In
1992, I decided to walk across the Darien Gap. The Pan-American Highway does
not go all the way from Panama into Colombia. It stops in Yaviza, in Panamas'
vast wilderness region called the Darien, and reappears some 150 km further
on in Colombia. There is no road due to purely technical difficulties ( extensive
swamp areas, thick rainforest, hundreds of streams to bridge, high rainfall,
etc ).
1992. I walk across the
Darien Gap
from Panama to Colombia.
It
took me two weeks to reach Colombia, every night I would stay in an Indian village
( the Kuna Indians ) First I would ask the village chief permission to camp
but every time was asked to stay in his house, I would eat with them and after
the meal the rest of the villagers would appear and we would exchange stories
( they speak Spanish as well as their native dialect).
During the day , the going was tough, due to the very high humidity, the difficulties
of finding the way (trail being over grown), the crossing of the bridgeless
rivers, walking through the swamps and always being wet with the heat and humidity.
The mosquitoes were a big problem as well.
When I arrived in the last Panamian village I hired two local Indians to help
me cross into Colombia and to reach the first road safely, as that area was
very dangerous.
These days it is not possible to walk the Darien anymore, the dangers are too
high, thanks to the Colombian guerrillas among other problems, but I am glad
I did it , it left me with a sense of achievement and with great souvenirs.
In
addition to natural hazards, such as high rivers and mud slides, the human dangers
to travelers in the area must not be under-estimated. Although
the Darien is still a wilderness, it is not unpopulated. Apart from the usual
permanent inhabitants, there are always a number of people traversing the region
or staying temporarily. There are a lot of Latin
Americans
heading north to the USA, undocumented immigrants, smugglers of drugs and other
contraband and bandits who prey on jungle travelers, also the Darien has become
an area of activity for Colombian guerrillas, as a result, the route has become
very dangerous.
Knowing all that, I still decided to try it for myself. The best time to do
it is in the very short dry season of December to February when the rivers are
low and the mozzies fewer.
