Following his journeys along the Nile, and through the Himalayas, Levison Wood's latest journey starts on Channel 4 tomorrow.
He's Walking the Americas.
He's also doing a range of talks in February and March.
He's Walking the Americas.
He's also doing a range of talks in February and March.
Beginning in the north-eastern tip of Mexico, Levison will walk the entire length of Central America, through eight countries before attempting to cross the treacherous Darien Gap into Colombia and South America.
Walking the Americas, co-produced by October Films and GroupM Entertainment, will see Levison return to Mexico, where he lived for three months and Belize - where he trained as a soldier with the British Army - before stepping into a part of the world he’s never visited before and some of the most diverse, beautiful and unpredictable regions on earth.
Levison's expedition will take in ancient Mayan ruins still lying unexplored in the jungles of Guatemala and Honduras, the incredible wildlife diversity in Costa Rica's cloud forests, Nicaragua's active volcanoes, the Panama Canal and the Darien Gap on a sometimes brutal journey.
As well as exploring the spectacular landscapes, Levison will spend time with the people living throughout the region – in both its modern cities and areas of the countryside where traditional life for farmers and indigenous tribes remains largely unchanged. He will join pilgrims as they trek to remote ruins, shamans holding eye-opening ceremonies to connect with the spirit world, Mennonite farmers living traditional lives, and go hunting with the extraordinary Bribri tribe – a matrilineal society living isolated from the modern world. Along his route south, he’ll meet migrants making the journey in the opposition direction as they head towards the border with the US.
He will meet English speaking Belizeans, Garifuna communities of African descent, proud Nicaraguan revolutionaries who defeated the US military machine and pacifist Costa Ricans, whose country is one of the only in the world without an army. And in the region’s urban areas he sees at first hand the effects of gang violence and drug trafficking in some of the world’s most violent and dangerous cities.
At the end of the journey, before he can reach his destination, Levison will attempt to cross Darien Gap. Billed as 'the most intense and brutal 90km of terrain anywhere on earth' few have made it across, let alone even attempted it. It will take every inch of Levison's guile, tact, strength and resilience to make it to the other side and into Colombia and the end of his journey.
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