There are family holidays that begin with a flight, and then there are family adventures that begin long before anyone reaches the airport. Our South America trip was definitely the second kind.

From Australia, South America is not a destination you casually fall into. It takes time to get there. The distances are enormous. The flight connections can be complicated. You may be moving between radically different climates, altitudes and landscapes within the same trip — one day standing in an extraordinary desert, the next exploring ancient Inca country, and a few days later waking to the sounds of the Amazon rainforest.

That was precisely why we wanted to go. We wanted our children to see places they had only encountered in books and documentaries — wildlife in the environments where it belongs, history that could be walked through, landscapes that would make them stop and stare. South America offered all of that, often within a single journey.

This is not a generic destinations list. It is the full story of our family adventure from Sydney through Chile, Peru and Brazil — the route, the decisions, what thrilled the children, where the logistics became difficult, what we got right, and what we would do differently.

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Our Route and Why We Chose It

Our journey took us from Sydney to Santiago and then into Chile’s Atacama Desert before continuing to Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu in Peru. From there we travelled into the Amazon around Puerto Maldonado, crossed into Brazil, spent time in São Paulo and then travelled to the Pantanal before ending our South American adventure in Jericoacoara.

We left Sydney on 5 April and returned home on 12 May. We were not simply travelling through three countries — we were moving through several completely different travel environments: desert, high-altitude Andes, tropical Amazon, wildlife-rich wetlands, and finally coastal Brazil. That is a lot of environmental and logistical change for adults. For children, the cumulative effect matters even more.

The reason we designed it this way was deliberate: we wanted each stage to feel genuinely different from the last. The Atacama gave us extreme desert landscapes. Cusco and the Sacred Valley gave us history and the Andes. Machu Picchu gave us one of the world’s great archaeological experiences. The Amazon gave us rainforest and wildlife. The Pantanal gave us another completely different wildlife environment. Jericoacoara gave us a chance to finish with sun, sand and a slower rhythm.

That variety became the greatest strength of the trip. It also became its greatest challenge.

The First Big Lesson: South America Is Not One Trip

One of the biggest mistakes you can make when planning South America is thinking of it as one uniform destination. It is a continent of enormous scale and extraordinary diversity. The practical experience of the Atacama Desert is completely different from Cusco. Cusco is different from the Sacred Valley. The Amazon is different again. Then Brazil changes the scale and rhythm once more.

This is why I would strongly recommend planning a South America family trip bytravel experience, not simply by country. Instead of thinking Chile → Peru → Brazil, think Desert → Andes → Ancient history → Rainforest → Wetlands → Beach. That way, you can immediately see where you are introducing another major environmental change for your children — and where you need a recovery day before you move on.

Which Part of South America Is Right for Your Family?

Our Six Biggest Lessons from South America

Lesson 1 — The map lies about how easy a trip will feel.A destination can look close and still require a full day of travel. Always calculate the family energy cost, not just the transport time. A “short” connecting flight between cities in Brazil or Peru may involve airport transfers, waiting, and arrival logistics that consume six or seven hours of everyone’s actual energy.

Lesson 2 — Fewer destinations can mean more memories.Every new destination means packing, checking out, transport, airport time, transfers, checking in, reorienting, finding food, and helping children settle into a new environment. More destinations do not automatically mean more experiences. They often mean more transitions — and transitions are the part of the trip that photographs rarely show.

Lesson 3 — Wildlife needs flexibility built in, not around it.The animals do not know your itinerary. Rain changes plans. Conditions change. The best wildlife experiences happen when you allow the environment to surprise you rather than expecting it to perform.

Lesson 4 — Give children ownership, not just access.Let them choose an activity. Let them try something. Give them a small travel responsibility. Ask what they noticed. Children become more engaged and create stronger memories when they feel they are part of the journey rather than passengers in it.

Lesson 5 — Recovery time is productive time.A quiet afternoon is not wasted travel time. It is often the reason your children are genuinely enthusiastic about the next day rather than going through the motions.

Lesson 6 — Build around your family’s actual capacity.Do not plan the trip you wish your family could handle. Plan the trip your family can genuinely enjoy. That single distinction is the most important lesson in ambitious family travel.

What We Would Skip Next Time

Honesty on this builds trust and makes the guide genuinely useful, so here it is: we tried to pack too much into the Brazil section of the trip. Having São Paulo, the Pantanal, and Jericoacoara all in the same leg felt exciting on the itinerary and exhausting in practice. If I were doing this again, I would either give the Pantanal more dedicated time and treat Jericoacoara as a separate future trip — or I would do Jericoacoara only, and save the Pantanal for a more wildlife-focused visit to Brazil.

I would also not stack an early morning departure on the day after a wildlife day. We did this once, and the combination of residual insect spray, humid overnight accommodation, an early alarm, and a connecting flight produced one of the trip’s hardest mornings for the children.

What to Book First

If you are planning a multi-country South America trip from Australia, the booking order matters more than most families realise.

Book first:International flights from Australia (these fill fastest and price-sensitive); Machu Picchu tickets (these genuinely sell out and have changed significantly in recent years — do not leave this until last); accommodation in Cusco and Sacred Valley for the peak season you’re travelling; Amazon lodge availability (reputable lodges at good wildlife areas have limited capacity).

Book second:Internal flights in Peru and Brazil; Pantanal lodge availability; travel insurance (before any non-refundable deposits).

Research before booking anything:Current visa requirements for Brazil; current Machu Picchu ticketing rules; altitude guidance from a travel health clinic; current Smartraveller advice for all three countries.