Blog 14 Chile 23rd – 29th April 2022 It was a very long 900km drive from the Argentine-Chile border near San Francisco Pass, where I finished the cycle expedition, to Mendoza, but the only way Toby and I could get to Santiago in Chile was to fly. We said goodbye to Rolando, who has done […]
Bolivian Altiplano
Head down ’til the finish
Blog 13 Londres to San Francisco Pass/the Argentine-Chile border 19th – 21st April 2022 Days 51 – 53 Distance – 327km Total distance – 3248km TOTAL DISTANCE FOR 2020/2022 EXPEDITIONS – 4354km This journey began in 2020 (before the onset of the pandemic) from Cusco in Peru, the capital of the ancient Incan Empire. Given […]
From high to low – pushing towards the finish
Blog 12 14th – 18th April Pocitos to Londres Distance – 541km Total – 2921km Sorry for the silence – it’s not because nothing has happened, my brand new laptop has a faulty battery and stopped working more than a week ago. I am now borrowing a friend’s computer to get the rest of the […]
Salta to Llulliallaco
Blog 11 8th – 13th April Salta to Llulliallaco Volcano Distance – 300km Total Distance – 2380km Leaving Salta, we were satisfied everything was in order to cycle and drive to Llulliallaco volcano. I wanted to understand more about where the Children of Llulliallaco were sacrificed and what it took for the Incas to perform […]
Los Niños de Llullaillaco
Blog 10 7th and 8th April Salta Total Distance – 2080km When I read an article last year in The Explorers Club Journal about the discovery in 1999 of three Incan child mummies, found near the 6739m summit of Llulliallaco volcano that lies on the Argentine/Chile border, I was immediately captivated. It is the highest […]
Into Argentina: Tupiza to Salta
Blog 9 2nd – 6th April Tupiza to Salta (489km) Total distance – 2080km To keep to schedule I planned to step on the gas from Tupiza to Salta – almost 500km to do in four days. I thought it was achievable though because it was all on tarmac and there would be some great […]
The Lipez Range – Quetena Chico to Tupiza
Blog 8 28th March to 31st March Quetena Chico to Tupiza Total distance – 1591km My rest day was indeed a break from the bike, but it was an opportunity to see a little of what Quetena Chico, a town of about 500 people, had to offer. Rolando arranged for us to visit the museum, […]
Licancabur and Uturuncu – two sacred mountains
Blog 7 24th – 27th March Sol de Manana – Volcan Licancabur – Quetena Chico and Volcan Uturuncu Total distance – 1307km The southwest corner of Bolivia is an unworldly place. Just before reaching Laguna Colorada, I entered the Eduardo Avaroa Andean Fauna National Reserve, home to a treasure trove of natural wonders. The reserve’s […]
Salt pans, lakes and rugged tracks
Blog 6 18th – 23rd March Uyuni to Lake Colorada Total Distance – 1227km Before leaving Uyuni, I hadn’t mentioned the reason for its existence – the railway. The town was established in 1893 when the railway line was built to link the nearby silver mines to the coast at Arica. From there it was […]
Lake Poopo and the heartland of the Altiplano
Blog 5 13th – 17th March Turco to Uyuni Total distance – 915km With Reza flying out of Uyuni, Toby, Rolando and I drove back to Turco, the town where I stopped cycling due to my illness. I was much better than the last few days, but feeling weak, still on antibiotics. I wasn’t really […]
