From Ethiopia to Argentina: Day 1 of a 7-year walk

(AP) A two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter has taken the first steps of an unimaginably long walk a journey from Ethiopia to Argentina expected to last seven years.

Paul Salopek departed an Ethiopian village Thursday to begin a planned 21,000-mile (34,000-kilometer) walk that will cross some 30 borders and scores of ethnic groups.

Salopek's quest is to retrace humankind's first migration from Africa across the world in a go-slow journey that will force him to immerse in many cultures.

The Ethiopia-to-Argentina walk which took human ancestors some 50,000 years to make is called Out of Eden and is sponsored by National Geographic, the Knight Foundation and the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting. Salopek plans to write one major article a year and give periodic updates.