Forty-four years ago Pat Barrett was one of three young Kiwi travellers who set out to explore South America. They had little knowledge of the largely mysterious continent other than that gleaned from the travel ‘bible’ of the day – The South American Handbook. Now, his latest book, So Long: South America, recounts the trio’s gripping adventures and sometimes dangerous encounters.
Well-known Christchurch author and outdoorsman, Pat Barrett says 1982 was a time of no internet and no instant communication. However, it didn’t deter him and two friends from embarking on a South American back-packing adventure.
“We were on their own, and up for anything!”
And ‘anything’ was what they encountered on a wild journey through Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Chile, Brazil, and Paraguay by foot, bus, train, boat, and truck-back, living with the locals.
Their goal? To explore this challenging and immensely rewarding continent and to survive in what often became a hostile environment.
His new book So Long: South America, reveals what it was like to travel overland in a pre-digital age.
“It was a time when everything experienced was utterly self-reliant, seat-of-the-pants immersion in a foreign culture and environment, where anything could, and often did, go wrong at any moment,” Pat says.
“It [the book] encompasses epic train travel across the Altiplano, mountaineering in the Andes, descending wild rivers by dug-out, and fighting off thieves and marauding packs of wild dogs not to mention forest fires, corrupt police, and drug dealers.”
And, to tempt readers to learn more about eight months on-the-go back-packing through the continent, the following excerpt from the book speaks volumes:
On one of the beds is a large, battered suitcase. It is open.
Inside are row upon row of neatly bound stacks of US$100 bills.
There is a revolver lying on the bed.
I halt, a stunned silence prevails.
– Bogota, Colombia
A long-time adventure writer, Pat has contributed to an outdoor column in the Christchurch Press for more than 20 years, and also wrote the top selling guidebook, Canterbury Foothills & Forest. The author of hundreds of articles and features for numerous travel and outdoor magazines, and newspapers, Pat is available for talks at club and other gatherings.
● So Long; South America, RRP $34.95 Available from selected bookshops or from the author’s website: www.solongsouthamerica.com
