And here we are now in South America! What a radical change! We’re going to spend about four months here, our route taking us through Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru and the Republic of Ecuador.  We’ll be doing all this by bike, with one exception: Paraguay, which we will cross by bus, as the country holds little interest either from a touristic or microfinance perspective.  This continent presents us with several challenges: an insecurity that we did not encounter in Asia, long stretches of wilderness that require us to take large quantities of provisions, the cold and, finally, the Andean Cordillera. This bike trip will start in Mendoza in Argentina, from where we are writing these lines. As regards to cycling in Chile, we plan to cycle across the Atacama Desert in the extreme north of Chile passing through Bolivia and the famous Salar de Uyuni (salt desert).

However, our first visit to Chile was primarily an opportunity to immerse ourselves in its cultural and natural wonders. We chose, therefore, to visit Valparaíso, Pucón and Patagonia, the “end of the world”.
Valparaíso, a mythical colonial port, is characterised by its multi-coloured houses that rise up from the “cerros”, the hills, inside the bay. It was this idyllic landscape that convinced the famous poet Pablo Neruda to take up residence here. We took great pleasure in losing ourselves in these undulating streets where “street art” forms an integral part of the decor.

As for the city of Pucón, its attraction lies primarily in its setting rather than in its inconsequential cultural interest. Wedged between the foot of the Vallarica volcano – awakened by the recent earthquake – and the shores of a magnificent mountain lake, it is a destination of choice for those wishing to escape the hustle and bustle of Santiago.  We climbed the volcano – 2800 m, with a pickaxe and crampons – and once at the summit we came face to face with a gigantic glowing crater that was spewing out dense plumes of toxic smoke – a phenomenon that took our breath away, literally as well as figuratively! In fact our guide asked us to make a quick descent…on our backsides.

And finally we reached Patagonia, where, after having stopped off to visit the southern towns of Punta Arena and Puerto Natales, we spent four days completing the famous “Torres del paine” trek.

Prices were so high there that we were forced to sleep under the tent despite temperatures dropping to almost -10° at night!

Carrying our 25-kilo rucksacks, we discovered the most extraordinary landscapes, in particular a glacier from which fall the most enormous blocks of ice. We gazed in amazement as dozens of icebergs drifted in the icy waters of the park’s lakes.

We returned to Santiago from where we took a bus 300 km to the east to Mendoza in Argentina. And here is where our bike trip will begin. First leg, Mendoza-Cordoba, 600 km, followed by Cordoba-Buenos Aires, also 600 km. Although we don’t yet know what to expect, there is an undeniable feeling of excitement within the team!