame who’s let herself go a little. But, she hasn’t lost her charm.

 For those of you considering a trip to Bolivia, we’ve summarized many of the ‘practical’ things you need to know, to help you plan your time in this wonderful country.

Our guide screws up his face, waves his arms, contorts his body and generates remarkable sound effects to help make his points. He brings the bottle he’s casually holding up from his side and mimics pulling the cork out of the bottle, replete with the matching ‘thrrwwwp – pwap’ sound.

Central Chile is only about 200km wide. While Santiago is in the foothills of the Andes, a short two hour drive finds you on the shores of the South Pacific at Valparaiso, and nearby Vina del Mar.

We’d heard a lot about the bus ride over the Andes mountain range from Santiago to Mendoza with its famous ’29 curves’, and it didn’t disappoint. 

Usted está aquí. You are here. These three words embossed on the corner of the trail map proclaim both our physical arrival at the start of Chile’s famed W Circuit as well as our spiritual.

Insider Tips for Hiking the W Trek: Now that we’ve completed the W trek, there are a bunch of Insider Tips for Hiking The W Trek West to East that we can share!

“Use your tongue wisely,” our guide Daniel said to us without a hint of sarcasm. So we did, using our tongue to grab all the sweet pulp of the giant yellow passion fruit without getting any of the white pith. Delicious and a little sweeter than the small purple variety we’re used to; we were in a market laneway in central Bogotá trying tropical fruit we’d never seen before.

After the almost overwhelming size of Bogotá, coming to Medellín almost feels like coming to a big mountain town. But with almost 3 million people in the city proper and another million or two in the surrounding areas, this city nestled in the Aburrá Valley is the second largest in Colombia. We’re spending almost a month in Medellín, and we’re really looking forward to exploring as much as we can of the City of Eternal Spring.

South of Medellín, high up in the Andes mountains lies the small town of Jardin. We’d heard it was a beautiful Colombian town. We also spent another weekend in Guatapé.

There were two poignant experiences we had that highlighted Medellin’s troubled past and bright future: Comuna 13 and the Medellin Museum of Modern Art.

‘Wake up Jaguars!’ The voice of Tyson drifted across the camp as 4:45 am hit. Eleven jaguars stirred. It was Day Three of our trek to La Ciudad Perdida — the ‘Lost City’

In which Michelle books a local cooking class at the Lunatico Cooking Studio in Cartagena. When she’s handed a coconut, it proves to be a hard nut to crack.

Sitting on Cartagena’s historic wall at sunset, we buy a cervesa from a local street seller. Her 7 year old son is teaching us the mantra of the cart seller: “AGUA-CERVESA-COCA-COLA-GATOR-AA-ADE”.

Travellers tips including currency, ATMs, getting on the internet, mobile phones, car rentals, taxis, and getting to and from the airports.

If you’re looking for an off-the-beaten-path adventure that will leave you breathless, we highly recommend an Amazon Jungle Tour to Waita Lodge on the Cuyabeno River in Ecuador.

We’re spending a few days exploring the Quilotoa Loop, a series of hikes about 140km south of Quito and part of Ecuador’s Avenue of the Volcanoes in the heart of the Andes.

As we made our way down through “The Avenue of Volcanoes” of central Ecuador, we spent a few days in three different cities: Quito, Baños and Cuenca. Here are some selected highlights from our visit to these popular cities of Ecuador.

Visiting The Galápagos: The sea lion’s beautiful brown eyes suddenly fill the entire field view of my snorkelling mask. The pup curves away at the last second, twirls and dives down to the sandy bottom just a few meters below.

There are plenty of different ways of experiencing the Galápagos, but for the most part it will boil down to just a couple of questions: How long do you have? and How much do you want to spend?

Following the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu is without a doubt one of the most special things we’ve done in South America. 

We spent a few days in two Peruvian capital cities with quite different personalities: the high altitude Inca capital of Cusco, and the modern coastal capital of Lima. This, then, is A Tale of Two (Peruvian) Cities.