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6 Must See Mysteries of South America

The 6 Must See Mysteries of South America touch the heavens of the universe. Their beauty is astonishing and their shroud of mystery works like a magnet to all who craves for spiritual enlightment. Let you take away on an enigmatic journey and open your heart to the messengers of the past.

1. Easter Island

Mysterious and exciting, Easter Island (also known as Rapa Nui and Isla de Pascua) is the most isolated inhabited island of our planet. It lies in the South Pacific, 3,600 km. (2,037 miles) west from continental Chile.

Easter Island is covered with 887 huge monolithic stone statues, called moai. The largest moai weigh about 84 tons - that's as much as a herd of 12 seven-ton elephants!

The oldest known traditional name of the island is Te Pito or Te Henua, meaning The Center (or Navel) of the World.

It's unclear why the islanders erected the moai and what their function was. A mystery to cherish all the way. read more...

2. Nazca Lines

The Nazca Lines are huge drawings of animals and people found in the desert of Nazca (Southern Peru). They evoke such an enigma on "how, who and why" that they keep theories of ex­tra­ter­res­trial existence alive.

The fantastic drawings can only be appreciated from the sky where about 300 figures such as a colibri, a monkey, a flower and a spider appear before your eyes.

The Nasca Lines are many kilometers (miles) long and can be observed by taking an airplane in the town of Nazca. Fascinating indeed... aliens. read more...

3. The Incas

The Inca Empire is the most enigmatic civilization of South America. Although the incas only ruled for 100 years they had a huge territory, from Santiago (Chile) to Quito (Ecuador), under their control.

They were extremely well organized, everyone understood his or her position in the social pyramid. At the top of the pyramid were the Sapan Inca and his wife who was his sister. Next were the high priest and thearmy chief, The four Apus followed and were the chief officers of the four quarters.

The Incas have left us ruins and cities of dazzling beauty, their craftsmanship and perfectionism still leaves us in silence. Cuzco and Machu Picchu are absolute treasures of human heritage depicting a people living in harmony with the gods and nature.

4. El Chupacabra

The chupacabra or chupacabras is a creature said to inhabit parts of the Americas. The name which translates literally from Spanish as "goat-sucker", comes from its reported habit of attacking and drinking the blood of livestock.

Physical descriptions of the creature vary. Sightings began in Puerto Rico in the early 1990s, and have since been reported as far north as the Carolinas and as far south as Chile.

The legend of los Chupacabras began in about 1992, when Puerto Rican newspapers El Vocero and El Nuevo Dia began reporting the killings of many different types of animals, such as birds, horses, and as its name implies, goats. At the time it was known as El Vampiro de Moca since some of the first killings occurred in the small town of Moca. read more...

5. Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu, The Lost city of the Incas, is a mystical, sacred place. Touched by the clouds, the ruins are one of the most enigmatic and beautiful ancient ruins in the world.

Rediscovered on July 24, 1911 by Yale archaeologist Hiram Bingham, Machu Picchu (meaning 'Old Peak' in Quechua, the language spoken by the Incas) was thought to be a sanctuary for the preparation of priestesses and brides for the Inca nobility.

The dramatic setting in a remote area of the Peruvian Andes enhances the shroud of mystery even more. The ruins lie near the city Cuzco in Southeastern Peru. An absolute wonder of human heritage, Machu Picchu will touch your heart and soul in many ways. Highly recommended! read more...

6. El Dorado

El Dorado is not really a mystery but a myth. The myth began in the late 1530s in the Andes of present-day Colombia, where conquistador Gonzalo Jimenez de Quesada first found the Muisca (1537), a nation in the modern day Cundinamarca and Boyacá highlands of Colombia.

The story of the Muisca rituals was brought to Quito by Sebastian de Belalcazar’s men; mixed with other rumors, there arose the legend of El Dorado, The Golden Man - el indio dorado, the golden Indian, and El Rey Dorado, the Golden King. Imagined as a place, El Dorado became a kingdom, an empire, the city of this legendary golden king.

In search of this legendary kingdom, Francisco Orellana and Gonzalo Pizarro would depart from Quito in 1541 to the Amazon in the most fateful and famous expedition to find El Dorado. read more...

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Next: 6 Must See National Parks of South America

© All photographs by Mark Van Overmeire*

*© Photograph "Easter Island" by Michal Wozniak | Agency: Dreamstime.com