Different Drummer's South America Quiz

Answer: Straight drop

Kaieteur Falls has a "vertical curtain", 370 feet (113 meters) across, plummeting straight down 741 feet (226 meters) into a turbulent basin. The falls have existed for nearly three billion years in the Amazon rain forest. Guyana has preserved its rain forest, and fought off industry, so one can access these falls only by walking for three days from Mahdia, or taking a one-hour flight from Georgetown onto a tiny runway a 15 minute walk from the top of the falls.

These flights are often cancelled, though, as however spectacular the falls, there are no cafes or luxury hotels, no roads and no guard rails--the site is often desolate. Once you beat a path to this phenomenal site, step over to the rainbow view, where the heavy mist creates a lovely site. Remember, it's very slippery, and no guard rail. Take heed too of the abundant golden poison dart frogs, among the most toxic creatures on earth. Perhaps the only human for miles, a different drummer will feel right at home.

Answer: Our moon

The Valle de la Luna (Valley of the Moon) of Chile (for there are other Moon Valleys in South America) is a popular tourist spot, 17 kilometers from San Pedro in the Cordillera de la Sal (Salt mountains)in the Atacama desert. This strange, stunning landscape which so reminds people of the rough, cold surface of the moon, offers dry lakes of bone white salt, escarpments of blue, red, and yellow, and great caverns, each most peculiar and majestic at dusk, and under a full moon. A different drummer can bicycle the distance out, bathed in dawn and silence.

Answer: Incas

Valle Sagrado de los Incas (Sacred Valley of the Incas) lies between Cusco, the once capital of the Inca Empire, and the great 15th century city's main tourist attraction, Machu Picchu. While even a different drummer must visit Machu Picchu, Sacred Valley is nearby, far less crowded, and well worth a stop. You'll see construction feats that remain unexplained, such as how massive granite rocks were cut, hauled down a mountain, through a river and back up a mountain, then placed, all without the use of wheels. Great walls of stone terracing also impress, and the locals offer stellar crafts and food.

Answer: Oasis

Hot and dry Huacachina, Peru lies five hours south of Lima at the edge of an ancient wind swept desert, but an oasis awaits the sunbaked traveler. Not for lying about, this oasis offers dune buggy, sandboarding and deep desert adventures, as well as flights over the mysterious Nazca Lines, and a boat tour to the Ballestas Islands wildlife sanctuary where you may see penguins and sea lions.

There are also winery tours, or you can walk a short ways to the top of the nearest dune, to watch a spectacular sunset. Warning, if you weight over 200 pounds (90 kilograms) you may have to pay a little extra to get into the airplane. I kid you not.

But different drummers are accustomed to stranger things.

Answer: Marble

Head for the little town of Coyhaique, Chile to rest between day trips. The most out of the way and breathtaking may be the caves called Capillas de marmel (Chapels of Marble) in stormy Lake General Carrera. Coyhaique is about a four hour drive from the caves, during which you'll see gorgeous woodlands, waterfalls, snowy mountains and swirling rivers. Stop on the route to experience molten rock in the shape of a wall, 6,000 year old Tehuelches paintings on rock wall (Alero de las Manos Rupestres)and the dead forest--standing but dead remnants of a rich forest killed off by the Hudson volcano.

But to see the gorgeous swirling patterns of the marble caves, midlake, is a different drummer's highlight.

Answer: Arsenic

The highly poisonous Laguna Verde (green lake) in Bolivia may be a worthwhile sight to behold only for the different drummer. The lake is sometimes turquoise, sometimes deep emerald, depending on a blend of its poisonous sediments of arsenic, lead, copper and other minerals which prevent any life. Icy winds are common, but although the water can dip to as low as -56 degrees C (-68.8 Fahrenheit), it remains liquid. Behind the lake is the near perfect cone of an inactive volcano, Licancabur, with Inca ruins and a stunning view at the top. Laguna Verde is found at the southwestern edge of Bolivia, in the Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve. You'll jeep, bus, motorcycle or walk, to enjoy this solitary and unique lake.

Answer: Petrified Wave

Near Choroni, on the coast of Venezuela is a lovely, sandy beach for fun in the sun, but also boasts wavy rock formations like this picture. Although it looks as if a rushing ocean wave suddenly froze in place and turned to stone, there are rock and sandstone "waves" in other countries, astounding to behold, often requiring a different drummer hike several miles for the privilege. Rock "waves" are caused by eons of wind and water erosion.

Answer: Glacier

The Perito Moreno glacier of southern Argentina is expanding, contrary to most of the glaciers in the world which are losing their mass. The glacier advances over the water of Argentino Lake, with an ice depth of 558 feet (170 metres), and about 240 feet (74 meters) high, about .

This is a popular tourist destination, but for the different drummer, you can hike up to five hours across the frozen mass. Just don't be on it when, every 1-10 years, the dam it forms across the lake ruptures.

Answer: Paraguay

Hands down the largest freshwater wetland in the world, the Pantanal is a fantastic place for up close and personal encounter with an incredible array of wildlife, including jaguar, giant anteaters and giant otters, anaconda snakes, brilliant macaws and the rare maned wolf.

The caiman, a cousin of the alligator which is found by the millions in the Pantanal and in Paraguay rivers, provides abundant food for the jaguar, who thrives in this UNESCO World Heritage Site. You may also meet the rare pantaneiro, cowboy occupants since the 1700s, some of them onceiro's, or "jaguar killers", though it is illegal.

The Pantanal's 66,000 square miles of river, marsh, bog and canyon is under threat from deforestation, large scale agriculture and hordes of tourists.

There is only one road, so the different drummer may rather backpack, kayak, horseback ride or canoe this vast and mysterious world. Keep in mind, in the rainy season it is 78% submerged--amazing, since this area was once a sandy desert.

Answer: Dirt road

Cabo de La Vela, Colombia is accessed by several hours of driving, followed by two hours on a sometimes questionable dirt road. The locals of the small fishing village are called Wayuu people, and their Cabo de la Vela (called Jepirra) is sacred, a place where the deceased meet with their ancestors to pass to the afterlife.

But for the respectful ecotourist, the idyllic beach is accompanied by sumptuous fresh lobster, hammocks to nap in, and nearby mud flats occupied by flamingo. The ideal destination for the different drummer.