The Cloud Garden

A place of legend, the Darien Gap is an almost impregnable strip of swamp, jungle and cloud forest between North and South America. Stories of abduction and murder there are rife. In 2000, young botanist Tom Hart Dyke set off to Central America to search for rare orchids. Pure chance brought him together with another young explorer, Paul Winder, in northern Mexico. Ignoring a warning from the LONELY PLANET guide – ‘Don’t even think about it!’ – Tom and Paul set off into the Darien. For six days they made good progress. Then, near Colombia, they were ambushed by FARC guerrillas, who were to hold them hostage for the next nine months. Their survival was a matter of extraordinary endurance, incredible ingenuity and not a little good luck…