Vast and varied, South America offers adventure in all forms

In almost 7 million square miles, South America packs a lot of variety: resorts for summer skiing, miles of roadway for a driving adventure, easy-going beach towns and places to commune with the animals and wonders of nature.

Driving Chile: 4x4 by 4,000 miles
Guidebooks call the Atacama Desert in northern Chile “lunar” or “Martian,” and during the day it’s understandable because the cracked lifelessness stretches to the ashy horizon. Water seems like folklore. But at night, well, night is different. Northern Chile has dark and transparent air -- silver-lidded observatories eye the heavens from nearby mountaintops -- and the sky is whitewashed with stars.

In the slopes of the Andes, surprising twists
Since I was a kid, I’d wanted to ski South America. When I was younger, it was because I liked the idea of skiing during the North American summer. Then, after earning an undergraduate degree in Latin American studies, I became fascinated with the Andes. So when I realized that a 10-week trip through South America would land me in ski country in June -- the start of winter in the Southern Hemisphere -- I came up with a plan.

The Brazilian Pantanal: Hostile territory? You think?
Travelers who require certain amenities -- say, room service or private baths -- are unlikely to find their way to the Pantanal. Although there are tours of this remote region, which borders Paraguay and Bolivia, most are safari-style outings of a few days. Earthwatch volunteers, on the other hand, spend seven or 12 days working on research or conservation projects related to jaguars, otters and other wildlife.

Coastal northern Brazil, where life rolls with the tides
You don’t come to a place like Boipeba Island -- a place of alluring, empty beaches, where you can stroll along the turquoise water for miles without running into many people -- without a little drama. There are no cars on this outpost in the Brazilian province of Bahia. The only road is a sandy tractor path. The place is accessible only by boat. And apparently, ours had been expecting us an hour earlier.