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Published: March 10th 2014
Following the Lovecraft-referenced northern Indian village of Sarnath, there is another otherworldly named region that Erika and I will encounter during our travels: the
Darién Gap. It is a 100 mile stretch of marshland on the border between Panama and Columbia, making it an inevitability when moving from North to South America. It is dubbed a "gap" because the Pan-American Highway does not pass through it at all, breaking the otherwise smooth road links between the two continents and thus making land crossing very difficult. From what I can gather the Darién Gap is treacherous not only because of the landscape but also the cartel activity in the region that has resulted in kidnappings and murders.
So
the safest options to get into South America are by air and sea. Flights are the quickest but least adventurous and possibly most expensive option. Erika didn't seem keen on visiting Columbia anyway so our ultimate decision might be to fly from Panama right through to Chile or Venezuela.
There are two ways of crossing by sea . The first is to charter a private boat for a five day island-hopping tour of the Gulf of Panama. This isn't a cheap option either but seems to provide a number of safe, touristy things to do such as eating lobster, drinking champagne, and sleeping about as comfortably as the monarch of a moderately wealthy micronation. The second is to hitch-hike on lanchas (speedboats), which are relatively quick but supremely uncomfortable. Has to be better than a dagger to the carotid though, innit.
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Mom/Rachel
non-member comment
Phew!
Very pleased to hear you have discounted the "treacherous" option! There are clearly advantages to travelling as one might if one was a royal don't ya know. But not sure that I would include eating lobster in that (YUK). Daggers in the cartoid, or any other oid are to be avoided at all costs.