After my kayaking and cycling trip from Panama to Chiclayo, Peru, I went back home as planned in December. I needed some rest and preparation for the final stage to the 6th summit of this project: Aconcagua. My time in Belgium was great, seeing my friends and family again, and meeting someone who was hard to say goodbye to. A couple of weeks ago it was time to leave, with a heavy heart to be honest. This time for about 4 months, cycling from Chiclayo to Argentina and to climb Aconcagua by December. But first a 5200km cycling trip through the Andes.
I made myself a promise about a year ago, to do as little as possible alone. I’m 12 years into this project now, I have done so much on my own and that’s great, but I’m tired and happy to share my experiences with others.
Good company
That’s why my eldest brother Peter decided to join me for 2 weeks, we cycled to the Pyrenees and back 15 years ago, and climbed our first mountain together. Fien, a good friend from uni, will join me later from Bolivia to Argentina. Then Rik and Bertrand will climb Aconcagua with me.
A fresh start
About 2 weeks ago I left Belgium with my brother to Chiclayo, Peru. There we immediately set up our bikes and started cycling south. For him it’s a whole new experience here, and it’s great to see his point of view on things. After many years of adventuring I tend to be less surprised about random stuff. For example the first cactus he sees he’s like: “damn! I’ve never seen such a big cactus in my life”. It’s great to feel this new energy again and I love to share my experiences with my brother. This way he can get a closer insight into what my life has been in the past 12 years.
New experiences
The first day we started in the desert, a long boring road, the Pan-American highway. It’s Peter’s first time in a desert and the feeling of the magnitude of such place can be overwhelming. Despite headwinds we make steady progress and after 70km we take a left turn, straight to the mountains. In a day we get so much variation, from a chaotic city, to the desert, to rivers and mountains. We try to find a good place to camp but locals always tell us to go further for our safety. In the end of a long day we pitch our tent at the side of the road, next to a bridge, out of sight. That night my brother doesn’t sleep well, a car passes by and wakes him up as it stops. He thinks they saw us and can’t sleep for the rest of the night, worrying something might happen to us.
That’s in big contrast to my experience, I learned to fall back to sleep after such events as I’m sure we where well hidden. Still, in all honesty, it took a long time for me to wild camp without a worry. Every sound you heard at first, wakes you up and makes you wonder if someone/something is coming.