Tag: South America Travel

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You're Invited to Retire to Ecuador for a Month, for Free

Where: Ecuador
February 7, 2012 at 11:28 AM | by | Comments (0)

Grandma and Grandpa might not be the typical Florida retirees, so maybe you should suggest something a little more interesting for their golden years. Especially because that means you can visit somewhere a little more exotic when you mooch off their hospitality, instead of just swinging by the local restaurant for a blue plate special after an afternoon at the beach.

Ecuador is that exotic destination, and the country is actually giving away a free month of vacation. They want internet millionaires, AARP members, and others looking to retire to consider the warm weather, hospitality—and possibility—that’s available in the country. Lucky winners will be spending an entire month in Cuenca, Ecuador, and the contest organizers over at International Living will even throw in round-trip airfare, an apartment rental, and some cash for this and that.

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All Sorts of South America Travel News from LAN Airlines

February 1, 2012 at 4:53 PM | by | Comments (0)

Okay everyone, ready for some serious South America travel news? So LAN—which is really a group of airlines including LAN Chile, LAN Ecuador, LAN Argentina, LAN Express and LAN Colombia—made all kinds of changes, for the better, to their routes and in-flight service today, February 1.

· First off, LAN Colombia (which only really started as an airline in December 2012 after LAN took over Colombian airline AIRES) is now flying direct from Miami to Bogota. The inaugural hit the skies earlier today, complete with a visit from Juan Valdez, who served the passengers their in-flight coffees. Fares for this new route, which runs four times weekly on Airbus A320s, are $400 roundtrip, including taxes & fees, if booked by February 6. Of course, you can go straight through to booking via their Facebook page.

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LAN Airlines Pulls an Oprah and Surprises 200 People With Flights to South America

October 7, 2011 at 9:35 AM | by | Comments (5)

Have you ever been to a taping of The Oprah Show where she gave away something to the entire audience? We haven't, but we like to imagine that it was a bit like what we experienced last night in New York City, when LAN Airlines gave away roundtrip tickets to South American destinations to nearly 200 bewildered diners.

The big surprise went down at Nuela, a nuevo latino restaurant in the Flatiron district, when LAN flight attendants first sprung free tickets on only a few tables. But then the manager got hold of a microphone and told everyone else to look underneath their tabletops...

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TAM Tweaks Their In-Flight WiFi to Include Long-Haul Flights

Where: Brazil
August 4, 2011 at 8:43 AM | by | Comments (0)

It’s been some time since we heard about TAM Airlines and their new in-flight technology, but now is a perfect moment to revisit the topic as they’re beginning to expand their travel tech.

While in-flight WiFi is available on certain short-haul trips, the big news is that TAM is now bringing the magic of in-flight accessibility to some of their long-haul flights as well. They’ll be using OnAir to provide all the behind-the-scenes magic, as they start to equip their Boeing 777s along with Airbus A330s and A350s. In total there should be roughly 80 jets when the mechanics, electricians, and engineers finally hang up their wrenches and wire cutters.

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Inside LAN's Mistral VIP Lounge at Santiago Airport

Where: Santiago, Chile
July 8, 2011 at 3:10 PM | by | Comments (0)

While waiting for our flight back from Chile to the U.S., we spent our layover in LAN’s Mistral VIP Salon at the Santiago Airport. And, since we were there for several hours, we’re bringing you a detailed inside look as part of our Airport Lounges series.

· The Newer The Better
There are actually two LAN lounges at Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport, both named after Nobel Prize-winning Chilean poets. We chose the Mistral VIP Lounge over the Neruda Lounge because we’d heard it was more recently renovated (in 2009), and when we stopped in, it did look all-new.

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What’s There To Do in Chile's Atacama Desert, Anyway?

Where: Camino Pukará, San Pedro de Atacama, Antofagasta, Chile
July 7, 2011 at 9:05 AM | by | Comment (1)

After his tasting trip through the vineyards of Chile, Jaunted Special Contributor Eric Rosen jetted to the country’s far north to visit the adventureland of the Atacama Desert, and here’s his roundup of the area’s best activities.

Ever since I first learned as a schoolchild that the Atacama Desert was the driest place on earth (some parts of it have not seen rain in 400 years!), I’ve wanted to visit what I assumed was a mystical wasteland at the end of the world. But on a recent visit to the region in Chile’s north—about a two-hour flight from Santiago—I found out just how much there is to do in one of South America’s best-kept secret adventure destinations.

While staying at the deluxe Hotel Alto Atacama, I got to take advantage of the hotel’s full schedule of planned guest excursions to explore one of the world’s most extreme environments and find out what a truly rich setting it is, with sights ranging from high-altitude geysers to hidden hot springs to ancient mountain forts. Here’s a roundup of some of the best experiences from my stay.

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Drinking from the Roots of the Andes in Chile's Cachapoal Valley

July 6, 2011 at 9:45 AM | by | Comments (0)

This week, Jaunted Special Contributor Eric Rosen continues his worldwide wine wanderings south of the equator in the Andean foothills of Chile, visiting some of the biggest names in its famous Colchagua and Rapel Valleys. So start looking for a bottle of Carmenere in your grocery store, and join us as we taste through the wines of Chile. Salud!

Yesterday we drank at a breakneck pace through the famous wineries of Chile’s Colchagua Valley. We spend today tasting at a more leisurely clip in one of Chile’s newest wine regions: the Cachapoal Valley.

· A Valley By Any Other Name…
To call Cachapoal (pronounced cah-chah-poh-all) Chile’s newest wine region, though, is a little misleading since it’s actually a part of one of the country’s other famous appellations, the Rapel Valley. However, the conditions here are distinct enough from the rest of the Rapel thanks to its proximity to the Andes and its lack of maritime influences from the Pacific that it was given its own denomination.

Thus, it’s well known for producing rich red wines, especially Cabernet Sauvignon and some of the country’s most prized Carmeneres. The nearest major town is Rancagua, notorious for a bloody 19th-century massacre during Chile’s war of independence.

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Skipping Out on Santiago for Casa Silva in Chile's Colchagua Valley

July 5, 2011 at 12:30 PM | by | Comments (0)

This week, Jaunted Special Contributor Eric Rosen continues his worldwide wine wanderings south of the equator in the Andean foothills of Chile, visiting some of the biggest names in its famous Colchagua and Rapel Valleys. So start looking for a bottle of Carmenere in your grocery store, and join us as we taste through the wines of Chile. Salud!

Don’t get us wrong. We love Santiago cosmopolitan charms, but when we head down to Chile, we like to get out of the city as soon as possible and head to the hinterlands to taste one of the country’s most famous exports (no, not copper): wine.

That’s why, on a recent trip, we started tasting from LAN’s sommelier-assembled list as soon as we boarded our flight, then when we hit the ground, we headed an hour-and-a-half south from Santiago to the country’s famous Colchagua Valley, focusing on the area between the two major towns of San Fernando and Santa Cruz and stopping at some of the biggest names in Chilean winemaking along the way.

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Save Endangered Turtles Through Voluntourism in the Bolivian Amazon

April 6, 2011 at 1:29 PM | by | Comments (0)

SELVA International is giving "eco-warriors" a chance to take an awesome vacation in the Amazon, while saving turtles at the same time. SELVA is a non-profit, environmental conservation organization formed and run by PhD ecologists and environmental activists, and these trips are specifically to the Bolivian Amazon Basin, with a focus on assisting scientists in saving the critically endangered Giant Amazon River Turtle.

Participants can choose between all-inclusive 10, 15, or 21 day tours which include accommodations in a local village. While there, tour groups will assist Dr. Alison Lipman, project Co-Director, in the hands-on work of preserving the turtles.

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In-Flight Phone Calls and Texting Hit Brazil's TAM Airlines

November 2, 2010 at 3:16 PM | by | Comments (0)

Jeez, it wasn't all that long ago when In-Flight WiFi seemed like it would be a rare dream occurrence, but then the airlines really got with it and set their sights on connectivity solutions for passengers. The newest airline to join the in-flight WiFi club is Brazil's TAM, who recently announced that internet is now available on select Airbus A321s, operating between Guarulhos, Recife, Natal, Fortaleza and Porto Alegre.

But wait! TAM's partnership with OnAir for this connectivity is more than just the internet; passengers can now also make and receive phone calls and send and receive text messages on GPRS networks from their GSM phones. Of course your plane must be at cruising altitude before you can hit "power," but once you are, up to 8 passengers can use the calling and texting signal at once.

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Pan Am's Old Guest Houses are Today's Intercontinental Hotels

August 17, 2010 at 12:31 PM | by | Comments (0)

Just as we ruminated on United's new branding yesterday with a look back at their heyday in the 1950s, today we similarly mourn the coming demolition of Pan Am's old WorldPort at JFK (now Delta's Terminal 3) with a glance at a few of the old airline's other homes around the world, their guest houses.

This postcard featuring the PAA guest houses of South America and the Caribbean comes from our dusty stack of airline ephemera as well, and it's of the days when Pan Am was more than just an airline that flew to some of the world's most exotic locales; it was the airline that flew to some of the world's exotic locales. And when their passengers arrived to places like those featured here—Port of Spain, Trinidad, Belem, Brazil and San Juan, Puerto Rico, they didn't have to abandon the Pan Am experience if they stayed at one of these guest houses.

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Volcano Travel: Chile's So Hot Right Now

Where: Chile
January 2, 2008 at 5:30 PM | by | Comments (0)

The New Year's eruption of the Llaima volcano in Chile's Conguillío National Park has tourists fleeing for cooler pastures. The 10,250-foot-high mountain last erupted seven months ago.

About 150 tourists were hustled out of the area as the fireworks started. Early today, another 54 visitors and national park staff took off. Despite some impressive eruption images, though, things are dying down. Still, says one government official:

At this moment I would recommend against tourism in the area.

Related Stories:
· Chile Volcano Forces Evacuations [BBC]
· Volcano Erupts in Southern Chile [SMH]
· Tourists Rescued as Volcano Erupts [Sky News]
· "There is Some Flow of Lava" [AP, via AZ Republic]
· Dangerous Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Alvaro Jimenez]

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