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Across South America with a dog By Kirstie Pelling For LATAM NextStopSouthAmericaBRIEF30 ACROSS SOUTH AMERICA WITH A DOG: When Swiss residents Sandra Rentschler and Philippe Ledermann were young, free and single they set out on a bike journey from one end of South America to another. They returned two years later with a dog and a resolution to make life an adventure. Kirstie Pelling caught up with them to find out about their journey and how it shaped their lives. *COPY STARTS*If you’re a traveller you’ll know that some trips can change your life. This was the case for Swiss couple Sandra Rentschler and Philippe Ledermann who cycled from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego. Their epic two year pan American journey gave them more than memories. A little dog followed them to the end of the earth and ended up part of the family. A chance meeting Stuart and I met Sandra, Philippe and Che the dog on Chile’s remote Carretera Austral. We were finding our feet on our bike ride from Santiago to Tierra del Fuego while they were nearing the end of their journey. They overtook us with a wave and a woof on a cool summer evening and were settling down for pizza outside their tent when we decided to stop for the night. Pizza? On one of the wildest roads on earth? The coolest trioEverything about this couple was cool. They spoke several languages, were biking vertically down the planet and were experts at cooking on the road. Even Che had an interesting story, which the couple told us over pizza. They had been up to Aconcagua (the highest mountain in the Western hemisphere) and were camping for the night near Argentina’s Puente del Inca when the dog wandered up to their tent and sat outside in the snow. “We woke up in the middle of the night. A snowstorm was howling around the tent. Immediately we remembered the dog and looked into the dark. And there she was lying, already covered with snow. We invited her to sleep inside. So she came in and didn’t move the whole night. Maybe she was afraid to in case we sent her out again.” laughed Sandra. “The next day she ran away, chasing birds to eat and we thought we wouldn’t see her again. But when we started to cycle, she turned up again and stayed for the whole day. We assumed we wouldn’t be allowed to take a dog into Chile but it was ok with the border police and so she came with us.” They called her Che (not for Che Guevara. It’s an Argentinian word for friend, pal, man, bro, dude), had her vaccinated by a vet they stayed with, and carried on as before, albeit with some readjustments. “She walked alongside us. But then we came to Paso Bermejo. We had looked forward to this and always wanted to ride it, but Che was already very tired. So we stopped a car and asked if we could drive down with the bikes. And we missed everything.” After that they bought a milk crate, strapped it to their bikes and Che jumped up for the downhills or as soon as they rode to fast for her. An epic missionSandra and Philippe’s South American journey began in Columbia. “It was very green but incredibly hilly,” Sandra recalls. From there they cycled through Ecuador where they were delighted to discover Casa de Ciclistas – a Latin American hospitality scheme where local cyclists invite travelling cyclists to stay in their homes or camp in their gardens. They went on to use this scheme many times during their stay. After ticking off Quito, Riobamba and Cuenca they biked the coast into Peru before heading up into the Peruvian Andes. “There was one point during four weeks where we climbed every day, maybe 2000 metres and from the top you could see the next pass before we had to go down again another 2000 metres and then up again. You could always see the road and it was usually deep gravel. I think it was the toughest part of our journey but also one of the most impressive.” As Sandra talks she traces the route on their original maps. She also has her diaries in front of her. She pulls out the map for Bolivia. “On the altiplano when we changed countries there wasn’t a great difference in landscape. What was really amazing was coming to La Paz. You suddenly come to a rim and you can see over and it is filled with houses. We cycled into downtown La Paz to the lowest point. After such a long time in the wilds it was nice to be in a city and go out again. I also remember the Parque Lauca in the far north of Chile along the Bolivian border. We had to calculate very exactly how much water we could use every day. Also food was rationed strictly, because there was absolutely nothing to get on the next 250km on this dusty path. But the ride between volcanos, lagoons and hot springs was an unforgettable time.” Sandra remembers the Capital of Bolivia, Sucre, as a very white town. But nothing compared to the white of the Bolivian salt flats (salares.) “It was like cycling on nothing. After eighty kilometres there was an island. We just followed the tracks of the jeeps. And we stayed the night on the island. It was an incredible scene. The world seemed to exist only of above and below.” From ice to desertAlmost as soon as they conquered one physical challenge, the next appeared. “Between the Salar the Uyuni and San Pedro de Atacama in Chile there is only desert and beautiful lagoons. The tracks of the jeeps were often too deep and we pushed our bikes for hours. It was one of the most exhausting parts but also the part we will remember for all time.” After the desert they crossed into Argentina, dropping from three thousand metres to almost zero, and noticing every change in the vegetation. We biked with the trio down the Carretera Austral towards the far edge of the earth. Together we took on a week-long mission of trying to cross from Villa O Higgins into Argentina by boat. We trekked the foothills of the Andes on horse and battled the wind on Route 40, sleeping head to toe in a storm drain when we couldn’t get the tent up on the gravel. But I always sensed it was more of a mental challenge for us than it was for them. In the two years they had been on the road, our Swiss friends determinedly cycled up some of the world’s tallest mountains and doggedly pushed their bikes across some of its most extreme terrains. In Bolivia one morning their breath went up into the bell of their tent and then fell on them as snow. We parted company with Sandra and Philippe near Torres del Paine so they could blast down to Tierra del Fuego. “When we reached Tierra del Fuego, the tip of the continent, we started to slow down. We tried to avoid the end of our journey. The journey we had started so many months ago. We were sad the day before Ushuaia as we knew it was over. We were happy and proud to have reached what we headed for, but felt lost at the same time; there was no aim anymore. We felt a great emptiness ” says Sandra. A lasting legacyOn their return the couple moved back to Switzerland. They had four children and all of them cherished Che until she died fourteen years later. “When Che had to go, a part of our past went with her. She was the connection to our wonderful adventures in South America. A living souvenir.” But Sandra says both the dog and their journey still remain a big part of their lives. “It’s something I will always remember and it gives me a feeling of satisfaction to have done something like this; to follow a goal and to reach it. I have learnt how to fight physically and it developed in me a real love for nature. I look at pictures and I think I would like to be there again. One day I would like to come back with the kids and show them the beauty of the South American continent.” InformationThe Casa de Ciclistas scheme is free in Latin America and offers nomadic bikers a place to sleep or camp. LATAM Airlines fly to a selection of Latin American countries where you can begin a cycle journey to Ushuaia. However they can’t guarantee you’ll return home with a dog! *COPY ENDS*SUGGESTED IMAGES DOG ON RUTA 40ONE MAN AND HIS DOG IN PATAGONIAXxImages provided as detailed below with permission and credit details. For use to accompany this blogpost only. Please credit photos as per instructions against each photo. iDOG ON RUTA 40See File: Ruta 40 Dog2.jpg Source: Stuart Wickes, The Family Adventure ProjectTerms: with permission, for use in association with this blog post only. All rights reserved.Caption: Dog soaking up the golden light on Ruta 40 ArgentinaCredit: not requiredSuggested <alttext>: Dog soaks up the golden light at sunset on Ruta 40 ArgentinaSuggested <title>: Dog on Ruta 40, ArgentinaONE MAN AND HIS DOG IN PATAGONIASee File: Philippe with Che near VoH.jpgSource: Stuart Wickes, The Family Adventure ProjectTerms: with permission, for use in association with this blog post only. All rights reserved.Caption: Man and dog exploring Patagonia, Chile Credit: not requiredSuggested <alttext>: Man and dog at peace exploring Chilean Patagonia, near Candelario Mancilla Suggested <title>: Man and dog in Chilean PatagoniaIMAGE TITLESee File: IMAGE Source: Terms: Caption: Credit: Suggested [Alt text]Suggested [Title]IMAGE TITLESee File: IMAGE Source: Terms: Caption: Credit: Suggested [Alt text]Suggested [Title] ................
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