More than two-and-a-half centuries ago, the French explorer Charles Marie de la Condamine crossed the continent of South America. It took his expedition four years to wind its way over the Andes and through the Amazon jungles to reach the Atlantic Ocean. Within this decade, the same trip will take four days.
Engineers are currently working on a massive $1.3-billion InterOceanic Highway project slated for completion by 2009. The finished route will create the first paved roadway connecting the Atlantic and Pacific oceans on the South American Continent itself.