The Beauty Of South America Trivia Quiz

Answer: Penguin

Isla Martillo or Hammer Island is an Argentine island off the coast of Tierra del Fuego, where the trees face constant strong Antarctic winds, causing them to grow in the direction of the winds and often horizontally. The island is a tourist attraction for the large number of Patagonian penguins that nest there, which can be upwards of 2000 nests. Penguin tourism is at its peak between September and March and other birds that can be found there include the Southern Oystercatcher and the Caracara falcon.

Answer: Guyana

Situated on the Potaro river in Guyana, these spectacular falls are the tallest single drop waterfall in the world with a a drop of 226 metres (741 feet) and stand almost four times higher than Canada's Niagara Falls.

Answer: Laguna Colorada

Laguna Colorada, literally means "lagoon, coloured red" in Spanish and this lake takes its name from the red colouration of the water which is caused by the effects of the sun on the sediments in the lake. The lake is also home to a huge colony of James's flamingos as well as smaller populations of Chilean and Andean flamingos. Laguna Verde (Green Lake) is also in the same national park, as is the volcano Sairecabur.

Answer: Titicaca

The islands are made of the spongy totora reeds, and apart from Uru homes also contain churches, schools, clinics and a FM radio station. Originally constructed as a defence mechanism, whereby if threatened, the inhabitants could simply move the island, their number continues to grow with the population and in 2016 there were approximately 120 islands, some housing as many as ten families, with the smaller ones housing only two or three families.

Answer: Peru

Situated in southern Peru, the Colca Valley that surrounds the canyon is still inhabited by the people of the Collagua and Cabana cultures who manage to combine living a simple life as practised by their ancestors with the demands of tourism. The canyon is very popular with ornithologists who come to observe the area's many Andean condors catching thermal uplifts and hunting for food.

Answer: Iguazu Falls

According to native Guarani legend, the falls were created when a tribal girl named Naipi, was scheduled to be sacrificed to M'Boi the serpent god, a day before her planned wedding to her true love, Taruba. Naipi and Taruba hatched a plan to meet at the river and escape, but M'Boi saw them getting into a canoe and gave chase. Unable to catch them, he caused the earth to split creating the falls. Taruba was thrown from the canoe to the shore while Naipi was trapped inside and about to be smashed to death on the rocks, when M'Boi intervened and changed her into a large rock.

As Taruba tried to go to her assistance, M'Boi transformed him into a palm tree and that is how they remain to this day. Naipi is in the river, Taruba is on the shore, able to see each other but never touch due to the falls between them.

Answer: Trains

In the late 19th century, then Bolivian president Aniceto Arce, invited British engineers to build a rail system so that the salt could be transported more easily. Unfortunately for him, the indigenous people saw the rail system as an intrusion on their traditional way of life and constantly vandalised it.

When the project was abandoned in the 1940s, the trains were left where they were, forming a large train cemetery.

Answer: Brazil, Colombia, Peru

Scholars have long argued over whether the Amazon or the Nile is the longest river, and it is not an argument that is likely to be settled any time soon. What is certain is that both are immense and the Amazon has over 1000 tributaries, 12 of which are over 1,500 kilometres (930 mi) long themselves.

Answer: Atacama

Research performed by NASA has shown that the average rainfall for this desert is around one millimetre per year, and some parts of the desert are believed to have received no significant rainfall between the years 1570 and 1971. The Atacama is regularly used by NASA for equipment and vehicle testing prior to space missions such as the Mars mission and has also been used in several Hollywood movies, standing in for the Moon or Mars.

Answer: Ecuador

A total of 21 islands make up the Galapagos and Darwin discovered that each island has species which although similar, had adapted to their surroundings in a unique manner. This proved his theory regarding endemic species as these flora and fauna had adapted over long periods of time to a new environment, leaving behind their original characteristics.