There are those among us who have journeyed to some of planet Earth's wildest, most untamed areas and survived to tell the tale. Martin Mitchinson of Powell River is one of them, and his new book 'The Darien Gap: Travels in the Rainforest of Panama' could be the summer's best read.

Travelling by foot and dugout canoe, Martin crossed the continental divide from the Caribbean side of Panama to Pacific tidal waters, along the physically challenging and historic route used by Spanish explorer Balboa.

The 50-km wide, 160-km long Darien Gap is a missing link in what would otherwise be uninterrupted highway from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego.

Few would even consider traveling through this swath of undeveloped swampland and forest separating Panama and Colombia, but although Central American guidebooks warned against going there, Martin persevered.

Martin speaks fondly of the Darien people who fed, sheltered, guided and befriended him during his rainforest adventures, but the book details a labyrinth of hellish primitive situations better read than endured.

Lured by its exotic geography and eccentric history, Martin spent 18 months overcoming challenges in this strange and extraordinary landmass - a stubborn barrier between the American continents. He endured life-threatening and spine-chilling physical and political challenges and emerged as one of few travelers to survive this primitive, roadless disease-infested terrain.

Challenges and perils were numerous and daunting. At times, he survived on small fish and rice for weeks while burnt corn kernels sufficed as 'coffee beans'. Red-headed sardines nipped at his skin when he swam, and a swarm of stinging Africanized bees invaded his termite-weakened beach hut.

No three-day "gringo sprint across the land," the lengthy adventure gave Martin a good sense of the land and its people, as well as time to fully explore and experience what he terms "a bountiful land, providing (the natives) more than they need."

On one occasion, traveling at night in a dugout canoe with a basket of food, a machete and a mosquito net for sleeping, Martin swamped his boat but struggled to shore, where he set up a makeshift camp to dry out. Asked about this experience, Martin says: "When a difficult physical disaster happens, people just dig in and solve it." He felt clarity, he says, in knowing what to do, but sans the panic and screaming employed on the big screen.

Still culturally simple, the Darien people chose village life only recently (1950s and 1960s) but, Martin says "it's not a natural thing for them to live so close together." They share the same struggles faced by indigenous groups the world over, including exploitation by outsiders. Indeed, some parallels exist with West Coast First Nation cultures.

In compelling prose, he writes of "the morning half-light in the mangroves," and the lush evening green of Colombian mountains.

Towards the end, Martin felt the experience "was complete enough" while musing that possibly, the worst facet of this strange land was "fear of your own shadow."