Río de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Machu Picchu, Lima, Bogotá… Those are just some of the best known destinations to travel in South America. But in fact, this continent has so much more and there are lots of hidden gems waiting to be discovered and that are worth paying a visit. We present you some of our favorite places.
Salar de Uyuni (Bolivia)
One of the most unique places you can ever visit, specially when visiting Bolivia, the Uyuni Salt Flats are the World’s largest mirror. This is due to the mirror effect on the raining season. A thin layer of rain covers the salt desert, which is happens to be flattest place in the World (the NASA uses it to calibrate its satellites), making it look like a giant mirror that perfectly reflects the sky. Even in the dry season, this enormous desert is guaranteed to leave you in awe. If you want to visit Uyuni, you can take a Salar de Uyuni tour with Banjo Tours.
Sajama National Park (Bolivia)
We have talked about Salar de Uyuni, and we can’t skip the Sajama National Park when it comes to tourism in Bolivia, one of the country’s hidden gems. For nature lovers, this unique landscape in the bolivian Altiplano, or high lands, lets you see local fauna like alpacas, llamas or the beautiful pink flamingos in surreal lagoons, as well as natural hot springs, archaeological pre-inca burial sites and the highest mountains and volcanos in the region, such as Nevado Sajama (6.542 meters). The park can be visited in your way from La Paz, so it is a good idea to plan a tour to Uyuni via Sajama and visit them both.
Chapada Diamantina (Brazil)
This 38.000 km2 enormous park in the centre of Brazil will leave you with a mountainous environment including mountains, caves, abundant flora and waterfalls, including the Fumaça, a 380 meters high waterfall. It is also a perfect place for the adventurers looking for experiences such as horseback riding, trekking through ancient routes looking for metals, climbing the Pico do Barbudo (2.033 meters, the highest in the northern region), rappelling or exploring caves like the Blue Lake (Lago Azul).
Colca Valley (Perú)
Close to Lake Titicaca and the Machu Picchu ruins, the Colca Valley (Valle del Colca) is an incredible canyon (3.270 meters; twice the depth of the Grand Canyon!) that offers a stunning scenery including volcanoes, pre-inca ruins and colonial villages. It is also the home for the majestic Andean condor, so if you love birds you will want to take a camera with you.
El Bolsón (Argentina)
Once a hippie paradise, after the VIetnam War many hippies moved to El Bolsón. And it comes to no surprise that these group of people chose this beautiful valley, nestled in between two mountain ranges, to establish communities and show their love for nature and a lifestyle far from the busy cities. Nowadays, you can find the quaint city of El Bolsón, with just 14.000 inhabitants that will welcome you in a peaceful and friendly manner. One of the famous attractions include the Regional Festival (Feria Regional) where artisans and local artists sell their craftwork in the main square. You can enjoy activities in the surroundings such as rafting, trekking or mountain bike.
Colonia del Sacramento (Uruguay)
Near Buenos Aires, in the southwest of Uruguay, Colonia del Sacramento was the only city founded by the portuguese in the shores of the Silver River (Río de Plata) and it was one of the main sets for the Spain and Portugal frontier wars. It has been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and remains as one of those historical villages, with many dainty narrow streets that will take you away from crowded streets and will remain as a charming experience for the record.
Georgetown (Guyana)
Capital of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, Georgetown is not a city that usually comes up when discussing South American destinations, but that nevertheless has proved itself as one of the secrets of the continent. The colorful and vibrant city shows a mix of architecture between the past (18th and 19th century) and present, a classy residential neighborhood similar to those you could find in England, and a Canal & Waterfront District that gives Georgetown a european lookalike.
Rock of Guatapé (Colombia)
The stunning Rock of Guatapé (Peñón de Guatapé) is a 220 meters high monolith formed of quartz. It was first climbed in 1954 by Luis Eduardo Villegas López, a task that took him 5 days. He was the promoter for the construction of the stairs that today lets anyone ascend to the top. The 600 steps (exactly 740 if we count those in the viewpoint) gifts the visitor with 360 panoramic views of the valley. As a curiosity, the letters G and an incomplete U painted in the rock were part of a plan to paint GUATAPE honoring the lake and villages around, but before the idea was dismissed, the first two letters were painted and remain there ever since.
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