Donovan Hervig

Donovan Hervig

Off-the-beaten-path: Hidden Gems in Colombia

Colombia is well known for its coffee and sunny Caribbean beaches, with colonial Spanish Cartagena now boasting direct flights from the US.  The cloud forests of the country’s coffee zone boast an enviable mild climate, encompassing traditional farms and plantations,…

Off-the-beaten-path: Hidden Gems in Chile

Chile, South America’s longest and thinnest country, is best known for Patagonia and the Torres del Paine National Park, Easter Island and its wine.  There are a plethora of world-class vineyards in the valleys near its capital city, Santiago, and…

Ecuador before and after Galapagos

ISA Ecuador and Galapagos Trip: part 2 As part of Ideal South America’s goal to provide the best possible tour operations to its passengers, our General Manager, Donovan Hervig, recently traveled to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands.  The first stop,…

The Galapagos by Land and Sea

Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands: part 1 The Galapagos by Land and Sea One of our favorite features of the Galapagos Islands is how close we can get to these special creatures.  Not only are there animals found nowhere else…

Machu Picchu

ISA Peru Trip 2024: part 3 One of the many reasons to book your trip through a travel agent is that they, and their local, on-the-ground tour operators, can more effectively sort out any potential issues that may arise.  This…

The Sacred Valley

ISA Peru Trip 2024: part 2 After an amazing four days in the Peruvian Amazon’s Tambopata National Reserve (part 1), a 45 minute flight brought me from Puerto Maldonado to Cuzco – the Incan capital and gateway to Machu Picchu. …

The Amazon – Tambopata National Reserve

ISA Peru Trip 2024: part 1 As the planet’s largest rainforest, the Amazon is roughly the size of the contiguous U.S. and covers nearly half of the South American continent.  Although two-thirds of it is in Brazil, the mighty Amazon…

Off-the-beaten-path: Hidden Gems in Brazil

South America’s largest country is well-known for its capital city, Rio de Janeiro, and its annual carnival parade.  Perhaps best viewed from Sugar Loaf Mountain, seeing the Atlantic coastal forests descend to the city’s fabulous world-class beaches and Guanabara Bay –…

Off-the-beaten-path: Hidden Gems in Argentina

Argentina is well-known for Tango dance and music, along with its vast Patagonian expanses.  The plains (pampas) and mountains bring to mind world-class hiking and trekking, as well as Mendoza and its wine tours, not far from the continent’s highest peak –…