Recall of the wild: South America's new era of nature-led tourism

Macaws, jaguars, tapirs and woolly monkeys are just a few of the critically endangered species being reintroduced as part of Latin America’s rewilding drive

In 1947, Christopher Isherwood undertook a six-month tour of South America, concentrating on cultural sites, large cities and hobnobbing with local grandees. The title of the travelogue he wrote about the trip, The Condor and the Cows, sums up how most Europeans felt about South America. While the condor has since been pushed to near-extinction, the cows have persisted: Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Venezuela are still seen by outsiders as primarily farming nations and global breadbaskets.

Other Latin American countries are known for their wine, coffee, tropical fruits, soya beans and fishmeal. Colombia, the most biodiverse country in the world per square kilometre, is known more for its exports of cocaine than for its dazzling birdlife.