We're in Cuzco! and alredy with our mototaxis!

Olá!! Hola! Hello!

Here we are now in Cuzco, Peru! So, a first introduction on the teams that will be travelling together:

THE TEAMS
- Ugatuga: Lena & Gonçalo (yep, that's us!)
- Yuppy: Sancho (spanish friend from the office) and Justyna (Polish friend that just joined the team after her team mate had to pull out of the challenge). Sancho was before with a mutual friend (Helena) that also had to pull out (but is with us virtually!!)
- Taxi Taxi: Pablo (a spanish participant that we've met. He will be joining forces with us and we will be travelling together on the same route). Last minute: we invited a Peruan guy with amazing mechanich skills, that will be joining the taxitxi team! (this will be our man when we - for sure - will break the mototaxi in pieces...)

THE ROUTE
We have looked to the maps yesterday (not very detailed ones, just the Lonely Planet maps) and it seems that we will be heading to Puno (Lago Titicaca), then La Paz (Bolivia), take the dangeroust road in the world near La Paz, then heading to Uyuni Salar and then full speed (meaning 50Km / hour...) to Paraguay. We are aiming to be in Asuncion (Paraguay) on the night of 12th August and then heading to Iguazu Falls in Brazil for a resting day and flight back home on the 15th. But distances are not what they seem to be on the maps and everybody that we speak to is saying that is almost imposible to be in Asuncion so earlier! oohhhhhhh It seams the average speed per hour in the Bolivian Andes is only 20 to 30Km/h and this means 10 hours to complete only 300 Km... and we have a total of 4.000Km! Let's see what we can do! ;)

FIRST CONTACT WITH THE MOTOTAXI
Yesterday was our first day in Cuzco and we had our first contact with our lovely Mototaxi! This is a piece of art! but with no power.... :D We tested the bikes and they of course had all the kind of issues (no batteries, went down of power, etc) but generally are in good shape! We've tested yesterday a small uphill (just from the parking of the hotel to reception) and... Helena had to pull out in order for the Mototaxi to move! ehehe It seems it can only handle one person going up! (and we hadn't even put our bags on the bike!). well, it would be FUN for sure!...
Lena and myself were testing the bike and now feel very confortable with its driving (Lena is a PRO!). We even tested an "emergency jump out" of the bike while in movement! just in case... The breakes seem much better than I've expected (at least that is a good new! eheh)

Tomorrow will be the departure official day and we will be making a lot of Kms per day! Today we are buying helmets and supplies for the bike and we will have a big party with all the other teams at night.

That's it for now. We will be putting some photos and videos on the following posts (ups, I've forgot the camera in the hostal).

We already had our small moments of stress before arriving to Peru, when Sancho's bag was lost on Madrid's airport. We've lost two times the nobiles (but have found them after!) we've already lost out tent in Lima's airport (we must buy a new one today...) and some other small details... :D

Enjoy!
Lena & Gonçalo

Mototaxi challenge in South America is just about to start!...

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahoy!!! :)

Mototaxi challenge in South America is just about to start!...
We will departure to Peru on 29th July and start this epic journey on 1st August!

This is the plan: travel from Cuzco, in Peru, to Asunción, in Paraguay in a kind of a moto sofa, typically used in Peru as a taxi in the cities. We will travel around 4.000Km in two weeks, with no kind of support, through Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, and Paraguay. Some of the highlights of the trip: Machu Pichu, the most dangerous road in world... The largest salt lake and Iguazu Waterfalls!!

To keep the same Ugatuga spirit from last challenge in Africa, we will raise funds for Operation Smile, a NGO that provides free reconstructive surgery to children and young adults suffering from facial deformities. We aim to raise 1.200 €, that will change the lives of 7 children. Please Help us help them!

We hope to spend amazing days, meet extraordinary people, experience the magic mountains of the Andes and, at the same time, to contribute to a better life for some children.

We will try to update this BLOG during the trip with some photos and surprising experiences!!

But, better than us... Let's try to explain you this challenge on the organizer's own words:

... from The Adventurists web site:

" Take the smallest and least practical vehicle available in an entire continent, squeeze up to three uncomfortable Adventurists and throw it all at some of the most ridiculous and least hospitable terrain on our good earth. From the driest desert in the world, to the most dangerous road in the world, to the biggest rainforest in the world the Mototaxi Junket is rarefied adventure in it's finest form - completely stupid.

There's no guarantee of making it to the finish, and of course there is no back-up, just how you want it - otherwise it wouldn't be an adventure. The finish party is two weeks after the start but how long it takes you depends on how much get lost and stuck in the middle of nowhere.

The machine of choice is the humble Mototaxi. Invented in Peru and not really perfected anywhere. Built from a motorbike and a few bits of pipe these hardy little ferrets are designed for pootling around the back streets of cities. Which makes them perfect for dirt tracks, waist high mud, salt flats, the Andes and sand dunes.

There's no such thing as a route on the Junket. Just a place to start and a place to arrive covered in mud, oil and missing the odd body part. What happens in between, how you get covered in mud, where you loose the body part are your own choices to make. Ahh the true joys of adventure! "

... we hope that the next update will be written from South America! Thanks for your support! :D