Talk:Darién Gap

For the terrain maps.

PanAmerican Highway
could use some cleaning. mediocre grammar and highly repetitive. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.172.91.54 (talk) 18:48, 2 October 2013 (UTC)

First to cross
British explorer John Blashford-Snell claims to have made the first crossing in 1972. Here is the link http://www.ses-explore.org/default.aspx?section=aboutses&page=johnblashfordsnell Brentford 16:16, 5 Jan 2005 (UTC)

According to the 1991 edition of the Guinness Book of Records:

"... so as to by-pass the Darién gap.

This was first traversed by the Land Rover La Cucaracha Carinosa (The Affectionate Cockroach) of the Trans-Darién Expedition 1959-60, crewed by former SAS man Richard E. Bevir (UK) and engineer Terence John Whitfield (Australia). They left Chepo, Panama on 2 Feb 1960 and reached Quibdó, Columbia on 17 June, averaging 201 m 220 yd per hour of indescribable difficulty." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.78.71.70 (talk • contribs) 09:28, 23 February 2005

Bypassing the gap?
Is there a ferry service or anything convenient to bypass the gap, if traveling by car? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.99.108.2 (talk • contribs) 17:33, 10 February 2005


 * No "ferry" per-se, but you can ship cars around the gap (or anywhere else in the world, for that matter) by container ship from Panama. It can cost anywhere from $1k to $5k depending on the size of your vehicle (the $5k quote was for a large motorhome).  It can be somewhat cheaper if you find other vehicles and share a larger container. Lhoriman (talk) 17:18, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Why is there no ferry? Not enough demand? If so, why are they even thinking about closing the gap? --Kloth (talk) 03:55, 22 August 2011 (UTC)

Origin of name?
Why is it called Darien? --Gbleem 13:14, 14 July 2006 (UTC)
 * Perhaps because of the name of the province in Panama where part of it is located? 74.38.32.128 05:45, 5 October 2006 (UTC)

Erik Jorgensen
Does anyone know an evidence that Erik Jorgensen made it in December 2005? I searched in the Internet but could'nt find anything.--129.215.149.97 23:47, 8 January 2007 (UTC)


 * This is erik jorgensen. i crossed the gap from yaviza to pucaru to paya to crystales to turbo. if you have any questions just go to the all black refugee village of Boca de cupa and ask there. P.S. i have Paraguayan citizenship as well! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.127.73.181 (talk • contribs)


 * Regardless, the link is wrong. It links to an Erik Jorgensen that died in 1896. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.61.69.156 (talk) 17:09, 24 February 2008 (UTC)


 * I changed "The last known crossing was by Erik..." to "Erik crossed...". I'm in Panama right now researching the same crossing.  With all due respect to the accomplishment, I've met other people just hanging out in my hostel that have crossed into Columbia (although they returned the same route).  Indigenous peoples (and a fair number of FARC guerrillas) make the crossing frequently.  A couple weeks ago a troop of FARC soldiers crossed over, "invaded" a Panamanian village, and robbed a store for food (they're that desperate).  Although the Panamanian police will stop you if they catch you, it's clear that there are plenty of foot crossings which are simply not reported. Lhoriman (talk) 17:47, 20 August 2008 (UTC)

Sebastian Snow
In "The Rucksack Man," Snow describes "the end" of his walk as "hazardous, ghastly, a gruelling nightmare where Death Stalked" [p. 251]. He is primarily referring to his crossing of the Gap, since he ended his 8700 mile walk in Panama City. Snow says he was "underweight by about five stone, two sprained ankles, both swollen and discoloured, my feet and ankles covered with gore, blood and bites, a mass of suppurating sores, stung by a hornet on the neck, bitten by a scorpion, nipped by a vampire bat, ticks under the skin, I looked in the mirror and saw that days in the jungle could do." [p. 251]

Snow provides few dates in his account. He returned to England before the summer of 1975, but it is not clear from his book if he crossed the gap later in 1974 or early in 1975. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.95.162.181 (talk • contribs) 13:20, 9 March 2007 (UTC)

FARC is left-wing extremist paramilitary organization
As is typical with many contributors to Wiki, they often qualify groups with their political orientation only if it is right of center. For the record, FARC is a left-wing extremist paramilitary organization. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 75.31.176.8 (talk) 04:19, 13 March 2007 (UTC).

Somewhat agree and changed article accordingly. In the context of the Colombian context, "paramilitary" means pro-government, usually working in some sort of concert with the military or political class. Terms like "rebel," "guerrilla" or "insurgency" are more appropriate for the FARC. Danfeder (talk) 20:21, 11 July 2011 (UTC)

And a Jeep...
There are numerous references to the 1959-60 crossing also including a Jeep. Here's a ok looking reference http://www.geocities.com/~landroverpty/trans.htm That's not to say the Land Rover was not the first of these 2 to cross the line. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tartanperil (talk • contribs) 04:32, 12 April 2007 (UTC)

New Additions: "trans gap" vs. "coast to coast" crossings.
I have made four additions in the last month: (I was part of this) Only the last fits nicely into the Darien Gap section, which appears to have the theme of crossing the Gap in the Pan American Highway. The other three were more in the nature of explorations. The most notable of these is The Marsh Darien Expedition which probably deserves its own entry.
 * Marsh Darien Expedition (1924/25)
 * 1961 crossing from the Pacific to the Caribbean.
 * 1985 Project Raleigh Caribbean to Pacific crossing
 * Danny Liska's 1960 "trans gap" grossing

I actually thought at first to put this information in the section on Darien Province, but the only individuals mentioned there are Columbus and Balboa. Even early explorers, "Edward Cullen; the french engineer, Reclus, also, the pirate surgeon Leonel Wafer" are left out. So that section did not seem to have the proper balance for these entries.

I would be interested in others view on this? CEagle (talk) 20:02, 19 April 2008 (UTC)

How long is it really?
The intro says "just over 160km" but in the "Crossings" section this line appears: The first motorcycle crossing was by Robert L. Webb in March 1975. Another four wheel drive crossing was in 1978-1979 by Mark A Smith and his team. Smith and his team drove the 400 km (250 mile) stretch of the gap in 30 days using five stock Jeep CJ-7s. -newkai t-c 02:45, 7 September 2008 (UTC)


 * If you look at distance as the crow flies between major roads, looks like about 70 miles on http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=7.964038,-77.34375&spn=1.224019,1.766052&z=9  But if small/dirt roads count, then  http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=7.964038,-77.34375&spn=0.612018,0.883026&t=p&z=10  makes it looks like about 30 miles as the crow flies, assuming the roads go to Boca de Cupe on the Panama side.  That map shows a road to Unguia on the Columbia side but it is not clear if that is dirt or paved.  There is also a road on the Columbia side that comes to the border about 30 miles south-south-west of Boca de Cupe  http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=7.749094,-77.731018&spn=1.224652,1.766052&z=9  Going south-east from Boca de Cupe there looks like an easy way through the mountain range.   I just bet there are several dirt tracks that go across, maybe "road" is too generous for any though.  And maybe your chances of getting shot are too high, so innocent bystanders don't go there.  Vincecate (talk) 19:52, 9 September 2008 (UTC)

Crossing the mountain range
This article talks about the height of the mountains that have to be crossed. But it looks like there is a route near the center that is only between 100 meters and 200 meters high. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&ie=UTF8&ll=7.809728,-77.342334&spn=0.01943,0.027637&t=p&z=15  After reading the heights from the contour map, zoom out and follow the lines. Vincecate (talk) 10:11, 10 September 2008 (UTC)

Check satellite images
A United States ... chart ... show a road ... It is unclear whether this road is a real feature or not ... there was no apparent active construction ... Well Holmes, wouldn't it be in Google Earth/Maps? Jidanni (talk) 22:30, 11 January 2009 (UTC)

Crossings
Should crossings have its own section rather than come under history?

I am proposing also that the Other crossings section is deleted on the basis that they built the boat and went around Dariens gap and so did not cross the gap as such. Also the text references a link to their website which is just really promotion of their own amateur documentary. As interesting and adventurous as what they did is I don't think it has a place on this wiki page. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jetjackson (talk • contribs) 12:15, 4 July 2010 (UTC)

Geography
Which subregions compose the Darien Gap? What are its geographic characteristics? What is its topography like? I propose that we create a new section in which we describe matters like these.--Forich (talk) 20:59, 23 February 2013 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 1 one external link on Darién Gap. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/20070930192213/http://www2.widener.edu/SBA/FacultyWebpages/Larson/adventure_page.htm to http://www2.widener.edu/SBA/FacultyWebpages/Larson/adventure_page.htm

When you have finished reviewing my changes, please set the checked parameter below to true to let others know.

Cheers. —cyberbot II  Talk to my owner :Online 04:16, 19 October 2015 (UTC)

Information regarding the FARC outdated.
The information in this section is outdated. The FARC Rebels signed a peace treaty and no longer exist (Source). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.47.78.106 (talk) 01:10, 11 February 2018 (UTC)

Many citations needed? Many unprofessional sounding parts?
A lot of this article sounds either really outdated or like it was improperly translated from different languages, I’m really not too used to how all of this works but this is the first time a page’s content had me scratching my head enough to want to say anything haha. The use of articles in some areas, especially with the citation needed, is simply awful as well, as well as a lot of other grammatical problems. 148.74.155.126 (talk) 18:35, 23 August 2023 (UTC)

Subjective, sensationalist, why is everything focused on migrants?
Much of the article reads like someone trying to hype-up the danger. Every section seems to bring up migrants and US immigration. Too American-centric and sounds unprofessional. 2601:640:8B81:87E0:85DA:9299:3112:2F44 (talk) 02:45, 10 April 2024 (UTC)