Product Description

An almost impregnable strip of jungle between North and South America, the Darien Gap has been ravaged by civil wars, drug trafficking and guerrilla groups. Enthusiastic botanist Tom Hart Dyke, and merchant banker and explorer Paul Winder set off in search of orchids and adventure.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #259292 in Books
• Published on: 2003-03-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 329 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
At first glance The Cloud Garden seems a little unlikely: a pair of twentysomething former public school boys have a great time trekking through Central America and get caught up in a bit of bother. Tom is passionate about flowers and his family lives in a castle in Kent--"Isn't it just super?!". Paul, when he isn't "hacking his way through the jungle", works in the City.

If you can get through the kissy kissy PR and the hooray Henry enthusiasm, The Cloud Garden is actually an exciting yarn. Adventurer Paul Winder and orchid enthusiast Tom Hart Dyke met up in Mexico and decided to trek through the Darién Gap--a narrow bit of jungle on the border of Panama and Colombia. Tom wanted to find some new flowers and Paul wanted a challenge. They had almost made it when they were taken captive by a band of FARC guerilla fighters with a grudge against just about everybody, a serious grunge problem and an eye for a juicy ransom for some rich boys. Our heroes survived for nine months and emerged after a harrowing ordeal with a combination of hard work, endurance and a pinch of good luck. This captivating book is well written with youthful zest, a sparky sense of humour and the scary sense that these two just might set off for another adventure next summer. --Dwight Longenecker

From the Back Cover
The Dari‚n 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 and cloud forest between the vast landmasses of North and South America. Stories of abduction and murder there are rife and in recent years more people have successfully climbed Everest or trekked to the South Pole than have crossed the Dari‚n 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 and 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 and intrepid traveller, happier scaling volcanoes than lounging on beaches. In every bar and caf‚ along his route, rumours abounded of the Dari‚n Gap - and the more he heard, the greater became his desire to make the journey. Pure chance brought Paul and Tom together in northern Mexico; they formed an instant bond and their fate was sealed.

Ignoring a final, succinct warning from the Lonely Planet guide - 'Don't even think about it!' - Tom and Paul set off into the Dari‚n: Tom in search of orchids, Paul in search of adventure. They would find plenty of each. For six days they made good progress. Then, just hours away from Colombia, the dream ended and the horror began. Paul and Tom were ambushed by FARC guerrillas who were to hold them hostage for the next nine months. From that day on, their survival was a matter of extraordinary endurance, incredible ingenuity and not a little good luck ...

About the Author
Tom Hart Dyke is a botanist whose wild enthusiasm for plants is set to explode onto a television screen near you at any moment. Paul Winder, when he isn't in the jungle or up a mountain, works in the City of London as a banker.

Customer Reviews

Orchids are an unhealthy obsession
To describe the kidnapping and subsequent holding of two Englishmen by possible FARC guerillas in The Darien Gap for nine months, it would seem unnatural to use phrases such as funny, entertaining, and horticulturally insane; but they are more than appropriate.

Upon starting the book there is a question over how well it will read with the narration switching between Paul and Tom, however, it does read with fluidity, and the comments each of them has to make about the other are often amusing. Despite the ignorance and sometimes aggressive nature of their kidnappers you can't help but feel some sympathy for them stumbling around the jungle with no specific purpose except to eat, drink, destroy or abuse. The guerillas offer some superb individual characters ranging from the truly horrible "Bitch", to the alarmingly considerate "Will Smith."

No interest in orchids or horticulture are required to enjoy and be fascinated by this tale of bravery and courage under quite absurd circumstances.

Boys Own Adventure Meets Monty Python
An unforgettable experience for the authors and readers alike.

The Cloud Garden by Tom Hart Dyke and Paul Winder is the true story of two backpackers who are kidnapped by murderous South American Guerillas and held captive for nine months in the jungle of The Darien Gap. Their extreme ordeal is relayed in a style that blends both Boys Own Adventure and extreme survival. The book is uplifting and moving, at turns funny and nail-bitingly thrilling. This is achieved by the mature mix of humourous tales with page-turning moments of suspense where the reader wonders what will happen next to the guys.

I loved the book and read it cover to cover in 24 hours. It made me laugh out loud in places and moved me near to tears in others as I marvelled at the authors sheer will power and determination to hang onto not just their lives but their sanity and most importantly their sense of humour too.

The authors manage to recreate the smells, sights and sounds of the jungle as easily as they lend their hands to caricaturing their captors with names that instantly give life to the characters that people the book.

Tom hart Dykes passion for Orchids and all things horticultural is both crazy and interesting , and his travelling companion Paul Winders laconic observations of his mad friends gardening obsession is as drily funny as anything Michael Palin has to offer on his travel logs.

It's not all humour, as the hardships that the pair encounter are graphically displayed in the book alongside Toms clowning and Pauls dry delivery.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone interested in travelling, adventure, Orchids (!) and the triumph of the human spirit over adversity!

Guerilla gardening
The Cloud Garden is an immensibly enjoyable book, somewhat remniscent of Touching the void, removed to the Darian Gap, particuliarly in the way the narrative switches between Paul and Tom as the story progresses, although for me Toms narrative is the better, as he is quite an eccentric character, and its most amusing to hear him relate his garden building excercises while being held captive, much to the exasperation of the guerillas.
The story is propelled along at a nice pace as we follow the lads from their capture while foolishly attempting to cross the darian gap, through their internment in various jungle camps at the hands of a ragged bunch of guerillas who may have some connection with farc.
The characters of the guerillas quickly established by the boys habit of giving them nicknames, and the battle of wits between the two groups is often hilarious.
Despite having a good idea that things are not going to end up to badly, there are still plenty of moments of tension, and its hard not to feel the despair and fear, its a shame the map at the front of the book gives away so much of the story really, especially the absurd events following their capture.