Overnight flight to Santiago (Chile). The flight time from Australia's east coast is about 14 hours, most of which is at night. Afternoon arrival and transfer to a flight direct to Rio de Janeiro to arrive at around 8pm and check in at our hotel located at Leme on the northern end of Copacabana Beach.

No meals are included today because we will be in transit.

We'll be met by our Brazilian guide Marcio, who will be with us for the next week or so.

A relaxed start to the day with time for a leisurely breakfast and a stroll on the beach before Marcio picks us up and we transfer to the train to take us to one of the signature sights of Rio, Corcovado (Christ the Redeemer). Then after lunch we will head to the cable car to take us to the other signature sight, Sugarloaf.

Dinner tonight at the amazing Marius Degustare Restaurant – ranked number 1 on Tripadvisor from over 13,000 restaurants in Rio. And it's right next to the hotel.

After breakfast, we will transfer to Santos Dumont airport for our flight to Manaus (via Brasilia) in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon. Manaus is a major trading port at the junction of the black Rio Negro, which flows all the way from the mountains of Columbia, and the lighter coloured Solimões River. Together they form the Amazon River.

We'll take a short tour of the city, then settle in to our hotel, Villa Amazonia for the night. The hotel is a restored historic mansion that dates back to the golden rubber age and the restaurant Fitz Carraldo is rated one of the finest in Manaus.

Flight: LA3793 SDU-BSB 10:40-12:30 / LA4714 BSB-MAO 13:25-15:25

The Amazon adventure starts this morning with a boat trip across the Amazon with a close up view of the Meeting of the Waters. On the other side of the river, we board a bus and travel through the farms, villages and rainforest of the Amazon, then finally another boat ride down a tributary of the Amazon to our comfortable lodge, located right on the water. After lunch, we will take an excursion into the forest to spot some of the birds and animals and visit a local village.

It is a floating lodge which gets us up close and personal with the Amazon environment, but don't expect five star amenities.

A full day of activities including fishing for piranhas, playing with the pink river dolphins and canoe trips through this tributary of the Amazon. We'll keep an eye out for sloths, tapirs and numerous species of monkey on the land; caiman, anaconda and pink dolphins in the water; and toucans, macaws and hornbills in the trees. There are jaguars and pumas in the forest, but the chances of an encounter are close to zero.

Try your luck to catch a piranha and eat it for dinner if you like.

After a leisurely morning we reverse course back to Manaus with another exciting journey across the mighty Amazon. After lunch in Manaus we take a flight (via Brasilia again) and connect to Cuiaba, the biggest city and gateway to Mato Grosso, the heartland of Brazilian agriculture.

Flight: G32193 MAO-BSB 16:00-19:35 / G31716 BSB-CGB 21:30-22:15

From Cuiaba, we travel through the spectacular Chapada dos Guimarães, an area of stunning table-top mountains, ravines, caves, streams and waterfalls perched about 800m higher than the enormous, flat plains of the Pantanal. It enjoys cooler temperatures and its vegetation is 'cerrado' or tropical savannah which gives rise to different flora and fauna. This cerrado landscape dominates Brazil's broadacre agriculture – not only in Mato Grosso, but Minas Gerais, Goias and Bahia. It was thought to be worthless for agriculture until Brazilian researchers found that it could be made highly productive with the addition of lime and phosphorus.

Lunch will be at a spectacular restaurant at the top of the escarpment before continuing to Campo Verde to visit a farming operation before dinner with some local consultants, farmers and the city mayor.

Visit to Bom Futuro. The size of this operation is almost incomprehensible. They grow 90,000 hectares of cotton which is classed as a secondary crop to soybeans. They are big enough to build a hydroelectric power station 200 km away which provides 60 per cent of the power to their nine cotton gins and farming operations. They have scaled back their cattle enterprise but still have something like 100,000 head. And they have moved into fish farming in a big way. Be prepared to be amazed.

After breakfast we travel back to Cuiaba along some roads which will give you an idea of the logistical problems facing farmers in this frontier area. We'll catch a flight to Cascavel via Sao Paulo for an evening arrival and a buffet dinner at the Hotel Deville.

Flight: Azul flight AD5041/4727 CGB-VCP-CAC 11:25-18:50

Cascavel is at the heart of grain production in Parana State and we will visit Coopavel, one of the largest farm cooperatives in the country before traveling to Itaipu, where we will inspect the giant Itaipu Dam – one of the seven wonders of the modern world. This enormous hydro scheme is a joint project between the governments of Paraguay and Brazil. Eight kilometres wide and requiring enough concrete to build five Hoover Dams, the Itaipu Dam spans the Parana River at the Brazil/Paraguay border.

The plan is to then enter the Iguacu National Park and arrive at our hotel in time for sunset and an unforgettable (and easy) stroll along the boardwalk, from the front of our hotel, to many vantage points including Garganta del Diablo. Free evening to explore the falls and enjoy this magnificent 5 star hotel, perched right on the edge of the falls.

Dinner at the hotel for a buffet you will never forget.

This is the only hotel inside the National Park, so we have the falls to ourselves in the early morning and late afternoon when the park gates are closed.

Full day to explore all aspects of the falls. We go straight to our jungle tour and exhilarating jetboat ride to the most impressive part of Iguacu Falls – Garganta del Diablo (translated as the ‘Devil’s Throat’).

After lunch, there are options for helicopter flights over the falls and other activities then a free evening.

After another early morning close up view of the falls from the Brazilian side, we'll cross the Iguacu River into Argentina for another view of the falls before joining our flight to Buenos Aires for the weekend.

Our hotel is located on the widest street in the world – the Avenue 9 de Julio – which honours Argentina’s independence day in 1816. It is in an area known as Microcentro and is close to shopping and almost opposite the beautiful Teatro Colon, BA’s opera house.

Freshen up before we take a short stroll for dinner and a first taste of a genuine Argentinian steakhouse, La Estancia.

Flight: Aerolineas flight AR1747 IGR-AEP 14:20-16:15

We take a guided city tour of the major sights of BA. This is a vibrant city of many barrios (neighbourhoods) and while we're here, we'll visit colonial San Telmo, the colourful houses of La Boca and the newly redeveloped Puerto Madero. At the Plaza de Mayo, we get a look at the Casa Rosada (the Pink Palace) where Eva Peron waved to the adoring crowds and visit her tomb in the cemetery at La Recoleta.

The afternoon and evening are free, but we will suggest a few options such as bike tours and just generally exploring the many interesting areas of BA.

For those interested, we can organise an optional visit to a Tango show, which may also include dinner. Or perhaps a night at the opera appeals. Or if shopping is more your thing, the shopping street of Florida is nearby.

This morning we will be met by Andrés Sylvestre Begnis, the former CEO of the Argentinean No Till Farmer’s Association, who is going to be our tour leader for the next few days. Our guides will introduce us to the farms and farmers of the pampas, an almost uninterrupted fertile plain of 75,000,000 hectares covering a large part of eastern Argentina through to Uruguay and southern Brazil.

We will visit Marcos Daziano (UBA agribusiness specialist) on the farm of Arrecifes City (crops and a feedlot). For lunch we’ll enjoy an Asado on the field and Marcos will give us a presentation in English about the Argentina Agri sector. Later during the afternoon, we’ll visit the Manuel Ocampo farm with grain storage facilities, chicken eggs and soy oil production.

Dinner at La Cava Restaurant in Pergamino

After breakfast, we’ll visit a farm near Pergamino City (with crops and livestock) and talk with Maximiliano Santos, the farm agronomist. Later transfer to Federico Varela’s farm and have lunch at the farm. During the afternoon we’ll visit a seed plant near Pergamino, prior to transfer to Rosario City. Dinner at Rock and Fellers Restaurant, a walking distance from the hotel.

In the morning we will pay a visit to the BIOCERES Sevillas (seed) facility and the Louis Dreyfus silos and port at General Lagos then back to BA in preparation for an early start the next morning. We'll also bid goodbye to our good friend Andres.

The airline cancelled our original flight the next day and gave an alternative flight from a different airport and with a 5.30am departure time – but that's South America!

Note: We'll be leaving too early for breakfast at the hotel, so will have to try for any options at the airport (or on the plane). This morning we fly south to the magnificent Patagonian region to the lake-side resort centre of El Calafate, the gateway to the Argentine glaciers. In the afternoon we will visit one of the local large scale sheep farms and discuss their particular (and unique) problems, such as pumas.

Estancia Huyliche is perched on a hill directly behind El Calafate with a magnificent view of the town and Lago Argentino. The estancia is dedicated to raising cattle and horses. Includes visit to the corrals, stables and historic shearing shed. We will have either lunch or dinner at the estancia, depending on the weather.

Either way, you will have some free time to explore this fascinating town.

Flight: Aerolineas flight AR866 EZE-FTE 05:30-08:45

We are in the arid rain-shadow region of the Argentine Patagonia. This is an environment ranging from enormous, majestic glaciers through to thick sub-Antarctic woodlands and savage unclimbed crags. El Calafate is sited on the shores of Lago Argentino, one of the world’s largest and most beautiful lakes.

El Calafate is also the access town for Glacier Perito Moreno, undoubtedly one of the world’s natural wonders and one of the very few advancing glaciers on Earth. Early this morning we board our charter 4 wheel drive coach and travel about an hour to visit this glacier as it wages a titanic battle with Lago Argentino. On our spectacular boat cruise to the face of the glacier we will witness huge chunks of ice detonate off the face with the report of a cannon, and plunge into the water below. There will be plenty of time to enjoy the walking trails and viewing platforms. Lunch has not been organised, but is available from the well stocked kiosk. After our glacier encounter we will return to El Calafate by the "back road," passing through a very large sheep operation – Estancia Altavista. This estancia (ranch) is 75,000 hectares running 28,000 sheep.

We start early on a long, but spectacular trip across the stark Patagonia plains – with some wildlife spotting, especially the local guanacos (type of llama) and maybe a condor or two.

We cross the border into Chile (have passports and visas ready) and meet with our Chilean guide Viviana. Then travel into the famous Torres del Paine National Park with a picnic lunch on the way. Torres del Paine is a massif crowned with weird twisted granite peaks rising out of the surrounding plains. It is one of the planet’s most visually stunning national parks standing guard against the elements at the foot of the world. Note that we will be travelling through some rugged country with unpredictable but often spectacular winter weather.

By late afternoon we arrive at the ferry terminal town of Puerto Natales. The town is a spectacular settlement sited on the Seno Ultima Esparanza channel – or Last Hope Sound. We can enjoy a welcome-to-Chile cocktail, giving us a chance to enjoy the Chilean national drink, the “Pisco Sour”.

We head further south across the cold, dry “pampas” to the city of Punta Arenas on the Straits of Magellan. On the way we make a stop to visit a pioneering sheep station for a look at their “frontier” life and the adaptations that they are making to modern production systems. We have a late lunch on arrival in Punta Arenas and then dinner at the hotel. Punta Arenas is on the Straits of Magellan in Patagonian Chile, with a view across to Tierra Del Fuego (on a good day).

This was long-considered the world’s southernmost city (with a recent surge in population, Ushuaia, a bit further to the south, now carries that tag). Punta Arenas is roughly 1420 km from the coast of Antarctica.

It's a two-hour morning flight from Punta Arenas north to Puerto Montt, the gateway to the Chilean Lakes District. We immediately continue by coach to the beautiful Lake Llanquihue where we will visit the Neumann family farm for a walkabout on the farm and lunch – a barbecue, if the weather cooperates. In the late afternoon, it's another hour to the agricultural services centre of Osorno for overnight. Southern Chile has magnificent farming country with the backdrop of the snow capped Andes mountains reflected in the pristine waters of the Chilean lakes.

Flight: SKY flight H2402 PUQ-PMC 10:37-11:47

We start the day with a visit to the amazing AutoMuseum Moncopulli, with a large collection of classic cars and old farm machinery, as well as antiques which show the life of southern Chile in the 20th Century. Continue to Fundo San Ricardo, the farm of the Schmitt family with their registered herds of Angus and Hereford and their commercial herd. Lunch on the farm. In the afternoon, we return south through the lovely lakeside village of Frutillar to the resort town of Puerto Varas for a night overlooking the largest lake within Chile and some active volcanoes in the Andes.

In the morning, we make a visit to a nearby breeder of Chilean horses (it's a recognised breed) for a look at some of their best animals and a demonstration of South American horsemanship. Then off to the regional airport for the flight of around 100 minutes to Santiago and transfer to our hotel for a two-night stay. Dinner tonight is at the roof-top revolving restaurant near our hotel where we toast our successful whirl around South America as we overlook the lights of the city.

Flight: LATAM flight LA098 PMC-SCL 13:01-14:47

We make an excursion to the Pacific Ocean coast (sunset side) only 120 km from Santiago, crossing through the Curacavi and Casablanca Valleys. Curacavi is a market garden for the big city, while Casablanca, formerly an important dairy district, is now a major wine region, specialising in Chardonay, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir. We make visit to one of the major vineyards for a short tour of the process and a mid-morning tasting of some of their better products. Then off to Valparaiso, Chile's main seaport, and Viña del Mar, Chile's premier beach resort, for some views overlooking the ocean and a lovely seafood lunch. Back to Santiago for a free evening.

A leisurely morning and, depending on your flight departure time, you may have a chance to do some last minute sightseeing or souvenir hunting before transfer to the airport for your flight home.

Arrival back into Australia on the afternoon of September 2.