Darién Gap
Encyclopedia
The Darién Gap is a large swath of undeveloped swampland and forest separating Panama
's Darién Province
in Central America
from Colombia
in South America
. It measures just over 160 km (99.4 mi) long and about 50 km (31.1 mi) wide. Roadbuilding through this area is expensive, and the environmental toll is steep. Political consensus in favor of road construction has not emerged. Consequently there is no road connection through the Darién Gap connecting North/Central America with South America and it is the missing link of the Pan-American Highway
.
The geography of the Darién Gap on the Colombian side is dominated primarily by the river delta
of the Atrato River
, which creates a flat marsh
land at least 80 km (49.7 mi) wide, half of this being swamp
land. The Panamanian side, in sharp contrast, is a mountainous rain forest, with terrain reaching from 60 m (196.9 ft) in the valley floors to 1845 m (6,053.1 ft) at the tallest peaks (Cerro Tacarcuna).
The Pan-American Highway is a system of roads measuring about 48000 km (29,825.9 mi) long that crosses through the entirety of North, Central, and South America, with the sole exception of the Darién Gap. On the Colombian side, the highway terminates at about 27 km (16.8 mi) west of Barranquillita, at Lomas Aisiadas (Casa 40) located at 7°38′N 76°57′W. On the Panamanian side, the road terminus is the town of Yaviza
at 8°9′N 77°41′W. This marks a straight-line separation of about 100 km (62.1 mi). In between is marshland and forest.
Efforts have been made for decades to remedy this missing link in the Pan-American highway. Planning began in 1971 with the help of United States
funding, but this was halted in 1974 after concerns raised by environmentalists. Another effort to build the road began in 1992, but by 1994 a United Nations
agency reported that it would cause extensive environmental damage. There is evidence in favor of the argument that the Darién Gap has prevented the spread of diseased cattle into Central and North America, which have not seen foot and mouth disease since 1954, and at least since the 1970s this has been a substantial factor in preventing a road link through the Darién Gap. The Embera-Wounaan
and Kuna
have also expressed concern that the road would bring about the potential erosion of their cultures.
and Kuna
Indians (and former home of the Cueva people
before their extermination in the 16th century). Travel is often by dugout canoe (piragua
). On the Panamanian side, La Palma
is the capital of the province and the main cultural centre. Other Mestizo population centers include Yaviza
and El Real
. It had a reported population of 1,700 in 1980. Corn, mandioca, plantains and bananas are staple crops wherever land is developed.
in Panama and Los Katíos National Park
in Colombia. The Darién Gap forests had extensive cedrela
and mahogany
cover at one time, but many of these trees were removed by loggers.
The Darién National Park covers around 5,790 square kilometres of land and was established in 1980. It is the largest national park in Central America.
.
The first vehicular crossing of the Gap was by the Land Rover
La Cucaracha Cariñosa (The Affectionate Cockroach) and a Jeep
of the Trans-Darién Expedition 1959–60, crewed by Amado Araúz (Panama), his wife Reina Torres de Araúz, former SAS
man Richard E. Bevir (UK), and engineer Terence John Whitfield (Australia
). They left Chepo, Panama on 2 February 1960 and reached Quibdó
, Colombia
on 17 June 1960, averaging 201 m (220 yd) per hour over 136 days. They traveled a great deal of the distance up the vast Atrato River.
In December, 1960 on a motorcycle trip from Alaska
to Argentina
, adventurer Danny Liska transited the Darién Gap from Panama to Colombia. Liska was forced to abandon his motorcycle and proceed across the Gap by boat and foot. 1962 saw a failed attempt by General Motors
with a team of Chevrolet Corvair
s supported by a bulldozer and a fuel truck.
A Range Rover
on the British Trans-Americas Expedition in 1972 led by John Blashford-Snell
is claimed to be the first vehicle-based expedition to traverse both American continents north-to-south through the Darién Gap. However, this expedition used boats to bypass the Atrato Swamp in Colombia which lies on the "direct" Trans-Americas route and received substantial support from the British Army
. The Hundred Days of Darien, a book written by Russell Braddon
in 1974, chronicles this expedition.
The first fully overland wheeled crossing (others used boats for some sections) of the Gap was that of British cyclist Ian Hibell
who rode from Cape Horn
to Alaska
between 1971 and 1973. Hibell took the "direct" overland south-to-north route including an overland crossing of the Atrato Swamp in Colombia. Hibell completed his crossing accompanied across the Gap by two New Zealand cycling companions who had ridden with him from Cape Horn, but neither of these continued with Hibell on to Alaska. Hibell's "Cape Horn to Alaska" expedition forms part of his 1984 book Into the Remote Places.
The first motorcycle crossing was by Robert L. Webb in March 1975. Another four wheel drive crossing was in 1978–1979 by Mark A Smith and his team. Smith and his team drove the 400 km (248.5 mi) stretch of the gap in 30 days using five stock Jeep CJ-7s. They travelled many miles up the Atrato River via barges. Mark Smith has released his book Driven by a Dream, which documents the crossing.
The first all-land auto crossing was in 1985–1987 by Loren Upton and Patty Mercier in a CJ-5 Jeep, taking 741 days to travel 125 miles (201.2 km), all on land. This crossing is documented in the 1992 Guinness Book of Records. In addition Upton returned in 1995 and became the first to drive a motorcycle, a two-wheel drive Rokon motorcycle
, all on land through the Darién Gap, in 49 days.
In the 1990s, the gap was briefly enjoined by ferry service provided by the Crucera Express
, but this company ceased operations in 1997.
There have been several notable crossings by foot. Sebastian Snow
crossed the Gap with Wade Davis
in 1975 as part of his unbroken walk from Tierra Del Fuego
to Costa Rica
. The trip is documented in his 1976 book The Rucksack Man. In 1981, George Meegan
crossed the gap on a similar journey. He too started in Tierra Del Fuego and eventually ended in Alaska. His 1988 biography The Longest Walk describes the trip and includes a 25 page chapter on his foray through the Gap. In 2001, as a part of his Goliath Expedition, a trek to forge an unbroken footpath from the tip of South America to the Bering Strait
and back to his home in England, Karl Bushby
(UK) crossed the gap on foot, using no transport or boats, from Colombia to Panama.
The only person to cross on foot carrying a 12-foot wooden cross was evangelist Arthur Blessitt in a 1979 trek confirmed by Guinness World Records as part of "the longest round the world pilgramage" for Christ. Traveling alone with a machete plus one backpack crammed with water bottles, a hammock, Bible, notepad, lemon drops and Blessitt's signature Jesus stickers saying "Smile! God Loves you," Blessitt describes his experience in a book, "The Cross"--and in a full-length movie from Gener8Xion Films of the same name.
Most crossings of the Darién Gap region have been from Panama to Colombia. In July 1961, three college students crossed from the Bay of San Miguel
to Puerto Obaldia on the Gulf of Parita
(near Colombia) and ultimately to Mulatupu in what was then known as San Blas
and now identified as Kuna Yala
. The trip across the Darién was by banana boat, piraqua and foot via the Rio Turia
(La Palma and El Real de Santa Maria), Rio Chucunaque (Yaviza
), Rio Tuquesa (Chaua's (General Choco Chief) Trading Post—Choco
Indian village) and Serranía del Darién.
In 1985, Project Raleigh, which evolved from Project Drake in 1984 and in 1989 became Raleigh International
, sponsored an expedition which also crossed the Darién coast to coast. Their path was similar to the 1961 above, though in reverse. The expedition started in The Bay of Caledonia
at the Serranía del Darién and followed the Rio Membrillo ultimately to the Rio Chucunaque and Yaviza. Roughly following the route followed by Balboa
in 1513.
In 2000, Tom Hart Dyke
and a fellow traveller, Paul Winder, were kidnapped by suspected FARC guerillas in the Darién Gap between Panama and Colombia while hunting for rare orchids
, a plant for which he has a particular passion. He and his travel companion were held captive for nine months and threatened with death, before eventually being released unharmed and without a ransom being paid.
Between the early 1980s and mid 1990s a British adventure travel company, Encounter Overland, organised 2-3 week trekking trips through the Darién Gap from Panama to Colombia or vice versa. These trips used a combination of whatever transport was available–jeeps, bus, boats and of course plenty of walking with everyone carrying their supplies of food, shelter, water, etc. These groups were made up of male and female participants from any number of nationalities and age groups and were led by experienced trek leaders. One leader went on to do 9 Darien Gap trips and later acted as a logistics guide/co-ordinator for the BBC Natural History Unit during the production of a documentary called A Tramp in the Darien which screened on BBC in 1990/1991.
A complete overland crossing of the Darien Rainforest by foot and riverboat (i.e. from the last road in Panama to the first road in Colombia) became more dangerous in the 1990s because of the Colombian civil war. The Colombian portion of the Darien Rainforest in the Katios Park region eventually fell under control of armed groups. Furthermore, combatants from Colombia even entered Panama, occupied some Panamanian jungle villages and kidnapped or killed inhabitants and travelers. Just as hostilities were starting to worsen, 18-year-old Andrew Egan traversed the Darien Rainforest, and detailed the excursion in the book Crossing the Darien Gap.
In 2009, a team of three Australians (Roly Stokes, Adam Broadbent and Andrew Young) and one Bolivian (Claudia Orellana) built a boat powered solely by two Kawasaki KLR650 motorcycles to sail around the Darien Gap, from Turbo
, Colombia
, to Carti, Kuna Yala, Panama. The voyage took 4 weeks and is the first-ever transcontinental, international motorcycle-powered boat voyage. The documentary, Four Strokes of Luck, follows the build and voyage.
Pat Farmer the Australian ultra runner is currently (September 2011) crossing the Darien on his quest to run from the North Pole to the South Pole. www.poletopolerun.com
(FARC), which has committed countless assassinations, kidnappings, and human rights violations during its decades-long insurgency against the Colombian government. FARC rebels are present on both the Colombian and Panamanian sides of the border.
Among the political victims of the Darién Gap were three New Tribes missionaries
, who disappeared from Pucuro on the Panamanian side in 1993. British travelers were kidnapped in Darién Gap in 2000 and held for nine months, as documented in the book The Cloud Garden by Tom Hart Dyke
and Paul Winder.
In 2003, Robert Young Pelton
, on assignment for National Geographic Adventure Magazine
, and two traveling companions, Mark Wedeven and Megan Smaker; were detained by the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia
, a rightwing, pro-government paramilitary organization, for one week in a highly publicized incident.
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
's Darién Province
Darién Province
Darién is a province in eastern Panama. It is also the largest province in Panama. It is hot, humid, heavily forested, and sparsely populated, having 48,378 habitants...
in Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
from Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
in South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
. It measures just over 160 km (99.4 mi) long and about 50 km (31.1 mi) wide. Roadbuilding through this area is expensive, and the environmental toll is steep. Political consensus in favor of road construction has not emerged. Consequently there is no road connection through the Darién Gap connecting North/Central America with South America and it is the missing link of the Pan-American Highway
Pan-American Highway
The Pan-American Highway is a network of roads measuring about in total length. Except for an rainforest break, called the Darién Gap, the road links the mainland nations of the Americas in a connected highway system. According to Guinness World Records, the Pan-American Highway is the world's...
.
The geography of the Darién Gap on the Colombian side is dominated primarily by the river delta
River delta
A delta is a landform that is formed at the mouth of a river where that river flows into an ocean, sea, estuary, lake, reservoir, flat arid area, or another river. Deltas are formed from the deposition of the sediment carried by the river as the flow leaves the mouth of the river...
of the Atrato River
Atrato River
The Río Atrato is a river of northwestern Colombia. It rises in the slopes of the Western Cordillera and flows almost due north to the Gulf of Urabá , where it forms a large, swampy delta....
, which creates a flat marsh
Marsh
In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....
land at least 80 km (49.7 mi) wide, half of this being swamp
Swamp
A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...
land. The Panamanian side, in sharp contrast, is a mountainous rain forest, with terrain reaching from 60 m (196.9 ft) in the valley floors to 1845 m (6,053.1 ft) at the tallest peaks (Cerro Tacarcuna).
Pan-American Highway
Yaviza
Yaviza is a town in the Darién Province of Panama. The town marks the northwestern end of the Darién Gap of the Pan-American Highway. It has a population of 1,611 and is the main cultural center of the Panamanian side of the Darién Gap.- Sources :...
at 8°9′N 77°41′W. This marks a straight-line separation of about 100 km (62.1 mi). In between is marshland and forest.
Efforts have been made for decades to remedy this missing link in the Pan-American highway. Planning began in 1971 with the help of United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
funding, but this was halted in 1974 after concerns raised by environmentalists. Another effort to build the road began in 1992, but by 1994 a United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
agency reported that it would cause extensive environmental damage. There is evidence in favor of the argument that the Darién Gap has prevented the spread of diseased cattle into Central and North America, which have not seen foot and mouth disease since 1954, and at least since the 1970s this has been a substantial factor in preventing a road link through the Darién Gap. The Embera-Wounaan
Embera-Wounaan
The Embera–Wounaan are a group of semi-nomadic Indians in Panama, living in the province of Darien at the shores of the Chucunaque, Sambu, Tuira Rivers and its water ways...
and Kuna
Kuna (people)
Kuna or Cuna is the name of an indigenous people of Panama and Colombia. The spelling Kuna is currently preferred. In the Kuna language, the name is Dule or Tule, meaning "people," and the name of the language in Kuna is Dulegaya, meaning "Kuna language" - Location :The Kuna live in three...
have also expressed concern that the road would bring about the potential erosion of their cultures.
People
The Darién Gap is home to the Embera-WounaanEmbera-Wounaan
The Embera–Wounaan are a group of semi-nomadic Indians in Panama, living in the province of Darien at the shores of the Chucunaque, Sambu, Tuira Rivers and its water ways...
and Kuna
Kuna (people)
Kuna or Cuna is the name of an indigenous people of Panama and Colombia. The spelling Kuna is currently preferred. In the Kuna language, the name is Dule or Tule, meaning "people," and the name of the language in Kuna is Dulegaya, meaning "Kuna language" - Location :The Kuna live in three...
Indians (and former home of the Cueva people
Cueva people
The Cueva were an indigenous people that lived in the Darién region of eastern Panamá. They were completely exterminated between 1510 and 1535 due to the effects of Spanish colonization....
before their extermination in the 16th century). Travel is often by dugout canoe (piragua
Piragua
Piragua may refer to:*Piragua , a Puerto Rican frozen treat shaped like a pyramid*"Piragua" and "Piragua ", songs from the musical In the Heights*Pirogue, or piragua, a small, flat-bottomed boat...
). On the Panamanian side, La Palma
La Palma, Panama
La Palma is located at the mouth of the Río Tuira, where the wide river meets the Golfo de San Miguel. The Chucunaque joins the Tuira farther south. La Palma is the provincial capital of Darién Province and the most populous town in the region. However, despite its lofty position as capital of the...
is the capital of the province and the main cultural centre. Other Mestizo population centers include Yaviza
Yaviza
Yaviza is a town in the Darién Province of Panama. The town marks the northwestern end of the Darién Gap of the Pan-American Highway. It has a population of 1,611 and is the main cultural center of the Panamanian side of the Darién Gap.- Sources :...
and El Real
El Real
El Real is a town in Panama. It is located near Yaviza....
. It had a reported population of 1,700 in 1980. Corn, mandioca, plantains and bananas are staple crops wherever land is developed.
Natural resources
Two major national parks exist in the Darién Gap: Darién National ParkDarién National Park
Darién National Park is a world heritage site in Panama. It is about 325 kilometers from Panama City, and is the most extensive of all national parks of Panama and is one of the most important world heritage sites in Central America....
in Panama and Los Katíos National Park
Los Katíos National Park
Los Katíos National Park is a national park located in northwest Colombia which covers 278 square miles . It is a part of the Darién Gap, shared by Panama and Colombia and is contiguous to Darién National Park in Panama. The Pan-American Highway when completed as proposed will pass near or through...
in Colombia. The Darién Gap forests had extensive cedrela
Cedrela
Cedrela is a genus of seven species in the mahogany family Meliaceae. They are evergreen or dry-season deciduous trees with pinnate leaves, native to the tropical and subtropical New World, from southern Mexico south to northern Argentina. The name is derived from a diminutive form of Cedrus...
and mahogany
Mahogany
The name mahogany is used when referring to numerous varieties of dark-colored hardwood. It is a native American word originally used for the wood of the species Swietenia mahagoni, known as West Indian or Cuban mahogany....
cover at one time, but many of these trees were removed by loggers.
The Darién National Park covers around 5,790 square kilometres of land and was established in 1980. It is the largest national park in Central America.
Crossing the Darien Gap
The Gap is frequented by four wheel drive (4WD) and other vehicles that attempt intercontinental journeys. The first post-Colonial expedition to the Darién was the Marsh Darien Expedition in 1924–25, supported by several major sponsors including the Smithsonian InstitutionSmithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
.
The first vehicular crossing of the Gap was by the Land Rover
Land Rover
Land Rover is a British car manufacturer with its headquarters in Gaydon, Warwickshire, United Kingdom which specialises in four-wheel-drive vehicles. It is owned by the Indian company Tata Motors, forming part of their Jaguar Land Rover group...
La Cucaracha Cariñosa (The Affectionate Cockroach) and a Jeep
Jeep
Jeep is an automobile marque of Chrysler . The first Willys Jeeps were produced in 1941 with the first civilian models in 1945, making it the oldest off-road vehicle and sport utility vehicle brand. It inspired a number of other light utility vehicles, such as the Land Rover which is the second...
of the Trans-Darién Expedition 1959–60, crewed by Amado Araúz (Panama), his wife Reina Torres de Araúz, former SAS
Special Air Service
Special Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces and have served as a model for the special forces of many other countries all over the world...
man Richard E. Bevir (UK), and engineer Terence John Whitfield (Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
). They left Chepo, Panama on 2 February 1960 and reached Quibdó
Quibdó
Quibdó is the capital city of Chocó Department, in western Colombia. The municipality of Quibdó has an area of 3,337.5 km² and a population of 100,000 mainly consisting of Afro Colombians and Zambo Colombians. Quibdo serves a a receptor for those persons affected by the Colombian armed...
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
on 17 June 1960, averaging 201 m (220 yd) per hour over 136 days. They traveled a great deal of the distance up the vast Atrato River.
In December, 1960 on a motorcycle trip from Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
to Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, adventurer Danny Liska transited the Darién Gap from Panama to Colombia. Liska was forced to abandon his motorcycle and proceed across the Gap by boat and foot. 1962 saw a failed attempt by General Motors
General Motors
General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
with a team of Chevrolet Corvair
Chevrolet Corvair
-First generation :The 1960 Corvair 500 and 700 series four-door sedans were conceived as economy cars offering few amenities in order to keep the price competitive, with the 500 selling for under $2,000...
s supported by a bulldozer and a fuel truck.
A Range Rover
Range Rover
The Range Rover is a large luxury four-wheel drive sport utility vehicle produced by British car maker Land Rover. The model, launched in 1970, is now in its third generation...
on the British Trans-Americas Expedition in 1972 led by John Blashford-Snell
John Blashford-Snell
Colonel John Nicholas Blashford-Snell OBE is a former British Army officer, explorer and author.John Blashford-Snell was educated at Victoria College, Jersey and at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, then commissioned into the Royal Engineers.Amongst his expeditions have been the first descent...
is claimed to be the first vehicle-based expedition to traverse both American continents north-to-south through the Darién Gap. However, this expedition used boats to bypass the Atrato Swamp in Colombia which lies on the "direct" Trans-Americas route and received substantial support from the British Army
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
. The Hundred Days of Darien, a book written by Russell Braddon
Russell Braddon
Russell Reading Braddon was an Australian writer of novels, biographies and TV scripts. His chronicle of his four years as a prisoner of war, The Naked Island, sold more than a million copies....
in 1974, chronicles this expedition.
The first fully overland wheeled crossing (others used boats for some sections) of the Gap was that of British cyclist Ian Hibell
Ian Hibell
Ian Hibell was a cyclist who spent the better part of 40 years of his life bicycling in various parts of the world, accomplishing many firsts in cycling....
who rode from Cape Horn
Cape Horn
Cape Horn is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island...
to Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
between 1971 and 1973. Hibell took the "direct" overland south-to-north route including an overland crossing of the Atrato Swamp in Colombia. Hibell completed his crossing accompanied across the Gap by two New Zealand cycling companions who had ridden with him from Cape Horn, but neither of these continued with Hibell on to Alaska. Hibell's "Cape Horn to Alaska" expedition forms part of his 1984 book Into the Remote Places.
The first motorcycle crossing was by Robert L. Webb in March 1975. Another four wheel drive crossing was in 1978–1979 by Mark A Smith and his team. Smith and his team drove the 400 km (248.5 mi) stretch of the gap in 30 days using five stock Jeep CJ-7s. They travelled many miles up the Atrato River via barges. Mark Smith has released his book Driven by a Dream, which documents the crossing.
The first all-land auto crossing was in 1985–1987 by Loren Upton and Patty Mercier in a CJ-5 Jeep, taking 741 days to travel 125 miles (201.2 km), all on land. This crossing is documented in the 1992 Guinness Book of Records. In addition Upton returned in 1995 and became the first to drive a motorcycle, a two-wheel drive Rokon motorcycle
Rokon motorcycle
Rokon is a Rochester, New Hampshire-based motorcycle manufacturer that builds unusual 2-wheel-drive off-road motorcycles which are sometimes referred to as Moto-tractors.-History:...
, all on land through the Darién Gap, in 49 days.
In the 1990s, the gap was briefly enjoined by ferry service provided by the Crucera Express
Crucera Express
The Crucero Express was the first and only company to provide ferry service between Panama and Colombia, enjoining the two unconnected segments of the Pan-American Highway...
, but this company ceased operations in 1997.
There have been several notable crossings by foot. Sebastian Snow
Sebastian Snow
Sebastian Edward Farquharson Snow, , born in Midhurst, Sussex, was an eccentric English adventurer who became the first person to travel the length of the Amazon River....
crossed the Gap with Wade Davis
Wade Davis
Edmund Wade Davis is a Canadian anthropologist, ethnobotanist, author and photographer whose work has focused on worldwide indigenous cultures, especially in North and South America and particularly involving the traditional uses and beliefs associated with psychoactive plants...
in 1975 as part of his unbroken walk from Tierra Del Fuego
Tierra del Fuego
Tierra del Fuego is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of a main island Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego divided between Chile and Argentina with an area of , and a group of smaller islands including Cape...
to Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
. The trip is documented in his 1976 book The Rucksack Man. In 1981, George Meegan
George Meegan
George Meegan is a British long-distance walker best known for his unbroken walk of the entire Western Hemisphere from the southern tip of South America to the northernmost part of Alaska, in 2,425 days...
crossed the gap on a similar journey. He too started in Tierra Del Fuego and eventually ended in Alaska. His 1988 biography The Longest Walk describes the trip and includes a 25 page chapter on his foray through the Gap. In 2001, as a part of his Goliath Expedition, a trek to forge an unbroken footpath from the tip of South America to the Bering Strait
Bering Strait
The Bering Strait , known to natives as Imakpik, is a sea strait between Cape Dezhnev, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, Russia, the easternmost point of the Asian continent and Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska, USA, the westernmost point of the North American continent, with latitude of about 65°40'N,...
and back to his home in England, Karl Bushby
Karl Bushby
Karl Bushby is a British ex-paratrooper, walking adventurer and author, currently attempting to be the first person to completely walk an unbroken path around the world. Bushby's trek is known as the Goliath Expedition.-Early life:...
(UK) crossed the gap on foot, using no transport or boats, from Colombia to Panama.
The only person to cross on foot carrying a 12-foot wooden cross was evangelist Arthur Blessitt in a 1979 trek confirmed by Guinness World Records as part of "the longest round the world pilgramage" for Christ. Traveling alone with a machete plus one backpack crammed with water bottles, a hammock, Bible, notepad, lemon drops and Blessitt's signature Jesus stickers saying "Smile! God Loves you," Blessitt describes his experience in a book, "The Cross"--and in a full-length movie from Gener8Xion Films of the same name.
Most crossings of the Darién Gap region have been from Panama to Colombia. In July 1961, three college students crossed from the Bay of San Miguel
Bay of San Miguel
The Bay of San Miguel is located on the Pacific coast of Darién, a district of eastern Panama. Bay is located at . It is fed by the Tuira River. At its southern end is Cape Garachiné , and at its northern end is Punta San Lorenzo ....
to Puerto Obaldia on the Gulf of Parita
Gulf of Parita
Gulf of Parita or Parita Bay is a large body of water off the coast of Herrera Province, Panama, at . It forms the western side of the Gulf of Panama, between Puerto Obaldia, Coclé, and the mouth of the Rio Grande....
(near Colombia) and ultimately to Mulatupu in what was then known as San Blas
San Blas Islands
The San Blas Islands of Panama is an archipelago comprising approximately 378 islands and cays, of which only 49 are inhabited. They lay off the north coast of the Isthmus, east of the Panama Canal...
and now identified as Kuna Yala
Kuna Yala
Guna Yala is an autonomous territory or comarca in Panama, inhabited by the Kuna indigenous people.The name means "Guna-land" or "Guna mountain" in the Kuna language...
. The trip across the Darién was by banana boat, piraqua and foot via the Rio Turia
Turia River
The Turia or Túria is a Spanish river which has its source in the Montes Universales, amidst the mountain ranges of the northwesternmost end of the Sistema Ibérico, Teruel province. From its source to roughly the city of Teruel, it is called Guadalaviar river...
(La Palma and El Real de Santa Maria), Rio Chucunaque (Yaviza
Yaviza
Yaviza is a town in the Darién Province of Panama. The town marks the northwestern end of the Darién Gap of the Pan-American Highway. It has a population of 1,611 and is the main cultural center of the Panamanian side of the Darién Gap.- Sources :...
), Rio Tuquesa (Chaua's (General Choco Chief) Trading Post—Choco
Embera-Wounaan
The Embera–Wounaan are a group of semi-nomadic Indians in Panama, living in the province of Darien at the shores of the Chucunaque, Sambu, Tuira Rivers and its water ways...
Indian village) and Serranía del Darién.
In 1985, Project Raleigh, which evolved from Project Drake in 1984 and in 1989 became Raleigh International
Raleigh International
Raleigh International is a UK-based youth and sustainable development charity that aims to help people of all backgrounds and nationalities to discover their full potential through their work to improve communities and protect the environment....
, sponsored an expedition which also crossed the Darién coast to coast. Their path was similar to the 1961 above, though in reverse. The expedition started in The Bay of Caledonia
Darién scheme
The Darién scheme was an unsuccessful attempt by the Kingdom of Scotland to become a world trading nation by establishing a colony called "New Caledonia" on the Isthmus of Panama in the late 1690s...
at the Serranía del Darién and followed the Rio Membrillo ultimately to the Rio Chucunaque and Yaviza. Roughly following the route followed by Balboa
Vasco Núñez de Balboa
Vasco Núñez de Balboa was a Spanish explorer, governor, and conquistador. He is best known for having crossed the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean in 1513, becoming the first European to lead an expedition to have seen or reached the Pacific from the New World.He traveled to the New World in...
in 1513.
In 2000, Tom Hart Dyke
Tom Hart Dyke
-External links:*...
and a fellow traveller, Paul Winder, were kidnapped by suspected FARC guerillas in the Darién Gap between Panama and Colombia while hunting for rare orchids
Orchid hunters
Orchid hunting is the search for orchid plants in the wild. The orchid plants are usually being acquired for the commercial market, where there was, and still is, significant demand for these unusual flowering plants.-The Victorian era:...
, a plant for which he has a particular passion. He and his travel companion were held captive for nine months and threatened with death, before eventually being released unharmed and without a ransom being paid.
Between the early 1980s and mid 1990s a British adventure travel company, Encounter Overland, organised 2-3 week trekking trips through the Darién Gap from Panama to Colombia or vice versa. These trips used a combination of whatever transport was available–jeeps, bus, boats and of course plenty of walking with everyone carrying their supplies of food, shelter, water, etc. These groups were made up of male and female participants from any number of nationalities and age groups and were led by experienced trek leaders. One leader went on to do 9 Darien Gap trips and later acted as a logistics guide/co-ordinator for the BBC Natural History Unit during the production of a documentary called A Tramp in the Darien which screened on BBC in 1990/1991.
A complete overland crossing of the Darien Rainforest by foot and riverboat (i.e. from the last road in Panama to the first road in Colombia) became more dangerous in the 1990s because of the Colombian civil war. The Colombian portion of the Darien Rainforest in the Katios Park region eventually fell under control of armed groups. Furthermore, combatants from Colombia even entered Panama, occupied some Panamanian jungle villages and kidnapped or killed inhabitants and travelers. Just as hostilities were starting to worsen, 18-year-old Andrew Egan traversed the Darien Rainforest, and detailed the excursion in the book Crossing the Darien Gap.
In 2009, a team of three Australians (Roly Stokes, Adam Broadbent and Andrew Young) and one Bolivian (Claudia Orellana) built a boat powered solely by two Kawasaki KLR650 motorcycles to sail around the Darien Gap, from Turbo
Turbo, Colombia
Turbo is a port town in Antioquia Department, Colombia. It is located at around . It is located on the coast of Gulf of Urabá, 340 km. north from Medellín...
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, to Carti, Kuna Yala, Panama. The voyage took 4 weeks and is the first-ever transcontinental, international motorcycle-powered boat voyage. The documentary, Four Strokes of Luck, follows the build and voyage.
Pat Farmer the Australian ultra runner is currently (September 2011) crossing the Darien on his quest to run from the North Pole to the South Pole. www.poletopolerun.com
Armed conflict and kidnappings
The Darién Gap is subject to the presence and activities of the Marxist Revolutionary Armed Forces of ColombiaRevolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia – People's Army is a Marxist–Leninist revolutionary guerrilla organization based in Colombia which is involved in the ongoing Colombian armed conflict, currently involved in drug dealing and crimes against the civilians..FARC-EP is a peasant army which...
(FARC), which has committed countless assassinations, kidnappings, and human rights violations during its decades-long insurgency against the Colombian government. FARC rebels are present on both the Colombian and Panamanian sides of the border.
Among the political victims of the Darién Gap were three New Tribes missionaries
New Tribes Mission
New Tribes Mission is an international, theologically evangelical Christian mission organization based in Sanford, Florida, United States. NTM has approximately 3,300 missionaries in more than 20 nations, second only to Wycliffe Bible Translators/SIL International David Hesselgrave, Executive...
, who disappeared from Pucuro on the Panamanian side in 1993. British travelers were kidnapped in Darién Gap in 2000 and held for nine months, as documented in the book The Cloud Garden by Tom Hart Dyke
Tom Hart Dyke
-External links:*...
and Paul Winder.
In 2003, Robert Young Pelton
Robert Young Pelton
Robert Young Pelton , is an author, journalist and documentary filmmaker. Pelton is considered an adventurer and a "witness" to conflict. Pelton is known for overcoming extraordinary obstacles in his search for the truth...
, on assignment for National Geographic Adventure Magazine
National Geographic Adventure Magazine
National Geographic Adventure was a magazine started in 1999 by the National Geographic Society in the United States. It focused on adventure travel and included "Next Weekend" where it featured good weekend trips from all across the U.S., "First In" where it wrote recent adventure travel news,...
, and two traveling companions, Mark Wedeven and Megan Smaker; were detained by the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia
United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia
The United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia was created as an umbrella organization of regional far-right...
, a rightwing, pro-government paramilitary organization, for one week in a highly publicized incident.