LATIN AMERICA THE FINAL FRONTIER

About the Book

Having traversed over 50,000 miles overland, throughout Europe, Africa, Asia, North America, and Australia, Shaun Donovan sets out on his pen-ultimate challenge -to conquer the continent of Latin America, and thus complete his circumnavigation of our planet. Like all his previous adventures, this latest Voyage of Discovery will be no easy task, as he traverses Chile, the longest country in the world, from top to bottom, encountering countless riots, and endless destruction and devastation along the way, as he crosses the Atacama Desert -one of the driest places on Earth. Reaching ‘The End of the World’, in Ushuaia, along with discovering his Welsh heritage in Patagonia -and going Whale-watching in Puerto Madryn, Shaun is able to cross-off three more must-do’s from his Bucket List, before dicing with death in Argentina -and being abandoned in Uruguay! After meeting-up with his daughter, Hayley, in Rio de Janeiro, read how our intrepid pair brave the deadly waters of the Iguacu Falls, and survive food poisoning and altitude sickness, in Bolivia, before crossing Lake Titicaca into Peru, where they visit the ‘Lost City of the Incas’, namely Machu Picchu. After a pit-stop in Bogota, Columbia, they head for the famous Panama Canal, before relaxing on a desert island -and then getting stranded in the jungle in Bocas del Toro! Costa Rica is next on the list, where they visit the incredible Manuel Antonio National Park, before flying over to Belize, to do a spot of Scuba Diving on the Belize Barrier Reef, followed by a Golf Buggy race into the abyss, as they head off in search of the ‘Secret Beach.’ From here, our Daddy-Daughter Duo head up the east coast of Mexico, to Cancun, to soakup the sunshine -and to swim with a handful of delightful dolphins, before flying over to Cuba, to enjoy the delights of this amazing island, as they celebrate their conquering of Latin America, by toasting Ernest Hemmingway in his ‘Favourite Bar,’ before smoking freshly rolled ‘Cuban Cigars’ in Valle de Vinales -and then rounding-off their fabulous adventure, by supping glasses of glorious champagne, as they proudly declare their incredible achievement -from the rooftops of Havana.

About the Author

Shaun Donovan was born in Cardiff, South Wales, on 9th August 1959. The son of a carpenter, he joined his father in the building trade, after leaving school at the tender age of fifteen, but Shaun was soon disillusioned with the industry, and so he changed careers, working first as an office clerk, before moving into the lucrative world of sales and marketing. Being a keen motor-cyclist and also an avid travel enthusiast, Shaun spent numerous holidays riding his bike around Europe and North Africa, spanning a distance of 10,000 miles, and visiting 13 countries, along with several islands between 1981 and 1983. In 1984, Shaun married his fiancée, Caryl, and a few years later they became the proud parents of three wonderful children, Liam, Carl and Hayley. However, after being made redundant in 1991 due to the economic recession, and with little hope of re-employment in the near future, Shaun’s marriage sadly collapsed the following year. In 1998, Shaun moved to the Canary Islands to live, and two years later he took his three children around the whole of America, and across into Canada, utilising the Greyhound Bus system to cover a total of 12,000 miles. Apart from giving them the holiday of a lifetime, Shaun also kept the promise he had made to them two years earlier, by treating them to a wonderful week in Disneyworld. In 2001, Shaun met Sally on the island of Tenerife, and in 2007, they took off on another great Greyhound Bus ride –only this time around the whole of Australia. Three years later, Shaun and Sally separated, Shaun returning home to Wales, and the following year, him and his daughter, Hayley, set-off on a 60,000km (40,000 miles) jaunt around Asia, Africa and India. In October 2019, Shaun set off to conquer his final continent, namely Latin America, and after spending two months traversing the length of Chile, Argentina and Uruguay, his daughter, Hayley joined him in Brazil, and together they crossed the South American continent, from east to west, before heading off to Central America, to visit Panama, Costa Rica, Belize and Mexico, before flying into Cuba for the final leg of their 50,000 + km (30,000 + Miles) Expedition. After more than two years without travelling (thanks to Covid 19) Shaun took on a new challenge -to visit ‘50’ Greek Islands in only ‘60’ days, and between July and September, 2023, he completed this truly incredible task. At this point in time, he had also achieved his main goal of travelling ‘Around the World in 80 Ways’ -by using over 80 different modes of transport to traverse over a quarter of a million miles around our planet, the compilation of hundreds of his great adventures promising to be one hell of a manuscript -once he has finished writing it, of course! Once completed, Shaun is hoping to follow-up on his Greek escapade, by doing a similar jaunt around dozens of Caribbean Islands -although he is also considering having a hop, skip and a jump around scores of islands in the Indonesian archipelago, so who knows which one will be next?