There was only one bike suitable for such a challenging journey - the F 800 GS.

Henry tackles the challenging South American terrain with gusto!

Motorcycle journalist Henry von Wartenberg.

In the Andes, a lot of the mountain passes are more accustomed to mules than motorcycles.

During last year's celebration of the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth, freelance photographer and motorcycle journalist Henry von Wartenberg was searching for his next book idea. The 43-year-old Argentine, publisher of 14 titles throughout his 20-year career, came across a bookshop in Buenos Aires and found what he was looking for.

"At the time, there was a lot of promotion in the media of Darwin's anniversary, but I didn't know a lot about Darwin himself - just what I learned in school about his theory of evolution," he explains. "I picked up National Geographic and read an article about his trips around South America, and his life, and it was amazing. He was like Indiana Jones! I thought to myself, 'I have a book in my hands'."

With a group of motorcycling friends, Henry had already been to many of the locations in Chile, Argentina and Uruguay that Darwin had visited. So he decided to embark on his first solo motorcycle journey, retracing Darwin's footsteps to photograph the exact same places. "I wanted to see how evolution had developed: how the people, landscapes and geography had changed."

During the six months he spent researching for his trip online, and reading biographies and diaries of the 19th-Century English naturalist, Henry realised the significance of his travels around these countries.

"Most people know that Darwin went to the Galapagos Islands - but he was only there for four weeks, whereas he spent three years in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay. In the Galapagos, he proved his work, but he thought about his ideas and found his evidence throughout these three countries."

Henry planned his route using the co-ordinates from Darwin's diary to ensure that he went to the exact same destinations. "In some cases, I was in the same place on the same day, just 180 years later," he added.

His 14,628 km journey began in March this year and took 64 days to complete. A keen motorcyclist since the age of 11, Henry has seven motorcycles of various brands, but after speaking with BMW Motorrad Argentina, he knew only one was suitable for such a challenging journey.

"The BMW F 800 GS was perfect: not too heavy, but powerful, with a good engine and good economy - I rode 300 km on one tank. Most importantly, I could trust it - it felt impossible to break, so I felt safe travelling alone on long distances and in the middle of nowhere."

From his base in Punta Arenas, Chile, Henry travelled to Tierra del Fuego and the Maghelian Strait, Chiloe's Island, the Fuegian Channels, El Portillo pass, Cordillera de los Andes, Mount La Campana and Mount Tarn, which he decided to climb alone, as Darwin had done.

"If I had had an accident, there would have been no help. I had to leave my bike near a tree and close to the water's edge - the space between the end of the forest and the start of the ocean was perhaps two or three metres wide. It took me all day to climb it, and I was worried that maybe when I returned, my bike would be under water, but nothing happened."

In Argentina, he visited Deseado River, Santa Cruz River (Argentina) Puerto San Julian and Pehuenco, where Darwin had his first ideas about species and evolution.

In addition to Punta Gorda, Villa Darwin, Minas in Uruguay and countless villages throughout Patagonia, the furthest point south he reached was Cape Horn by boat. "If you look on a map, it looks like I rode to the end of the world," he says. "My bike was the first to ride at Caleta Eugenia on Navarino Island," he adds proudly. "The road finished at the gate of Estancia Eugenia, but the owner allowed me to cross the land up to the cove's extreme, and arrive at the southernmost point a rider has ever reached."

On two occasions, Henry and his BMW reached altitudes of 5,000 m in the Andes on passes that are more accustomed to mules than motorcycles. He also rode in a variety of temperatures from 41ºC to -3ºC. After 61 tanks of fuel, five flat tyres but no damage, Henry arrived back in Buenos Aires with more than enough material for his forthcoming book.

"In some places, not only the landscape had changed, but also the people, the animals, and even the courses of rivers," he reveals. "But other locations, like the Deseado River, were exactly the same, which was exciting to discover. Sometimes, I felt that I was Darwin. I saw the same things as he did; it was as if I was the same guy. Now I look at my life as before and after I did this trip - it has changed my life."

Henry also took the time to visit different schools during his journey in very poor areas of the south of Argentina and Chile to teach them about Darwin's theory, as well as supporting teachers and contributing to forums at schools in Uruguay on the Species theory. Henry's book on his experiences has just been published and the English title is Charles Darwin, at southern south (Charles Darwin, al sur del sur in Spanish). To get details on obtaining a copy, please email . Other books of his, including The Art of BMW - 85 Years of Motorcycling Excellence (which he photographed), are on sale at the BMW Museum in Munich. For more information, visit www.henryvonwartenberg.com

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