Santiago Travel Guide

Santiago de Chile, a city of extremes, is surrounded by the world’s longest mountain range, driest desert, largest ocean and southernmost grassy plains. The cosmopolitan South American capital has the perfect mix of both historic and ultra-modern attractions.

The lively Plaza de Armas houses the divine Metropolitan Cathedral and the National History Museum. Santa Lucía Hill is the place where the city was founded by the Spanish in the 16th-century and the Chilean Museum of pre-Colombian Art shows what life was like here before colonial rule.

La Moneda Palace is the seat of government and the place of Augusto Pinochet’s 1973 military coup. The Museum of Memory and Human Rights documents the dictator’s repressive regime.

Santiago has many city parks. Parque Bicentenario is in Vitacura, while the sculptures of Parque de las Esculturas are in Providencia. Centrally located Parque Forestal, houses the Museum of Contemporary Art. Nearby is Centro Cultural Estación Mapocho, in a former train station.

Find colorful street art, craft shops and sidewalk cafés in Bellavista. From this neighborhood, you can access Cerro San Cristóbal to look back at Santiago one more time before exploring Chile’s many natural treasures.

South America

Santa Cruz, Galapagos - Ecuador

Santa Cruz is the most populated island on the Galapagos Archipelago, Ecuador.

In the video: Los Gemelos (two large craters that used to be magma chambers); Reserva El Chato, where giant tortoises live in their natural habitat, Lava tube in El Chato, Puerto Ayora, Charles Darwin Research Station, Tortuga Bay.

Description
Sacred places of worship; ruins of ancient civilizations; stunning creations of Nature; beautiful hiking trails; National Parks and World Heritage Sites.

Welcome to the Amazing Places on Our Planet channel!

Hi, my name is Milosh. Enjoy my videos from all these astonishing, scenic locations. The videos in my channel do not have narrative, only background music.

Amazing Places on our Planet South America

Choquequirao - The Lost Inca City

Choquequirao - The Lost Inca City. Similar in structure to Machu Picchu, but much less accessible, it is called also Machu Picchu's sister city. Choquequirao is reached by two day hike from Cachora or three day from Colcapampa (another video covers this spectacular hike).

Music: Inkari - Jamas Savia Andina - Classics vol. 3 - 6 - Camino adelante Savia Andina - Música Selecta - 11 - Chorus This Leventias

Credit: Amazing Places on our Planet via YouTube

Description: Sacred places of worship; ruins of ancient civilizations; stunning creations of Nature; beautiful hiking trails; National Parks and World Heritage Sites. Welcome to the Amazing Places on Our Planet channel!

Hi, my name is Milosh. Enjoy my videos from all these astonishing, scenic locations. The videos in my channel do not have narrative, only background music.

Amazing Places on our Planet South America

Brasilia Travel Guide

Brazil’s innovative capital, Brasília, was designed from scratch on a plateau in the heart of the country. From above the city center looks like a bird in flight with the spacious Praça dos Três Poderes and the Modernist-style Planalto Palace at its heart, The Monumental Axis forms the body and it’s flanked by an impressive collection of cutting-edge architecture. Good observers will notice the striking contrast between the TV Tower and the National Congress, the National Museum and the Metropolitan Cathedral.

Former president Kubitschek completed the capital in just 5 years, starting in 1956. Its rapid, well-orchestrated development gave Brasília its status as a protected World Heritage site. The prolific Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer was commissioned by Kubitschek to fulfill this dream and the result is truly magnificent.

His inspiration seems to flow out of the Ministry of Justice, past the National Museum, and right through the Itamaraty Palace. It fills the atrium of the National Theater and ignites the flame in the Pantheon of the Fatherland and Freedom.

South America

Cusco & Machu Picchu Vacation Travel Guide

In Cusco, and the Sacred Valley, magnificent ruins await the adventurous traveler. The most famous of all is Machu Picchu. 

Cusco is the former capital of the Inca Empire of the Sun. Since the 16th century, Spanish colonial buildings were built atop former Inca Palaces, of which only the foundations remain. Examples in the central Plaza de Armas are the Cusco Cathedral and La Compañia church. Another striking example is Qorikancha, the former golden courtyard of the Temple of the Sun. The Spanish used stones from Sacsayhuaman, an Inca stronghold overlooking the city.

In the Urubamba Valley, or Sacred Valley, visitors can see the mysterious Moray Terraces and the pre-Inca Salt Mines of Maras. Ollantaytambo is a living Inca city and its towering ruins form the start of the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. 

The long-lost Inca bastion was uncovered from the jungle in 1911. It remains a mystery how the Incas managed to stack the heavy granite blocks that make up the city’s buildings so precisely, at high altitude.

Little is also known about how the Incas turned a multi-lingual tribal region in an empire that is now known as one of the greatest civilizations in history.

 

South America

Buenos Aires Vacation Travel Guide

Named for good sailing winds, Buenos Aires is the capital of Argentina, and home to nearly a quarter of the country’s two million residents. Come for the stunning European architecture, and stay for delicious cuts of meat, the city’s zest for soccer, and, of course, the tango. 

“The Paris of South America” boasts outstanding shopping and a friendly populace. A tour of Buenos Aires should cut through La Boca Harbor, where you’ll find numerous street vendors, restaurants, and street dancers willing to give you a spin. Wander down the streets to take in colorful artwork, and make a game out of asking the locals what neighborhood you should tour next. Here’s a hint: with so much to see, everyone will give you a different answer!

Some will tell you to visit San Telmo for souvenirs, patio shopping, and crumbling historical buildings. Others will suggest Puerto Madero, a refurbished shipping port that boasts a mixture of old-world glamour and modern buildings. What everyone will suggest, however, is a stop by Plaza de Mayo. There you can take in the rosy architecture of the Casa Rosada, which was made famous by Argentine First Lady Eva Peron and the musical about her life, “Evita.” Take a tour and learn about her life, from her humble beginnings to her rise to power.

Cap off your Buenos Aires sightseeing with an evening walk through Puerto Madero, where you can get a late dinner and dance until the next day arrives.

 

South America

Iguazu Falls Vacation Travel Guide

Iguazu Falls is located at the junction of three nations: Brazil, Argentina, and Paraguay. These “Great Waters,” as named by the indigenous Guarani people, are made up of 275 waterfalls that span nearly 2 miles. Sorry, Niagara!

Any Iguazu Falls tour will provide you with a sense of nature’s power and wonder. You can follow a boardwalk trail and take in the majestic, roaring falls from a safe vantage point…or, if you feel daring, a platform above the falls. Look down, but hang on to the railing—that’s a lot of water pouring beneath you.

Don’t mind getting wet? Take a speedboat safari beneath the falls and enjoy the spray. Prefer to stay dry? A helicopter ride over the falls might be for you. From up high, the falls form a tremendous chasm in the surface of the earth, further solidifying the fact that this area is one of nature’s great wonders.

Surrounding the Falls are the two Iguazu National Parks, one located in Brazil, the other in Argentina. The parks are home to beautiful rainforest full of exotic creatures, like wild cats, reptiles, and 400 species of birds and butterflies. There’s far too much here to see in a day, so plan an extended visit to Iguazu. You can even stay the night in the national park and see more of it in the morning.

 

South America

Rio de Janeiro Vacation Travel Guide

The early morning in Rio de Janeiro brings quiet, misty coastlines and pink-purple sunrises. The Brazilian locals are up and about soon enough, piling onto the beautiful beaches and expressing themselves through artwork, dance, and the ubiquitous Rio de Janeiro partying. 

A Rio de Janeiro tour must stop at Christ the Redeemer, the ubiquitous statue that watches over the city from above the Tijuca National Forest. Take the cable car to the lookout point on Sugarloaf Mountain, the city’s iconic peak, and try not to look down – it’s a long way to drop!

After a morning spent in nature, your Rio de Janeiro sightseeing should continue in the city proper. Join the sun worshippers at Copacabana, where you can stake out a patch of beach or float out to sea with the paddleboarders. Shop for souvenirs in Ipanema, or take part in the street dances, festivals, and parades that may spontaneously break out. 

The “Cidade Maravilhosa,” or the marvelous city, has much to offer all of its visitors. 
 

 

South America