The mighty Rio Baker is perhaps Chile’s most iconic and beautiful river. Well-known to fly fishers, kayakers and rafters which have floated its glacially-tinged waters for decades, the Baker received worldwide recognition in 2014 when an enormous civic action campaign saved the river from a massive dam and hydroelectric power project that would have destroyed the river’s raw, wild nature and untarnished ecosystem. Thanks to that campaign, today the Baker still flows free and wild.

The Mayan Riviera that stretches south from Cancun all the way to the Mexican border with Belize is one of the fishiest stretches of Caribbean coastline there is, but escaping the throngs of tourists can be a real challenge. A decade ago, a short drive to Tulum was all it took to get away from the craziness and into some really great fly fishing. These days, though, Tulum can be just as chaotic as Cancun and Playa del Carmen, and there are more and more anglers plying the green Caribbean waters for bonefish, permit and tarpon. It pays to venture even a bit further.