An adventure tour can mean different things to different people, depending on what their experience is. For some people that might just be leaving their city or state, while for others it might be just venturing to another country for typical tourist type of group bus tour. But other might have bigger dreams...

Some people have problems with altitude sickness when traveling at high altitude destinations in South America such as Cusco, Lake Titicaca, Uyuni Salt Flats and the altiplano areas in Chile and Argentina - and sometimes even when in Quito, which is at about 9,000 feet. Cusco is at about 11,000 feet and other areas mentioned can be up around 14,000. The best viewpoint at Rainbow Mountain, which is becoming more popular, is at about 17,000 feet. You can get up to 13,000 feet and higher on treks from Cusco.

I've never had a problem in Cusco, but my wife did. I did have a headache at Lake Titicaca though after too much walking on my arrival day. Luckily my guide gave me a pill that helped.

Rapid ascent to heights exceeding about 8,000 above sea level can cause oxygen saturation of hemoglobin in the body to decrease.  Breathing and heart rate increase immediately, and the heart beats faster. For most people, that's the worst of it since their bodies adapt and the concentration of red blood cells increase. For others, that feeling of breathlessness soon leads to a pounding headache, nausea and vertigo.

What can you do to try to prevent this, or at least make it more tolerable?

Keeping tourism revenues in the destinations in which they’re generated is one of the fundamental goals of sustainable tourism. When tourism is well managed, it enables locals the opportunity to maintain or elevate their quality of life without jeopardizing the natural and cultural treasures that draw visitors there in the first place.  The money that comes into a community-owned and operated tourism enterprise stays within that indigenous village, providing economic benefits to the entire community. From the guides and the cooks to the drivers and support staff, all employees are members of the local community. Best of all, your hosts want to share their culture and show off the iconic wildlife that live in - the ecosystems they’ve been stewards of for millennia. Your visit provides an incentive to protect wildlife habitat and preserve traditional culture. It provides travellers with the chance to enhance their experience and knowledge by connecting with and learning from the locals. This is just one of the many ways tourism is a force for good in the world today.

Lately, every day people are hearing about fires in the Amazon, which is quite alarming. Naturally, since we send lots of people to the Amazon, we get people asking if the fires are going to affect their trip.

More and more I've been reading about problems with overcrowding at tourist destinations. While it's great that more people have the means and desires to travel, they don't all have to go to the same places. There are plenty of other magical places to visit in the world, and plenty of them are in South America. Instead of following friends to places they have been, why not go to some great places first and have the others follow you?

Two weeks ago, me and a group of agents and marketing reps from the U.S. and Canada toured Guyana, as guests of the Guyana Tourism Authority. I had talked with one of the tour operators about Guyana for years and finally got to experience first-hand what he had been telling me about.

To me, it seemed like such an exciting mix for those looking for something different. The country promotes it's amazing wildlife and Kaieteur Falls (the highest single drop waterfall in the world), but it offers much more than that. When you visit the interior, it's like visiting a frontier territory - a vast land, largely untouched, except for the natives and a few foreigners who came to carve out a life, as you can see from the video below.

We wish to inform you that, according to the latest news provided by the Ministry of Culture, on the timetables and reservations for the purchase of entrance tickets to Machu Picchu  the following is reported, from January 2019, new time-slots will be implemented for visiting the citadel of Machu Picchu, these slots are the following:

I had a meeting today with the sales rep for the Antarctic air-cruises and he asked me how he could help. I told him he could help by getting more space on their tours! As of October 31, of the 1,924 berths available for the 2018-2019 departures, 1,914 of them were already booked. For the 2019-2020 season the have a new ship coming on board and he told me it was already almost sold out for January 2020 departures!

​Why are they so popular?

You may or may not know it, but there are probably about 13 ships that sail in the Peruvian Amazon. What makes cruises on the Aria special - what sets them apart from other ships?

Are you interested in traveling along the famous Carretera Austral in remote southern Chile? If so, here are a few tips from our local operator: