It is highly unlikely that you will travel to Peru and NOT ascend the lofty ruins of Machu Pichu (almost 8000 feet up), possibly one of the country's greatest highlights, after its delicious cuisine.

Trumping the Sahara, Gobi and Nevada, one of the grandest spectacles of nature in the South American continent is the magnificent Atacama Desert, stretching itself over Chile, Peru, Argentina and Bolivia. It is thought to be the driest place on earth, with an average rainfall of just 15 millilitres each year, yet one of such staggering beauty, that the normal connotation of the word 'desert' - endless sand dunes - hardly applies here at all; imagine the horizon dotted with snow-capped peaks, and you know what we are talking about.