9 SOUTHAMERICA Discover with us a continent more extraordinary. Burnished cheeks of Andean girls and boys. Undulating waves of forest canopy. Burnt brown pampas. Crashing waves. Walls of ice. Fields of maize. Desert sunsets. Wine just poured. Skies of cobalt and little ? uffy clouds. Golden masks that echo the ? rst light on a mountain peak. Dyed threads on an intricate, woven shawl… The colours of South America are as vivid and varied as the experiences travellers can enjoy across the continent. From the peaks of the Andes down to the Amazon River, from the coast of the Caribbean right round to the shores of the Paci? c, from the Sierra Madre in Colombia, the volcanoes of Ecuador to the wilds of Patogonia, one still ? nds vast extensions of natural wilderness, waiting to unveil their secrets to Mankind. The continent harbours some of Natures last true frontiers. Amid this enthralling nature, one also ? nds cultures, both ancient and modern: ruined cities buried in sand or half-hidden in forests, sleepy towns that spring to multi-hued life on market day, cutting-edge modernity, designer hotels, challenging contemporary art, Mother Earth beside weeping Virgins, writers and poets, romantics and revolutionaries, music pouring from every bus and store, home and pore, dance, ritual, shamans, priests, and through it all, ? esta, rumba, carnaval, salsa, alegría, joie de vivre… Travelling to South America is like a rush of blood to the senses. Flavours burst forth from fresh fruit juices, the aromas of chocolate, coffee, cinnamon and wine... Encounters, ? ashes of recognition, language barriers bridged by a smile. Vistas to make your eyes ache, views to make your ? ngers tingle, winds that roar, monkeys that howl, sun that beats. Its all here, across what Arthur Conan Doyle called the grandest, richest, most wonderful bit of Earth upon this planet.