New finds, old favourites and deep, rich memories…

South America expert Chris Moss picks the best of the coming season on this dazzling continent, from cities and islands to restaurants and wine regions

The Spanish word for best is mejor. Latin Americans, as fiercely competitive at life as they are on the football pitch, love to tell travellers about their country’s mejor beach, city, festival, food, dance – anything, really, except mejor politician. Invariably, national pride precludes any semblance of objectivity. No Argentine would ever recommend a Brazilian meal. Peruvians would sooner quaff battery acid than a glass of Chilean pisco.

As a regular visitor to South America some of my “bests” change over time, some stay the same. I’ve been blown away by so many experiences, places, hotels, people. La Paz’s Gran Poder festival was a whirl. Two separate long hikes to Machu Picchu were equally memorable. The marine life diving off the Galapagos was extraordinary. For my 2019-20 “bests” round-up, I’m taking the long view, balancing recent discoveries with tried and tested highs and those deep, rich memories that won’t go away.

Summer in South America is special. The ocean mists lift and bring sunshine back to Lima and Santiago de Chile. South America hits the beach, big style – January and February are peak holiday months in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay. Punta del Este gets balmy, Rio bakes, even chilly Patagonia warms up, and the national parks of the south are open for hiking, biking, camping and dips in the lakes – well, some of them. The Pantanal gets its life-giving rains, opening up new channels into the enchanting flooded forests. It’s cruise season in Tierra del Fuego, the Falklands and Antarctica. It’s all go, in short, and that’s what you should do if you want to escape the lowering clouds and fading light of the north as autumn and winter enshroud us once again.

STEP INTO SUMMER Traditionally clad dancers at a festival in Lima, Peru