Documenting the Perilous Journey Through the Darién Gap

A Tune for Comfort

Image Credit: Federico Rios Escobar

Gabriel Ynfante, in red shorts in the middle of the photograph, trudges on, holding on to a rope on a very steep, muddy descent. Holding his other hand is Fransheska, the daughter of some friends he had met just a few kilometers earlier. Adversity unites them. Gabriel, a trombonist in his own country, sang a popular children’s song called Bartolito to hush the young girl’s sobbing. She responded by imitating the sounds of the animals mentioned in the song. The tune not only hushed her sobbing but comforted those around them.

A Hero Collapsing

Image Credit: Federico Rios Escobar

It was September 23, 2022, and Luis Miguel Arias, who had only been in the jungle for two days, was already so exhausted that he could not speak. His daughter Melissa watched her hero collapsing by her side. Sometimes sadness can be overwhelming. At just 27, Luis Miguel carried his 4-year-old daughter, Melissa, for much of the journey. With them, his wife Desyree, and his oldest son, Luis Breyner, who was 7 years old. Melissa’s grandmother and Desyree’s brother made up the rest of the family wandering the landscape of the Darién Gap.

Luis Miguel and Melissa Today

Image Credit: Federico Rios Escobar

Some of the people photographed have generously shared photographs of their lives now in the United States. Luis Miguel and Melissa. Melissa graduated from kindergarten and dreams of becoming a doctor. She is taking dance classes. Luis Breyner, her 8-year-old brother, attends baseball practice. Their parents, Luis Miguel and Desyree, work at Seven Eleven. 

A Chance

Image Credit: Federico Rios Escobar

In Bucaramanga, authorities halted the flow of migrants. Trapped like water behind a dam, they gathered in Parque del Agua. The city’s Mayor arranged buses to take them back to the border. Every night, enormous crowds waited for the chance to secure a seat to travel from Bucaramanga to Cúcuta, retracing their steps. Those who did not get a seat were forced to pay extortionate prices for rides in dire conditions aboard illegal trucks.

First Attempt

Image Credit: Federico Rios Escobar

At the break of dawn, thousands of migrants wade across the Río Muerto on the first day of their attempt to cross the jungle known as the Darién Gap, an area infamous for its challenging natural terrain. At the front of the group a man in a shirt identifying him as the guide leads the way that the others must follow.

Precious Items

Image Credit: Federico Rios Escobar

After making it out of the Darién Gap, photographer Federico Rios Escobar asked a group of Afghan migrants to show him the most precious thing they had taken with them on their journey.

Venezuelan Exodus

Image Credit: Federico Rios Escobar

Some travel alone. Others travel with their families. What they all have in common is the heartbreak of leaving something behind on the other side of the border. They keep their bags as light as possible, choosing carefully what to bring. They only pack the essentials. The uncertainty of the future they bear is heavy enough.

Hamlet

Image Credit: Federico Rios Escobar

Hamlet, devastated. After his wife died of breast cancer in Venezuela, Hamlet made the perilous journey to Peru with his three young daughters. The only job he could find was collecting garbage. One evening when he arrived home, his daughters Hamleisy, Hamleisky, and Adriannys told him that they had read about the Darién Gap on social media. They convinced him to make the journey, migrating once more.

He kept the little food that he brought with him on the trip for his daughters. Hamlet did not eat anything. He did not have the strength to continue walking.

Ángel

Image Credit: Federico Rios Escobar

Alexandra was struggling to walk through the jungle with her daughter Sarah. Alongside them walked Ángel who she had recently met on the journey. She asked him for help with her daughter. Forty-two-year-old Ángel García looked after the girl and carried her through the jungle. At one point, Sarah and Ángel looked back, but Alexandra was nowhere to be seen. The mother had disappeared among people, mud, and jungle. While Sarah cried in despair for her missing mother, Ángel decided that it was best to continue on their journey as quickly as possible to bring the young girl to the Panamanian authorities, as they still had many days of walking ahead of them. They crossed muddy rivers and mountains, with minimal food. The young girl cried in distress. The days and nights dragged on, but there was no news of Alexandra.

Ángel Today

Image Credit: Federico Rios Escobar

Ángel looked after and saved Sarah when crossing the Darién Gap. He now works as a truck driver in Pennsylvania.

Alexandra and Sarah

Image Credit: Federico Rios Escobar

Alexandra and Sarah made it out of the Darién Gap on October 10, 2022. After that, they crossed Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Honduras. Upon arriving in Tegucigalpa, they found refuge in a shelter for migrants, where they heard the news that the United States government had announced that any Venezuelan arriving at the southern border would no longer be allowed entry. Drained by the uncertainty of an undocumented journey, they decided to wait and apply to legally enter the country they had pinned their hopes on. They waited a year with no response. They returned to Venezuela to live in an old house with no running water, anxiously hoping for a positive response from the U.S. government.

Necoclí

Image Credit: Federico Rios Escobar

Thousands of migrants arrive daily by bus or in small vehicles to Necoclí. From there, they must cross the Gulf of Urabá by sea, and then venture through the jungle for days until they arrive in Panama to continue their journey through Central America.

First Sight of Sea

Image Credit: Federico Rios Escobar

For many Afghan migrants, this was the first time they had seen the sea. The experience was terrifying. Cold and soaked on a small boat in the darknes of night, they faced choppy waves. Dozens of migrants have died in wrecks that are rarely talked about.

Nickenson Jean Vyles

Image Credit: Federico Rios Escobar

In Port-au-Prince, 9-year-old Nickenson Jean Vyles barely slept the first few nights next to his father after being deported on a flight from the United States. Thousands of Haitians like them have been deported back to their country by North American authorities since 2021.

Imaginary Borders

Image Credit: Federico Rios Escobar

A bird flies over the border between Mexico and the United States