The Andes of South America run from the Caribbean Sea north of the Equator to within 500Km of Antarctica.

It is the longest, the most beautiful, and the second highest mountain range in the world. The newcomer will be amazed by the diversity of cultures and wildlife, particularly in the mountain of Peru, Bolivia, and Patagonia.

For the trekker, the scenic grandeur of the mountains of Peru equals that of the Himalayas. However, they offer surprisingly easier access. Combine this with the cultural diversity of the never-ending carnival of colourful characters and, of course, the extensive Inca ruins, and you have the ingredients for a truly remarkable holiday. Some 5,600Km further south, Patagonia harbours some of the most fascinating and spectacular scenery in the world. No camera can capture, nor words describe, the wild, untamed beauty of one of the world's last great wilderness areas, shared by both Chile and Argentina. Here, where elsewhere at this latitude there is only ocean, a trekker discovers a seemingly endless array of natural wonders. There are vast ice plateaux and unnamed peaks which feed huge glaciers that flow down through beech forests on their way to the salt waters of the Pacific Ocean. There is a complex network of channels, fiords and entangled islands. Nowhere has nature been so extravagant, nor has a place of such beauty been so unvisited.