Latin America: Activity Market

LATIN America is such a diverse continent in terms of its geography and climate that it is able to offer a wide variety of activity-based holidays, from whitewater-rafting on the fast-running rivers of Costa Rica to trekking in the Andes of Peru and skiing in the mountains of Chile and Argentina.

And as holidays on the continent tend to naturally draw the more adventurous traveller, most operators have built some kind of activity into their packages, whether it is walking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu in Peru, cruising around the Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador, or watching wildlife in the Amazon. “Latin America offers such a huge variation of geography, climate and culture that it is ideal for activity holidays,” said a spokesman for Journey Latin America. “Also, the infrastructure in countries such as Costa Rica, Mexico, Argentina, Chile and Brazil is very good so it is easy for people to get around.”

In many cases visitors must still be prepared to “rough it” a little to enjoy their chosen activity. There are no hotels on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu and some jungle lodges are fairly basic, but operators say this factor has not deterred visitors.

Encounter sales and marketing executive Suzanne Traill said: “People like to go to Latin America because it is one place in the world where they can still get away from it all, whether they are staying in a jungle lodge, trekking in Costa Rica, or horse riding in Argentina.”

She said that another of the main attractions of Latin America was that unlike other continents such as Africa and Asia, it is multi-dimensional.

“For example, when you are trekking in Peru you’ve got fascinating archeological sights as well as fantastic scenery and when you’re in Brazil there is the wonderful culture as well as the wildlife.”

The best is in Costa Rica, available on day trips from the capital San Jose, or in Ecuador on the Rio Blanco. Encounter includes white water rafting on its 19-day adventure tour of Ecuador, which costs from £1,125, not including flights.

Cruises are available from several countries in South America. From Ecuador visitors can sail around the Galapagos Islands; from Chile there are cruises around the glaciers and fjords; while from the Argentine port of Ushuaia onTierra del Fuego there are cruises around the Antarctic Peninsula from mid-October to early March.

Operators featuring cruises in South America include Abercrombie and Kent, Hayes and Jarvis, Journey Latin America, Kuoni, Cox and Kings and Sunvil.

Abercrombie and Kent has a 10-night holiday including a seven night cruise around the Galapagos, including wildlife viewing on some of the islands, from about £3,000including international flights.

Machu Picchu: popular trek

Argentina is the best place for organised horse riding holidays in South America. There are numerous “estancia” (cattle ranches) which provide accommodation, horses and tuition. Some also offer polo. Several operators will organise day trips to estancia from Buenos Aires while others offer full scale riding holidays.

Journey Latin America offers three nights at an estancia, starting from £498, or four nights starting at £811 including car transfers from Buenos Aires. Flights from the UK are extra.

It is possible to enter the Amazon from Brazil or Peru, but many operators say the wildlife is better on the Peruvian side. They recommend tours from Iquitos in Peru.

Operators featuring Amazon lodges in both Brazil and Peru include Bales, JLA, Kuoni, Latin America Travel, and South American Experience. Bales has a four-day extension to its Peru and the Andes tour to Iquitos, which includes a stay at the Explorama Lodge in the rainforest, from £495 per person.

The jungles, mountains and national parks of Colombia and Costa Rica and the volcanic regions of Ecuador offer varied and interesting opportunities for hikers, but the Andes of Peru provide some of the best trekking in the world.

The most popular trek is the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, which takes three to four days to walk and crosses three mountain peaks. Operators which offer organised treks to Machu Picchu include Bales Worldwide, Journey Latin America, British Airways Holidays and Cox and Kings. JLA charges from £331 for three nights on the Inca Trail, including all food and tented accommodation but excluding flights from the UK.

Skiing is possible in the Andes of Chile and Argentina from June to September. Valle Nevado is Chile’s premier ski resort, which is two hours drive from Santiago, while San Carlos de Bariloche in Argentina also offers reasonable skiing. Journey Latin America offers four nights in Bariloche from £264 and a week in Valle Nevado from £604, not including flights.

The national parks of Costa Rica are a haven for wildlife, boasting no fewer than 850 species of bird, and mammals ranging from armadillos to iguanas. But one of the best places to see wildlife in Latin America is the Pantanal in Brazil, close to the border with Bolivia.

The open landscape of the Pantanal,as opposed to the denseness of the jungle, makes it possible to spot a wide variety of birds and animals, including crocodiles, ant eaters, parrots, toucans, monkeys and (occasionally) pumas all year round.Operators that organise trips to the Pantanal include Latin America Travel, South American Experience, and Explore Worldwide.

Explore includes the Pantanal in its 28-day South American Grand Traverse, which costs from about £3,000 including international flights. The Galapagos Islands off the coast of Ecuador have their own, unique wildlife such as sea iguanas, giant turtles, vast colonies of sea lions, and unusual birds such as flightless cormorants and blue-footed boobies. Visitors can stay on one of the larger islands or take a cruise the archipelago (see cruising).