Equator with Simon Reeve episode 3: Simon Reeve concludes his amazing 25,000 mile journey around the Equator by traveling across Latin America.
The last stretch of his journey begins in the Galapagos Islands, where Simon comes face-to-face with some of the most beautiful and unique wildlife on the planet. He then climbs to the top of an active volcano in Ecuador that threatens to blow at any time. Simon Reeve journeys across war torn Colombia, where an army escort puts them at risk from rebel attack. He meets an Indian tribe that have their own incredible monument to the Equator, and his journey ends in Brazil, where he travels through the Amazon rainforest before ending his trip with an attempt to surf the world’s longest wave.
Equator with Simon Reeve episode 3
Latin America is a group of countries and dependencies in the Western Hemisphere where Romance languages such as Spanish, Portuguese, and French are predominantly spoken; it is broader than the terms Ibero-America or Hispanic America. The term “Latin America” was first used in an 1856 conference with the title “Initiative of the Americas. Idea for a Federal Congress of the Republics” (Iniciativa de la América. Idea de un Congreso Federal de las Repúblicas), by the Chilean politician Francisco Bilbao.
The term was used also by Napoleon III’s French government in the 1860s as Amérique latine to consider French-speaking territories in the Americas (French Canadians, French Louisiana, French Guiana, Haiti, Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Martin, Saint Barthélemy), along with the larger group of countries where Spanish and Portuguese languages prevailed, including the Spanish-speaking portions of the United States (Southwestern United States and Florida). Today, areas of Canada (such as Quebec) and the United States (with the exception of Puerto Rico) where Spanish, Portuguese and French are predominant are typically not included in definitions of Latin America.