We will try to explain our plan for the next 5 months but as you can imagine we need to stay flexible as nothing ever goes quite to plan!

A brief outline of the trip:

Starting in January 2020, we plan to cycle 6,500 km ( 4100 miles) up the western side of South America from Puerto Montt in Chile to Lima in Peru. During the trip we will be ascending over 4000m ( 4 x the height of Ben Nevis!) as we cross the Andes mountains on one of the world's 10 highest roads. This will be both a physical and cultural challenge as we will be relying on local people for knowledge about their area and the upcoming road conditions.  

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In more detail ...

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The route we are planning to follow will take us up the Pacific coast of the Chileian lake district before crossing the Andes into Northern Argentina. After,  cycling through vineyards of the  Argentinian region of Salta we plan to cross the border into Boliva. In Bolivia we will traverse the  worlds largest salt flats and face some of our most challenging climbs as we weave through the mining region of Potosi. We intend to enter Peru along the western shore of lake Titicaca then head north into the historic Inca region of Cusco. Finally, we will then turn back West and descend into Lima to rejoin the Pacific and complete our journey in late May. 

We will be cycling 65km on average per day depending on the terrain. We will be mainly staying in hostels at night but will carry a tent for the more remote parts of the trip such as crossing the Paso de San Fransansico. We will be carrying all of our luggage on the bike with no external assistance during the trip.

Through out the trip we will be blogging via our Instagram account (@cycle.southamerica)  and taking photos as well as keeping an up to date journal. This will act as our material for our lecture on our return to the UK and hopefully inspire other girls to take on intrepid adventures.

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