Darien gap Travel Guide

The Darien Gap is the bit of Transamerican that is missing. No road, just jungle and that's the fun of it. By canoe and by foot you can make it all the way to Colombia, from where it is possible to continue by car or public transport--assuming that are you are not kidnapped on the way and brutally beaten to within an inch of your life, which is more than likely.

When you want to go to Colombia and do not want to cross through the thick of the jungle, the only alternative is going to Colon and trying to get a boat, or a plane, to Puerto Obaldía near the Colombian border from there.

   While it is considered exceedingly dangerous to cross through the Darien Gap between Panama and Colombia, it is still possible to have a reasonably secure experience in the province, visiting native communities such a Mogue, Boca Lara, and Union Choco. All of these communities can be visited by taking flights or a bus to the last land location, and from there by water taxi. Probably the best method (if you have an open schedule) is to find one of the rusting cargo ships that supplies Darien villages. Some of them also take passengers. They leave from the municipal dock in Panama City - an area known as Salsipuedes (translates to 'leave if you can').

There hasn't been much written about Darien in the past few decades, other than a handful of short adventure sprints (Robert Pelton in National Geo Adventure, and Karl Bushby in his book 'Giant Steps') The only travel book to tell Darien's incredible story - from ancient geology, to native histories, mythology, and on-going problems with politics and kidnapping - will be released in April 2008 by a writer who traveled with native guides and on his own throughout the region for a year and a half by foot, dugout canoe and sailboat.  A description of the book can be found by searching 'The Darien Gap: Travels in the Rainforest of Panama