How to get to grips with this wildly diverse continent that tapers from the Caribbean down towards Antarctica? Our far-reaching luxury South America cruises fold in two oceans, one sea and the largest river on Earth, as well as specks of islands with a notorious past.

History spans civilisations here: from the walls of Cartagena, with its shady plazas and overhanging balconies bursting with blooms, to the abandoned pre-Columbian citadel of Chan Chan in Peru, the biggest adobe city in the world. The latter is a fascinating archaeological site within easy reach of Salaverry; the former is a technicolor town with a hip-swaying atmosphere that can be soaked up at interactive drumming shows or on street-food tours (try savory lechona and sweet arepas). More local flavors can be tasted in Ecuador, where a visit to a chocolate hacienda supports one of the country’s ancestral cacao plantations.

Brazil is always on the wish list on a cruise around South America, and our epic 25-night trip ventures into the heart of the country along the Amazon River. Home to the world’s most varied tropical rainforest, the Amazon basin is awesome in scale – the state of Texas could fit in it five times. The bustling city of Santarém is the gateway to preserved land (book a guided boat trip to the nearby national forest to hike amid sacred samaúma trees), while the tiny indigenous village of Boca de Valeria (population 100) is the place to spot elusive pink dolphins. The banana-shaped bills of toucans might be easier to spy in the canopy, as well as sloths slung over branches and black-streaked caiman lurking in the shallows.

Natural sights bend the mind in Manaus, where two rivers flow side by side but never mix: the warm, espresso-coloured Rio Negro and the cooler, creamy Rio Solimões (the name for the Upper Amazon). Lily-dotted lakes offer tranquil moments in the island city of Parintins; in Alter do Chão, coconut cocktails and freshwater beaches of white sand bring a Caribbean vibe and the final Brazilian stop-off on our South America cruises. It’s homeward bound via French Guiana, where an eerie penal colony is known for its connection to the late-19th-century political scandal, the Dreyfus Affair. Next, the cool trade winds of Barbados signal new tropical islands to be explored…