The Pan
American Highway starts up in Alaska. It goes through Canada, the US, and
Central America. It is interrupted in Panama. You must board a ferry there and
go to Colombia. Then you can continue your journey all the way down to the tip
of South America by car.
I have been at the top of this highway and
at the bottom where the highway ends in the Argentine province of Tierra del
Fuego.
The highway has only one interruption. It
is South of the Panama Canal and called The Darien Gap. If you are curious,
here is a link that describes it in detail:
https://expertvagabond.com/darien-gap-photos/
It is a hell hole. Professional military
units with excellent equipment have trained there and failed to make it through.
In preparation for Vietnam, US Navy personnel were required to go to The Escape
and Evasion School in Monterrey, California, and The Jungle Survival School in
the Darien Gap. I went to the first school. I did not go to the second school.
It was suspended because too many trainees had died there. (One was inserted by
helicopter and required to survive six days in the jungle. Later the school was
reopened. Each six-man team inserted was required to have a professional guide
for the tour.)
I was amazed to read the story of a large
number of Haitian refugees who had traversed the Darien Gap in an effort to
reach the USA. Most were malnourished and wore sandals.
As global warming (climate change)
worsens, we are going to see literally millions of refugees desperately trying
to escape parched or flooded places. It is not going to be a nice future.
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