Nestled where the South American continent tapers to its tip, Argentina is a country of superlatives and extremes. Argentina is the eighth largest country in the world with a population of approximately 39 million people.

Its geographic diversity spans the most breathtaking terrain from Antarctica, through the wild glacier-filled mountains of Patagonia and massive open plains of La Pampas to the deserts and tropical jungles in the north. It is the home of the gaucho and his pampas and the birthplace of the tango.

European influences permeate through Argentina's art, literature, architecture and lifestyle, yet it manages to maintain a vibrant identity of its own. Argentineans are warm, friendly, and open to visitors. Despite a period of military dictatorship and a series of economic crises, the people have a tenacious spirit and a lust for life that is infectious. This shines through in the nation's great loves of football, food and partying. The country is cosmopolitan and modern and nowhere is that more apparent than in the capital, Buenos Aries, which is full of life and bursting with energy.

The south is a land of jagged peaks and splintering glaciers. At the southern tip of the country is the island of Tierra del Fuego, where Ushuaia, the world's southernmost city, stands on the shores of the Beagle Channel

The Iguazu falls, straddling the border of Argentina and Brazil, are renowned worldwide and are half the height again of Niagara and nearly four times wider. The falls are part of a singular practically virgin jungle ecosystem protected by Argentine and Brazilian national parks on either side of the cascades.

Bolivia is a vast isolated country tucked into the middle of South America, surrounded by the Andes to the south, north and west and by the Amazon jungle to the east. It is one of South America's more intriguing countries with the most indigenous population on the continent, making up approximately two-thirds of the population, the majority of who still maintain their firmly established culture and beliefs.

The country, named after independence fighter Simon Bolivar, broke away from Spanish rule in 1825. Prior to this, throughout its colonial history, Bolivia was known as Upper Peru .

The country's name instigates great national pride. Bolivians are rightly proud of their heritage and traditions, with one example being the significance of the Pachamama, otherwise known as ‘Mother Earth', with shrines to her throughout the country.

Bolivia is steeped in antiquity, from the people who forged the great ruins at Tiahuanaco, the ancient Aymará civilisation who lived on Lake Titicaca around 1500 BC, to the Incas in the highlands of the country.

The country can boast the highest navigable lake in the world, Lake Titicaca , which is 121 miles long and 45 miles wide. The Isla del Sol in the lake is legendary in Inca mythology as the birthplace of several revered entities, including the sun itself.

Bolivia can also boast the highest capital city in the world, La Paz. By day the capital is a bustling metropolis of Indian markets and honking cars, by nightfall thousands of lights illuminate the city, stretched out in its narrow canyon of Andean mountains.