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South America: Continents
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Two broad highland areas in eastern South America are insignificant mountaineering-wise when compared to the Andes, but they do cover large areas of the continent. The Guiana Highlands of Brazil, Venzuela, and Guyana are famous as the site of Angel Falls, the world's highest waterfall. They are ... a mysterious, inaccesible, jungle-shrouded wilderness of cliff-sided plateaus that have inspired imaginary words from the time of Raleigh's El Dorado, through Conan Doyle's Lost World, to the present. Pico da Neblina (9888'/3014m) is the highest in the Guiana Highlands, but Roraima (9219'/2810m), looking like a ship's prow splitting the jungle, is perhaps the most famous peak.
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The outstanding geological feature of South America is the Andes, the longest mountain range in the world, which extends in a nearly straight line of over 7000 km from the north to the southern tip of the continent. The Andes have the highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere, the highest mountain in the world's tropics, and as measured from the centre of the Earth (rather than metres above sea-level), the highest mountain in the world. The most important break in the north-south sweep of the "cordillera" is the Huancabamba Depression in northern Peru, where the eastern chain of the cordillera is entirely ruptured (by the Marañón River) and even the western chain dips to 2145 m (at the Abra de Porculla). The existence of this massive mountain range has had profound effects on plant and animal evolution in South America, and consequently has profound effects on essential conservation priorities.
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From the verdant tropical climate of the north, to the icy cold seas of the south, South America has numerous natural wonders including the giant Amazon River and the surrounding rainforest jungles. Over a 1,000 tributaries flow into the Amazon River. Starting in Colombia and ending on the island of Tierra del Fuego, the rugged Andes Mountains run the entire length of the western coast of the continent. The famous Inca city of Machu Picchu was found high in those Andes in 1911. Today, most of the population is found in the crowded cities of the southeast.
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Though it was the last continent to be inhabited, South America has a long and delicate history of flourishing indigenous cultures before European arrival in the 16th century. Archeological sites in Peru reveal the practice of human sacrifice and other perplexing traditions by the Moche people who lived there 2000 years ago. South America's most illustrious ancient people, the Inca, held their capital in modern day Cusco and sprinkled the Andes with remnants of their terraced farming and architecture. Machu Picchu, at 7,710 feet, is the best preserved and most breathtaking Inca town, well worth the 4 day hike along the Inca Trail (the less eager can opt for the train ride).
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South America consists of four upland provinces, extending inland from the coasts, and, between them, three lowland provinces. The northern and western fringes are dominated by the Andes Mountains, the second highest mountain range in the world. Most of the eastern coast is fringed by the broader—and generally less elevated—highland areas of the Guiana and Brazilian massifs and the Patagonian Plateau. The main lowland is the vast Amazon Basin in the equatorial part of the continent; it is drained by the Amazon River, the world's second longest river. The Orinoco River drains a lowland in the north; to the south lies the Paraguay-Paraná basin. The lowest point in South America (40 m/ 131 ft below sea level) is on Península Valdés in eastern Argentina, and the greatest elevation (6,960 m/22,834 ft) is atop Aconcagua in western Argentina, the highest peak in the Western Hemisphere.
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Simultaneously, a 68-day Prinsendam sailing explores the continents of South America and Antarctica, followed by a 73-day journey to the exotic ports of Africa. The two Prinsendam cruises can be combined to create a 141-day adventure. On the fourth Grand Voyage offered in 2008, Amsterdam makes a 65- day fall sojourn to the Pacific Rim.
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