Südamerika

Not just a temporary break—no, 100% unlimited freedom and life in its purest form. A grand journey with no set timeframe and no fixed destination—that was what motivated Martin Leonhardt to leave his hometown of Illenschwang near Dinkelsbühl in 2013. He quit his job, sold all his belongings, said goodbye to family and friends, and set off for South America. Accompanying him is his motorcycle, “Katze”...
His journey through Latin America is marked by thrilling adventures, hundreds of nights spent in the great outdoors, chance encounters, and a constant curiosity to understand foreign countries and their people. Driven by spontaneity, his journey takes him through spectacular landscapes. He crosses the dreamlike Atacama Desert, Bolivia’s dizzying Altiplano, the vast Patagonia, the humid Pantanal, and the sweltering Amazon Basin. The endless Gran Sabana in Venezuela and the arid northeast of Brazil push both Martin and Katze to their limits. Visually stunning, thrilling, thoroughly entertaining, and emotional—this is how the globetrotter tells his stories of the most beautiful continent on our planet.
From the Atlantic to the Pacific, from sea level to 6,000 meters, from freezing cold to tropical heat. The years fly by on a wild, zigzagging journey. Just before reaching his goal of leaving South America, closed borders force him to take a 10,000-kilometer detour through the “Green Hell.” The high mountains of Peru, the volcanoes of Ecuador, and the diversity of Colombia welcome Martin anew. The photographer and adventurer constantly seeks close contact with the people; he visits the poorest villages and schools and roams the most obscure towns. He immerses himself in daily life to uncover truly incredible, moving stories. The journey continues by sailboat to Cuba and finally to Central America.
Sorrow and joy—amid this ebb and flow of emotions, Martin also faces many personal challenges. And all of this just to realize, after 100,000 kilometers and 1,000 days, that the great journey has actually only just begun.