South America travel tips and stories. Vacations ideas, cruises spa and resorts

The Los Roques Archipelago is one of the world’s biggest National Marine Parks, and lies 145 km due north of La Guaira, the mainland port for Caracas. About 50 coral cays and sand bars are arranged in a huge lagoon, but it’s only from the air you get true idea of its scale – it covers the same area as the whole of Virgin Islands. Photo by: Márcio Cabral de Moura
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Hotel de Larache is cobbled together from 20 small farming plots, drawing inspiration from the traditional estancias of northern Chile. Set in the oasis of San Pedro within the Atacama Desert, it offers guests the opportunity to explore the region’s unique landscape. 105 km from Calama in the Atacama Desert. This hotel, very shortly after its opening was chosen amongst the 100 best hotels in the world!
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Las Lajas Cathedral, built in 1916, is located in remote southwest Colombia, deep down in a gorge of the Guaitara River. An example of Gothic revival architecture, the cathedral is memorably framed by stark mountains and 100 feet waterfalls. The name Laja comes from the name of a type of flat sedimentary rock similar to floor tiles found in the Andes Mountains.

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Huacachina is a village in the Ica Region, in southwestern Peru. The oasis attracts many tourists as well as Peru’s rich families. The area around the lake is known for dune buggy trips and sandboarding. It is a tiny location, although it does have a few restaurants, bars and clubs.

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Parque Tayrona is truly a magnificent natural park located at the Caribbean coast of Colombia. The Park covers an area 300 square kilometres in size. Off the coast are a number of coral reefs, and nearby is the archaeological site. This little delightful spot is located about 30 minutes from the city of Rodadero, with beautiful beaches and hammocks to rent. Park Tayrona is about 45 minutes East of Santa Marta.
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The Sierra Nevada del Cocuy is a National Park and a set of highlands within the Cordillera Oriental mountain range in the Andes Mountains of Colombia.  The Sierra Nevada Del Cocuy, about 8 hours from Bogota, has over 20 snow capped peaks and some forty lagoons. Temperatures oscillate in the lower part at around 23º C and go down to 3º C in the snow covered peaks.
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Displayed on bubble-shaped stands, Galeria Melissa’s hip, gaudily-colored prime sellers—plastic shoes made in collaboration with design stars like Karim Rashid—look like art objects from outer space. The shop aims to be Sao Paulo’s “go to” place for cutting edge styles and ideas. Housed in a space created by Muti Randolph, the architect behind the electronic music temple D-Edge’s retro-futuristic beat box design, Galeria Melissa updates itself every three months by renewing the prints and graphics on its walls, a jungle of striking tints and bold shapes.
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