Argentina is a fascinating land of contrasts, where the exceptional is commonplace. This enormous country offers the rainbow misted heights of Iguazu Falls, the mighty Andes to the west and Fireland to the south.

For hundreds of years, Brazil has symbolized the great escape into a primordial, tropical paradise, igniting the Western imagination like no other South American country. From the mad passion of Carnival to the immensity of the lush Amazon, Brazil is a country of mythic proportions.

Making up the left-hand side of South America’s tapering tail, Chile’s lean strip has been described as an extravaganza of "crazy geography". The country’s latitudinal extremes give it a formidable array of landscapes; such as snow-capped volcanoes plunging to river canyons, and the "Great North", where some weather stations have never recorded rainfall.

The smallest country in the rugged Andean highlands, Ecuador had an array of vibrant indigenous cultures, well-preserved colonial architecture, other worldly volcanic landscapes, dense rainforest and sublime islands – all in a nation no bigger than the US state of Nevada

Peru had a rich cultural life thousands of years before Pizarro turned up in funny clothing. Wander around colonial cities that echo the legacy of Spanish conquistadors, explore the ancient Inca capital of Cuzco, visit the lost city of Machu Picchu and ponder the enigma of the Nazca Lines with in Peru.