“Into Unknown”

Solo journey into the most dangerous jungle in the world - The Darien Gap. Panama. 2018

There are still wild souls in the Darien Gap, who run around jungle naked and free. There are still places that don’t see a foreigner for many years. Places without churches, where tourism is unknown and no one will be putting on a circus show for you, like they do in La Palma, Mogue, La Chunga and other similar places.

There are still pieces of life in the Darien, where you will be looked at as a threat... there are still places in the Darien gap, where you will have many misunderstandings and arguments with some locals, for trying to take advantage of you on every turn...

There are still places in the Darien jungle, where they will laugh at you for trying to feed their dogs that are dying from starvation and diseases, beside the very feet of their owners, even though owners themselves are well fed and a lot are overweight.

There are, my friends, places in the Darien that will make you laugh and cry, passionately and sometimes at the same time. These places are for the brave and for the mad ones. Life in the not touristy Darien will make you angry at times, lonely and helpless, but these moments will also make you feel the most alive you ever felt — it is because its all savage to the core and unapologetically honest with you — the good, the bad and the truly ugly.

Darien will smack you in your face with its truth and see how fast you break. The real Darien, is very different from the one usually seen by foreigners. I am grateful for every moment, for all the truth it showed me, without fear and sugary lies.

Grateful for every blessing, for every lesson and for all the love it showed me. Darien made me feel very strong and weak at the same time... but most importantly — it made me feel alive.

And isn’t that the reason we, the mad ones, fearlessly beat our dusty and worn-out cowboy boots into the uncharted breath of this life — to feel alive? Madly alive!

In the moment where your soul feels every twist of your nerves and checkmates your ego, with one... little... push... © Elena Levon

Leon, Nicaragua 2018

Living with Embera tribe in the Darien Gap. Panama

Guatemala

inside the most dangerous jungle in the world — The Darien Gap

Nicaraguan Petroglyphs

Belize

Cowboys of Guatemala