My first thoughts are of Brazil:
1) Giant Amazonian Otters
2) That big ol' statue thing
3) Humming Getz & Gilberto at some point
but.. it is getting quite expensive, no?
I like to be independent. Like to do things cheaply. Like to explore a bit, have haphazard adventures and occasionally do some lying about. Quite fancy doing some diving too, but figure S.America's probably not the best for that, eh..
So I'll open ideas to the floor..
Ecuador for beaches, mountains and jungle all in a relatively small area.
Oh and best go for 3 months
I considered S America this winter (check the flight prices!) and put Argentina top of my list: tango, wine, steak, Patagonia.
I've been to Rio twice and while the views of the bay (and on the beach) are incredible, it didn't do that much for me. Giant otters would have improved things.
Peru and Bolivia were the highlights from what we saw last year
Chile and Brazil have some great sights but in general are much more developed and more western way more expensive that's for sure. The less developed nations have so much more character imo
I really want to go back and see more of it
A couple of my friends are cycling around Chile for 6 months.
Check out their blog for an idea of what to expect, and maybe a few ideas...
Columbia is meant to be ace and not the crazed narco state people think.
check 180 South, this film might help you make your mind up.
Costa Rica (central america) good biking/ surf/rain forest/ dry forest/ two coasts)
I went for 3 months last year. Visited Chile, Argentina, Patagonia, Peru, Bolivia & Brazil.
My advice is to have a think about what you want to get out of the trip. Buenos Aires might as well be on a different planet to Bolivia - they have nothing in common apart from the language. If you like exploring the outdoors, I recommend:
Patagonia (Chilean side). Torres Del Paine - a fantastic 4 day walk amongst the glaciers, forests, mountains & lakes. Also see the penguins at Punta Arenas
Patagonia (Argentinian side). Visit the perito moreno glacier (the one that breaks off into the lake), visit an estancia, walk into the mountains from El Chalten.
Peru. Salkantay trek is a much less busy way of getting to Macchu Pichu, and a great walk too. Mountain walking in the cordillera blanca is absolutely spectacular, and there are very few tourists.
Bolivia. Cycle down the "world's most dangerous road" (from La Paz), go into the jungle from Rurrenebaque, and go to the salt flats at Salar de Uyuni. Go down the silver mines in Potosi.
Brazil. Visit the Igauzu falls (on the border with Argentina) and chill out in Rio, with a capirinha or two on the copocabana.
Sweet... some great ideas there guys. Thanks! 
We mooched around for 3 weeks for our honeymoon over Christmas and New year nearly 2 years ago. I can only speak for Chilie and Argentina, and mainly Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego at that. (But a friend of ours was out there at the same time This is his blog)
We found flights to be expensive and full - we, the Honeymooners, had to beg for seats together on the flight to Santiago! (Never mind upgrades)!
We spent only a day and night in Santiago, before heading down to Punta Arenas and then up to the Torres del Paine national park for a few days over Christmas. We stayed at a place called Ecocamp, think big tents and communal dining, but with 5* prices. Couldn't fault it though, fantastic food, guides, scenery etc.
Torres del Paine
We then moved on to
perito moreno glacier (the one that breaks off into the lake)This bit was done by Bus, National Express could learn a bit from the Argentines on how to make a comfy coach.
Glacier.
visit an estanciaWe did this and had a great time walking around with the owner and his dog - Juha (previous dog called Colin - wonder what sport he followed)! It was interesting for us learning about farming in the area, my wife is a farmers daughter, and I work in the meat industry, but I think that most of the other visitors were bored, so pick carefully.
Boat
A later trip was to see some Magellan Penguins, smelly little Buggers they are!
Smelly
This had left us in Punta Arenas again, so another flight to Santiago for one night before heading to Buenos Aires for 4 nights. We both loved BA, though we went from wearing down jackets and full waterproofs to shorts and t shirts and seeking out air conditioning!
I don't think we had a single bad meal in 3 weeks, wine was excellent, people very friendly, and a suprising amount of English spoken,though a smattering of Spanish is useful.
Obviously I can't speak for Peru, Bolivia etc, but we're both dying to return, it's just such a big place - where to go next?
As we were busy trying to sort our wedding, we got a travel agent to book it all for us, but you could do everything we did independently no bother. (Still, shameless plug for travel agent)
Cheers, Ben.
All of it.
It's huge, varied and quite beatutiful. If I had to select one country it would be Argentina.
Peru and Bolivia.
Another vote for Costa Rica - if you've only got three weeks, Costa Rica is small enough and the transport system is good enough to do all the things you want to do in that time.
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