Mind the Gap

Imagine a fun off-road day with your friends the day after a heavy rainstorm – except you’re in one of the most dangerous places on earth and the day is nobody’s idea of fun. Throw in eight days of 42°C heat, constant tropical downpours, the world’s most venomous snakes, poisonous spiders and swarms of diseased mosquitos. Then mix in drug smugglers, human traffickers and anti-government bandits, knee-deep muck, swamps and trench foot. That’s the Darien Gap. Not the best place to ride a motorcycle.

“But we had to,” says team leader Wayne Mitchell. “Our aim was to be the first to ride the length of the Americas overland in one go, from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, to Ushuaia, Argentina – and that meant getting our bikes through the Gap.”

Off to a Chilly Start

Sane Pan-American riders avoid the Darien Gap at all costs