In January 2004 we flew out
to Santiago, Chile where the South & Central American leg of our adventure
started with a ride south to Tierra del Fuego, the southernmost tip of the South
American continent. From there we followed the Andes through Argentina, Chile,
Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador on the South-American leg of the trip. Highlights of
the South American leg included:
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Torres Del Paine National Park in
Chile (easily the most
beautiful place on Earth…well so far!)
Ø
The Moreno Glacier in
Argentina and Ushuaia –
the most southerly city in the world .
Ø
La Paz
in Bolivia and on to Lake Titicaca (the highest lake in the world).
Ø
The fabulous Inca ruins at
Cusco and Machu Picchu in
Peru.
Ø
A side trip to the
Galapagos Islands from
Ecuador.
From Ecuador we
circumvented the Darien Gap – a notorious stretch of impassable jungle running
from northern Colombia into Panama – by air to reach the start of the Central
American leg of the trip taking us to see:
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The Canal in
Panama.
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Active volcanoes and tropical ‘cloud’ forests in
Costa Rica.
Ø
The beautiful colonial city of
Granada in Nicaragua.
Ø
The stunning Caribbean Island of Roatán & the
fabulous Mayan ruins at
Copan
in Honduras.
Ø
Lago De Atitlan and more Mayan ruins at
Tikal in Guatemala.
Ø
The worlds second largest barrier reef in
Belize.
Ø
And finally the delights of
Mexico.
Sadly, we had to suspend
the trip in September 2004, when we had news from home that my mother was
critically ill. The bikes were left in Puebla, Mexico for 12 months whilst more
pressing family matters at home took precedence.
