Friday Photo - The Endless Climb

Looks like this guy has some serious climbing ahead in the Chilean Andes

(Photo courtesy of Traveling Two)

This week's Friday Photo comes from Gareth Collingwood, who has a website called El Pedalero:Life, On a Bike, In Latin America. There is also an interview with him on Traveling Two. He has spent the past two decades traveling through South & Central America. When asked why he considered Latin America the "World’s greatest adventure travel destination," he listed some of its special geographic features:

• Longest mountain range (Andes)
• Largest jungle (Amazon rainforest)
• Driest desert (Atacama Desert)
• Biggest salt flat (Salar de Uyuni)
• Highest waterfall (Angel Falls)
• Highest active volcano (Ojos del Salado)
• Widest street (9 de Julio Avenue in Buenos Aires)
• Longest road (Pan-American Highway)

When asked for one or two places to cycle tour in Latin America, he listed a dozen and said to just pick one at random. Gareth reports that Venezuela and Paraguay are the most overlooked South American countries for bicycle touring. He said Paraguay is the only place where he saw a jaguar in the wild (hopefully from a considerable distance). When asked what bikers should take with them when touring Latin America, Collingwood said "Spanish."