Tour d'Afrique Ltd. | Global Bicycle Expeditions, Races and Tours

The 2011 Route

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Sea & Salt

Antofagasta to La Paz

Sea & Salt
Start: November 3, Antofagasta, Chile
Finish: November 16, La Paz, Bolivia
Price: €1,500
Distance: 1,450km
Riding Days: 12 days
Resting Days: 3 days
From Antofagasta, the route turns inland to cross the Andes. The mountains of northern Chile produce a rain-shadow effect to the east that has created one of the most arid places on earth, the Atacama Desert. The town of San Pedro de Atacama hosts a bizarre landscape of sandstone sculpted by thousands of years of Aeolian processes. Cyclists will traverse the "Salares", infinite salt basins and ride past ancient lava flows en route to the Bolivian border. This section ends in the national capital of La Paz which sits at an altitude of 3,640 m above sea level.

Countries: Bolivia and Chile