As a graduate student, I finally had the opportunity to work on a project in southern Bolivia. Although I had spent previous summers camping alone while conducting fieldwork in remote areas, this was to be my first journey overseas, to a country known variously for coca growing, revolution, and the final resting place of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

The climb up the glaciers to the summit of Mount Chimborazo in Ecuador isn't considered highly technical. Technically, it is mountaineering, but how hard could it be, considering that I went to 20,600 feet the first time I used crampons and an ice axe? Okay, I had used them once for practice, on a sledding hill near my house. I climbed almost forty feet while people walked by with their sleds, warning their kids to stay away from me.

South America's primary mountain range, the Andes, attains one of its widest points in Bolivia. Here the Andes are divided into two subranges, Cordillera Oriental and Cordillera Occidental. Peaks in these areas are in excess of 20,000 feet. Between these subranges lies the Altiplano which contains the highest navigable lake on earth. Lake Titicaca, which also lies in Peru, is 12,507 feet above sea level.

Ask me which Pacific island has the most to offer hikers and I'll probably answer Easter Island. Here on an island 11 km wide and 23 km long you'll find nearly a thousand ancient Polynesian statues strewn along a powerfully beautiful coastline or littering the slopes of an extinct volcano. Getting there is easy as Easter Island can be included in the Oneworld Explorer airpass introduced on http://www.southpacific.org/air.html , and a fine selection of inexpensive places to stay and eat await you.

Deemed by some as the wildest street party on the face of the planet, Carnival in Salvador, Bahia is the place to be during those five crazy days in February or March. Different from the more spectator-oriented Carnival in Rio, Carnival in Salvador puts you in the middle of the music, the dancing, and the rhythms of the some of the most energetic bands in the world.

Considered one of the most awe-inspiring and grandiose spectacles in all the world, Carnival in Rio de Janeiro, the marvelous city, is a feast for the eyes as well as the ears. For five days, the 14 samba schools (escolas de samba) parade through the famous sambadrome in quest to be the best samba school for that year. Besides being a spectacular display of costume, color, and dance, the percussion coming from the thousands of people playing in each school’s battery literally lifts spectators out of the seats. It is during Carnival that the powerful and beautifully seductive rhythm of Brazil truly manifests itself. Samba is the soul of Brazil.

A beautiful and inexpensive place without a tourist in sight. Sound like a dream? It's not. This slice of paradise does exist. Nestled high in the Andes Mountains of South America, Bolivia is a little-known retreat exotically spiced with a unique Latin and Native American flavor. Bolivia has a lot to offer…a very low cost of living, unspoiled natural environment, friendly people and a range of climates to suit virtually every taste.

The Galapagos Islands were named after the giant Galapagos tortoises. The archipelago emerged six million years ago as a result of volcanic activity in the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. These enchanted place on earth is composed of 19 islands and more than 40 islets, with white sand beaches, dark and solid rocks, unique landscapes, deep crystal clear waters, you can enjoy yourself swimming with playful sea lions around you, watching friendly sharks cruise six feet under you. All these wonderful nature makes you feel as if you are part of it all.