Latin American Bloggers jump into Reality Television

Chevrolet and NatGeo have launched a reality show that mixes driving, tourism, gadgets and blogging throughout South America. On The Road Again follows 6 bloggers in 6 different countries, driving around, taking tours and documenting their experiences through streaming video, blog posts and pictures, and it will later on be featured on a NatGeo channel show. Leo Prieto from Chile writes:

Durante las próximas 6 semanas, se irán publicando en el canal de YouTube de On The Road Again y serán transmitidos por NatGeo, los “webisodios” de cada uno de los blogueros. El programa comienza esta semana, con la transmisión de mi viaje por el norte de Chile. Luego continúa con Fabio Baccaglioni (Argentina), Inti Acevedo (Venezuela), Rafael Ziggy (Brasil), Rafael Bayona/Patton (Colombia), y un bloguero por definir en Ecuador.

During the next 6 weeks, the “webisodes” produced by each one of the bloggers will be published in the On The Road Again YouTube channel and will be then transmitted by NatGeo. The show starts this week, with the broadcasting of my travels in the north of Chile. Later it will continue with Fabio Baccaglioni (Argentina), Inti Acevedo (Venezuela), Rafael Ziggy (Brazil), Rafael Bayona/Patton (Colombia), and a blogger to be defined in Ecuador.

The following video has Leo Prieto in the abandoned mining town of Chacabuco in the deserts of Northern Chile:

Rafael Ziggy from Brazil also explains:

Fui convidado para participar de um projeto chamado On The Road Again. Esse é o nome de um serviço que será lançado em breve pela Chevrolet para compartilhar fotos, vídeos e histórias de viagens online. É destinado a viajantes, aventureiros, enfim, pessoas que gostam de pegar o carro e botar o pé na estrada.

I was invited to participate of a project called On The Road Again. That is the name of an online service which will be launched in the near future by Chevrolet to share pictures, videos and stories of our travels. It is meant for travelers, adventurers and in general, people who love to get in the car and get themselves out on the road.

Bloggers are already answering to the call: they have been checking out the website, commenting and living and traveling vicariously through the 5 chosen bloggers already on the site. Matias Dutto saw one of the episodes and remembered his own experience when travelling:

El episodio de Leo Prieto en la campaña On the Road Again, me hizo recordar uno de los lugares mas espectaculares: se trata de un escenario fantástico, casi irreal: San Pedro de Atacama. Ahí me quedé sin moverme casi una semana, porque se cortó el Paso de Jama – frontera con Argentina – por mal tiempo (me tocó pasar justo el invierno Boliviano) Gracias a la buena ayuda de un camionero chileno pude regresar a Jujuy, aquí mi cara de alegría y frío al mismo tiempo:

Leo Prieto's episode on the On The Road Again campaign made me remember one of the most spectacular places: it is a fantastic, almost surreal scenery: San Pedro of Atacaman. There I was stranded almost a week, because the Jama Pass was cut off – in the border with Argentina- due to bad weather (I had to travel just on the Bolivian winter) Thanks to the great assistance from a Chilean truck driver I could return to Jujuy, here is my happy and cold face:

You can view Matias Dutto's picture here.

Other bloggers excited about this are those in Colombia, as they see fellow blogger Patton's updates on qik streaming video platform in real time, notified through twitter.

On this update, he tells us how he visited the house where Colombian Soccer legend Pibe Valderrama was born and raised, and he posts the video of the meeting with the Pibe's Father:

El Gerente comments:

En fin, adivinen quen fue el blogger colombiano escogido…

noo no soy yo, ya hubiese querido, pues es Patton, mentor bloguero de este espacio, el mismo que me ha dado consejos desde el comienzo y con quien se ha forjado una buena amistad…

Well, guess who was the chosen Colombian blogger…

nooo, it wasn't me, I wish, but it is Patton, blogger mentor in this media, the same one who has given me good advice since the beginning and with whom I have become good friends.

Another blogger writing about this is, for example, Maria() expresses her healthy dose of envy:

Por eso cuando en la blogocosa colombiana se supo que el mentado Patton se iba de viaje durante una semana por cuenta de Chevrolet, la gran mayoría de nosotros no pudo hacer más que morderse un codo de la envidia y desearle lo mejor en su expedición.

That's why when the colombian Blogosthing found out that the aforementioned Patton would go on a week-long trip on Chevrolet's behalf, most of us couldn't do more than bite an elbow in envy and wish him the best in his expedition.

Already up on the program's YouTube channel are the adventures in Chile and Argentina, by Leo Prieto and by Fabio Baccaglioni and pictures are also up on their Flickr page.

This last clip is from Argentina, where Fabio rappels down a cliff face in the Andes Mountains.