South America
On this stunning trip in northern Patagonia, you’ll explore towering peaks, a new ten-million-acre national park, and pristine rivers and lakes. And did we mention the delicious barbecue?
A new lodge in Bolivia’s Uyuni salt flats exponentially ups the awe factor
‘Rhythms of Peru’ from director Nathaniel Connella features a look at the sights and sounds of this eclectic country
A guide to the places where glory will be won—and where the victors will live, sleep, and train
A year ago, Brandon and LeAnn Morris decided to quit their jobs in Seattle and hit the road. Not an uncommon premise for anyone that follows any adventurous Instagram accounts, but they actually did it. Six months of passport stamps from Nepal, Thailand, New Zealand, Japan, Chile, and the list goes on. Through all of their adventures, Peru emerged as one of the couple’s favorites and particularly the Ausangate trek, which led them to the striated Vinicunca Mountains and eventually their next job. The duo has since started the travel business FlashpackerConnect, which leads trips out of Cusco, with the rainbow mountains being their featured trip. Five days of high altitude trekking and you are rewarded with this view. Here, a preview of what you might see along this relatively undiscovered trail.
Spring in South America means snow, whitewater, and adventure everywhere you look
The world just feels larger there—the country, the rivers, the meals, and, most importantly, the fish.
Mountains, water, and Incan myths collide in this Peruvian playground.
Once filled with color, tradition, and pride, the sport might be fading into the sunset.
If you want to lounge on an empty beach for hours, consider one of these trips.
How to get there, when to go, and where to stay
No country on earth is more geographically blessed than Colombia, with its high-altitude peaks, lush jungles, pristine beaches, wildlife-rich rainforest, and strong coffee. Now that the guerrillas of the FARC are moving toward a peace accord, the land of cocaine and kidnappings may become the best unexplored adventure haven in South America.
Giant mining companies are tearing up some of the wildest places on earth to feed our hunger for gold. But do we even need it?
It's possible that you're enjoying your summer and that all of the new ski and snowboard trailers coming out aren't making you long for fresh powder, bluebird skies, and a little time in the lodge. If you are craving turns in virgin snow, cooler…
Luke Wright takes a ride on Bolivia's Yungas Loop
South America contains the Amazon, the Andes, 19,000 miles of coastline, and arguably more adventure than any other continent. So where to start? These ten perfect trips, from exploratory rafting in Peru to skiing in Chile to beach-hopping Brazil.
South America contains the Amazon, the Andes, 19,000 miles of coastline, and arguably more adventure than any other continent. So where to start? Try one of these adventure lodges.
Thayer Walker leashes a jaguar and takes it for a walk.
It's year ten of the REVOLUTION. Venezuela's oil riches are vanishing, and el presidente's "Yankee devil" rhetoric has created the world's most hostile environment for Homo turisticus. PATRICK SYMMES goes looking for adventure, and comes back with a tale that will haunt him forever.
Conveniently, 2009 marks both the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of The Origin of Species. This has fur-and-feather nerds everywhere aflutter. But the occasion should also be cause for celebration among adventure travelers. After all, before the British naturalist's obsession with Galápagos…
Expat conservationist John Cain Carter, a former elite Army soldier who did a tour in Iraq, is anything but typical. Same goes for his plan, which calls on ranchers to preserve Brazil's wild west. Can he have it both ways and still save—and survive—the Amazon?
Text The Brazilian Amazon The River of the Dead runs near the Carters’ fishing camp of Rancho Jacobá.The Brazilian Amazon John Carter with a dead jararacucu do brejo snake in the front yard of Fazenda Santo Antonio.The Brazilian Amazon The Kamayurá village consists of a series of traditional thatch-roof huts.The…
Life in Chile’s Atacama Desert is hot, dry, and tough. That is, unless you’re lying poolside at Tierra Atacama, the latest luxury hotel to open in the unlikely tourist boomtown of San Pedro. Just blocks down the street from Explora’s iconic Hotel de Larache, 32-room Tierra Atacama is run by…
Welcome to the new Bolivia, where former coca grower Evo Morales has made the leaf a symbol of his two-year-old government. Now everybody's growing it, everybody's chewing it, and the war on drugs has taken a very strange turn.
Alan Dershowitz, meet Steven Donziger. On behalf of 30,000 inhabitants of Ecuador's remote Oriente region, this New York lawyer is putting it to Big Oil. But will his multi-billion-dollar lawsuit establish a global precedent—or is he just looking for a scapegoat for one of the nastiest messes on earth?
We sit down for a candid conversation with Outside contributor Eric Hansen about his most recent assignment, a quest to find the world's most extreme bar, Colombia's El Mirador, for the September feature story, "It's Thriller Time."
Snowbound in the Andes after their plane crashes, the starving members of a Uruguayan rugby squad are forced to live off the flesh of their fallen teammates. Now, for the first time, the hero of their ordeal writes his own story. In this exclusive excerpt from Miracle in the Andes, Nando Parrado reveals the untold horrors of their suffering—and the
Patagonia's wild peaks and blue glaciers have long been the ultimate lost frontier. Now an American gone gaucho is carving out an incredible new trekking kingdom in Chile's vast, unspoiled Ays�n region, and adventure's South American dreamscape just got a whole lot bigger.
You can't buy it in any store, can't send away for it online, can't meet the author (there are thousands), and you probably won't be able to read it if you do find it, since much of it is written in Hebrew. PATRICK SYMMES follows the trail of an underground global legend: the everywhere-and-nowhere travel bible of Israel's combat-fatigued, footloose vagabond yo
This exotic archipelago used to be the sole domain of Darwin fanatics. Not anymore.
This 37,280-square-mile archipelago gave birth to one of nature's most revolutionary theories. Best part is, hardly anything's changed since Darwin's time on these volcanic isles... except their popularity.
Travel: Seven destinations where fine food complements a taste for adventure
This luxury-travel company delivers your wildest adventure dreams
Breathe easy: descending Peru’s 19,870-foot Huayna Potosi Q: A friend and I are looking to take a two-month trip through South America this June and July. We would like to spend time in Peru, Chile, Bolivia, and Argentina, and are very interested in finding some active trips…
Is paradise drowning? The serene South Pacific archipelago of Tuvalu wants the world to know it will soon be the first nation to sink beneath the rising waters of global warming—an early warning of biblical inundations to come. And guess what? It's your fault.
Remember the rainforest? Fourteen years after the martyrdom of Brazilian activist Chico Mendes, environmentalists are once again being murdered, while illegal logging pushes deeper into the world's last great tropical jungle. In this investigative report, Patrick Symmes follows the money, the mahogany, and the mafias—and goes underground to join a brave ne
Marine iguanas? Yes. Tourist crowding? No.: Bartolome Island in the Galapagos Q: I'm looking for a Latin American vacation spot with great snorkeling and rock climbing and not too many tourists. Any ideas? — Carrie, Portland, Oregon Adventure Advisor: A: The first place that…
A bird obsessive chases a maddening truth: the more elusive the prize, the more tantalizing the hunt
End of the road: Machu Picchu, terminus of the Inca Trail Q: I’ve heard that the Inca Trail in Peru will be closed starting in February for repairs. Despite the fact that this is a world-renowned destination, I can’t find out if this is true. Is it?…
Amazon exposure: a toucan under the green in Brazil’s Amazon basin Q: I am traveling to Manaus, Brazil this fall. I know it is the low season, but I am hoping to do an adventure trip for a few days a bit off the beaten path. Do…
A comic tale, right? Not in Patagonia, where legends die hard.
For three hours, a team of scientists collected samples from deep inside the crater of a seemingly peaceful volcano. Suddenly, an apocalyptic eruption shot white-hot rocks into the darkening sky. Nine people were killed high on the Colombian mountain that day, and volcanologist Stanley Williams barely escaped with his life. In an exclusive preview from the cont
Damned with us and damned without us, the Galápagos continue to attract hordes of nature-loving visitors. But whether you're drawn by the majesty of Darwin's discoveries or mesmerized by the brutal spectacle of survival, remember this: Evolution happens.
“Tinku is perfect, like the lightning. When it kills you, it kills you; when you have to die, you die. He who falls, let the earth be the one to complain.”
Deep in the seething, fecund Amazon jungle, a seeker finds wisdom, beauty, exciting new recipes, and inexhaustible armadas of biting insects. O Sting, where is they death?