Hola Amigos

Well, we made it! Prudhoe Bay at the tip of Alaska to Ushuaia, the southern-most city in the world. Fifteen countries, 22,500 miles, and 116 days.

South America has been full of adventures and warm and welcoming peoples starting in Bogota, Colombia, waiting for the bike, visiting the Inca gold museum and taking the cable car for a panoramic view of the city. Heading south we rode on dirt roads to the colonial, whitewashed town of Popayan, then on to Ipales where a financial scandal had brought the Colombian people out on the streets in protest! Only covered the south of Colombia but this was breathtaking in its epic scenery. Here we joined up with two Americans who had covered 11,000 miles in 11 days and all the more admirable as they were 71 and 68 years old.

Then onto Ecuador which brought a change in landscape and exposure to a more rural people. As we rode through villages we saw families in bright traditional clothes working in their fields and herding their animals. Quito was enchanting with its maze of cobbled streets, illuminated convents and churches.

Next stop Peru and one of our highlights. It’s a big country with a diverse landscape, beach resorts (Mancora), desert towns (Casma) and the chaotic and busy city of Lima. We squinted at the Nasca lines - a series of geoglyphs located in the Nazca Desert - before stopping at Cusco for days of wandering through the plazas and then marveling at the hidden Inca city of Macchu Picchu. Our final stop was at Lake Titicaca on the border between Peru and Bolivia with a trip to the floating reed islands.

We changed our route to take in Bolivia whose dirt roads took us (and the bike) to task including a day of riding in sand, gravel and mud! We rode through the country’s hectic capital La Paz, passing Bolivian women in traditional bowler felt hats before returning to the dirt roads via volcanoes, stopping for lamas taking sand baths, and flamingoes supping on the Salars.

The road then took us across the Atacama desert and into Chile. Packs of dogs chased us through Tatal and La Serena, through the wine valleys, and onto Pucon with its snow-capped volcano and azure blue lake. Chile and Argentina are full of bikers stopping to swap stories and admire bikes. We rode through Patagonia, on the Careterra Austral past glaciers, through mountain passes, startled guanacos and communities settled by Germans, Scots, and Welsh, and in Trevelin we had traditional Welsh afternoon tea! Then on to El Calafate to visit Peritto Moreno glacier and horse ride at Lago Argentina.

The final push saw us move on to the island of Tierra Del Fuego and the end of the world! We made Ushuaia on Monday 15th December.

Felix Navidad Todos! (Happy Christmas Everyone!)

Audrey & Stephen x

Stephen and Audrey’s mammoth trip will help raise money for SCIAF and Yorkhill Children’s Foundation. If you would like to make a donation please visit www.justgiving.com/pan-american highway1.