When you think about South America you are probably familiar with the popular attractions like the Amazon or Sugarloaf Mountain. However, there are a lot of hidden gems that tend to be secrets to tourists. Take a look at some of the hidden secrets of South America below.

Laguna Colorado In Bolivia

Located near Chili, this salt lake is fairly shallow with deep red water. Mix that in with the unique surroundings and you have an incredible location. The water gets its color from the algae and plankton that live in it as well as the high salt density. Another treat for the scarce tourist that makes it here are the flamingos that can sometimes be seen wandering about.

Salt Cathedral Of Zipaquira In Colombia

Located 200 meters below the earth, this cathedral was built into salt mine tunnels around 5^th century B.C. When salt was mined in the 1950s, miners would stop and pray at a tall cross. Eventually the cathedral was developed. Tourists can walk through the tunnels and salt corridors and the sanctuary.

Floating Islands Of The Uros In Peru

These manmade islands are fairly interesting as they were made with Totora Reeds and are self sustaining. In total there are more than 40 of these islands and to visit them you have to take a boat ride from Puno that's about 2 hours. Tourists can spend the night at the islands.

Valle De La Luna At The Atacama Desert In Chile

Located along the Pacific coastline at over 600 miles long, this is the world's driest desert. It only receives an average rainfall of about one millimeter each year. The surface resembles the planet Mars with it's craters, cracks and crevices. Visiting here might make you think that you are actually in a different world.

Perito Moreno Glacier In Argentina

Most people don't realize that there's actually a glacier here as South America is one of the world's hottest places. It stretches more than 19 miles long and has 97 square miles of ice. Even though some of the glacier vanishes every year, a portion of it continues to grow which is something that scientists can't seem to explain. The Perito Moreno Glaciers is the world's third largest freshwater reserve.

El Penol In Guatape

Known as The Rock, it has a height of more than 7,000 feet and weighs around 11 million tons. The Tahamies Indians used to worship the rock. It has the symbols GI (the is actually an unfinished U) egraved on it's face. This is because both the citizens of El Penol and Guatape wanted to claim ownership of the area so the Guatapeans started to engrave Guatape on it, but never finished. Because of harsh weather, the rock developed a crack right down the center and a 644 step staircase was built into the crevice.