RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - Safety is always a concern in Rio - so play it safe and don't invite trouble by wearing any jewellery while walking the streets and especially not on the beaches. Only take local currency with you and leave your credit cards and valuables in your hotel safe.

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - "Her name was Lola, she was a showgirl ... At the Copa, Copacabana ..." There is only one drawback about staying at Rio de Janeiro's spectacular Copacabana Palace hotel - you can never stop humming that old Barry Manilow hit of a few decades ago. If I could only remember the words.

SANTOS, BRAZIL - For a coffee town, Santos really proves to be a tourist’s cup of tea. Not as well known as some of Brazil’s other major cities, this sleepy town offers vacationers beaches that rival anything in Rio and some of the most unusual attractions in South America.

RIO DE JANEIRO - For someone who had been to the top of Corcovado "more than 800 times," Rodrassis, our chain-smoking, wise-cracking guide, seemed overly excited about introducing us to Le esta o Crito Redentor, the giant statue of Christ the Redeemer that sits atop the city's largest mountain.

PANAMA CITY - For the dozens of people lined across the full length of the observation deck atop the Miraflores Visitors Centre, the Panama Canal represents one of man’s greatest engineering achievements – right up there with Egypt’s pyramids and China’s Great Wall.

BUENOS AIRES - It took some fancy footwork to arrange my first tango lesson. A day lost to learning the seductive dance of Argentina due to a Canadian snowstorm required a lot of shuffling on my part.

ANTIGUA, GUATEMALA - My Guatemala is a seductive beauty whose Spanish charm, dramatic landscapes, lovely coastline and relaxed lifestyle are enchanting more and more visitors.

QUITO, ECUADOR - After receiving yellow fever, typhoid, tetanus and Hepatitis A shots, going on malaria tablets, purchasing a mosquito net for my face, buying insect repellent with deet and quizzing anyone who has travelled within 800 kilometres of the Amazon rain forest, I was ready for my ensuing adventure.

In a demonstration of its sheer power, the magnificent sailfish broke through the surface of the water and rocketed six feet above the waves, the sun glinting off its sleek body as it sought to shake free of the jagged metal imbedded in its jaw.

MANUAL ANTONIO, COSTA RICA - It took 4½ hours on the worst roads we’ve ever encountered to reach Costa Rica’s greatest ecological treasures: Mount Arenal, the Monteverde Cloud Forest and the reserves around Manuel Antonio.