© Chris Murray
The wait is over! Chris Murray's South American odyssey comes to life in his initial travel diary update.
Recall Chris, the adventurer with the New Year's resolution to cycle across South America? It's been some time since his introduction on RTL Today, but he recently shared his initial travel diary update with us!
For those who need a little reminder: With his career on temporary halt, 33-year-old Chris is taking a break from the daily grind in favour of exploring Argentina with his bike.
Inspired by the Schleck brothers, Chris' journey is a childhood dream: cycling across a continent he has never visited before. His goal is to cover 12,000 kilometres in approximately 80 cycling days, with one rest day per week on average.
He arrived in the country at the end of last year and started his epic tour in Ushuaia, Argentina on the 8th of January 2024, with plans to reach the endpoint by the end of May 2024.
20 January 2024 - Perito Moreno
After my first couple of weeks on the road, I'm reporting from Perito Moreno, a small town in the North of the province of Santa in Argentina. To get here, I have had to battle a fierce cross headwind for much of the time, meaning my planned mileage targets were not attainable. It has been quite a 'baptism of fire' but I can feel my body is adapting to this new lifestyle well, and I am getting more into the rhythm of this life on the road.
One aspect I have had to really keep in mind is how remote and desolate much of the landscape I have gone through so far, has been. Most of my cycling has been through the province of Santa Cruz, which has a population density of around 1 person per square kilometre - this is around half of that of Mongolia, the second most sparsely populated country in the world! You can go well over 100km without coming across any signs of civilisation or any settlements of any kind. Something that is obviously a big factor to keep in mind when stocking up on food and water supplies!
Despite the emptiness of the countryside, I have seen a lot of guanacos, nandus (or South American ostriches) and also some impressive condors which hovered low in the sky on the fringes of the 'Parque Patagonia'.
Beyond the wildlife, I have also met some great people on the road. There have already been too many to name or reference here, but they include cyclists and motorbikers from Brazil, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Italy and France.
Of course, there have been travellers from Argentina too - one of whom plans to walk to Colombia over the next 3 years! Stopping and chatting with whoever it might be along the roadside or in the cafeteria has been always been entertaining, and it also allows for exchanging route tips.
Other than the cycling component of this trip, I want to make sure I see at least some of the sights that may be off my route as I head North through the continent. And I did just that on my first rest day in El Calafate where I did some hiking around the Perito Moreno glacier - a very impressive sight!
For more regular trip updates, follow me on Instagram under the handle 'chopsticknovice'.
