Eventually Francois found the lure of the city impossible to resist. He has created a stunningly situated cliff-hugging haven beneath São Conrado, the vertiginous birthplace of hang-gliding in Brazil.

All rooms overlook the Atlantic Ocean, and blend baroque influences, sumptuous white oak panelling and luxurious Granado toiletries with modern touches such as pre-programmed iPods. Blissfully there are no televisions…

Read the full review at TravelIntelligence.com

Perhaps the most compelling motive of all is the beautiful boutique hotelLa Passion: the perfect place for any discerning visitor to base themselves while delving in to the stunning shops, restaurants and bars than make Colombia’s cultural capital one of the most sensual cities in South America.

Read the full review at TravelIntelligence.com

Impanema beach: Sunday afternoon in Rio

We based ourselves in bohemian Santa Teresa, and fell in love with Cairoca culture. Very reminiscent of Montmartre, perched high overlooking downtown Rio, Santa Teresa was bursting with elegant, fin-de-siecle architecture and atmospheric bars. The home of Rio’s elite before the Roaring Twenties rush to the sea, today it is a charming, crumbling area reachable by Bonde, the only remaining metropolitan tram in Brazil.

Rio is a city of incredible contrasts. Soaring cliffs surrounded by rainforest, the biggest urban park in the world, some of the world’s biggest shanty towns. The rich live in heavily secured gated towers on the beaches, the poor crowd together in dangerous favelas on the hills: enjoying million dollar views. One big surprise: Cairoca’s are surprisingly fat!

Coconuts on Copacabana: what's not to like!?

Probably because Rio was our last stop, we were a little edgy. There is huge and undeniable poverty everywhere. Not quite Mumbai, but sharing that other booming city’s extremes. Anyway, Ipanema, Copacabana, the Sugarloaf, the Estádio do Maracanã: plus muitas caipirinhas e cervejas!

More photos over on Facebook

Gorgeous colonial Cartagena streets

Cartagena, widely touted as the most perfectly preserved colonial city in the Americas, was certainly beautiful, with stunning, spectacularly well preserved 16th century architecture. But with the endless hassle – “what you want? Cigar? Hat? Cerveza? Hotel? Restaurant? Souvenir? Sunglasses? Drugs? Girls?” – we found ourselves hastily skipping town as soon as possible.

Delightful Taganga, fishing boats

Heading along the Caribbean coast, we ended up in the delightfully dusty, dilapidated fishing village of Taganga, on the edge of the Tayrono National Park. Here we got excited by fishermen’s cottages, entertained by teenage troublemakers, and enjoyed fresh fish, disorganised diving, reggaeton and rum.

Amazing fisherman's cottage, Taganga

Pictures on Facebook here

Pimping the red frogs: on the beach in Bocas

We were based in the far northeast corner of tiny Bocas, in a residential hood known as Saigoncitos. We had Dutch bicycles to get around town and explore the island. We stayed in a beautiful wooden house with our own kitchen. We had a large balcony with hummingbirds and butterflies hovering and fluttering by. Islanders are a mix of Spanish and Patois speakers, Chinese shop owners, plus a sprinkling of (most American) ex-pats. To get to Bocas we had a five hour bus journey through the cloud forest across the mountains from David on the Pacific plain, then a high-speed water taxi from the mainland.

Dreamy Caribbean skies over Bocas del Toro

A little slice of paradise surrounded by white sand beaches and coral reefs: check the pics over at Facebook

Costa Rica is known for its well established national park system and relatively proactive attempts to conserve its environment, so the nation has long been on my wish list. It’s also one of the few countries in the world without an army, though I don’t think this a good thing as everyone in authority seemed to have a Little Hitler complex and think themselves terribly important. Costa Rica is now home to ever-growing numbers of Baby Boomer-retirees from Gringolandia, so prices are increasingly steep.

Day one: little did we know what we'd let ourselves in for!

We had arranged a four-day trek through the wilds of Corcovado with a chap called Ballardo, who styles himself as the Jaguarman (ahem). He turned out to have a habit of seriously underestimating time and distance, but he successfully guided us safely through the park without any problems so money well spent. In theory you can go in alone but I wasn’t confident in my ability to navigate us safely.

On the trail of the Jaguar: Corcovado NP

Corcovado was famously described by National Geographic as “the most biodiverse place on the planet”, and it certainly didn’t disappoint. After a day sorting out permits and getting into the park via collectivo, four-wheel drive and short yomp, on our first full day we walked for 20km through primary rainforest (the largest unlogged tract in the entire Pacific Americas), passing just one other group of walkers coming the other way!

Over the next few days we saw a huge variety of wildlife, including all four monkey species (squirrel and capuchins particularly cute), endless scarlet macaws, morpho butterflies, parrots, toucans, endangered tapir, coati, tayra, crocodile, Jesus Christ lizard (plus a zillion other reptiles), and one fleur-de-lance snake – the most aggressive of its species in the world!

Toxic rainforest crabs in their zillions

An absolutely wonderful experience, despite the dead turtle wrapped in plastic on the beach and the encroaching farmland on all sides of the park.

Never has beer tasted so good

One of the highlights of our entire trip!

Check out the snaps over on Facebook

At the Casa Azul, searching for Frida y Diego

We spent a few nights in supposedly hip & happening Condesa (it isn’t really), then moved into the much more shabby Centro Historico to stay in one of the biggest, highest ceilinged rooms of our life at the wonderfully creaking old Hotel Isabel, a couple of blocks from the Zocalo.

Hotel Isabel: the glass floor is the roof of the lobby. This roofed atrium goes up another few stories

Every morning we could, we began our day with delicious tropical fruit, served sliced up in a bag with chilli, salt and lashings of lime.

Kapow! Desayuno Mexico-stylee

As well as all the fabulous art and falling down buildings we particularly digged the stores around the Zocalo, where whole blocks remain devoted to the same products, leather one street, stationary another, shoes round the corner, then hardware…

Boots eat your heart out: this place is the best stocked chemist EVER!

Sadly, Mexico wasn’t everything we’d hoped for. The appallingly bloody Guerra las Drugas appears to be taking its toll on the collective mindset and the country seemed a lot less appealing than on our previous visits.

There is one English newspaper (the imaginatively title The News) but it’s almost impossible to find on the news-stands, and anyway is mostly recycled wire copy so they don’t have a need for many journalists. The city didn’t feel too safe at night, and there are very few expats beyond boisterous bankers making idiots of themselves in the (otherwise marvellous) mariachi bars.

Still, Mexico does have wonderful tacos, wonderful cerveza, wonderful musica and the most incredible colours…

Maravillosos colores: don't you wish your street looked like this?

We mixed-up fantastic food, fashion, friends and family, and unearthed some hidden gems. I ran every morning in Fitzroy Gardens (home to Captain Cook’s cottage) and spent a morning watching the last game of the season at the MCG: certainly saw Victoria’s capital in a whole new light.

Check the photos over at Facebook or view a Flickr slideshow