The plan is 16 weeks from La Paz, Bolivia (landing at the highest international airport in the world) to Ushuaia, Argentina - the most southern city in the world, at the very tip of Patagonia and well into the ozone hole.That's just over 6,000 miles of overland travel from 15° south of the equator all the way to 55° or basically the equivalent of going from Acapulco, Mexico to Anchorage, Alaska with side trips to Salt Lake City.
For scale, I over-laid this trip on a North American map for scale - and it is very similar. I'll be hitting the high deserts in Bolivia and Argentina (similar to Mexico), then getting into wine country (roughly similar to the California coast). Finally, I'll venture into the glaciers and fjords of Patagonia - which is similar to Alaska.
You may be asking why I don't, then just do this trip in North America... I guess I don't really have a good answer... other than Patagonia has penguins!
The last time I crossed the Andes in a bus, I literally wore out the back of my favorite t-shirt from the bumpy roads.
Now more than ever, you are probably asking "why the hell is Sean doing this?" Read on - it gets better!
On the way, I'm going to:
Bolivia
- Mountain Bike the "Road of Death" - the most dangerous road in the world.
- Head to the amazing mirror world of the Bolivian Salt Flats (more pics: 1 2 3 4)
- Go to the Witch's Market and shop for some good luck spells (for the road of death)
Argentina
- Take in Iguazu Falls, the widest waterfall in the world (more than 2x the size of Niagara Falls)
- Spend time in Buenos Aires, supposedly the coolest city in South America.
- Visiting the ice fields in El Calafate
(OK - stay tuned... more to come very soon...)
