If you’re lucky enough to live in or near a great bar and restaurant town with a heavy international cast, you might start by going into the kind of Latin American bars and restaurants that sometimes have standing globes in them. These days many — perhaps most — decent bartenders know how to make a Pisco Sour. Pisco is a sort of brandy and the sour is a pretty close relative of the North American whiskey sour, which uses fresh lemon juice in its Chilean variation and fresh lime juice and egg white in its Peruvian incarnation.

If you’re going to Brazil, you should know that the national hard liquor is cachaça. Legally classified in the U.S. as a type of rum, the flavor of this clear liquor is actually more reminiscent of gin or vodka, despite being made from sugarcane. It’s dry in flavor and his a hint of olives about it. Some high end versions have met with acceptance in the U.S. but much of the product produced for local consumption might be a bit harsh to outsiders’ taste buds. Have it as a cocktail.

The national drink, the caipirinha, does a great job of mellowing cachaça’s harshness and is perfect for hot, moist weather. Comprised mainly of sugar or simple syrup (sugar water) and thoroughly muddled limes, it’s something like a mint-free mojito — one Latin American beverage that’s become de rigeur in the U.S. — and very good.

Just one word of warning as your trying out these drinks. Remember they’re pretty potent, you’re don’t want to accidentally knock over any floor globes as you’re sampling them.

Go back into history; start your encounter with trekking in the tracts of mountains of Patagonia, follow the famous Inca trail to Machu Picchu at over 10,000 feet above sea level. See the terrace cultivation in the sacred valley of the Incas. Also buy colorful articles hand made by local population that is still devoted to ‘Pachamam” (Mother Earth) as souvenirs. You will find here that the past (history) meets the present. With the help of professional organizers you could even get the thrill of local hospitality.

If you plan travelling to South America for a more sedentary tour, include sophisticated cities like Buenos Aires, Santiago or Rio de Janeiro in your program. Trip to lush wilderness of Amazon Rain Forest will leave you spellbound. Lodge around Lake Garzacocha and experience the real jungle adventure in Ecuadorian Amazon. Then, move out of the Amazon to the golden Brazilian beaches.

Take your family to the Galapagos Islands and connect with Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution by observing giant iguana lizards and unbelievable giant tortoises.

Booking a trip to South America or anywhere else is easy on the internet. Many websites promote adventure travels to South America. Explore the internet for good sites. Learn more about the travel operator you prefer by reading reviews online by persons who have already used their services.

Tours are classified according to the length of the trip (short trips or long ones), or the destination area (e.g. Amazon adventure, or Galapagos experience, etc) or the types of trips (hiking, trekking, hybrid, etc.). Study the details of the tour that you like. Do not forget to check smaller details like accommodation and other facilities.

Look for tours that make effort to cut down costs without sacrificing the main thrust of the tour. Choose the dates carefully after studying climatic conditions; of course, the tour operators do take such things into account. Read about the places you are going to visit so that you prepare yourself for what is going to come. Knowing about customs of local people will help you mingle with them and learn about them.

The online booking will take care of most of your needs; you just need to pack your holiday baggage and report to the airport. Leave the rest to them to make it a memorable and enjoyable adventure travel.

Travelling to South America should be on your menu if you are one of those who would like to experience different cultures, romance with the rich historical past and the thrilling present of the continent. You should not miss the adventure that is South America.

There is a company which is organizing trips on the 5 continents around the world. They are not what I would call “adventure travel“, but they are the kind of off-the-beaten-path ones. Traveling with them means you are going to find yourself in a kind of real tourism, sleeping many times in guest houses but not in luxury hotels, doing some easy-level treks and using many means of local transport. You shouldn’t go there if you are expecting luxury, but if you are looking to discover the real country life and go face to face with nature and local culture, then it is a must do activity.

One of their proposals is a trip which goes around South America, starting from Ecuador and running down to Peru, going inland then to explore the mountains and the jungle, reaching Bolivia, going back into Chile, south through the coast into Santiago, further south then, and finally turning right to reach Argentina, cross Uruguay and enter into Brazil running up along the coast reaching the end of the Amazon river.

Such a wonderful trip takes 103 days to complete, and it is a guided tour from 1 to 16 persons that includes some meals but not most of them, all accommodation during the trip and all means of transport except the inbound and outbound flights to the departure in Ecuador. I’m not new in this market, and adventure travel in South America is not something you are going to find at a cheap price, so I was incredibly surprised that all this comes just for the price of about 5000 Euros (US$7500). It looks then like an incredible opportunity that certainly I will take one day later in my life and I would highly recommend to anyone who has this bit of extra time and spare money to take the trip of their dreams.