A recent agreement between US airline JetBlue and LAN Airlines South America (including affiliates LAN Peru, LAN Argentina, and LAN Ecuador) allows customers to book a single, joint itinerary ticket from the United States to South America, making the journey to your dream destination just a bit easier.

The partnerships allows US-based travelers with a desire to see main Latin American destinations like Chile, Peru, or Ecuador — but who do not live in a city with an international airport hub — to book a single ticket from destinations served by JetBlue all the way to the Southern hemisphere. The trips will all require a plane transfer at New York’s JFK airport. This means that rather than checking in twice for two different airlines (once for the national flight, and once for the international flight), travelers will only have to check-in themselves and their baggage once at their departure point.

This new option will be available for booking in the coming weeks.

For the Brits

Starting next week, British Airways will begin direct flights from London’s Heathrow Airport to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Though the journey is still lengthy (13+ hours), it eliminates the previously obligatory stop in Sao Paulo. Of course, the layover option is still available for travelers who prefer lower prices over optimized convenience. This service begins on March 28, 2011.

To learn more about these new deals and book your next Latin America travel adventure, contact one of our expert travel advisors.

Costa Rica is often considered one of the most environmentally friendly countries, with more than 27% of its land protected by wildlife refuges, biological reserves, and national parks. Costa Rica is smaller than West Virginia, but offers a surprisingly diverse range of ecosystems and activities. Coral-lined beaches, active volcanoes, and cloud forests characterize this beautiful country which surfers, nature enthusiasts, and adventure addicts alike can enjoy on a Costa Rica vacation.

Green vegetation surrounds this picturesque stream in Monteverde

While this tiny nation draws over 1.5 million visitors every year, no efforts are spared to protect nature and its wonders. The number one destination offering eco-friendly travel opportunities, Monteverde, is located in the northern region of the Puntarenas province in the Cordillera de Tilarán. Monteverde, or “Green Mountain”, is home to the famous Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve.

Monteverde’s settlement dates back to the 1930s when a few “Tico” – Costa Ricans’ nickname – families left the gold-mining settlement of Juntas, and headed up the mountain to try their hand at logging and farming. In 1949, four Quakers were jailed in Alabama for their refusal to be drafted into the Korean War. They were eventually released from prison, but in response 44 Quakers from 11 families left the United States for greener grass – namely Monteverde. The Quakers adopted a simple life of dairy farming and cheese production in the cool mountain climate. Monteverde remains a Quaker dairy farming community which produces some of the finest cheeses in Costa Rica. Don’t leave without sampling some of their tasty treats!  In appreciation of watershed above the 1500-hectacre plot in Monteverde, the Quaker community agreed to preserve the mountaintop rainforests.

When ecologists investigated the preserve, they discovered that the cloud forests were actually two different ecosystems that straddled both sides of the Continental Divide. As a result of the temperature differential between the Santa Elena and Monteverde Reserves, each of the ecosystems boasts several distinct species.  In 1983, National Geographic featured an article stating the area as the best place to view Central America’s famous quetzal bird. Quakers were shocked when hordes of tourists arrived, and in response, lobbied to stop developers from paving the roads. As of today only dirt roads lead to Monteverde, while the local community continues to fight against the threat of overdevelopment.

Monteverde is a 4-hour journey from Costa Rica’s capital, San Jose. The best time to go depends on your personal interests. Consider visiting this lush area during Monteverde Music Festival, between January and February. The best time for bird watching is February through May when flocks of birds migrate and nest in the area. Prices may be lower during May to November, as it is rainy season and hiking opportunities are lessened.

Cleverly placed bird feeders on our Hummingbird Tour give you a chance to observe them in action

Many travelers come to the reserve to see big mammals living in the wild, such as jaguars, ocelots, and tapirs. These sights are fairly rare; however you are bound to see other captivating plants and animals. Monkeys, sloths, and birds will whisk by overhead, while you may have to look more carefully for miniature orchids which are no more than a millimeter or two across and can be found along hiking trails in the reserve. Another way to experience the local flora and fauna is on a skywalk or rappelling canopy tour.

From organic farming to alternative energy sources, Monteverde works hard to balance environmentally conscious thinking with tourism. You don’t have to be a Quaker or an environmental biologist to appreciate one of the few places left on the planet where the human footprint is kept to a minimum.

To plan an eco-friendly vacation in beautiful Costa Rica contact one of our expert travel advisors who can help customize your travel plans.

Now, many of the estancias near El Calafate offer room, board, and activities like horseback riding and sheep shearing demonstrations, giving visitors a taste of the rugged and beautiful way of life in southern Patagonia.

From El Calafate, the trekker’s town accessible by airport or by bus, there are several estancias within a half or full day trip, and all are worthy of inclusion in your next Argentina El Calafate tour. Keep in mind that the best time to travel to Southern Argentina is October through April.

The views of glaciers, lakes, and mountains around El Calafate are breathtaking.

Estancia Cristina, only accessible by boat or a several day trek, is one of the most isolated estancias in the region, but it is also one of the best. From El Calafate, you catch a boat cruise at Puerto Banderas on Lago Argentino, and head north towards the Upsala Glacier, passing icebergs that glow several shades of blue.

Once you arrive at the 85,000 acre ranch, its beauty astounds. Set on a meadow that glows green in the spring and summer, against the backdrop of the looming Upsala Glacier, the green-and-white trimmed lodge will lure you to book another night on the spot.

The ranch, in operation since 1914, once belonged to an Englishman. Now it offers room, board, a full Patagonian lunch to day trippers, plus guided walks or horseback riding to the Upsala Glacier lookout point. After a day of exploring the ranch, you can return in the boat cruise to Puerto Banderas, or tuck into bed in your rustic cabin.

The Galpón del Glaciar estancia is the closest to El Calafate. Only 12 miles from town, it is a working ranch where traditional sheep shearing methods are practiced. If you arrive by lunchtime, you will be treated to delicious homemade scones, puddings, and baked goods.

You can choose to take a walking tour to the Native American camping grounds, go mountain biking or bird watching along Los Pájaros Lagoon, or watch Kelpis shepherding dogs hard at work at the arreo, the sheep round up before the sheep shearing demonstration.

In the evening, you can end your excursion with a delicious Patagonian lamb barbecue and watch a traditional folk dance. If you choose to spend the night here, you can book a room with a terrific view of the Cordillera de los Andes or the Lago Argentino.

Read about our other recommended El Calafate estancias in our El Calafate Tours.

Just inland from Rio de Janeiro, and nestled high in the Serra dos Orgãos mountians, Petropolis hosts Bauernfest, a week-long festival to celebrate their German heritage. The borough was colonized in the 1840s by farmers from the German Rhineland.

Prost! Down a stein of beer at the Bauernfest in Petropolis, Brazil

To get to the Heart of the Carioca, to experience the rich diversity of Rio de Janeiro life, wanderlusts must travel to Petropolis, the summer place of the emperor of Brazil, Dom Pedro II. Now the palace is a museum, whose crowning artifact is the imperial crown – studded with over 600 diamonds and pearls.

Droves of folk dancers in lederhosen will parade down the streets lined with Bavarian clapboard houses and shops, and past the neo-gothic steeple of Cathedral of Saint Peter of Alcântara. Kinder choirs, train rides, and a German film festival will all be on tap for those wanting to capture the zeitgeist of this charming summer resort town.

The opening ceremony is on June 25 with the mayor, his entourage, and the infantry marching out of the Crystal Palace. But the fun begins even before then, on the 19^th, with the election of the festival Queen and Princess.

Throughout the week, celebrants can enjoy sauerkraut, streudal, bratwurst, frankfurter, and other German delicacies, along with plenty of the finest Alpine beer. Plus, the World Cup games will be televised in many a beer garden.

A few days or week-long skiing vacation after catching a tour on a Chile Travel Deal is a great way to see all Chile has to offer.

Three of the most popular ski resorts, Valle Nevado, La Parva, and Colorado, are known collectively as the Tres Valles.

The Valle Nevado slopes, along with Valle Colorado and La Purva, make for some of the widest-ranging skiable snow in all of South America.

These mountains huddle together in the Andes just 1.5 hours outside of Chile’s capital – Santiago.

Strung together like Christmas lights by an interconnected lift system, the Tres Valles combine to offer enough runs to keep an advanced skier busy for a week. The peaks range 2800-3700 meters (9186-12139 ft), and during the high season (July-Aug), get a generous dusting of crisp dry powder.

Valle Nevado is the most elegant of the three, with a resort that offers a luxurious touch to its rugged slopes. With 22.9 miles of ski runs open year-round to skiers and snowboarders of all abilities, plus heliskiers, this park offers an all-inclusive stay for snow-sport lovers.

El Colorado, the next peak over, is the largest of the three parks, with 16 lifts, 25 trails, and a view over Santiago. This is an excellent park to take the kids, with several beginners’ slopes and a lift designed specifically for little ones.

Colorado slides into La Parva, and boasts untrekked trails that stretch over 66 miles. It’s known for its advanced skiers’ slopes, and great backcountry bowls of completely untouched snow. Together with the borders of Valles Colorado and Nevado, La Parva makes for some of the widest-ranging skiable snow in all of South America.

When to go:

Ski season begins mid-June and high season begins in July. If you plan for late June, you’ll beat the crowds and hit the virgin snow. But if you have to wait, wait until late August to September, when the high season is winding down. Season ends October.

Where to stay:

The Valle Nevado Resort is every skiers dream come true – guests wake up to the best views of the mountains, the La Fourchette D’or restaurant is known for its terrific French cuisine, rooms are fully renovated, and the sauna, massages, and yoga classes will be sure to get out all the knots after a long day of hitting the slopes.

Tres Puntas Hotel, also in the Valle Nevado ski center, is an affordable alternative; great for groups that still provides comfort for the weather-weary skier. It’s within walking distance of the Ski Center, and offers many amenities such as a pub with karaoke and live music, a fitness center, swimming pool, games rooms, and child care center. The Sur restaurant serves from a traditional Chilean menu.

Hotel Posada de Farellones, the charming Swiss ski lodge in Farenolles, 10 minutes from the peaks, was one of the first lodges in the area. Outfitted with modern amenties, it offers a cozy fireplace in the living room, satellite TV, games, Jacuzzi, and shuttles to and from the ski resorts.

Where to eat:

Most hotels include breakfast and dinner in their accommodation prices, and lunches can be purchased in the ski centers. Still, the Tres Valles resorts are known not only for their slopes, they’re also famous for good food and wine.

Valle Nevado Ski Resort has the most eateries. Besides the aforementioned restaurants, there’s the Swiss Le Montagnard and the Italian La Trattoria in the Puerto del Sol Hotel, plus barbeque, sushi, and other options.
Farellones has a decent nightlife, with bars El Montanes and the Blue Tambo Lodge.

In May 1810, Argentina’s independence movement began, culminating on the 25^th of May with the government of Rio de Plate (what is now Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia) creating its own government, separate to the one of the Spanish king, yet still loyal to the crown.

The center of celebrations for May Revolution Week will be on Avienda 9 de Julio

As news of this spread, similar home rule governments sprouted up. The Spanish king, weakened by the Napoleonic invasion, was unable to quell colonial ambitions. In the spirit of Enlightenment thought, many Spanish colonies successfully asserted their independence.

Cities around the country are preparing to host free live music concerts, parades, and shows. Tonight in Buenos Aires, a parade will kick-off the celebrations at 8pm. The parade will weave through the center of the city, passing the central obelisk and a concert stage on Avienda 9 de Julio. Other events will start at 8pm throughout the city.

On Saturday at 12pm, the military will celebrate the occasion with the “desfilódromo” parade, marching between the obelisk and Avienda Belgrano. Over

3000 soldiers in their historical Argentine military uniforms will accompany the Argentina Air Force and the cavalry.

Along the grand Avienda 9 de Julio will be stalls and markets for people to taste Argentinian cuisine typical of Buenos Aires as well as other regions.

Each day of festivities will have a musical theme. Rock music starts things off today, Saturday will be Latin music, Sunday will be folk and tango, and Monday will have performances from the National Symphony Orchestra. The festivities culminate on Tuesday, the 25^th, with a performance by the famous Argentinean musician Fito Paez.

The key events fall on the final day, with a range of political and religious events to take place in the Casa Rosada in Plaza Mayor, in the heart of the city. While you’re in the city, check out the great Buenos Aires museums, and make sure to tango. If you’re wondering where to stay in town, we’ve got you covered with a list of Buenos Aires hotels.

Whatever you decide to do, do it in typical Argentine style: stay out late and dance!

The lake is the highest navigated area of water in the world and is one of the largest. What makes the lake so attractive are the amazingly crafted Islands of Uros, created out of locally grown tortoa reed in a process that has been passed down from generation to generation.

Tortoa reeds of Lake Titicaca.

The lake is easily accessible from Cusco and there are two primary transport options between Cusco and the principle city in the area, Puno. You can travel either by train or by bus. You can fly, but it would involve a connection in Lima.

The bus from Cusco to Puno takes between and 8 and 9 hours and makes various stops along the way at archaeological sites, as well as at rest-stops and restaurants.

The train ride is slightly longer – some 10 hours – but while the bus features first class accommodations for a vehicle of its variety, the first class accommodations on the train are significantly more opulent with lounge-chair seating, fine china and silverware used for first-rate, delicious meals, and a lookout-car, where guests can leisurely enjoy the scenery of the Peruvian highlands.

While the more luxurious train makes no stops, shorter bus ride to Puno does make several pauses along the way. Tourists traveling by bus normally enjoy bilingual guided stops at the following locations along the route:

• Andahuaylillas: known as the “Sixteenth Chapel of the Americas,” this church features an exhibition of colonial art work dating back to the XVI and XVII century. (Entrance fee: US $1.5/person)
• Raqchi: This is the temple dedicated to God Wiracocha, supreme God of the Incas. (Entrance fee: US$2/person)
• Sicuani: Here guests will be able to rest and enjoy an Andean buffet lunch
• La Raya: This is the highest point of the trip, where guests will be able to appreciate snow-peaked mountains, alpacas and the amazing scenery of the Andean countryside.
• Pukara: This is ancient archaeological complex constructed in a grand pyramidal shape dating as far back as 4,000 B.C. (entrance fee $2)

By travelling by bus, the journey normally includes snacks and on board hostess assistance.

For more cautious travelers a key advantage of bus transport is that you embark and disembark from a private bus station in both cities as opposed to a public train station.

The mode of transport you choose to take depends on your personal preference.

However many people talk about how spectacular the views are along the train route, especially as you approach Lake Titicaca.

Frommers South America travel guide. Image from Frommers.com

This time, we’re with Neil Schlecht, who in addition to being co-author of Frommer’s vast South America guide, is the author of Frommer’s Peru and the author and photographer of Buenos Aires Day By Day.

Also, see below to find details of a 15% discount on Frommer’s South America guide book.

LAFL: Is there anywhere in particular that sticks in your memory during your time researching the South America guide?

Neil Schlecht: There are so many places and so many memorable moments; it’s a huge and wildly colorful and fascinating continent, with an overload of spectacular places to experience. Over 25 years I’ve had the great fortune to travel extensively across Latin America: from Mexico to Cuba and the Caribbean coast of Colombia all the way down to Patagonia and back up to the northeast coast of Brazil.

Off the top of my head, two recent experiences stick in my mind: hiking to the top of the hill on tiny, privately owned Isla Suasi in the middle of Lake Titicaca, experiencing a surreal and mesmerizing sunset stretching out over the sea-like lake; and driving hours over one of the bumpiest dirt roads I’ve every driven, white-knuckled, through stunning high-desert topography to at last arrive at a gorgeous winery in Argentina’s northern Calchaqui Valley, beyond Salta, and have a memorable birthday lunch with Argentine friends.

But a couple of glasses of Argentine malbec today would provoke a half-dozen more memories, I’m sure.

LAFL: How would you describe the Latin American character? Is there such a thing? How about its variations and vagaries as you travel across the continent?

NS: It’s tempting, but dangerous to generalize, and I’m not sure how you delve into such a question without writing a dissertation (that would be ultimately picked apart by everyone who read it!).

Even the Spanish spoken across South America has myriad country-by-country nuances and presents plenty of opportunities to trip up even fluent speakers. And then you get to Brazil and realize that not only is the language wholly different, of course, but Brazilians are very, very different people from most of their Latin brethren; I learned that the first time I arrived in Rio in the midst of carnaval and flipped on the TV — which is not an exercise for prudes.

I’d prefer to leave a question like that to Latin Americans themselves to answer, but if I can say anything about commonalities, it would be the Latin welcoming spirit and cheerful, almost playful disregard of rules and strict adherence to things like deadlines and expectations that restrict so many of us in northern countries.  Of course, like any nation or people, there are complicated aspects to character, too, and one need only look at Latin America’s troubled political past for an indication of that.

LAFL: This is a continent famed for its fiestas. Are there any that stick in your memory as being well worth a visit during a vacation?

NS: Oh, boy. I have to say I’m particularly fond of Brazil’s ability to oil its collective hips and throw a dance party in the middle of the street. I’ve probably never had a better time in my life than living and breathing carnaval in a rented house in Olinda with 3 dozen Brazilians, all of us catching catnaps on mattresses on the floor and spending every other waking moment dancing in the streets and drinking cachaça in 42-degree heat.

Every country in Latin America has its own unique, amazingly vibrant and photogenic fiestas. I’m particularly fond of the deeply rooted indigenous folkloric festivals in Peru and Bolivia. The diablada (masked demon dance) during La Candelaria in Puno, on the shores of Titicaca, and the surreally costumed celebrations of La Virgen del Carmen, in Paucartambo, a remote village in the highlands beyond Cusco, are true revelations.

Traditional costumes during the Diablada dance in Puno, Peru. Photograph: Matthew Barker 2009.

LAFL: Can you recommend a journey for someone with just two weeks to spare?

NS: My immediate counsel is always not to try to do too much. It’s a temptation to see as much as one can in a limited time span — it’s certainly how I started traveling myself as a college bum — but often you see and experience so much more by slowing down and taking in the detail of one country (or less, a particular region!).

I’d concentrate regionally. Quito and the Galapagos plus a rainforest excursion in Ecuador. Cusco, the Sacred Valley of the Incas, Machu Picchu, a bit of trekking and Lake Titicaca in Peru. Buenos Aires, the wine country of Mendoza plus Bariloche and a quick taste of Patagonia.

The immense territory and terrain of South America makes it tough (although the good thing is that it practically demands you return again and again). If you’re certain this is your one and only shot at South America and you have no choice but to zip from country to country by plane, I guess I’d pick out three absolute highlights: Rio de Janeiro and its coast (such as the gorgeous colonial town of Parati); Cusco and its incredible Inca ruins and culture; and perhaps a detour to the Peruvian Amazon.

Talk to three people who know South America well, and I’m sure you’d get three different recommendations. But that’s what makes discovering places for oneself so great.

Get a 15% discount off Frommer’s South America guide.

To claim your 15% discount, visit http://www.frommers.com/store, and enter the code “south” in your basket.