This is the best lead to a story I've read in a while:
"In Yaviza, a town of contrabandistas, barefoot prostitutes, and drunken men fighting in the streets with machetes and broken bottles, I'm spotted by two Panamanian policemen and ordered to the cuartel (barracks)."
If you don't want to read what comes after that first sentence, I say there is something wrong with you. I ran across this article after having my curiosity piqued by all the dire warnings not to travel to the Darién Gap. Thinking - how bad can it actually be? - I resolved to undertake a bit of research.
After an hour or two of research, I can confidently answer the above question with - that bad. The place sounds like a real hell-hole. If the thick jungles infested with poisonous snakes don't get you, it is easy to drown in a swamp, get kidnapped or just get lost and not be able to find your way out of the jungle. And don't forget the jaguars. They apparently have a taste for people.
The slow boat to Columbia is sounding better and better.
I thought you could take on any challenge...?
ReplyDeleteJ/K. Good for you for doing some homework before you take off. We still need to do lunch or share some kind of meal together before you go. Give me a call. I'm just brainstorming in the city...
Hey! Let me know if/when you plan to be in Ecuador. I'll email my sis-in-law and see if she has any info, contacts, etc. for you. Have fun and don't get yourself killed!
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