About this book

New from Bradt, South America: an Anthology of Travel Writing is an enchanting scrapbook of personal narratives from travellers in arguably the world’s most exciting and varied continent. Comprising both historical accounts (by famous figures) and contemporary articles or blogs (many by well-known personalities), this deftly curated collection of fine travel writing conveys the sense of excitement and awe that characterises explorations of a very special part of the world.

Ever since South America was ‘discovered’ in the 15th century, the continent has played upon our collective urge to travel and explore. Across 11 chapters featuring 12 countries, some of the world’s most famous destinations star: the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu, cloaked by cloudforest; the Amazon jungles; the Argentine pampas with its gaucho cowboys drinking yerba maté tea and eating plate-sized steaks; the beaches of Brazil; the wildlife wonders of the Galápagos; the Andean mountains; the big skies of Patagonia; and, at the foot of the continent, the fabled Tierra del Fuego.

Authors of the carefully curated group of stories include seminal figures of the past such as Charles Darwin, Gerald Durrell, Christopher Isherwood, Jan Morris and W H  Hudson, modern-day TV personalities like Sir David Attenborough, Michael Palin, Simon Reeve and Kate Humble, and acclaimed writers including Matthew Parris, Hilary Bradt and Stephen Moss. Their styles differ markedly – from light and comic pieces to weightier, more reflective articles – as does the subject matter: there are cities and wilderness, wildlife and eco-tourism, exploration and exploitation, food and drink, backpacking and hiking, books and art, gauchos and their horses, adventure and misadventure.

Learn who risked being mistaken for a condor’s lunch, how to make the perfect empanada or drink the bitter tea known as yerba maté. Go in search of the world’s rarest hummingbird or test how far you would travel to eat Argentine steak. Launched to complement publication of the new centenary edition of the legendary South American Handbook, Bradt’s South America: an Anthology of Travel Writing will delight and inspire anyone who has ever journeyed through Latin America – or has longed to visit while remaining in the comfort of their armchair.

About the Author

Celia Dillow’s first experience of South America came in the 1980s when she moved to the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo, accompanying her diplomat husband, who was posted there for several years. This early residency initiated a love affair with this unruly and enchanting continent. When not on government duty, the couple were able to explore the quiet corners of Uruguay, always on the lookout for its extraordinary birdlife. Seventeen years later, they returned to the continent, this time to live in Argentina, with three teenage sons and a shaggy dog. Dillow has travelled extensively throughout the continent and has developed a passion for South American literature and other people’s travel stories. In 2019 she won the coveted Bradt New Travel Writer of the Year prize and in 2021 edited Travel Write, a selection of entries from 20 years of Bradt’s travel-writing competition. Her work can be found at ceciliadillow.wordpress.com.

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