South American Cities by Drone

Drone pilot Rickdebenedetto shows the great city of Buenos Aires, Argentina under a nationwide quarantine to fight the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic in the Spring of 2020.  While the country didn't reach its first 100 confirmed cases until the third week of March, a nationwide quarantine was declared on March 19.  With most of the confirmed cases concentrated in and around the national capital, one of the wealthiest and most cosmopolitan cities in South America came to resemble a virtual ghost-town.  This video earned a nomination in the Lockdown category at the 6th Annual NYCDFF.

Get a comprehensive aerial tour of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in this fantastic drone video by top AirVuz contributor el gringo rojo.  This DVOW winning video was shot over the course of a five-week stay in Brazil's second-largest city and cultural capital.  The video features footage from hikes to the Christ the Redeemer (Cristo Redentor) statue, Pedra Bonita, and Dois Irmoas.  You'll also be treated to footage of the aqueducts in Lapa, the Museum of Tomorrow, Parque Lage, and Sugarloaf Mountain (Pao De Azucar), as well as some of Rio's famous beaches. 

Southeastern Brazil is home to the country's two primary urban centers: Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.  Each is capital of a state with the same name, and the cities are "only" about 435 km (around 250 mi) apart - practically neighbors by the enormous scale of Brazil.  The two cities are a study in contrasts - Rio being the cultural capital of Brazil (as well as its capital city until 1960), Sao Paulo the business capital.  In this video, Mr. B gives us an aerial view of both of these great cities - from the perspective of a drone.  

Check out this magnificent drone video of the Argentinean capital city of Buenos Aires, compliments of contributor CinePilots.  The video opens with a fantastic shot of the domed National Congress building, the seat of the country's legislative branch, which sits at the end of the Avenida de Mayo (one of BA's main thoroughfares).  From there, you will be taken over some of the more modern parts of the city, considered one of the most cosmopolitan in South America.  The city is located on the Rio de la Plata, the estuary of the Parana River.  

Bogota is the capital of Colombia and one of the largest cities in South America, with a metro population of about 10 million.  In this drone video, contributor and pilot Worldmoments gives us an aerial guided tour of this metropolis, which was founded in the 16th century by Spanish conquistadors.  The city sits on a plateau within the Andes Mountains system.  Highlights of the video include footage of La Candelaria, La Candelaria, El Chorro de Quevedo, Centro Cultural García Marquez, and more.

Check out this fantastic drone tour of Santiago, Chile by new AirVuz contributor skyroamer.  Shot with a DJI Mavic Pro 2 drone, the video was taken in March, 2020, just as the country was implementing social distancing measures to fight the spread of the deadly virus.  The video features footage of the Costanera Center tower (South America's tallest building as of early 2020), the Andes mountains, Cerro San Cristobal, and the Virgin Mary statue which overlooks the city from a hilltop.  

Peru's capital city Lima, located midway down its Pacific Coast, is a new city by Peruvian standards.  It was founded in 1535 by a Spanish Conquistador who had conquered the Inca Empire around Cusco, the older city to the south.  Now, Lima is home to a population of over 10 million, making it one of the top three cities in South America.  14Toothfilms used  a DJI Mavic Pro drone to create this memorable aerial view of the Peruvian city, whose population exceeds the next largest city by roughly ten times.   

Venezuela's capital city Caracas is situated in the northern part of this giant South American country, near the Caribbean Sea coast.  Depending on the area counted, Greater Caracas is one of the 6-7 largest urban areas on the South American continent.  Contributor Infinity Visuals, one of the top drone piloting companies in Venezuela, treats us to an aerial tour of this city.  Like the majority of the Latin America capital cities, Caracas was founded by Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century.    

While Quito is the capital of Ecuador, it is actually its second largest city after Guayaquil.  The city is at a high altitude - at 2.9k meters above sea level (9.3k ft) the only national capital at a higher altitude is La Paz in neighboring Bolivia.   It's also one of the best-preserved cities on the continent, the center of which has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site.  Creator thedroneexperience mounted an X5 camera to his DJI Inspire 2 drone to create this amazing aerial tour of the great city.

For a first upload to AirVuz, new contributor Mauricio Linares brings us this stunning drone video of the two most important cities in the South American country of Bolivia: La Paz and Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Santa Cruz).  La Paz is the national and cultural capital of Bolivia.  Surrounded by the Andes Mountains, it is the highest major city in the world, with an average elevation nearly 12k ft. above sea level (3.65k m).  Santa Cruz, Bolivia's largest city, is located the tropical lowlands, about 530 mi. (850 km) east of La Paz.     

Codoba is the second most populous city in the South American nation of Argentina, and the capital of the province bearing the same name.  It sits in the interior of the country, northwest of the capital city Buenos Aires, in the foothills of the Sierra Chica Mountains.  In this video, top content creator and pilot Justin Poore uses a drone to give us a bird's eye view of this amazing city, which was founded by the Spanish in the 16th century and is considered a major cultural center for all of South America.  

Medellin is the second largest city in Colombia (after the capital city, Bogota), and the capital of the Antioquia region which occupies a northern section of the country.  Like most South American cities, Medellin was founded in the 16th century by Spanish conquerors.  It sits atop numerous lists of the best cities in South America.  In this video, contributor Unraveled Studios was able to fly a drone over Medellin during the approach of a major thunderstorm over the surrounding mountains. 

For a first upload to AirVuz, new contributor acaetano brings us this beautiful drone video of the Brazlian port city of Recife.  The state capiral of Pernambuco, Recife is the center of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area after Sao Paulo, Rio, and Brasilia.  One of the oldest cities in Brazil, it was founded by the Portuguese in the 1530's.  The video includes footage of some of the city's most well-known spots, including its Crystal Tower statue, the Capibaribe River, Porto Digital, and the Twin Towers near Pina Beach.

For a one minute+ tour of the Uruguayan capital city of Montevideo, it's hard to beat this drone video by Drone 5.  Shot along the city's waterfront on the Rio de la Plata, the video captures the city's beaches, its famous Rambla de Montevideo promenade, its busy seaport, and the neoclassical Legislative Palace building   It also features some amazing shots of the Telecommunications Tower with its curved roof (the city's tallest building), as well as some epic timelapses.  

Contributor DM Drone created this fascinating aerial video of Brasilia, Brazil's planned capital city.  Located in the country's interior, Brasilia was built beginning in the mid-1950's, taking over as capital from Rio de Janeiro in 1960.  As the federal capital, in the course of just a few decades it's emerged as the country's #3 city, after Sao Paulo and Rio.  The video highlights some of the city's landmarks, including the National Stadium, Cathedral of Brasília, the National Congress and the JK Bridge.

Check out this beautiful drone video of an important city in Southern Brazil, compliments of contributor BielPilot.  Curitiba is the capital and largest city of the state of Paraná, one of the three states which makes up the Southern Region of Brazil.  It's the center of a metropolitan area of about 3.5 million people, the seventh largest in the country as of 2018.  The city sits on a plateau well away from the state's Atlantic coastline. The largest city in Southern Brazil, it's also one of the most developed in the country.   

Natal is one of the oldest and most important cities in Northeastern Brazil.  Capital of the state of Rio Grande del Norte, it's also the easternmost of any major city in the Western Hemisphere.  In this excellent piece by AirVuz contributor and pilot RG CAM, you'll get an aerial tour of the city, including the Newton Navarro Bridge at the mouth of the Potenji River; Pipa Beach, about an hour's drive south of the city center; Praia de Ponta Negra, the city's main beach district; and the nearby Morro do Careca sand dune.  

Prepare to be amazed by this stunning 4k drone video of Cartagena, Colombia, compliments of wyldandalive.  Situated on the country's Caribbean Sea coastline, it's Colombia's busiest seaport by freight volume.  During Colonial times, Cartagena was the Spanish Empire's most important port, and served as the conduit through which  silver extracted from South America was transported to Europe.  The video features excellent footage of San Felipe de Barajas Castle, a giant fortress erected by the Spanish shortly after founding the city in 1533. 

Ecuador's largest city and its commercial capital, Guayaquil became one of South America's worst "hotspots" during the Covid-19 pandemic in the Spring of 2020.  As the national death rate spiked to three times the normal rate (with most Covid-19 related deaths unconfirmed), the health care system in this large port city was overwhelmed.  In this video by Drone del Aire, you will see aerial footage of Guayaquil during the crisis; shots of empty streets and stadiums are interspersed with shots of the same places during normal times.

Peu Ribeiro used a DJI Inspire 2 drone to create this stunning video of the Old Town of Salvador, Brazil.  Salvador is the largest city in the state of Bahia and it's the fourth largest city in the country (after Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and Brasilia) as well as the largest in the officially recognized Northeast Region.  The historic city was "discovered" by the Spaniards in 1500 but settled by the Portuguese beginning in the mid-16th century.  It is one of the oldest European settlements in the Western Hemisphere.  

Contributor and drone pilot Drone Cuiabá created this aerial video of Cuiabá, an important city in the interior of Brazil.  It's the capital of Mato Grosso, one of the states which makes up the Center-West region of the country.  Like many of the cities of interior Brazil, it was founded during a gold rush, in the early 18th century.  With a metropolitan population of almost a million, it's one of the largest cities in interior Brazil.  The area surrounding it is one of the richest agricultural regions of the country.  

AirVuz contributor and drone pilot Neilo Neila brings us this excellent drone video of the city of Valparaiso, Chile, in the midst of the Covid-19 lockdown in the Spring of 2020.  The center of Chile's second-largest metropolitan area, Valparaiso is a port city which is located about 120 km (around 75 mi.) northwest of Santiago.  The city came to the fore in the 19th century when it became a major stopping point for ships traveling through the Straits of Magellan and it became known as Little San Francisco.  

AirVuz contributor franciscosantos12@hotmail.com brings us these excellent drone views of Manaus, Brazil, the principal city in the country's vast Amazon region.  Manaus is the capital city of Amazonas, the giant state which includes most of Brazil's Amazon Basin territory.  Manaus is the center of a metropolitan area of about 2.7 million, representing about 60% of the population of this vast but thinly populated state.  The city is located just east of the confluence of the Solimões and Negro Rivers to form the Amazon.  

AirVuz contributor and pilot drone.nomadic brings us this fantastic aerial tour of Concepción, Chile.  The center of Chile's third-largest metropolitan area, Concepción is situated near the middle of the country, well to the south of Santiago.  The city was originally founded by Spanish conquistadores in 1550 well north of the Biobío River, river, but a series of earthquakes and other natural disasters led it to being relocated to its current location at the river's mouth 200 years later.  It's one of Chile's most industrialized cities.

Contributor and pilot Luiz Jr created this aerial video of his hometown of Fortaleza, Brazil.  Fortaleza is the capital of the state of Ceará in the northeastern region.  Fortaleza is one of the wealthiest cities in northeastern Brazil, and its port one of the busiest in the country.  It's one of the oldest European settlements anywhere in the western Hemisphere, even though it wasn't colonized in earnest by the Portuguese for some time after it was "discovered" initially by the Spanish.

Check out this drone video from the Plaza de Armas (main square) of the city of Arequipa in southern Peru, compliments of contributor Esteban Clua.  Although its population is less than a tenth of Lima's, it is Peru's second largest city by that measure.  It's situated in the region of the same name, which is the third province up from the country's southern border with Chile.  Founded by the Spanish in the midst of their conquest of the country, Arequipa is one of the most industrialized cities in the country.  

Explore the southern Brazilian city of Balneário Camboriú from above in this excellent video by former DVOW Winner RG CAM.  Balneário Camboriú is situated roughly in the middle of the coastline of Santa Catarina, the middle of the three states which make up the country's Southern region.  It is one of the main urban tourist destinations in southern Brazil, with tourists swelling its population from about 150k to over a million during the peak summer months.  Its skyline includes some of the tallest buildings in the Southern Hemisphere.  

RG CAM created this spectacular aerial view of the 120th anniversary of one of the youngest cities in Brazil.  Belo Horizonte is the capital of the state of Minas Gerais in southeastern Brazil, the second largest state in the country.  Belo Horizonte is the sixth largest city in Brazil, and its metropolitan area is the third largest after Rio and Sao Paulo.  The city as it exists today was built as part of a plan for a new state capital to replace the gold mining town Ouro Preto, which lies to its southeast.  

Located in southern Peru, Cusco was the seat of the Inca Empire from  the 13th century until the area was conquered by the Spanish in the 16th century.  Contributor Martigen traveled to Peru in early 2018 with a DJI Mavic Pro drone.  He created this amazing aerial video of this city which lies at an altitude of 3.4k m (11.2k) feet and which is the gateway to the great Incan royal estate and citadel of Macchu Picchu.  Like Macchu Picchu, Cusco has also been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage cultural site. 

Check out this fantastic aerial view of the port city of Santos in Southeastern Brazil by Phil2go2019.  The city lies in the state of the São Paulo, just southeast of the state's namesake capital city (and the country's largest).  The main part of the city shares the island of São Vicente with the island's namesake city.  Established by the Portuguese in the 16th century, Santos is home to the busiest container port in South America and the continent's second-largest port as measured by overall freight tonnage.