Other activities in South America
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Maracatu Brasil
Maracatu Brasil is one of the best places in Rio to study percussion. It’s very active in music events throughout the city. Instructors here offer courses in a number of different drumming styles: zabumba, pandeiro and symphonic percussion, as well as guitar and other instruments. If you plan to stick around a while, you can arrange private lessons (R$250 for four one-hour classes) or sign up for group classes (from R$100 a month). On the 1st floor of the lime-green building, Maracatu sells instruments.
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Las Marianas
One of the prettiest wineries in the region, this one was built in 1922, abandoned in 1950 and reinstated in 1999. The main building is gorgeous, with thick adobe walls and a few examples of the original winemaking equipment lying around. The mountain views out over the vineyard are superb. If you’re coming by bus, catch the 16 (40 minutes) near the corner of Santa Fe and Mendoza in San Juan. Get off at the corner of Calle Aberastain and Calle Nuevo, where you’ll see a signpost to the winery (an 800m walk).
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Gran Hotel de Villavicencio
If you’ve ordered mineral water from any restaurant or cafe in Argentina, odds are you’ve ended up with a bottle of Villavicencio on your table. These springs are the source, and their spectacular mountain setting once hosted the prestigious thermal baths resort of the Gran Hotel de Villavicencio. Popular with the Argentine elite during the middle of the 20th century, the resort has been closed for more than a decade; promises have floated around for years that it would ‘soon’ reopen.
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Inka Express
- Puno, Peru
- Activities › Other
The most enjoyable way to get to Cuzco is via Inka Express, whose luxury buses with panoramic windows depart every morning at 8am. Buffet lunch is included, along with an English-speaking tour guide, who talks about the four sites that are briefly visited en route: Andahuaylillas, Raqchi, Abra la Raya and Pucará. The trip takes about eight hours and costs S135 from Inka Express. You may well be able to persuade a travel agency to cut into its commission and sell you a ticket for less.
reviewed
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Inka Express
- Puno, Peru
- Activities › Other
The most enjoyable way to get to Cuzco is via Inka Express, whose luxury buses with panoramic windows depart every morning at 8am. Buffet lunch is included, along with an English-speaking tour guide, who talks about the four sites that are briefly visited en route: Andahuaylillas, Raqchi, Abra la Raya and Pucará. The trip takes about eight hours and costs S135 from Inka Express. You may well be able to persuade a travel agency to cut into its commission and sell you a ticket for less.
reviewed
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Parque Nacional Pali Aike
The park has several hiking trails, including a 1700m path through the rugged lava beds of the Escorial del Diablo to the impressive Crater Morada del Diablo; wear sturdy shoes or your feet could be shredded. There are hundreds of craters, some as high as a four-story building. There’s also a 9km trail from Cueva Pali Aike to Laguna Ana, where there’s another shorter trail to a site on the main road, 5km from the park entrance.
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Aguas Calientes de Marangani
Twenty minutes past Sicuani – just before Abra la Raya, the high pass that marks the boundary between the Cuzco and Puno departments – are the Aguas Calientes de Marangani. This complex of five fabulously hot thermal pools, linked by rustic bridges over unfenced, boiling tributaries, is quite a sight in itself. The added spectacle of locals washing themselves, their kids and their clothes in the pools makes this an excellent, accessible yet off-the-beaten-track experience.
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Pablo Tour
Consistently recommended, Pablo Tour’s guides are experts in trekking and cultural tours in the region, and can furnish trekkers with all the necessary equipment and topographical maps. They are happy to customize tours depending on clients’ needs or offer professional advice to those hoping to go it alone. The owner, Edwin, speaks English and French. Can also help travelers communicate with the Hostal Valle del Fuego in Cabanaconde, or Oasis Bungalows at the base of the Cañón del Colca.
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Pablo Tour
Consistently recommended, Pablo Tour’s guides are experts in trekking and cultural tours in the region, and can furnish trekkers with all the necessary equipment and topographical maps. They are happy to customize tours depending on clients’ needs or offer professional advice to those hoping to go it alone. The owner, Edwin, speaks English and French. Can also help travelers communicate with the Hostal Valle del Fuego in Cabanaconde, or Oasis Bungalows at the base of the Cañón del Colca.
reviewed
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Termas de Puritama
These idyllic volcanic hot springs puddle together in a box canyon 34km north of San Pedro, en route to El Tatio. Maintained by the Explora company, it has changing rooms on site. Few tours stop here because of the hefty admission charged, but taxis will take you from San Pedro for around CH$5000. The springs are a 20-minute walk from the parking lot. The temperature of the springs is about 33°C, and there are several falls and pools. Bring food, water and sunblock.
reviewed
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Boca da Onça Ecotour
The Boca da Onça Ecotour, 59km northwest of Bonito, is a nicely manicured 4km trail through the forest to a series of 11 waterfalls, a few of which you can take a chilly dip in. It all culminates with the 156m Boca da Onça waterfall, an impressive cascading waterfall that takes the state’s highest honors. It’s an 880-step climb back to the fazenda, where there is an excellent lunch and hang time by a fantastic natural river-water pool, full of local fish.
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Papangu-Atacapi Tours
An indigenous-run agency with a focus on community tourism. Trips go to Sarayaku and Mango Wasi (Quichua communities) and Cueva de los Tuyos (Shuar). Sarayacu (www.sarayaku.com/tourism) requires a rural charter flight ($125 round-trip per person) and the cost is $63 per day for a two-night trip. Other trips start at $40 per day. Guides are indigenous and speak Spanish and Quichua, and some of the fees go to participating communities. Highly recommended by travelers.
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Turismo Comapa
If you have the time, a more atmospheric alternative to Seno Otway is the thriving Magellanic penguin colonies of Monumento Natural Los Pingüinos on Isla Magdalena. Five-hour tours on the Barcaza Melinka (adult/child CH$25,000) land for an hour at the island and depart the port on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, December through February. Confirm times in advance. Book tickets through Turismo Comapa and bring a picnic.
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Termas del Ventisquero
Located roadside on the Carretera Austral, 6km south of Puyuhuapi, this new miniresort has one big pool and three small pools facing the sound, surrounded by umbrellas and lounge chairs. The water is 36–40°C and there are adequate changing rooms with showers and lockers. Food is not allowed but you can grab a bite at the acclaimed restaurant (mains CH$5000) that serves homemade pasta, fish and quiche, in addition to English teas, espresso and pisco sours.
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Alcamar Travel
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Nordeste Off Road
This agency offers longer-distance 4WD or beach-buggy tours, along Ceará’s glorious beaches wherever possible, as far afield as Jericoacoara or even Natal or the Lençóis Maranhenses. A three-day return trip to Jericoacoara costs around R$1700 to R$1950 for two people, with accommodations and outings from Jeri included; a four-day one-way jaunt to Natal is around R$2200 to R$4250 for two. These trips can be done in less time for less money.
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Termas de Panqui
Panqui, 58km east of Pucón, caters to a New Agey crowd and can get overrun in the summer, but these numerous baths are still quite good and are in a tranquil mountainous location. The place promotes itself as an ecological retreat and has a vegetarian restaurant. Come slide into the one of the four pools and soak away the stresses of a long day of enjoying yourself in and around Pucón – bathing suits have even been known to slip off here.
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Termas Geométricas
For couples and design aficionados, this Asian-inspired, red-planked maze of 17 beautiful slate hot springs set upon a verdant canyon over a rushing stream is the top choice. It’s simply gorgeous. There are two waterfalls and three cold plunge pools to cool off and a fogón-heated café stocked with natural chicken soup and real coffee. If it weren’t for the Spanish, you’d think this was Kyoto. Located 15km north of Coñaripe.
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La Comarca
This eco-sensitive collective marries smaller outfitters specializing in dramatic and custom-tailored adventure trips to less explored areas of the Rio Puelo Valley and Chiloé with independent travelers looking for an experience beyond the norm. Groups are never more than 10-strong and options include half-day bike trips to Volcán Osorno (CH$30,000) and full-day treks to Volcán Calbuco (CH$30,000). They rent bikes as well.
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Amarongachi Tours
Offers various good-time jungle excursions. During its tours ($45 per person per day) you can stay with a family in the jungle, eat local food, go for hikes, climb up waterfalls, pan for gold and swim in the rivers. Amarongachi also operates the lovely Amarongachi and Shangrila cabins; the latter are on a bluff 100m above Río Anzu (a tributary of Río Napo) and feature great views of the river and more-mellow activities.
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Cavas de Zonda
The Cavas de Zonda is in a cave about 16km west of San Juan, via the RP 12, near the town of Zonda. This champagne-maker boasts having the only wine cellar in South America whose ‘roof is a mountain’ and, true or not, its temperatures are perfect for cellaring its excellent sparkling wines. And hey…it’s a darn good marketing tool. Bus 23 leaves the San Juan bus terminal from platform 20 six times daily.
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Akanan Travel & Adventure
These Caracas/Puerto Ayacucho veterans specialize in quality adventure and extreme-sport trips, including treks to the top of Auyantepui (seven days from BsF7900) and Roraima (six days from BsF2800), as well as boat trips to Angel Falls (BsF2200), Río Caura (BsF2300) and Cerro Autana (BsF1200). It’s worth stopping in to browse the voluminous library, free maps and internet and last-minute hiking and climbing gear.
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Lagunillas
The cheapest skiing to be had near Santiago is at Lagunillas, a small resort 67km southeast of Santiago via San José de Maipo. Run by the Club Andino de Chile, it has four lifts and 13 runs; note that though the scenery is stunning, the snow here is generally not as good as at Santiago's more exclusive resorts. Club Andino runs a few small cabins here, but it's an easy day trip from Santiago.
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Majes River Lodge
Offers easy one-hour rafting trips (S60) or more challenging three-hour trips that pass through class IV rapids (S110) on the Río Majes. Overnight accommodations in bungalows with solar hot-water showers cost S40 per person; camping, meals of fresh river shrimp, and tours to the nearby Toro Muerto petroglyphs are also available. Take a taxi (S10) or a combi (S1.50) from Aplao to the Majes River Lodge.
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Patabamba Community Tourism Association
The Patabamba community tourism association offers a fascinating participative demonstration of the weaving process, all the way from picking the plants to making dyes, to shearing sheep and setting up a loom – with explanations of the meanings of colors and patterns. Campsites and homestays are available with advance notice. To get here, you can hire a taxi from Cuzco for about S30 each way.
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