Suid-Amerika 2 (Noroeste)

The second series in South America picks up where the previous one left off – in Uruguay. The team then travels north through Argentina, encountering dramatic new landscapes along the way. It's a long and treacherous journey that brings them to Tupiza, where they delve into the exploits of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The pursuit of their trail leads the team to San Vincente, the site where the notorious outlaws met their demise in a dramatic gunfight.

The team spends a few days on the Salar de Uyuni in the southwestern corner of Bolivia. These are the largest salt flats on Earth, visible from outer space. From the salt flats, the team travels to Potosi, where millions of lives were sacrificed in the quest for silver mining. Afterwards, they visit the beautiful city of Sucre. The week concludes at La Higuera, a small town in the Andes where guerrilla fighter Che Guevara was executed.

After a long journey through the Andes, the team reaches the highest city in the world – La Paz. The city is explored using a network of cable cars, revealing its beautiful landscape and impressive architecture. La Paz hosts one of the biggest street markets twice a week, covering approximately 200 street blocks. The city is also the home of the Fighting Cholitas – Bolivia’s version of Lucha Libre, performed by women. The team further explores the archaeological site of Tiwanaku and visits Lake Titicaca.

The team descends into the Amazon Basin from 4,000 meters above sea level via the Road of Death – the perilous Yungas Road. In Rurrenabaque, they explore the Amazon with a boat trip on the Beni River. The team then returns to La Paz and continues to Copacabana on Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable water mass in the world.

The Rainbow Mountain at Vinicunca, the historical city of Cusco, and Machu Picchu provide one highlight after another. Here, in the Land of the Inca, the team explores small towns, breathtaking landscapes, beautiful cities, and an archaeological site shrouded in mystery.

Two days of hard driving with one mountain pass after the other brings the team to Nazca near the Pacific Ocean. This is where the Nazca Lines are found. Massive figures were drawn in the desert 2,000 years ago and were only properly observed with the arrival of aviation at the beginning of the previous century. The week concludes with a visit to a wine farm at Ica and an evening in the sand dunes of the northern Atacama Desert.

After a visit to the capital city of Lima in Peru, the team travels to the interior to explore the spectacular Cordillera Blanca and Cordillera Negra. The two mountain ranges are separated by the Cañón del Pato, featuring more than 50 tunnels carved through the rocky slopes. The route sees the team returning to the Pan-American Highway, passing Puerto Malabrigo, all the way to Máncora on the border with Ecuador

After crossing the border, the team visits the banana-growing region of Machala. Further into the interior, the town of Zaruma offers the highest-yielding gold mines in the world. At Guayaquil, the team has the Cruisers serviced. Then, it is a visit to Isla de la Plata, the poor man’s Galapagos. The week concludes with a search for the real Panama straw hat – manufactured in Montecristi, Ecuador.

This episode starts at Chimborazo, the mountain on earth closest to the stars. The team visits the unique artists of the Ecuadorian Andes before exploring the beautiful city of Quito. The week is concluded with a visit to Mitad del Mundo, a monument at the equator, just north of the capital.

The team discovers that the real equator is a few hundred meters north of the line drawn at Mitad del Mundo. They proceed to the Mindo Valley, a prime bird-watching destination in the world. They visit the two market towns of Otavalo and Ibarra and conclude their time in Ecuador with a visit to Reserva Ecologica el Angel, where strange flora thrives at 4,000 meters above sea level, near the equator.

The visit to Colombia starts with dance lessons in Cali - the salsa capital of the world. The city, with its famous Cali Cats, is explored before the team visits the sugar estate where Jorge Isaacs authored his famous novel “Maria”. In Buga, the team visits the Basilica of the Lord of Miracles. Just before the team was to arrive at their campsite for the evening, one of the Cruisers was involved in a serious accident – this is the first road accident for Voetspore in 23 years. Stefan and Norbert escape with minor injuries, but the Cruiser is seriously damaged.

With one vehicle short, the team travels to Bogota to fetch a new vehicle provided by Toyota Colombia. In the capital, the team attends the Independence Parade as well as a massive agricultural expo. Then it is off to Armenia to enjoy some of the best coffee and cacao that Colombia has to offer.

Medellin was known as the drug cartel capital of the world. Recently, the city underwent a metamorphosis and today boasts to be one of the safest cities around. It is a beautiful city. The team meets a South African who teaches the Colombians how to enjoy boerewors and biltong and pays a visit to Westfalia's Avo farms. Then it is time to pack up and return to South Africa.