Half-asleep, I shuffled to the canopy-level observation deck of my rustic wooden cabin, grabbing binoculars and Tito Narosky's "Birds of Argentina and Uruguay" just as a flurry of yellow plumage transformed into what locals term the "banana toucan, " a rare and striking saffron toucanet.

WSJ: Bird Watching in Misiones Province, Argentina

The project, La Ruta de las Misiones (The Way of the Missions), set to be completed in mid-2013, has already reconditioned several of the rustic, single-level adobe missions, restoring their original carved wooden and copper fixtures.

BBC: Reviving Chile's Andean heritage

Wales are favourites for the wooden spoon, having lost all four of their matches so far, while England are level on points with France and Ireland after losing just once.

BBC: Haskell will form part of an all-Wasps back row for England