X-Nico

3 unusual facts about Darien Gap


Boeing 737 rudder issues

On June 6, 1992, Copa Airlines Flight 201, a 737-200 Advanced, flipped to the right and crashed in the Darién Gap, killing 47 people.

James C. Dobbin

He ordered U.S. Navy Lieutenant Isaac Strain to command a U.S. Darién Exploring Expedition to map and survey the Darién Gap for a Panama Canal to link the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

Yaviza

It has a population of 1,611 and is the main cultural center of the Panamanian side of the Darién Gap.


Choco Tinamou

The completion of the Pan-American highway through Darién and the canalisation of the Truandó and lower Atrato Rivers, to make an inter-oceanic fairway, are currently on hold, but could have serious effects on the species if it is to be completed.

Orchid hunting

Tom Hart Dyke, a plant hunter who follows the tradition of the Victorian and Edwardian orchid hunters, was held in 2000 by kidnappers thought to be FARC guerillas in the Darien Gap between Panama and Colombia, while hunting for rare orchids, a plant for which he has a particular passion.

Sebastian Snow

His travel companion during the grueling and dangerous traversal of the Darien Gap was a young Canadian, Wade Davis, later to become famous in his own right as an ethnobotanist and author.


see also