Darien Gap: Inside world's most dangerous jungle with FARC, snakes & anti-govt guerrillas

Whether it is to flee war, religious persecution, poverty or the effects of climate change, migrants and refugees worldwide routinely find themselves in great danger. However, Darien Gap may perhaps hold the unique distinction of being the most hazardous migrant trail of all.

What is the Darien Gap?

The Darien Gap is a section on the southern border of Panama often referred to as one of the most inhospitable places on the planet. It is a part of the 19,000-mile Pan-American highway road route from Prudhoe Bay in Alaska to Ushuaia, Argentina. 
The Darien Gap is 66 miles of dense mountainous jungles that has no roads and is swamped with armed guerillas such as FARC, drug traffickers and more importantly deadly venomous creatures covering the border of Panama and Colombia.

The Darien Gap is often referred to as the lawless wilderness in pop culture and is situated on the border of Colombia and Panama, teeming with everything from deadly snakes to antigovernment guerrilla organisations. The Gap also sees a regular flow of migrants from Cuba, Africa and Asia, whose desperation sends them on perilous journeys to reach, where they risk robbery, kidnapping and even death to document one of the world’s most harrowing treks.

Despite multiple attempts to connect the missing 66-mile gap with the rest of the highway network, serious environmental implications and the enormous cost of building a road through it have thwarted all attempts so far. There is also a section of activists concerned that the Gap acts as a natural barrier against the inflow of drugs and disease flowing freely into North America and the U.S. 

The first-ever and only known successful vehicle expedition through the Darien Gap were led by a British  Army officer Gavin Thompson. His team reportedly started in Alaska and drove all the way to Panama in a Range Rover. His team of six was assisted by 64 other engineers and scientists who helped them "hack" their way through the jungles and float the Range Rovers across the rivers. In the expeditions that followed, Thompson famously listed several things that could kill you in the Darian Gap

The dangers that lie within the Darien Gap

From pit vipers to drug traffickers, FARC (Revolutionary Amed Forces of Colombia) Guerillas, to wandering venomous spiders and the blistering jungle heat, which according to reports, can reach a balmy 35-degree Celsius with 95% humidity, meaning if someone runs out of water, it could take anywhere between 20-50 days to find replenishment.

The dense jungle also packs other surprises such as water bodies that are completely undrinkable with a host of viruses and parasites in every sip. Chunga palm trees with 80 inches-long spikes covered in an array of bacteria, ticks, trench foot, bot flies, and more uncommon but still active Cold War-era bombs lying deceptively smattered throughout the jungle. While most of the bombs are detonated, some remain waiting for someone to step off the trail and step on one to explode.

Cold War-era bombs

During the heights of Cold War, American troops launched bombs into the dense jungle to practice and prepare for the "real" war that presumably laid ahead. Although most of the bombs were detonated, and the forest regrew, some of the live bombs still lie there idle on the forest floor, covered in moss and poison ivy, waiting for someone to trip over them and cause a massive explosion.

Who are the FARC?

The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC–EP) is a Marxist–Leninist revolutionary guerrilla organisation based in Colombia and is known for being involved in the ongoing Colombian armed conflict. Founded in 1964, their original leaders were small farmers and land workers who had banded together to fight against inequality in Colombia. While the FARC have some presence in urban pockets, they have always been an overwhelmingly rural guerrilla organisation. FATC has anywhere between 6,000 and 7,000 active fighters within the ranks with another 8,500 civilians also forming the organisation's support network. It is estimated that the organisation's strength has subsided considerably from 20,000 active fighters they are believed to have had in the early 2000s.