South America Travel Guide

Most countries in South America are Catholic and conservative. However, in most large cities, there is a thriving underground gay community. To avoid offending local sensibilities or inviting possible verbal harassment in other parts of the continent, we recommend being discreet.

Many agencies offer tours and travel itineraries specifically for gay and lesbian travelers. For information regarding gay and lesbian travel in Ecuador, Peru, and the Galápagos, contact Zenith Ecuador Travel at www.zenithecuador.com. For travel in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay, try Pride Travel at www.pride-travel.com. Above and Beyond Tours (tel. 800/397-2681; www.abovebeyondtours.com) is the exclusive gay and lesbian tour operator for United Airlines. Now, Voyager (tel. 800/255-6951; www.nowvoyager.com) is a well-known San Francisco-based gay-owned and -operated travel service.

The International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA; tel. 800/448-8550 or 954/776-2626; www.iglta.org) is the trade association for the gay and lesbian travel industry, and offers an online directory of gay- and lesbian-friendly travel businesses; go to their website and click on "Members."

Other excellent resources include Out and About (tel. 800/929-2268 or 415/644-8044; www.outandabout.com), which offers guidebooks and a newsletter ($20 per year for 10 issues); the Damron guides (www.damron.com), with separate, annual books for gay men and lesbians; and Spartacus International Gay Guide (www.spartacusworld.com), a good, annual guidebook for gay men.