Máncora, not Monaco, is the destination for the jet-setting crowd of Peru. This beachside resort town is on the Pacific Ocean, near the country’s northernmost border that it shares with Ecuador. Think sun, surf, and …

The "Gringo Trail" refers to the well-trodden backpacker route within Latin America, encompassing Mexico and Central & South America. In 2015 I spent 3 months on "the trail." This region of the world is so …

Former Union-Tribune owner Douglas Manchester reported last month that he purchased 16.3 percent of GeoPark Limited, a Santiago, Chile–based oil-and-gas exploration and production company. Manchester's purchase of 9.7 million shares for around $30 million makes …

Rush job – a rush job summoned me into action. By no means could I depend on public transportation in Natal, Brazil (where I'd ended up due to strategic miscalculations as a travel addict). A …

Rio Verde is a small Ecuadorean puebla in the center of the country. Nestled between two tunnels on a mountainous road, the one and only entrance can be easily missed. Fortunately there are signs and …

How do we get to music video number zwei in our curated playlist? We started with Beethoven's Fifth and then we found out about Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic creating a Fifth virtual …

A book just came out on November 28 which thinks it’s going to expose Venezuela’s El Sistema as a tyrannical and corrupt petty kingdom. The author published an article about his findings in The Guardian. …

It’s a well-worn theme, that of the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu. But bear with me: this time – my fifth – we did it in luxury, an experience so alien to me as a …

Sometimes the power of belief is the most important part of a medical treatment. At the witches' market in Lima, Peru, the curanderos gather in early morning, setting up their stalls and hanging their banners. …

The landlocked (and usually overlooked) country of Bolivia in South America is home to the largest salt flats in the world, visible by astronauts in space. The Salar de Uyuni is 25 times larger than …

In South America, religious icons are as common as sunrise, and shrines are ubiquitous. But a shrine studded with cigarette packs, bottles of beer and decks of playing cards? Welcome to El Chaltén, Argentina – …

The army sharpshooter looks us up and down, his anti-guerrilla livery emblazoned on a tightly wound bandana. He establishes quickly that we represent no threat, shows us his rifle and smiles, revealing braces. Incongruous, I …

My wife and I were deep in the Amazonian rainforest of northern Peru, traveling on a small river boat. Our local guide, Uciel, was born and raised in this tropical jungle, and his passion for …

If you look at a map of Colombia in South America, you see a huge region in eastern Colombia comprising sprawling, seasonally flooded plains that have been ignored by tourists due to their location (former …

Below us, the island came into view, encircled by a brittle ring of coral reefs made distinguishable by whitewater ripping at the edges. A turquoise iris skirted the white sandy edges of the Caribbean island …