In South America, it was mainly the Andes and the stunning magic of the Uyuni Salt Flat, the world’s vastest salt flat rising more than 3500 metres above sea level, which was crossed facing the unimaginable difficulties of the change in altitude.
Yet, despite the difficulties and the physical stress accumulated over many days on the saddle of a bike, both Caroline and David didn’t hide the powerful emotions of when their travels led them to the incredible wonders of the Bolivian Andes plateaus.
An entry of Caroline’s social travel diary reads: “Have you tried ultraracing? Have you tried bikepacking?… It makes you go through all the spectrum of emotions. You cry with joy and push yourself to discover new places even more beautiful” and then, the very moment they crossed the border separating Bolivia from Argentina, the comment accompanying the video of a long Bolivian road said it all: “Bolivia has got my heart”.
With this farewell to the Bolivian Altiplano, they entered the Argentine Andes.
Caroline and David pedalled at an altitude of over 3000 metres, tackling the gusts of wind of the north-western part of the Tucumán Province. Then, at the foot of the Andes, stretched out before them were the vast planes known to the Argentines as the Pampas, a succession of opportunities for riding gravel, but done at the peak of the Argentine summer.
During the first 12,000 km (of the planned 29,000), Caroline and David have already come across every possible landscape and weather conditions. Now, their round-the-world endevour has landed in Africa. And as travellers say: Africa, a place you’ll never forget.