South America has a mix of ancient culture and extremely beautiful and almost unexplored natural sites with the Worlds greatest variety of fauna and flora.
South America is a popular travel destination with a wide range of attractions from the beaches and carnival of Rio de Janiero through the massive Iguazu Falls and the steamy Amazon Jungle to the ski slopes of the Andes. Add to this ancient ruins like Machu Pichu in Peru, and the worlds greatest variety of fauna and flora, and you have a holiday maker's as well as an explorer's paradise.
Lake Titicaca on the border of Bolivia and Peru is the highest navigable lake in the world, located at an altitude of more than 4 kilometers. Besides the highest lake, Peru also boast some of the deepest canyons. Colca Canyon and nearby Cotahuasi Canyon are both over 3 kilometers deep. Visitors looking for waterfalls have some great choices. Iguazu Falls on the border between Brazil and Argentina comprise 275 waterfalls surrounded by tropical forest. Argentina is home to most of the falls but from the Brazil side there is a better panoramic view. Angel Falls in Venezuela is quite different. With a height of one kilometer it is the highest waterfall in the world.
And then of course there is the Amazon River, the Rainforest and the Andes Mountains. All unique and major tourist attractions of South America.
Off the coast of Ecuador are the Galapagos Islands, first made famous by Darwin. This group of islands is unique in that it has been almost untouched by human hands. As a result of the islands isolated location several one-of-a-kind animals are native to these islands. Easter Island is located some 3,200 kilometers off the coast of Chile. The island has a Polynesian background and is famous the more than 800 large statues erected along the coastline of the island. No one knows why the statues were erected.
