The Life Cycle: 8,000 Miles in the Andes by Bamboo Bike (Hardback)

Eco‑adventurer Kate Rawles sets off on a thirteen‑month ride down the spine of South America on a quirky, home‑built bamboo bike — and ends up uncovering one of the biggest stories of our time: the rapid loss of the planet’s biodiversity.

The Life Cycle follows her as she pedals from the Pacific coast to high‑altitude deserts, rainforests, salt flats and the very tip of the continent. Along the way she meets armadillos that can hold their breath to cross rivers, discovers why Colombia is a bird‑life superpower, and learns just how deeply our own survival is tied to the species and ecosystems we’re destroying.

Rawles doesn’t shy away from the hard stuff — the scars of goldmining, the impact of oil drilling, the communities fighting to protect what’s left — but she also finds real hope in the people restoring habitats and rebuilding resilience from the ground up. By the time she reaches the “end of the world”, one thing is clear: tackling biodiversity loss isn’t someone else’s job. It’s on all of us.

A gripping mix of adventure travel, environmental insight and human resilience, this is a ride that changes how you see the planet.