South America on the Mind

When the weather starts feeling a bit colder in the northern hemisphere where Base Camp is, we start dreaming about places south of the equator. On today’s particular daydream, a few different spots in South America came to mind, so we thought we’d pull together three facts on three different places that we’d be more than excited to hop on a plane to right now.
The Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

Photo by Attit Patel

The Galapagos Islands are famous for a variety of unusual creatures, from marine iguanas to blue-footed boobies, and you’ll get closer to the wildlife than you would anywhere else in the world. The Galapagos Archipelago lies 600 miles off the coast of South America and is reached via a short flight from Quito, Ecuador. The isolation and late discovery by humans, along with a historical lack of predators has set the stage for a unique environmental experiment and developed into perhaps the greatest showcase for evolution to be witnessed anywhere.
1. More than sixty volcanic eruptions have been documented over the last two hundred years in the Galapagos region.
2. The notorious scolopendra centipede lives on the islands and frequently dines on lava lizards and even young rats. These creatures grow to about thirty centimeters.
3. The famous Galapagos penguin is the only type of penguin to live at the equator. An endangered species, there are less than 1500 examples according to scientific studies.
Easter Island, Chile

One of the world’s most famous yet least visited archaeological sites, Easter Island is a small, hilly, now treeless island of volcanic origin. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Chile, it is considered to be the world’s most remote inhabited island. Sixty-three square miles in size and with three extinct volcanoes (the tallest rising to 1674 feet), the island is, technically speaking, a single massive volcano rising over ten thousand feet from the Pacific Ocean floor. In the 1860’s, Tahitian sailors gave the island the name Rapa Nui, meaning ‘Great Rapa,’ due to its resemblance to another island in Polynesia called Rapa Iti, meaning ‘Little Rapa’.
1. Easter Island’s most famous features are its enormous stone statues called moai, at least 288 of which once stood upon massive stone platforms called ahu. There are some 250 of these ahu platforms spaced approximately one half mile apart to create an almost unbroken line around the perimeter of the island.
2. The island received its most well known current name, Easter Island, from the Dutch sea captain Jacob Roggeveen who became the first European to visit Easter Sunday, April 5, 1722.
3. The average moai statue is 14 feet, 6 inches tall and weighs 14 tons. Some moai were as large as 33 feet and weighed more than 80 tons. Depending upon the size of the statues, it is estimated that 50-150 people were needed to drag them across the countryside on sleds and rollers made from the island’s trees.
Iguazu Falls, Brazil & Argentina

The stupendous roar of 275 different waterfalls crashing 80m (262ft) into the Rio Iguaçu means that even on the sleepiest, hottest afternoon, nature’s relentless churning power will stir your heart here. The falls are actually divided between Brazil and Argentina. The best time to visit is between August and November. To see the falls properly, you must visit both sides – Brazil gives the grand overview and Argentina the closer look. The Brazilian side has far fewer attractions than the Argentine side; and the costs are higher here if you want to arrange an under-the-falls boat trip.
1. The mist and foam caused by the falls, boils up all around, causing almost permanent rainbows and providing to the surrounding forest an additional green.
2. Iguazu Falls is part of a subtropical jungle that is rich in wildlife, including tapirs, giant anteaters, howler monkeys and jaguars.
3. One of the falls on the Argentinean side of the Iguazu Falls is named for Spanish Conquistador Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca who in 1541 became the first European to discover them.
LAN Airlines now flies from North America to The Galapagos Islands, from Lima to Easter Island as of January 5th, 2011 and from Lima to Iguazu Falls (Argentina side) as of January 11th, 2011. 

Source: http://travelblog.gapadventures.com/

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