Inuvik to Ushuaia
Biking and Boating the "Andean Lakes Crossing" into Chile
Click here for our favorite pictures from this section.
We took an incredible bike-and-boat tour from Argentina to Chile. The "Andean Lakes Crossing" combined boat rides through two majestic thickly forested national parks, hiking, and biking touring. We started from Bariloche, Argentina and ended up in Puerto Montt, Chile.
We emptied out the apartment we had been renting in Bariloche, Argentina and loaded our bikes with the gear that had been spread out all over the apartment for the last month. My bike was heavier then usual because I had purchased some new clothes and art supplies but some how it fit, especially because I offloaded some of the art supplies to Randy. We left at 6:00 in the morning, pedaled 20 quiet kilometers to the boat dock at Llao Llao (pronounced Zhao-Zhao in Argentina). After loading our bikes on to the front of the giant catamaran and purchasing a nice cup of cappuccino we settled down for first of three boat rides. The first was across Lago Nahuel Huapi which was surrounded by huge mountains and we reached Puerto Blest after a couple of hours. read more here... lee mas aquí... »
Updated website - let me know if there are problems
We've been hiking the last several days in far southern Patagonia, and visited the amazing Perito Moreno Glacier.
I've just updated the website to a new version of drupal, so please let me know if you have any problems with the site or there's anything I've messed up.
Thanks,
-Randy
PS - We have a flight to Florida on Wednesday!
Torres del Paine and the Perito Moreno Glacier
Oh by the way, did we mention we have finished our bike ride? Yep, we rode the last bit from Bariloche, Argentina to Puerto Montt, Chile. After over two and half years and pedaling over 22,000 Kilometers (almost 14,000 miles) we have reached a place we consider a final ending point of our north-to-south journey.
After spending a wonderful month in Bariloche, Argentina cycling unloaded, hiking, Randy working remotely and Nancy drawing and exhibiting her work, we headed out for out final trip bike trip but not our final adventure.
We celebrated the end of this trip and the beginning of the new year in a tiny campground in southern Chile and rode to the end of our trip. On January 1st, 2009 we rode our loaded metal steeds to Puerto Montt, Chile and retired our bikes to a closet for a couple of weeks.
We were told by many people that if we came all this way in South America we could not miss the dynamic sights in southern Patagonia, Torres Del Paine National Park and the still-growing Perito Moreno Glacier. So as the good travelers we are, we took a vacation from our bike ride and headed the very bottom of South America, to Punta Arenas, the southernmost city on the continent of South America. But we went by plane this time. read more here... lee mas aquí... »
Requesting help for a worthy cause in Nicaragua
When we were in Rio Blanco, Nicaragua, volunteering for Agua para la Vida (aplv.org -- See our stories here) we met one of the key guys there, Esteban Cantillano, and he told us about one of the side projects that he´s involved with. He´s a member of the lay order of St Francis associated with the local Catholic church, and this group tries to adopt a small group of boys who are not going to school and to try to provide what they need to get going. Lots of kids end up not going because they can´t afford the basics: uniform, notebooks, and maybe a backpack.
When we were there we gave him $400 that various people had entrusted to us for something like this, and he used it to purchase 15 school uniforms and shoes for the 15 kids (he even send a scan of the receipt).
There are pictures of the kids here and a little note about Esteban that we wrote here.
Anyway, the kids need funding again this year, and they will in future years. It´s such a fantastic thing for a grass-roots local group to make a little dent in the future of the town by getting 15 or so kids into school. If you are interested in helping Esteban´s group, let us know and we´ll start an email conversation, and I can translate for you. We can help with the logistics of getting the money to them. read more here... lee mas aquí... »
Back in the US of A
We had an uneventful flight from Santiago, Chile to Miami and a delightful ride through the Everglades to Naples, Florida, where we'll be living with Nancy's dad for a couple of months before returning to Colorado. We'll put up some more pictures before long, and Nancy's editing some videos from the trip as well!
Just wanted to update you on where we are. No, we didn't fall off the edge of South America!
A Map of the Whole Trip
Here's a map of the whole trip. To explore in more detail (via Google Maps), click on the map or below.
Click for a bigger interactive map to explore
Some details of the trip:
- We went almost 14,000 miles (22,000 kilometers)
- Starting date: June 9, 2006
- Return date: January 14, 2009
- Biggest mileage day: 89 miles (143 kilometers)
- Number of lifelong memories: Uncountable
- Amazingly wonderful, gracious people: Uncountable
- Number of times we were threatened by bad people: 0
- Number of petty thefts of our stuff: 3
- Sets of bike tires we went through: 4
Nancy's Art
Click here for a slide show of my art.
Often during the bike trip I created small watercolors using a Winsor Newton traveling watercolor kit. I would either work out in public at busy markets, plazas, dockside, or quiet, secluded places like along the seashore, river banks or on top of mountains like Machu Picchu. I also painted in our hotel or temporary apartment from prints of photos either Randy or I took. While working outside I would often have a crowd looking over my shoulder watching each brush stroke. If someone was a little to close like the young kids and teenagers, I would start drawing them. They usual shied away from this and I would get some breathing room. Other times I would worked from a computer display or the small display on my camera. A trick I discovered to view a particular photo was to make it the last one on my memory stick by copying it. It would then be the first one I viewed when using the view feature on my camera.
A story about artists and their art who we meet along the hobobiker route: weavers, painters, carvers and so much more
One of the special interests I had while traveling through 14 countries was seeing the different regional art. Art tells about the culture, values and links with the history of the people or a connection with the past. Much of art through out the world are traditions that are passed on from one generation to the other. This is especially true with the indigenous people of the Americas.
During the nearly three years of our trip, I would often stop and talk with the artists I met. I wanted to learn as much as I could about their art, techniques, materials and themselves.
Some of the people I sat with were First Nations Canadian wood carvers and Inuit leather workers. In the United States, I learned how to blow glass along the cost of Oregon I visited ceramic studios and fine tapestry studios in Mexico. read more here... lee mas aquí... »
Colombia: One of our favorite countries
Our Bike Trip from Canada to Argentina
This website is the story of our two and a half year trip riding almost 14,000 miles by bicycle from the north of Canada to Argentina. We're Nancy Lewis and Randy Fay, and we were 51 when we started out in June, 2006. We sold nearly everything we owned -- including our house, car and furniture -- to pedal -- and sometimes push -- our bikes through 14 countries carrying everything we would need to be self-supporting.
Our once-in-a-lifetime experience started in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Canada in June 2006 and ended in Puerto Montt, Chile in January 2009. The purpose of this trip was to get to know the people and their cultures in a more intimate way. We didn't set any records athletically or anything - people do this every year. But we met an enormous number of fabulous people and had some incredible experiences along the way.
We returned to the United States by plane in January 2009, and have settled back into a normal life in Palisade, Colorado.
We invite you to browse our stories and pictures. If you have any questions, contact us on the contact page.
Thanks to all of you in all those countries who made this such a wonderful experience!
-Randy and Nancy
