South America Off The Beaten Path

  Iglesia Pedro Claver dome from port at...
by richiecdisc
 
  • Iglesia Pedro Claver dome from port at dusk
      Iglesia Pedro Claver dome from port at...
    by richiecdisc
  • one of Colombia's stunning churches
      one of Colombia's stunning churches
    by richiecdisc
  •   Off The Beaten Path
    by henri123
  • Walk Like a Penguin!
      Walk Like a Penguin!
    by HispanicYob
  • Macaws
      Macaws
    by grandmaR
 

Most Viewed Off The Beaten Path in South America

26.

Tigre   Buenos Aires

Tigre, Buenos Aires

 36 Reviews  It was founded on may 20th 1892 Address: Paseo Victorica 602 (1648) Tigre Pcia. de Buenos Aires - Argentina Fundado el 20 de Mayo de 1892 Paseo Victorica 602 (1648) Tigre Pcia. de Buenos Aires -... 

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27.

Niterói   Rio de Janeiro

Niterói, Rio de Janeiro

 52 Reviews  Niterói Contemporary Art Museum is one of the more interesting buildings in Rio de janeiro state. It´s located in Niteroi which is Rio´s quiet neighbour where not many tourists venture over to, but... 

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28.

Museos - Museums   Lima

Museos - Museums, Lima

 8 Reviews  Lima is by excelence, a city of museums. With more than 50 museums in the city, the best ones in Peru are located here. From public to private and from general to specialized museums, visiting them... 

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29.

Sacred Valley   Cusco

Sacred Valley, Cusco

 10 Reviews  Our horseback ride from Urubamba up past the salt terraces to Maras and Moray was the best adventure of our entire visit to Peru, For a mere $US60 a person, Rancho Casa Hospedaje supplied a... 

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30.

Ocean beaches   São Paulo

Ocean beaches, São Paulo

 5 Reviews  If you are in town, you can take a car and in less than two hours you are in the sea, and Praia Grande is one of the most popular holiday destinations for the Paulistanos. It is not the most beautiful... 

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31.

Zipaguira   Bogotá

Zipaguira, Bogotá

 5 Reviews  Zipaquira is an unassuming small town about 50 kilometers north of Bogota and would most likely not be visited by anyone aside from its star attraction, a salt mine of all things. But this is no... 

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32.

Morro de Sao Paulo   Salvador da Bahia

Morro de Sao Paulo, Salvador da Bahia

 6 Reviews  It takes two hours to get to Morro on the Catamaran from Mercado Modelo... and it really is idyllic heaven. I stayed on the fourth beach which is quiet and ideal fro a relaxing getaway... There is... 

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33.

Inca Trail   Machu Picchu

Inca Trail, Machu Picchu

 16 Reviews  Stumbled across a really great way to see machu Piccu and to see some authentic Peruvian life along the way. Some friends found a Dutch guy in Cusco who arranges tours on behalf of a Coffee... 

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34.

El Hatillo   Caracas

El Hatillo, Caracas

 4 Reviews  It's a small town but very cozy. There are several handicraft shops with the nicest things! The day I was there there were some performers in the Plaza Bolivar.... And seemed like a very family thing... 

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35.

Amazon Islands   Manaus

Amazon Islands, Manaus

 3 Reviews  If you are interested in doing some real amazon hiking and stick close to Manaus, you can go to some of the Islands in the Amazon side of the city (if it isnt flooded - when the river is hige these... 

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36.

"Death" Road from La Paz to Corroico   La Paz

"Death" Road from La Paz to Corroico, La Paz

 5 Reviews  The Death Road *** the fighting troops Forget their useless trivia Want to know who dies for their country? Meet the truckers of Bolivia. Neither to save their power Nor secure their glory As you... 

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37.

El Tatio geysers   San Pedro de Atacama

El Tatio geysers, San Pedro de Atacama

 6 Reviews  If you ever wondered how Earth looked like in prehistoric times, before massive life forms appeared on the surface of the planet, here’s the answer: it was like El Tatio ("weeping old man" in Kunza... 

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38.

Palermo's Park   Buenos Aires

Palermo's Park, Buenos Aires

 8 Reviews  If you feel tired of the city and want to see a green space, then Los Bosques de Palermo is a good place. They are located 15 minutes away from downtown and they get packed with locals, mostly at the... 

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39.

Street Markets   Rio de Janeiro

Street Markets, Rio de Janeiro

 5 Reviews  The smell and colour of the fruit and vegetables, the relaxed atmosphere, make the market a good place for anyone wishing to get to know the profusion and variety of the ingredients at close... even... 

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40.

Las Salinas de Maras   Cusco

Las Salinas de Maras, Cusco

 4 Reviews   This was definitely one of the more bizarre sights we saw on our trip to the Sacred Valley! A huge salt mine carved out of the hillside, with terrace after terrace of mini salt-pans spread out in... 

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41.

Tiete river banks and other parks   São Paulo

Tiete river banks and other parks, São Paulo

 11 Reviews  The Tiete River bank Park is great - wonderful trails, good picnic and barbecue areas, there is even row boats for rental. However, the Tiete River is very polluted and during hot, dry periods the... 

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42.

Chapada Diamantina   Salvador da Bahia

Chapada Diamantina, Salvador da Bahia

 2 Reviews  The Chapada Diamantina National Park is unique with its wonderful landascapes, waterfalls, canyons, natural swimming pools... Culture and Ecotourism in the Vale do Capao : Many tourists are going to... 

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43.

Ruins   Machu Picchu

Ruins, Machu Picchu

 13 Reviews  We can upon these impressive ruins which were only rediscovered in 1941 enroute to the Sun gate as you can see from my photo restoration work in going on using techniques which are as ancient as the... 

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44.

Avila National Park   Caracas

Avila National Park, Caracas

 2 Reviews  Best destinations : Level of training, none: Quebrada Quintero ( take the right instead of the left when you get to the path that takes to Sabasnieves). This place is one of my favorites since... 

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45.

Presidente Figueiredo   Manaus

Presidente Figueiredo, Manaus

 3 Reviews  This is a pretty cool place if you are looking for a relaxing trek/picnic. Plan on spending the whole day here, not just a few hours. Its best to drive to PF in the morning. Its a beautiful scenic... 

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46.

Nearer and farer Surroundings   La Paz

Nearer and farer Surroundings, La Paz

 14 Reviews  Chacaltaya mountain around 5400 m, 1-2 hrs drive from la paz. They say it was a bolivian skiing RESORT. I was skiing there 2 years ago. There was not too much of it beacuse even during the season (... 

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47.

Caves   San Pedro de Atacama

Caves, San Pedro de Atacama

 2 Reviews  We left daylight in this hole behind ? and were very lucky in meeting a couple of spanish geologists exploring the caves with professional equipment. They took us down into a long cave system which... 

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48.

National Fine Arts Museum   Buenos Aires

National Fine Arts Museum, Buenos Aires

 3 Reviews  I went to Malba and the Museo de Bellas Artes. Bellas Artes was far superior to Malba, so if you can't make it to both, go to the B.A. There is so much to see you will need at least a couple of hours.... 

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49.

Favelas   Rio de Janeiro

Favelas, Rio de Janeiro

 6 Reviews  Many people are often hesitant to do a "tour" in the favelas thinking that they will leave the people who live there feeling like zoo animals or a tourist attraction, but I can promise you that we do... 

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50.

San Blas   Cusco

San Blas, Cusco

 7 Reviews  Well San Blas isnt too off the beaten path but its somewhat of a walk if you want to get there from the Plaza de Armas. Of course we did do a bunch of stops by the time we got here. But I think San... 

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Reviews from VirtualTourist Members

Working While Traveling

by abckidz

I'm currently living in Argentina teaching English - that industry is taken pretty seriously here. While you MAY be able to pick up a few hours here and there, you should know that the students are learning English to improve their opportunities for the rest of the their lives, e.g. getting a better job with a higher salary, sending their kids to school etc., not paying for beer.That being said, most of the English teaching positions here require a certificate. I can't speak for other Latin American countries as far as teaching English is concerned.I do know that working on various types of farms doing work around the house or on the actual farm is pretty popular all over the world, but as far as I know they only would be providing free accommodation and possibly some food. In my opinion it's the same as being paid because that's a free bed to sleep in and some free food that you're not...

The Lost City Colombia I trekked up and flew down!

by Katzky

I took a trip initiated in Santa Marta, Colombia for a 6 day trek to the Lost City ( la cuidad perdida) remnants of a city dating 500 B.C. of the Tryrona Indians discovered only in 1976. I have to say it was harder than I expected! It’s three days up, and three days down. The first day I fought so hard to make it through the day! The next day, I found when it was really hard on me, I would stop, breath deep, and ask those beautiful mountains and jungles for her energy, and it worked! I kept a better pace and felt great. But alas, after I reached the city, I was pooped! Then a torrential rain came and I prayed to get off that mountain in one piece. I had a feeling I'd slip, fall and break something... Now if I was an animal, I would be a Hawk. The morning of day 4, I saw a beautiful helicopter land on the largest terrace, (built as the foundation of the largest home in the lost city). The...

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Brasilia

by pepples46

carved out of the State of Goias high Plateau 1100m above sealevel, right in the selva(savanne), build in about 3years, though many Buildings, like the Cathedral took over ten years to be finished.Brasilia ended up as Brasil's artificial Capital in 1960. the then President Juscelino Kubitschek had polished his big Ego. though the Architecture of Oskar Niemeyer, the Urbanist Lucio Costa and Burle Marx as Landscaper delivered an exceptional outcome and the most modern City in the world, Brasilia suffered from the word go. neclected by the People of Brasil, more humiliating..by the very People who it was build for, the Goverment and its Civil Servants.Rio de Janeiro was now second in Line, just laught, knowing the Civil Servants would be back. well they where in ...every free min.spending their time again at the Copacabana.But I got to say...when in Brasil and having a day to spare, fly out...

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Parana

by pepples46

the 3rd southerly State of Brasil ...Parana, with it's lush, green and fertil pasture. an ideal off the beaten path, but then....when you wanna travel overland to the Foz the Iguacu, it becomes a destination in it's own right. Parana feeds Brasil with grain and the best coffee. Parana's Capital Curitiba a 'small City' by Brasil's standards, population around 1.5mill, neat and very efficent, at an altitute of over 900m, therefore always a little on the rainy side, but good accommodation and fine restaurants, will make up for it

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Local fauna 7

by andal13

The Southern Elephant Seal (Mirounga leonina) is the biggest seal of the world; the adult males have a lenght of 6m and weigh 3 or 4 tons, and develop a proboscis when are 6 or 8 years old; the adult females are smaller (3 m, 1 ton) and do not have the proboscis.I visited the only continental station for southern elephant seals at Punta Delgada (Peninsula Valdés, Argentina). El elefante marino (Mirounga leonina) es la foca m?s grande del mundo; los machos adultos tienen una longitud de 6 m y pesan 3 ? 4 toneladas, y desarrollan una proboscis cuando tienen de 6 a 8 a?os de edad; las hembras son m?s peque?as (3 m, 1 tonelada) y no tienen proboscis.Visité el único apostadero continental de elefantes marinos en Punta Delgada (Península Valdés, Argentina).

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Local fauna 6

by andal13

The vedettes of the seas... the magnificent whales! I had my first "whale-meeting" last September, at Puerto Madryn and Peninsula Valdes (Chubut, Argentina) and it was a great experience. The southern right whale (Eubalaena australis) has a lenght of 14 - 18 m and weighs 30 ton; it has not dorsal fin, and the head makes up 25 % of the body. The most distinctive characteristics are the callosities of keratine that it has over its head; some parasites live on these callosities; the whales can be identified by them. When it exhales, a V shaped spout comes out from the blwholes it has over its head.These whales come to calm waters during their reproductive season; they feed in colder waters; they eat krill (one ton per day), seeping water with their baleens (parallel whalebones) that hang from their upper jaw.bLas vedettes de los mares... las magníficas ballenas! Tuve mi primer "encuentro"...

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Local fauna 5

by andal13

Elegant, funny, curious... the penguins are very interesting birds, indeed. At Punta Tombo (Argentina) is situated the second biggest penguin place of South America (the first is at Antarctica). During the reproductive season (from August till February), more than 500.000 penguins come to this place. The penguins of Magallanes (Spheniscus magellanicus) reach 45 cm high and 4 or 5 Kg weight; the males have a bill longer and thicker than the females. The picture shows a male with his elegant black and white suit.Elegantes, divertidos, curiosos... los pingüinos son aves muy interesantes, sin dudas.En Punta Tombo (Argentina) se encunetra ubicada la segunda pingüinera más grande del continente (la primera está en la Antártida). Durante la época reproductiva (de agosto a febrero), más de 500.000 pingüinos se encuentran en este lugar. Los pingüinos de Magallanes (Spheniscus magellanicus)...

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Local fauna 4

by andal13

South America has several species of sea turtles; I took this picture at Praia do Forte (Bahia, Brazil) where there is one of the stations of Tamar Project (an organization which cares for the marine turtles of Brazil). Some ot the turtles at Tamar are Eretmochelys imbricata, Caretta caretta, Lepidochelys olivacea and Chelonia mydas.Sudamérica tiene varias especies de tortugas marinas; saqué esta foto en Praia do Forte (Bahia, Brasil) en una de las estaciones de cría del Proyecto Tamar (una organización que preserva las tortugas marinas de Brasil). Algunas de las tortugas de Tamar son Eretmochelys imbricata, Caretta caretta, Lepidochelys olivacea y Chelonia mydas.

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Local fauna 3

by andal13

The sloth (Choleopus hoffmani, Barypus variegatus) is another native animal, which has lazy habits... Usually lives at the trees, hung like a hammock! The sloths live at the rain forest, but I found this one at a square in Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Bolivia).El perezoso (Choleopus hoffmani, Barypus variegatus) es otro animal de la fauna nativa, que presenta hábitos perezosos... Habitualmente vive en las ramas de los árboles colgado como una hamaca! Los perezosos viven en la selva húmeda, pero yo encontré este ejemplar en una plaza de Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Bolivia).

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Local fauna 2

by andal13

Probably the macaw is one of the first images that comes to the mind of non-Southamerican people when they think of South America; of course, it is just a stereotype. The macaws are native birds that can be found at the North area of South America (and the South area of Central America), and they are just magnificent... The picture shows the blue and yellow macaw (Ara ararauna) that I found at Mare Island (Salvador da Bahia, Brazil).Probablemente el guacamayo es una de las primeras im?genes que vienen a la mente de los no-sudamericanos cuando piensan en Sudam?rica; claro est?, se trata de un estereotipo. Los guacamayos son aves nativas que pueden encontrarse en la regi?n norte de Sudam?rica (y en la regi?n sur de Centroam?rica), y son simplemente magn?ficos.... La foto muestra un guacamayo azul-amarillo (Ara ararauna) que encontr? en Ilha da Mar? (Salvador da Bahia, Brasil).

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The Place

Reviews and photos of South America attractions posted by real travelers and locals. The best tips for South America sightseeing.

Experience South America
Off The Beaten Path: Cities in South America
  1. Buenos Aires Off The Beaten Path
  2. Rio de Janeiro Off The Beaten Path
  3. Lima Off The Beaten Path
  4. Cusco Off The Beaten Path
  5. São Paulo Off The Beaten Path
  6. Bogotá Off The Beaten Path
  7. Santiago Off The Beaten Path
  8. Salvador da Bahia Off The Beaten Path
  9. Quito Off The Beaten Path
  10. Machu Picchu Off The Beaten Path
  11. Caracas Off The Beaten Path
  12. Montevideo Off The Beaten Path
  13. Cartagena Off The Beaten Path
  14. Manaus Off The Beaten Path
  15. La Paz Off The Beaten Path
  16. Fortaleza Off The Beaten Path
  17. Mendoza Off The Beaten Path
  18. Ushuaia Off The Beaten Path
  19. San Pedro de Atacama Off The Beaten Path
  20. Foz do Iguaçu Off The Beaten Path
  21. Isla Margarita Off The Beaten Path
  22. Cali Off The Beaten Path
  23. El Calafate Off The Beaten Path
  24. San Carlos de Bariloche Off The Beaten Path
  25. Puerto Iguazú Off The Beaten Path
  26. Isla Margarita Off The Beaten Path
  27. Arequipa Off The Beaten Path
  28. Valparaíso Off The Beaten Path
  29. Florianópolis Off The Beaten Path
  30. Santa Marta Off The Beaten Path
  31. Curitiba Off The Beaten Path
  32. Cuenca Off The Beaten Path
  33. Recife Off The Beaten Path
  34. Natal Off The Beaten Path
  35. Punta Arenas Off The Beaten Path
  36. Barranquilla Off The Beaten Path
  37. Parati Off The Beaten Path
  38. Colonia del Sacramento Off The Beaten Path
  39. Porto Alegre Off The Beaten Path
  40. Isla de San Andrés Off The Beaten Path
  41. Punta del Este Off The Beaten Path
  42. Guayaquil Off The Beaten Path
  43. Medellín Off The Beaten Path
  44. Viña del Mar Off The Beaten Path
  45. Uyuni Off The Beaten Path
  46. Bùzios Off The Beaten Path
  47. Iquitos Off The Beaten Path
  48. Puerto Natales Off The Beaten Path
  49. Puerto Montt Off The Beaten Path
  50. Ilha Grande Off The Beaten Path

More Cities in South America

 

Questions and Answers

EzzaK profile photo

Q:  Hi, I fly into Santiago at the end of the month; I am travelling through S. America for three months. Looking to see if my... 

glabah profile photo

A: > 5 days Iguassu Falls The amount of time you spend here depends on if you go to the Brazilian side, or what you like to do. There are a lot of hiking trails on the... 

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South America Members Meetings

Mar 06, 2012 
Cordoba, Argentina, Southamerica

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