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Updated 6 October 2026
TLDR: Ada Tours arranges South America adventure trips for individual travellers as well as groups, built around real destinations: the Amazon rainforest, Rio de Janeiro's Tijuca National Park, the Lençóis Maranhenses dunes, the Pantanal and Bonito, Bolivia, a fixed Central America route, and a Carnival trip that finishes with Iguassu Falls, Buenos Aires and tango. This page sets out which destinations and activities an itinerary can include, the permits and safety planning each one needs, and how to start planning one with us.
Looking for a different way to see South America? Ada Tours builds unusual routes and adventure itineraries through Brazil and its neighbouring countries for groups of friends, families or colleagues, and for travellers planning on their own rather than joining a pre-booked departure.
If you are planning this trip individually, the questions are different from a standard brochure tour: which destinations fit the time you have, which activities you can join without an existing group, and what each route asks of your fitness and planning. This page answers those questions directly, then sets out the permits, fitness planning and current safety guidance behind each destination before you commit to dates.
Ada Tours is a Rio de Janeiro based destination-management company operating across Brazil and the wider Latin America region. We arrange adventure itineraries for individual travellers as well as for groups: quests and challenges, survival-style tours, and the named destinations below, built into a confirmed route rather than sold as a single fixed package.
Ada Tours has operated across hundreds of trips in the region, and we confirm the exact destinations, pacing and activities for your dates once you share your travel window and interests.
An individual traveller does not need an existing group to join most of the destinations below. Ada Tours builds the itinerary around your dates and confirms each activity, operator and permit before it is sold.
For travellers drawn to nature and wildlife, the Amazon rainforest is a recurring request. You can explore the dense jungle and take a boat trip along the Amazon River, where the wildlife is among the most diverse on the planet, whether you stay in a lodge deep in the rainforest or join a day trip.
Ada Tours has organised Amazon river journeys by traditional boat, including piranha fishing and wildlife-spotting, as part of tailored Brazil programmes. These are historical examples of what we have arranged rather than a fixed daily inclusion, and the exact activities, river stretch and season are confirmed for your specific itinerary.
Start your journey in Rio de Janeiro, one of the most famous cities in the world, known for its vibrant culture and beaches as well as its proximity to incredible natural parks. A day trip from Rio can include a visit to Tijuca National Park, where a forest trail leads past waterfalls and viewpoints over the city.
Further north, the Lençóis Maranhenses offer a different landscape: white sand dunes threaded with seasonal rainwater lagoons in Brazil's Maranhão state. Ada Tours has arranged Lençóis Maranhenses programmes as part of a wider Brazil route, usually combined with São Luís, and the exact lagoon conditions depend on the time of year you travel.
The Pantanal is a vast wetland conservation area, with lakes and rivers that give it one of South America's highest concentrations of visible wildlife. Nearby Bonito is known for crystal-clear rivers and caves with stalactites and an underground lake.
Ada Tours has organised snorkelling, canoeing and cave visits in the Bonito region as part of a tailored Brazil adventure itinerary alongside a Pantanal stay.
Ada Tours has organised adventures in Bolivia, a country of high-altitude nature and native culture, including the Salar de Uyuni salt flats and the city of La Paz. Because much of Bolivia sits above 3,000 metres, we build acclimatisation days into a Bolivia route rather than treating altitude as an afterthought.
Ada Tours has arranged a fixed Central America itinerary covering the main sightseeing attractions of Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. This is a programme of its own rather than an extension of a South America route, and we confirm current entry and safety requirements for each of the five countries before booking.
One of Ada Tours' signature combinations starts in Rio de Janeiro during Carnival, continues to Iguassu Falls, one of the widest waterfalls in the world, and ends in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where travellers can take a tango lesson or watch a show.
Ada Tours plans this Brazil-Argentina route as a single confirmed itinerary, with the transfers and border crossing arranged so the adventure days are not interrupted by logistics you have to solve yourself.
The table below is a starting point, not a fixed package. Every row is confirmed and adjusted for your actual dates.
| Country or region | Example adventure destinations | Typical trip style |
|---|---|---|
| Brazil | Amazon rainforest, Tijuca National Park (Rio de Janeiro), Lençóis Maranhenses, Pantanal and Bonito | Lodge- or boat-based days combined with one or two multi-day stops |
| Bolivia | Salar de Uyuni, La Paz and the Bolivian high altiplano | Multi-day route with planned acclimatisation days |
| Central America (Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica) | Fixed multi-country sightseeing route | Sequential country-to-country itinerary |
| Argentina | Iguassu Falls, Buenos Aires and tango | Short extension to a Brazil Carnival trip |
Iguaçu/Iguazu requires an advance online ticket on both the Brazilian side, managed by ICMBio, and the Argentine side, managed by the Administración de Parques Nacionales, where the Cataratas area is open 08:00 to 18:00 with last entry at 16:00.
Altitude is the main planning factor on a Bolivia route. La Paz sits at approximately 3,650 metres, and the Salar de Uyuni area is at a similar altitude. The CDC recommends at least 2 to 3 nights acclimatising around 2,450 to 2,750 metres before going higher, and once above 3,000 metres, gaining no more than about 500 metres of sleeping altitude a night, with an extra acclimatisation night for roughly every 1,000 metres gained; it also advises against jumping from below 1,200 metres to above 2,750 metres sleeping altitude in a single day. Ada Tours builds that pacing into a Bolivia itinerary rather than sending travellers straight to La Paz or Uyuni without a buffer.
Check the current UK government travel advice for every country on your route before booking. As of this check, the FCDO advises against all but essential travel to the Chapare region of Cochabamba in Bolivia, where a state of emergency has also been declared; to specific restricted stretches of the western Brazilian Amazon; and to parts of Guatemala. Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica currently carry no equivalent advise-against area, though Nicaragua has no resident British embassy and is served from Costa Rica. None of these notices rules out the destinations named on this page; they mark specific areas or conditions to route around, which Ada Tours does when planning your itinerary.
The Adventure Travel Trade Association and UNWTO define adventure tourism as a trip combining physical activity, the natural environment and, often, cultural engagement, which is a useful way to judge whether a route suits you: if you want all three, the destinations above qualify; if you want only one, a shorter excursion is a better fit than a multi-country route.
This trip suits you if you enjoy a mix of wildlife, cultural and adventure days, are comfortable travelling between a handful of countries on one itinerary, and want a first-hand nature or cultural experience rather than a resort stay.
We can suggest another route if you would prefer to stay in one country, want to avoid high-altitude days in Bolivia, or are travelling on a tight schedule that does not allow for acclimatisation or multi-country transfer days.
Write to Ada Tours with your travel window, the countries or destinations you are weighing, and any altitude or fitness considerations, and we will scope a route, including which permits and acclimatisation days it needs, before you commit to dates. Contact Ada Tours about a South America adventure itinerary.
Ada Tours arranges South America adventure itineraries for individual travellers, not only pre-formed groups. We confirm the route, pace and destinations around your dates once you share your travel window and interests.
Ada Tours can combine the Amazon rainforest, Tijuca National Park in Rio de Janeiro, the Lençóis Maranhenses dunes, and the Pantanal and Bonito in one Brazil adventure route. Each destination is confirmed for your exact dates, since lagoon and wildlife conditions change with the season.
Ada Tours has organised adventures in Bolivia, including the Salar de Uyuni and La Paz, and a fixed Central America itinerary covering Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Both are programmes we confirm with current entry, altitude and safety guidance for the exact countries on your route.
Ada Tours combines a Rio de Janeiro Carnival visit with Iguassu Falls and a tango-focused stop in Buenos Aires as a single confirmed itinerary. We arrange the transfers and border crossing between Brazil and Argentina so the adventure days are not interrupted by logistics you have to solve yourself.
Ada Tours checks the Iguaçu or Iguazú park entrance rules and, for Bolivia, the altitude of your route before confirming dates, since La Paz sits at around 3,650 metres. We plan acclimatisation days into a high-altitude Bolivia itinerary and share the relevant health guidance before departure.
Ada Tours can pace a South America adventure itinerary for a first-time visitor, combining easier excursions such as Iguassu Falls with one or two more demanding days such as a Bolivia altitude route. We can suggest another destination mix if you would prefer a gentler pace throughout.
