If you are planning to visit South America, your biggest problem may be how to see it all! A beautiful, exotic, wild and thoroughly diverse country, South America offers so much to see and experience that it may be difficult or impossible to decide where to start. Your best approach may be to decide what interests you most and then seek it out. Whatever turns you on, South America is certain to offer plenty of it.
South America is a developing country, a growing country, a country in transition. As such, it offers the traveler an environmental wealth of color, vitality, contrasts, extremes and transformations. But South America is also a country of mystery, with a history of ancient civilizations that form the foundation of modern life. Although it may be many things, South America is never boring.
The countries of South America are Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil (largest), Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Falkland Islands, French Guiana, Guyana, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad, Tobago, Uruguay and Venezuela.
With the Caribbean Sea to the northwest, Pacific Ocean to the west, and Atlantic Ocean to the north and east, South America has the Amazon jungle and the world’s largest rain forest, the Atacama Desert, the Amazon River, the Andes Mountain range and the remote Galapagos and Easter Islands.
South America has the world’s tallest waterfall, Angel Falls in Venezuela, the world’s southernmost city, Ushuaia in Argentina. and the world’s highest capital city, La Paz in Bolivia.
While South America is 97% Roman Catholic, one of the very few consistencies in its widely divergent culture, it is also a country of many tongues, primarily Spanish, but officially Portuguese in Brazil. Portuguese is spoken by 51% of the population. And South America speaks many other languages, including French, Dutch, English, Tamil, Hindi and Arabic while in Bolivia, the indigenous languages prevail.
A word of caution. Because South America is a developing country with much social disparity, it’s best to avoid slums and shantytowns where travelers are not welcome. Travel to Columbia is not advised. Otherwise, be aware that taxi drivers and shopkeepers may sometimes overcharge, and that in the cities pickpocketing is a highly developed art form.
If you use common sense safety and carry your money and documents in a body wallet under your clothes, you will be free to enjoy this magnificent county without undue worry. And if you learn even a bit of Spanish and Portuguese, it will help you to communicate in a friendly way and be more of a visitor than a tourist.