South America Motorcycle Expedition Stage 2

Bolivia is, alongside Paraguay, the only country in South America without access to the sea. La Paz is among the highest cities in the world. The lower you go from the Altiplano at 4,000m into the valley, the more expensive the residential area becomes. The diverse landscape of the country extends from the Andes to the Atacama Desert and the jungle in the Amazon Basin. Lake Titicaca is the largest lake on the continent and with its location at 3,812m, it is the highest commercially navigable body of water. The border between Bolivia and Peru runs right through the lake. After receiving the motorcycles, a tour briefing, an equipment check, and loading the luggage, we start our expedition in La Paz and initially ride quickly across the Altiplano to Oruro. Heading south, we make a detour to the crater lake of Jayoqota, which was formed by a gigantic meteorite impact. The route is long but comfortable to ride since we first have to acclimatize to the altitude. The Salar de Uyuni salt flat is, at nearly 11,000 square kilometers, the largest salt flat in the world and impresses with various "islands," giant coral caves, and cacti. The Dakar has also left a monument on the lake. Overnight, we stay on the edge of the lake in a beautiful hotel with a heated pool for relaxation. In the small town of Uyuni, we visit the largest train graveyard in the world. Huge locomotives stand there in the middle of nowhere and are rusting away. A bizarre sight, our new motorcycles in front of these old machines. On a well-developed road, passing several extensive solar fields, we go through large gorges towards Argentina.

On motorcycle trips through South America, you experience the enormous diversity of the eighth largest country on Earth, Argentina. Argentina stretches over 3,700 km from the tropics in the north to the sub-Antarctic islands and Tierra del Fuego in the south. From tropical rainforests to endless pampas in the west and center, to snow-covered mountains in Patagonia, almost all types of landscapes are represented in astonishing dimensions. 160 km beyond the border towards Salta, we pass the beautiful colonial village of Humahuaca. In Cafayete, we take the time to visit the Museum of High Mountain Archaeology. Here, there is an incredible find to marvel at, namely three children who were found frozen on one of the highest volcanoes in the area! These three frozen children have been recovered and are now on display in a huge refrigerator. In Cachi, we join the famous dream road Ruta 40, which starts a little further north and winds along the Andes down to Patagonia throughout Argentina. Between Cafayete and Chilecito, we follow and cross some routes of the various Dakar Rallies that took place in South America from 2009 to 2019. Along the way, we pass the amphitheater, a rock massif. The so-called "white desert" and other bizarre desert landscapes were stages of the Dakar Rally. We drive a marathon stage of almost 600 km to Mendoza through the Talampaya National Park and through deserts with giant rock sculptures. We take a rest day in Mendoza and can visit a vineyard nearby to taste the Argentine Malbec wines. Another marathon stage of over 630 km awaits us and leads us south into the mountains. We cross the Andes from east to west and pass the border into Chile.

Chile is long stretched along the Pacific and is on average only 180 km wide. It is one of the most economically and socially stable countries in South America. Due to its north-south extension of almost 4,270 km, Chile is considered a land of extremes in terms of landscape. The Torres del Paine National Park with its snow-capped peaks and glaciers in the south is a famous hiking paradise. Upon arrival in Chile, we go down the Andes on the other side past the Colbun Lagoon to Linares and Villarica in the area of the volcanoes, which we always have in sight to our left until Puerto Montt. There begins part of the infamous adventure route; the Carretera Austral, which stretches for 1,350 km. This is a road that the Chilean population has built over the years through diligent work as a counterpart to the route in Argentina. The route becomes lonely, not many cars drive here anymore, and finally, we arrive at a ferry where we cross a small fjord. Of these, there are two more fjords, with the second being the longest, and we will be on the ship for about 2 hours. After leaving the ship, we pass by the oldest trees in the world, the Alerce trees, which can live up to 3,000 years. Further south on the Carretera Austral, we make a stop in a small national park where we can see the hanging glacier. To stretch our legs, a one-hour hike to the glacier lake is on the program. Continuing through wonderful mountain landscapes past various lakes, including the largest lake, Lago General Carrera. There we will make another small stop and visit the marble cathedrals by boat. We spend our rest day with a view of the snow-capped mountains in a lodge. The tireless can take excursions in the surroundings. Passing the rapids of the Rio Baker, through vast valleys that were once covered by glaciers, we turn into the Patagonia National Park. From here, we continue uphill over the southern Cordillera to the Roballos Pass where we have the border crossing at a very small border to Argentina.

We have arrived in the vast plains of the Argentine Pampa and it becomes abruptly dry. At an Argentine Estancia, we will prepare a typical “Cordero asado” in his “sheep hall” in the evening together with the owner and enjoy it. Across endless Pampa, we repeatedly cross turquoise, wonderful rivers that originate from the glaciers of the Andes. Endless areas where you only occasionally see a few sheep, which are the only economic source of income in the area besides oil. We increasingly approach the snow-capped mountains, where we can see the mystical Fitzroy Mountain in the distance. In the Perito Moreno National Park, we look at the famous glacier of the same name. This is a glacier that pushes against a mountain nose and thereby forms a huge lake on the left side, which then rises over the years and eventually breaks through when the water level has reached the necessary height. This is still one of the few glaciers that flows forward while most glaciers in the world only melt away.

On the Fire and Ice Enduro trip, we travel from Argentina through Chilean territory and back onto Argentine soil. From Rio Gallegos, we set off early towards the Magellan Strait, which we then cross with a small ferry. Now we are on the huge island of Tierra del Fuego. Here, the cold and the harsh weather severely limit the vegetation and life.

At the border crossing in Tierra del Fuego from Chile to Argentina, we have to carry out all border formalities again, which will take us some time. From the border, we are heading back into the mountains one last time over the Andes Cordillera, climbing westwards to the Garibaldi Pass. Here we have a magnificent view of the fjords of the southern continent. In Ushuaia on the Beagle Channel, we have then reached, after about 7,000 km, the southernmost navigable city in the world.