South America: The Andes, the Pampas, and the Rainforest

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In 1997 I visited South America for the first time with a trip to Perú. My first visit to the rain forest was impressive.

In September 2002 I went to South America to visit several astronomical institutes in Chile, Argentina, and Brazil, and to attend a workshop of the United Nations on Basic Space Sciences in Cordoba, Argentina. In Chile I only visited Santiago, with brief excursions in the Andes from Santiago. From there I flew to Cordoba in Argentina, where I rented a car. After the conference I drove up into the Andes to Aconcagua, and then through the Pampas to Buenos Aires. I took an overnight trip to Iguazú Falls from there, and a day trip to Uruguay on the hydro foil ferry to Colonia. Next and last stop on the trip was Rio de Janeiro, where I stayed for four days.

One problem that I encountered in South America may be worth mentioning here: For every flight in South America that I had, the departure gate was changed. These changes happened after I checked in, without announcements!! I almost missed the first flight since I was waiting near the original gate. Only by chance did I start to feel uneasy at some point and check the gate information in the main hall. I got to the new gate just when they were closing the airplane door. From then on I watched the gate information closely, and sure enough, for both of the other flights that I had, the gate also changed without announcements.

In 2004 and 2005 I visited Ecuador, the first visit included the Galápagos Islands, the second one a visit to the Amazon Rainforest.

In 2013 I visited Easter Island and mainland Chile.

In 2015 I visited three more countries in South America, Guyana, Suriname, and French Guiana.

In 2018 I visited Brazil again, with a trip to the Pantanal, as well as visits to Paraguay and Bolivia.

In 2019 I visited Colombia. I saw the Colombian Amazon Rainforest and San Agustín with the statues of a forgotten civilization.

With that last visit I have visited all countries in South America, except Venezuela.

All pictures are © Dr. Günther Eichhorn, unless otherwise noted.