Thumping with a million mini heartbeats, the jungle never sleeps. Insects hum, monkeys squeal and birds trill to create a rapturous symphony. But in the humid equatorial rainforests, almost everyone needs a rest by midday.
Drifting silently along the terracotta waters of the Yacu-I River, I allow the current to carry me downstream. It’s one of hundreds of rivers, streams and creeks eventually making their way to the mighty Iguazú Falls, just over 60 miles away from where I’m kayaking. In 2022, almost three million people visited the falls — a UNESCO World Heritage site that straddles a border with Brazil at the northeastern tip of Argentina and is divided between both countries. Many tourists fly in as part of a broader South America circuit and stay here for only a few days, missing out on the beauty of the Misiones province that lies beyond it on the Argentinian side.
Brazil’s unfathomably vast forests cover almost 60% of the country, but in Misiones — an area roughly the size of Belgium — only around 6% of the original Atlantic rainforest that once covered the region remains. Awasi, which operates a 14-villa lodge on the edge of Iguazú National Park, believes one of the best ways to protect that precious pocket of biodiversity is by showing people what’s there. When the lodge opened in 2017, it made an agreement with a local farmer to purchase the Yacu-I Reserve, a plot of pristine subtropical forest with river access.
My guides and I had left the lodge early that morning to drive for 90 minutes along Route 101, a dirt track of fiery red soil overhanging with the boughs of rosewood trees, once the dominant species before the timber-hungry Spanish conquistadors arrived from the 1540s onwards. While I kayaked, my companions Chito Victor Dos Santos and Nona Silveira De Asis had prepared an asado barbecue of sizzling meats with mbeju — a type of pancake made with cassava flour, stuffed with cheese.
Knowing how to navigate the jungle is critical for survival. Nobody understands this forest better than the Indigenous Guarani, who have moved across vast areas spanning Brazil, Paraguay, Bolivia and Argentina for hundreds of years. They were one of the first tribes to be contacted by Europeans when they arrived in these lands and around 11,000 still live in Misiones, with four communities neighbouring the Awasi lodge.
By special agreement, I’m invited into one of the villages and taken on a tour by local guide Karaí José. Pulling up on a motorbike, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt, he looks like any other Argentine, but a passion for his culture runs deeper than any of the roots supporting this ancient forest.
Seeking shade from the sun, several children play outside mudbrick houses, while their parents tend
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If your New Year’s resolution was to earn more miles and points, take more trips, and reap more value from loyalty programs, the best points and miles deals in February will definitely interest you. Airlines, hotels, and credit cards have promotions and deals to kick off your travel year. Here’s how you can benefit.
Flying with kids can be a stressful experience. But some airlines make the process easier by welcoming families with special comforts and conveniences. While it’s not always a given in the United States, most international airlines still offer early boarding for families with small children. Globally, on long-haul flights, most full-service airlines (versus a low-cost or charter airline) offer bassinets for infants, kids’ meals, and a kid-friendly category on the in-flight entertainment screen—at a minimum. For families looking for the smoothest in-flight experience, we’ve rounded up the airlines that offer the best services and amenities for people traveling with kids.
In a remote lowland forest in northern Argentina, giant anteaters snuffle around termite mounds, and jaguars stalk prey along the muddy banks of the Bermejo River. Parque Nacional El Impenetrable, which opened in 2017, is one of the South American country’s newest and most diverse wildlife sanctuaries—and a growing site for ecotourism. Yet, these 320,000 acres of pristine wilderness were nearly lost to development following a brutal murder that gripped the nation.
Embarking on a yearlong journey around the world is a dream scenario for many travelers. However, the logistics of making it happen can be challenging, not least because of the sheer number of flights you would need to book. One way to make the journey a reality is by purchasing an around-the-world flight ticket.
On Tuesday, in a ceremony that, of course, involved a soccer ball, the Argentine soccer superstar Lionel Messi pressed a button and a bottle of champagne smashed against the bow of Icon of the Seas, christening the world’s largest cruise ship at its home port of Miami. Like an A-list celebrity stepping onto the red carpet, the arrival of Royal Caribbean’s 250,800-ton ship has captured the world’s attention, with some marveling over its cutting-edge features, like the largest water park at sea, while others criticize the gigantic ship’s potential to damage the environment.
The eighth-largest country on Earth, Argentina encompasses everything from pancake-flat grasslands to sky-high mountains, humid wetlands to frigid ice fields, emerald forests to rugged coastlines.
Hidden beneath an overhang on steep cliff walls above the Pinturas River Canyon are more than 800 stencilled handprints and painted images of animals. Nobody fully understands why Patagonia’s nomadic hunter-gatherers crafted the graffiti, but we do know they were created around 9,300 years ago using mineral pigments mixed with blood and fat, and that they provide a glimpse of early life in the glacier-carved province of Santa Cruz.
Ever fantasized about having an entire hotel to yourself while on vacation? The Four Seasons Resort Bora Bora can make that dream come true: For $2.75 million, guests can buy out the entire island property for a week, dining at its open-air restaurants, snorkeling in the lagoon, and playing tennis with the hotel’s pro. Or, you could invite up to 245 of your closest friends to stay with you in the resort’s seven villas and 108 bungalow suites.
South America’s largest country is keen to attract visitors from the UK, with an approach potentially including Fam and Press Trips, Strategic Partnerships and Creative Activations. Brazil’s ambitious start to the new year follows hot on the heels of a successful end to 2023, which saw the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) open its first office in Latin America in Rio de Janeiro. The office was inaugurated by Zurab Pololikashvili, the Executive Secretary of UNWTO at an opening ceremony taking place last 14th December, which was attended by the President of Brazil Luis Inacio da Silva - more commonly known as Lula - and the country’s Minister of Tourism, Celso Sabino.
One of the biggest beef consumers in the world, Argentinians are masters of the asado — the South American take on a barbecue. But, with young chefs keen to diversify and refine the capital's culinary scene, a Porteño’s diet isn't just limited to steak and Malbec. Use your stomach as a compass to navigate Buenos Aires by visiting these spots.