Expedition Team to Plunge Into Panama’s Notorious Darien Jungles

Bristol, United Kingdom, January 08, 2015 --(PR.com)-- UK-based Secret Compass was founded by Levison Wood (Walking the Nile/ Channel 4) and former army colleague Tom Bodkin. Like Wood’s epic attempt to walk the Nile, Secret Compass expeditions aim to achieve the extraordinary in the world’s wildest places.

Bodkin said, “This Darien Gap expedition has been singled out as a Sunday Times ‘Wildest Trip of the Year’ (2014). With a handful of expedition team places left we’re keen to hear from active adventurers willing to take on this uniquely challenging jungle trek.”

Darien Gap: jungle expedition highlights

- Explore the UNESCO-protected region that separates the Americas
- Learn jungle survival skills from expert guides
- Travel alongside and learn about the Emberá Indians
- Seek out mysterious, 5,000-year-old petroglyphs (stone carvings)
- Explore jungle rivers by indigenous canoe
- Be among the first adventure travellers to cross the Darién Gap on foot

The only break in the 30,000-mile-long Pan-American highway, the Darién Gap separates Panama and Columbia and is a natural barrier between Central and South America.

Its unexplored depths offer “an epic jungle experience worth boasting about for years to come” according to Secret Compass team mate Tom Healy.

Bodkin added, “We strive to offer extraordinary adventure travel with a wild or remote edge and this foray into the Darien’s puma-prowled depths is not for the faint-hearted!

“The area is culturally and ethnically diverse, peopled by Emberá, Wounaan and Kuna tribes. Our team will meet Emberá tribesmen and visit major archaeological sites formerly lost in ancient jungles, such as 5,000-year-old petroglyphs.”

This UNESCO-protected World Heritage site also has a plethora of rare birds, plants and wildlife. Rick Morales, Secret Compass expedition leader, said, “I saw monkey, quetzals, peccaries and the tracks of jaguar, puma, ocelot and tapir.

“I never glimpsed a jaguar, though one night in the rainforest I heard and smelt something beneath my hammock – but chose not to find out what it was!” added Morales.

This pioneering Panamanian expedition is one of 14 adventure travel experiences organised by Secret Compass in 2015. New destinations for 2015 include Sinai, Burma, Iran, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan (MTB) and Namibia, with established expeditions continuing in Ethiopia (MTB), Madagascar, Afghanistan, Kurdistan and Kamchatka.

Find full Darien Gap expedition information on the Secret Compass website.

For further press information, imagery or to organise an interview with any Secret Compass staff or former expedition team mates, contact Marketing Director Kerry O'Neill.

Notes To Editors
Secret Compass is a pioneering expedition company creating world-first experiences for teams of like-minded adventurers. Through group and bespoke adventures, Secret Compass helps each team member achieve the extraordinary in the world’s wildest places. Founded by ex-British Army Parachute Regiment officers Levison Wood (Walking the Nile/Channel 4) and Tom Bodkin, its expeditions reach the planet’s most remote regions in the spirit of exploration’s earliest pioneers. Secret Compass is passionate about returning tourism to post-conflict zones and emerging economies to stimulate local development and challenge preconceptions.

Specialist Film and TV services
Secret Compass also takes film crews, journalists and photographers to remote and previously inaccessible areas thanks to its unrivalled location management expertise. Clients to date include the BBC, National Geographic, Discovery, Animal Planet and Channel 4.