Lake Titicaca is situated between Peru and Bolivia, its cobalt coloured waters are stunning.

At 12,500 Ft it is the highest commericially navigable lake in the World. The extra-ordinary isolas Flotantes are a major tourist attraction.

Lake Titicaca is fed by rainfall and meltwater from glaciers on the sierras that abut the Altiplano. Five major river systems feed into Lake Titicaca—in order of their relative flow volumes these are: Ramis, Coata, Ilave, Huancané, and Suchez. More than 20 other smaller rivers empty into Titicaca, and the lake has 41 islands, some of which are densely populated.

The Pantanal ranching country is the largest wetland area in the World. Its a bowl shaped depression covering 96,500 square miles.

The wetlands slowly releases the water through the Paraguay River and tributaries. The formation is a result of the large concave pre-Andean depression of the earth’s crust, related to the Andean orogeny of the Tertiary.

During the rainy season the rivers burst their banks flooding the surrounding plain, provides nutrition for the Worlds largest collection of plants.

The name “Pantanal” stems from the Portuguese word pântano which is synonymous with wetland, bog, swamp or marsh. In comparison, the Brazilian uplands are … Continue Reading

Parc National das Emas is a savanna plain of some 500 sq miles in Central Brazil, it is a Unesco Bioshere Reserve.

The Park divides the Amazon and the Parana River Basins, its a haven for nature lovers with monkeys, anteaters, wolves and cougars.

The termite mounds sprout out of the ground up to 6 ft high. They shelter the Cumpinzeiro beetle which due to bioluminescence which light up the mounds.

The British Virgin Islands (BVI) is a British overseas territory, located in the Caribbean to the east of Puerto Rico. The islands make up part of the Virgin Islands archipelago, the remaining islands constituting the U.S. Virgin Islands. Technically the name of the Territory is simply the “Virgin Islands”, but in practice since 1917 they have been almost universally referred to as the “British Virgin Islands” to distinguish the islands from the American Territory.

Tortola and Virgin Gorda are the two largest of the islands, and they both have a friendly atmosphere., the islands are hilly rising rapidly from the sea.

The … Continue Reading

St Thomas is called the Rock City because it is one big mountain. Its main town is Charlotte Amalie, the coastline is made up of private beach resorts. St Thomas is the most populated of the three US Virgin islands.

The Dutch West India Company established a post on Saint Thomas in 1657. The Danish conquered the island in 1666, and by 1672 had established control over the entire island through the Danish West India and Guinea Company.

In 1917 St. Thomas was purchased along with Saint John and Saint Croix)by the United States for $25 million, as part … Continue Reading

Sugarloaf Mountain is the icon of Rio, its name is said to have come from the fact that its shape resembles that of a sugarloaf. However, it is believed by some that the name actually derives from Pau-nh-acuqua or “high hill” in the Tupi-Guarani language, as used by the indigenous Tamoios.

The mountain is only one of several monolithic morros of granite and quartz that rise straight from the water’’s edge around Rio de Janeiro.

A cable car was first built in 1912, the ride is a great experience and the views from the summit are incredible. It is worth … Continue Reading

Fernando de Noronha is a Unesco World Heritage Site. The islands of this archipelago are the visible parts of a range of submerged mountains. Consisting of 21 islands, islets and rocks of volcanic origin, the main island has an area of 18 km², being 10 km long and 3.5 km at its maximum width. The base of this enormous volcanic formation is 756 m below the surface. The main island, from which the group gets its name, makes up 91% of the total area; the islands of Rata, Sela Gineta, Cabeluda and São Jose, together with the islets of Leão … Continue Reading

Ecuadors Galapagos islands are a small archipelago around the equator and are best known for being the location that led Charles Darwin to devise his theory of evolution.

The islands include 13 main islands all of which are volcanic in orgin.

Galapago is an old Spanish word, meaning saddle. The large Galapagos Tortoises on some of the islands had a shell that resembled an old Spanish saddle, thus the name. The tortoise is a unique animal found only in the Galapagos Islands.

Although located on the Equator, the Humboldt Current brings cold water to the islands, causing frequent drizzles during most of the … Continue Reading

Sangay national park is over 1930 sq miles in size it contains volcanoes and lagoons, Sangay itself is one of the Worlds most active volcanoes.

The remote location has allowed the survival of many endangered species, including red monkey and tapir.

Roraima is the highest of the Venezuelan table mountains, its part of a World Heritage Site. Tributaries run to three great rivers, the Orinoco, Amazon and Essequibo.

Despite the fact the steep sides of the plateau make it difficult to access, it was the first major tepui to be climbed: Sir Everard im Thurn walked up a forested ramp in December 1884 to scale the strangely wind-and-water sculpted plateau. This is the same route hikers take today.

It is thought that the reports from early Victorian expeditions to the mountain inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to write his classic adventure yarn, … Continue Reading