As an inhabitant of a southern hemisphere country (Australia) I've been noting the emphasis in Planeta on the more northern parts of Latin America: quite reasonable when most of the readers are likely to be North Americans and their budgets have to stretch further to visit the more southerly areas.
From Australia or New Zealand it is still cheaper to reach Mexico (usually flying via Los Angeles) than other parts of Latin America. Flights to Buenos Aires or Santiago however can be as cheap or cheaper than flights to Central America, and not vastly more expensive than the Mexican flights.
Thus we have decided to focus more on South America in this issue of Planeta. Unfortunately I cannot as yet speak from personal experience (a situation I hope to remedy before too long), having only visited Central American countries.
The forests and the wildlife are responsible for much of the fascination with South America, so I've presented reviews of two useful books, one on the national parks of South America and one on rainforest mammals. (There are a number of good books on South American birds, mostly very pricey, and the sheer number of bird species is over-whelming!)
In this issue also are articles written by Mike Olsen and Susana Eisenchlas who have been fortunate enough to visit or live in this marvellous part of the world.
Also in this issue you will find Internet links to views on what ecotourism is (and/or what it should be), some examples of ecotourism projects in South America, some commercial tours, wild areas to visit, South American wildlife etc.
Ancestors of the hoop pines and bunya pines of Queensland and the Norfolk Island pines often used as Christmas trees in Australia were at that time common in many parts of Australia, Antarctica (which was not so cold at that time) and South America. They were the ancestors also of the monkey puzzle or pehuen (parasol) trees that still grow in the forests of Chile and Argentina.
The botanical name of this group of trees (both in Australia and South America) is 'Araucaria,' named after the Araucarian Indians of Patagonia who for so long resisted intrusion by European settlers.
Ancestors of the Antarctic Beech trees were also found throughout Australia, Antarctica and South America in those days: their descendants now persist in the cool wet forested areas of Australia, Chile and Argentina. Marsupials - animals that give birth to very primitive, embryo-like young and usually carry them in pouches - are found nowhere else in the world except Australia and Latin America (except for a couple of opossums which moved northward after North and South America almost collided and a chain of volcanos formed Central America, joining them together).
Most Australian frogs and river turtles shared ancestors with those of South America. So did the emu and the rhea, the parrots, several other groups of birds and many groups of insects, all reflecting a shared past which may lead us to consider Australia and South America as sister continents.
Contact Ronda Green, director of Araucaria Ecotours
via email
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