Started out with Declan McGowan for a bar-crawl from Mexico City to San Jose in Costa Rica picking up a bit of culture along the way. Our Spanish lessons in Antigua, Guatemala, were side-tracked by the nightlife and detrimental to our budget. We did contemplate the idea of travelling through Panama and Columbia overland through the Darién Gap* but bottled out in the end.
In February 1988 Declan flew back to London via Venezuela and I flew off to Quito in Ecuador. Travel was largely on buses, the odd train and boat trip and a few short flights. Everywhere we went we found friendly, welcoming people (but beware shysters in Belize City and watch your valuables in Cuzco and Rio de Janeiro!).
The result was a voyage of discovery with a wealth of natural and historical treasures to explore. The South American Handbook was invaluable.
The first entry will be published on Wednesday 1st December 2021, taken from my diary entry on Tuesday 1st December 1987.
*The Darién Gap is a break across the North and South American continents within Central America, consisting of a large watershed, forest, and mountains in the northern portion of Colombia's Chocó Department and Panama's Darién Province. One person who crossed it said, “The Darién Gap is a lawless wilderness on the border of Colombia and Panama, teeming with everything from deadly snakes to anti-government guerrillas. The region also sees a flow of migrants from Cuba, Africa, and Asia, whose desperation sends them on perilous journeys to the United States. Jason Motlagh plunged in, risking robbery, kidnapping, and death to document one of the world’s most harrowing treks”.
