From Buenos Aires, Argentina
I asked the taxi driver to stop for a moment. I wanted to see Calle Lanín. Barely any visitor comes to see the work of Marino Santa María, who transformed this most ordinary residential road into something extraordinary.

With vast bits of tiles and mosaics, he created an array of eye catching designs across more than thirty buildings, bringing the street to life. Best not visit after dark, but do stop in on the way to La Boca.

From Buenos Aires, Argentina
Just as one might picture oneself as Indiana Jones while roaming over ancient ruins, for one brief moment the black-tighted leg wrapped around my waist allowed me to imagine myself as the quintessentially suave tanguero.

The guffaws of my companions swiftly burst such illusion, but I don’t mind. It’s one of those rare episodes we find while travelling: when we let our inhibitions go, and throw ourselves into the sheer joy of the moment.

From Iguazú Falls, Argentina/Brazil
A big blue sky and a sea of trees - millions of trees as far as the eye can see. Nothing else to spoil the view. Blue and green, all around.

When you arrive by air at Iguazú you get the somewhat unnerving sense that you are about to land square amongst the branches of a few of those trees, like a scene from Lost. In fact, the first glimpse you get of the smoothly tarmaced runway is when you finally touch down upon it. Welcome to the jungle.

From Iguazú Falls, Argentina/Brazil
Surrounded by lush trees and exotic birds, I felt firmly rooted in the depths of a jungle. I could count at least twelve waterfalls and I would have happily stayed all day getting to know each one.

They say that upon seeing Iguazú, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt exclaimed ‘Poor Niagra!’. I have never been to Niagra and so cannot make the comparison, but frankly, I don’t feel the slightest inclination to go any time soon. How could anything beat this?

From Iguazú Falls, Argentina/Brazil
This photo always makes me smile. Toucans are just so expressive - their default face is happy, smiling, playful. Watching them bounce around the trees added a very different dimension to my time in Iguazú.

The power of the falls, nature at its rawest, juxtaposed by these little creatures bobbing around right in front of my eyes, unfussed by the spectacle unfolding nearby. I never tire of looking at it and sharing it with others.

From Puna de Atacama, Argentina
Nature does 'peace' very well but it struggles with 'quiet'. Except in the Puna. We drove past rusty red mountains and huge white dunes. We stopped at a lake with the most flamingos in South America. Further from civilisation we went: dirt roads, then more dunes. That's when the silence came.

No traffic. No birdsong. No wind. Nothing. The only noise was inside - heartbeat and breath. A thick blanket of silence, like nature holding its breath.