Helge Pedersen is one of the world’s preeminent overland motorcycle adventurers, he’s ridden extensively on six continents and in this film he recounts one of his most memorable journeys – a brutal few weeks spent crossing the jungles and rivers of the Darién Gap.
For the uninitiated the Darién Gap is a narrow isthmus between Colombia and Panama (map below) that connects Central and South America. The Darién Gap is famous for its dense tropical jungles, and it proved a major challenge for anyone who wanted to cross it – anyone other than the Native American people who have lived there for millennia.
There are few places Pedersen hasn’t ridden to over the past few decades but he’s lost nothing of his enthusiasm and naturally adventurous nature.
Pedersen is originally from Norway, he became famous in motorcycle adventure circles back in the 1980s when he rode his BMW R80 GS 250,000 miles touring the world between 1982 and 1992 – that’s the equivalent to 10 times the circumference of the Earth. The motorcycle from this trip is now on display at the BMW Museum in Munich.
I won’t go into too much detail here as I don’t want to ruin the stories that are told by Pedersen in this film, suffice to say after you watch it you may be overwhelmed by the desire to go get on your motorcycle and head south. That said you’ll probably not be fighting any desire to try your hand at the Darién Gap.
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Images: Helge Pedersen
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