The Darién Gap is a lawless wilderness on the border of Colombia and Panama, teeming with everything from deadly snakes to antigovernment guerrillas. The region also sees a flow of migrants from Cuba, Africa, and Asia, whose desperation sends them on perilous journeys to the U.S. Jason Motlagh plunged in, risking robbery, kidnapping, and death to document one of the world’s most harrowing treks.
This clip is a preview of an hour-long film that Australian newsmagazine Dateline will air on September 6 on Jason Motlagh's expedition through the Darien Gap, using footage shot by Motlagh and videographer Roger Arnold.
An excerpt from Unruly Places: Lost Spaces, Secret Cities, and Other Inscrutable Geographies examines the spaces between borders
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2009 Travel Awards
Take one desert island, insert one strapping lad, and see how long he survives. That's the recipe for our half-starved, sunburnt castaway, who lived to tell the tale.
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All it takes is one trip to change your life - and we've got 40 of 'em. Dreaming of close encounters with cheetahs or penguins? Want to climb a mountain in Peru? Experience an epic trek in China? One trip, one world - that's all it takes.
Panama's mythic Darién Gap—a 10,000-square-mile swath of jungle on the border of Central and South America—has swallowed explorers for centuries. Today, guerrillas, drug smugglers, poachers, and jaguars rule this vast no-man's-land. Our explorer spent six weeks trying to penetrate Darién's heart of darkness, but the Gap still fiercely protects its secrets.
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