Alexander von Humboldt was 30 years old when he reached South America. WIth the French botanist and doctor Aimé Bonpland, the aristocratic Creole Carlos Montufar and a caravan of Indios and animals, he camped in a bacieda at the foot of the Andes and prepared to climb Mount Chimborazo, the highest peak in the area. During the difficult journey Humboldt examined, measured and compared plants and animals, the earth, water and air.
The film shows a youth who rediscovers America with the ideals of the French Revolution: lerbty, equality and fraternity. He deals with the despised and under-privileged world of the Indios with respect and understanding and places it on the same level of the European culture and way of living.