Breakaway Destination Guides (International)

Situated on a mountain ridge above the Urubamba Valley in Peru. Often referred to as "The Lost City of the Incas", Machu Picchu is one of the most familiar symbols of the Inca Empire.

The Incas started building MAchu Picchu around 1430AD but abandoned it as an official site for the Inca rulers a hundred years later at the time of the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire.

Although known locally, it was largely unknown to the outside world before being brought to international attention in 1911. Since then, Machu Picchu has become an important tourist attraction.

The central buildings of Machu Picchu use the classical Inca architectural style of polished dry-stone walls of regular shape. The Incas were masters of this technique, called ashlar, in which blocks of stone are cut to fit together tightly without mortar.

From atop the cliff of Machu Picchu, there is a vertical rock face of 600 meters rising from the Urubamba River at the foot of the cliff. The location of the city was a military secret, and its deep precipices and mountains provide excellent natural defenses.

Iguazu Falls, Iguassu Falls, or Iguaçu Falls are waterfalls of the Iguazu River located on the border of the Brazilian state of Paraná and the Argentine province of Misiones. The falls divide the river into the upper and lower Iguazu

Their name comes from the Guarani or Tupi words y (water) and ûasú (big). On the Brazilian side there is a long walkway along the canyon with an extension to the lower base of the Devil's Throat.

Legend has it that a god planned to marry a beautiful aborigine named Naipí, who fled with her mortal lover Tarobá in a canoe. In rage, the god sliced the river creating the waterfalls, condemning the lovers to an eternal fall.

The first European to find the falls was the Spanish Conquistador Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca in 1541, after whom one of the falls in the Argentine side is named.

The falls were rediscovered by Boselli at the end of the nineteenth century, and one of the Argentine falls is named after him.

Salar de Uyuni (or Salar de Tunupa) is the world's largest salt flat. It is located in the Potosí and Oruro departments in southwest Bolivia, near the crest of the Andes.

Some 40,000 years ago, the area was part of Lake Minchin, a giant prehistoric lake. When the lake dried, it left behind two modern lakes, Poopó Lake and Uru Uru Lake, and two major salt deserts, Salar de Coipasa and the larger Uyuni.

Every November, Salar de Uyuni is the breeding grounds for three species of South American flamingos, the Chilean, James's and Andean flamingos. It is also a significant tourist destination highlights include several so-called islands.

Due to its large size, smooth surface, high reflectivity when covered with shallow water, Salar de Uyuni makes an ideal target for the testing and calibration of remote sensing instruments on orbiting satellites used to study the Earth.

Angel Falls, Parakupa-vena or Kerepakupai merú which means the fall from the highest point, is the world's highest waterfall. Located in the Canaima National Park, in the Gran Sabana region of Bolivar State, Venezuela.

The height of the falls is so great that before getting anywhere near the ground, the water is atomized by the strong winds and turned into mist. The mist can be felt a mile away. The base of the falls feeds into the Kerep River

The falls are sometimes referred to as Churun-meru, an error, since that name corresponds to another waterfall in the Canaima National Park. Churun in the Pemon language means "thunder".

Not known to the outside world until American aviator Jimmie Angel flew over them on 16 November 1933 on a flight while he was searching for a valuable ore bed.

On October 9, 1937, Angel tried to land his Flamingo monoplane atop Auyan-tepui, but the plane was damaged when the wheels sunk into the marshy ground, and he and his companions, were forced to descend the tepui on foot. It took them 11 days to make their way back to civilization, but news of their adventure spread, and the waterfall was named "Angel Falls" in his honor.

Carnival celebrations are believed to have roots in the pagan festival of Saturnalia, which, adapted to Christianity, became a farewell to sex in a season of religious discipline to practice repentance and prepare for Christ's death and resurrection.

Brazilian Carnival exhibits some differences from its European counterparts, having mixed African, Native, German and Euro elements. Furthermore, rhythm, participation, and costume vary from one region of Brazil to another.

The Brazilian Carnival, properly spelled Carnaval, is an annual festival in Brazil held four days before Ash Wednesday. On certain days of Lent, Roman Catholics and some other Christians traditionally abstained from the consumption of meat and poultry—hence the term 'carnival', from carnelevare, 'to remove meat'.

Modern Brazilian Carnival originated in Rio de Janeiro in 1641, when the city's bourgeoisie imported the practice of holding balls and masquerade parties from Paris. It originally mimicked the European form of the festival, later absorbing and creolizing elements derived from Native American and African cultures.

Rio de Janeiro "River of January", is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America.

The city was the capital of Brazil for nearly two centuries. Commonly known as just Rio, the city is also nicknamed A Cidade Maravilhosa, or 'The Marvelous City'.

Rio de Janeiro is famous for its natural settings, its carnival celebrations, samba and other music, and hotel-lined tourist beaches, such as Copacabana and Ipanema.

The city also boasts the largest and second largest urban forests in the world, Floresta da Tijuca, or 'Tijuca Forest' and the forest in Parque Estadual da Pedra Branca, or White Stone State Park.

Some of the most famous landmarks in addition to the beaches include the giant statue of Christ, known as Christ the Redeemer atop Corcovado mountain.

The Amazon rainforest, also known as Amazonia, or the Amazon jungle, is a moist broadleaf forest that covers most of the Amazon Basin of South America.

The name Amazon is said to arise from a war which Francisco de Orellana had with a tribe of Tapuyas and other tribes from South America. The women of the tribe fought alongside the men, as was the custom among the entire tribe.

The rainforest likely formed during the Eocene era, following the evolutionary appearance of angiosperm plants. It appeared following a global reduction of tropical temperatures when the Atlantic Ocean had widened sufficiently to provide a warm, moist climate to the Amazon basin.

The rain forest has been in existence for at least 55 million years, and most of the region remained free of savanna-type biomes during that time period.

As the largest tract of tropical rainforest in the Americas, the Amazonian rainforests have unparalleled biodiversity. One in ten known species in the world live in the Amazon Rainforest.