The Darién Gap is a place of legend. The only break in the Pan-American highway, which runs from Alaska to the tip of South America, it is an almost impregnable strip of swamp, jungle & cloud forest between the vast landmasses of North & South America. Stories of abduction & murder there are rife & in recent years more people have successfully climbed Everest or trekked to the South Pole than have crossed the Darién Gap.

In 2000, Tom Hart Dyke, a young botanist, set off to Central America with one thing on his mind: orchids. He knew that in order to find the rare & beautiful species he so fervently admired, he would have to visit some of the most inhospitable places on earth. Unbeknown to Tom, another young explorer, Paul Winder, was backpacking through the area at the same time. Though he sometimes worked freelance in the City of London, Paul was a fearless & intrepid traveller, happier scaling volcanoes than lounging on beaches. In every bar & café along his route, rumours abounded of the Darién Gap

...

The Darién Gap is a place of legend. The only break in the Pan-American highway, which runs from Alaska to the tip of South America, it is an almost impregnable strip of swamp, jungle & cloud forest between the vast landmasses of North & South America. Stories of abduction & murder there are rife & in recent years more people have successfully climbed Everest or trekked to the South Pole than have crossed the Darién Gap.

In 2000, Tom Hart Dyke, a young botanist, set off to Central America with one thing on his mind: orchids. He knew that in order to find the rare & beautiful species he so fervently admired, he would have to visit some of the most inhospitable places on earth. Unbeknown to Tom, another young explorer, Paul Winder, was backpacking through the area at the same time. Though he sometimes worked freelance in the City of London, Paul was a fearless & intrepid traveller, happier scaling volcanoes than lounging on beaches. In every bar & café along his route, rumours abounded of the Darién Gap

...

The Darién Gap is a place of legend. The only break in the Pan-American highway, which runs from Alaska to the tip of South America, it is an almost impregnable strip of swamp, jungle & cloud forest between the vast landmasses of North & South America. Stories of abduction & murder there are rife & in recent years more people have successfully climbed Everest or trekked to the South Pole than have crossed the Darién Gap.

In 2000, Tom Hart Dyke, a young botanist, set off to Central America with one thing on his mind: orchids. He knew that in order to find the rare & beautiful species he so fervently admired, he would have to visit some of the most inhospitable places on earth. Unbeknown to Tom, another young explorer, Paul Winder, was backpacking through the area at the same time. Though he sometimes worked freelance in the City of London, Paul was a fearless & intrepid traveller, happier scaling volcanoes than lounging on beaches. In every bar & café along his route, rumours abounded of the Darién Gap

...

In the middle of the 1800s, Mrs Favell Lee Mortimer set out to write an ambitious guide to all the nations on Earth. There were just three problems:

She had never set foot outside Shropshire.
She was horribly misinformed about virtually every topic she turned her attention to.
And she was prejudiced against foreigners.

The result was an unintentionally hilarious masterpiece:
' The French like being smart but are not very clean.'
' The Japanese are very polite people
- much politer than the Chinese
- but very proud.'
' The Scotch will not take much trouble to please strangers.'

In The Clumsiest People in Europe, Todd Pruzan has gathered together a selection of Mrs Mortimer












...

In the middle of the 1800s, Mrs Favell Lee Mortimer set out to write an ambitious guide to all the nations on Earth. There were just three problems:

She had never set foot outside Shropshire.
She was horribly misinformed about virtually every topic she turned her attention to.
And she was prejudiced against foreigners.

The result was an unintentionally hilarious masterpiece:
' The French like being smart but are not very clean.'
' The Japanese are very polite people
- much politer than the Chinese
- but very proud.'
' The Scotch will not take much trouble to please strangers.'

In The Clumsiest People in Europe, Todd Pruzan has gathered together a selection of Mrs Mortimer












...

He was a tyrant. She was his daughter.

Kept a virtual stranger by her bullying father, fourteen-year-old Vera Quinn

...