[1000 places to see before you die] part8
South America
Amazon Brazil----- Wet tropical forests are the most species-rich biome, and tropical forests in the America are consistently more species rich than the wet forests in Africa and Asia.
As the largest tract of tropical rainforest in the Americas, the Amazonian rainforests have unparalleled biodiversity.
The region is home to about 2.5 million insect species, tens of thousands of plants, and some 2,000 birds and mammals.
To date, at least 40,000 plant species, 3,000 fish, 1,294 birds, 427 mammals, 428 amphibians, and 378 reptiles have been scientifically classified in the region.
Scientists have described between 96,660 and 128,843 invertebrate species in Brazil alone.
Ester Island Chile----- Much of the island's 1500 year history remains a mystery to archaeologists and is the subject of an ongoing debate - while the native settlers had a written language called rongo-rongo and may have documented the island's history in detail, everyone who could read or write it is deceased, and it has remained undecipherable to this day.
Galapagos Island Ecuador----- A magical place like none other on earth. much of which was inspiration for Charles Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection. The islands are therefore very popular amongst natural historians, both professional and amateur. Giant tortoises, sea lions, penguins, marine iguanas and different bird species can all be seen and approached.
Cusco Peru ----- Cusco is the historic capital of the Inca Empire and was declared a World Heritage Site in 1983 by UNESCO.
It is a major tourist destination and receives almost a million visitors a year.The most familiar icon of the Inca World.
Machu Picchu Peru ----- Machu Picchu was built in the classical Inca style, with polished dry-stone walls.
The ruins of Machu Picchu are divided into two main sections known as the Urban and Agricultural Sectors, divided by a wall.
Nazca Peru -----The hundreds of individual figures range in complexity from simple lines to stylized hummingbirds, spiders, monkeys, fish, sharks or orcas, llamas, and lizards.
The largest figures are over 200 metres (660 ft) across. Scholars differ in interpreting the purpose of the designs, but they generally ascribe religious significance to them, as they were major works that required vision, planning and coordination of people to achieve.
