South America’s 6 Unmissable Experiences

Just outside the pretty village of Paraty, Brazil, is Cachoeira do Tobogã – a wide, flat, and extremely smooth rock covered in a thin layer of cascading water. It forms a natural slip and slide, allowing brave individuals to shoot across the rockface, gaining speed as they descend, then plunging over the waterfall’s lip into a deep green pool. Even if you don’t feel up to the challenge, watching local kids surf the rock and make bold acrobatic jumps is entertainment enough.

Offering total immersion in nature, Montaña Mágica (“Magic Mountain”) in southern Chile is designed to blend seamlessly into its jungle surroundings – a biological reserve called Huilo Huilo. Shaped like a volcano, the hotel has water erupting from its peak and gushing to the rainforest floor below. Montaña Mágica is at least two hours from the nearest small airfield but the experience of staying in a cozy wood-paneled room that’s reminiscent of a hobbit hole is worth the journey.

Situated 3,000 metres above sea level in the Bolivian Andes is Salar de Uyuni, the largest salt flat on Earth. This 11,000-sq km expanse of blindingly-white salt beds was once a prehistoric lake that went dry, leaving a surreal and empty desert landscape that feels otherworldly. Visit during the rainy season of January to April when the water creates a mirror-like effect, reflecting the endless blue sky and dramatic cloud formations above.

Between the months of June and November, the Caño Cristales river in Meta, Colombia, undergoes a kaleidoscopic transformation. When the water level is just right and sunlight can reach the riverbed, an aquatic plant called Macarenia clavigera blooms crimson and yellow, earning the river the nickname “liquid rainbow.” Caño Cristales is remote; visitors must fly to a small airport at La Macarena, make the journey to Serranía de la Macarena national park and from there proceed on horseback to the river. If you want to swim, skip the sunscreen, which can harm these delicate, vibrant plants.

In the Peruvian desert lies Huacachina, a small oasis town built around a palm tree-fringed lagoon with water that’s said to have therapeutic properties. The main reason people come here, though, is to experience sandboarding. Take a 4×4 out to the dunes and careen across the apricot sand. Then grab a pisco sour, Peru’s national drink, at a bar by the lagoon and watch the sun sink.