In May 1982 three young kiwi travellers set out to explore South America on their own terms with no other knowledge of this wild and mysterious continent than that gleaned from the travel 'bible' of the day - The South American Handbook.
Their adventure occurred in a time that has now been lost to the annals of travel history; a world with no internet, and no instant communication. Nada.
They were on their own, and up for anything...
Their wild journey encompasses Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, as well as Chile, Brazil, and Paraguay by foot, by bus, train, boat, and truck-back, living with the locals.
Their goal? To explore this marvellous, challenging, mysterious, and immensely rewarding continent...and to stay alive.
To survive. For a journey of survival in an often hostile environment is what it ultimately became.
Their story is unique, often raw, funny, breathtaking, and in every sense an endeavour in the best kiwi tradition.
It is their story - So Long; South America.
"This book is an absorbing insight into what it was like to travel overland in a pre-digital age when everything you experienced was utterly self-reliant, seat-of-the-pants immersion in a foreign culture and environment, where anything could, and often did, go wrong at any moment. It is the quintessential South America, encompassing epic train travel across the Altiplano, mountaineering in the Andes, descending wild rivers by dug-out, and fighting off thieves and marauding packs of wild dogs. Not too mention forest fires, corrupt police, and drug dealers.
It is a raw, dangerous, intense account of eight months on-the-go back-packing through the continent." Pat Barrett
www.solongsouthamerica.com
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