South American footsteps

South America is really big and I have never been there. I am leaving the safety of my teaching job to explore 5 spanish-speaking countries and to walk in the footsteps of Charles Darwin on the Galapagos Islands. I am hoping that neither the perilous altitudes of Ecuador, the ravenous midges in the Peruvian rainforest or the crazy Bolivian bus drivers will kill me... I will doubtless meet other people on the edge of sanity who feel the need to wander away from safety. I hope we can be friends.