Argentina

Argentina is a vast land - the world's eight largest nation - which tapers down from the Tropic of Capricorn like a massive stalactite towards the planet's most southerly extremities. It encompasses a staggering diversity of landscapes, ranging from the hot and humid jungles of the Northeast and the bone-dry highland steppes of the Northwest, via the fertile Pampas and windswept Patagonia, to the end-of-the-world archipelago of Tierra del Fuego.

Although less obviously 'exotic' than most of its neighbours to the north, it's a country with a very special character all of its own. Away from the bustling streets of Buenos Aires, the vastness of the land and the varied wildlife inhabiting it are the country's real attractions. There are hundreds of bird species – including the Andean Condor and three varieties of flamingo – plus pumas, armadillos, llamas, foxes and tapirs, to be found in the country's forests, mountainsides and the dizzying heights of the altiplano, or puna. Lush tea plantations and parched salt-flats, palm groves and icebergs, plus the world's mightiest waterfalls, are just some of the sights that are waiting to be discovered.