"Clearly, surviving a nine-month jungle kidnapping requires courage and endurance. But Hart Dyke and Winder came equipped with something else in ad...
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reviews
Jul 01, 2011
Saxton B. Little
rated it: 
My husband and I visited Panama a few summers ago. We went through the 3 sets of locks on a small Catamaran. The crew of the ship told me about another tour they host that visits Colombia. They piqued my interest in this little visited country by dangling beautiful birds, virgin forests, lots of nature and far from the crowds lodging under my adventuresome nose. This lead me to read The Cloud Garden: A True Story of Adventure, Survival, and Extreme Horticulture, hoping for a picture of what the
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Aug 31, 2010
Emma
rated it: 
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Jul 01, 2011
Carol
rated it:
My husband and I visited Panama a few summers ago. We went through the 3 sets of locks on a small Catamaran. The crew of the ship told me about another tour they host that visits Colombia. They piqued my interest in this little visited country by dangling beautiful birds, virgin forests, lots of nature and far from the crowds lodging under my adventuresome nose. This lead me to read The Cloud Garden: A True Story of Adventure, Survival, and Extreme Horticulture, hoping for a picture of what the
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Mar 17, 2010
Vanessa
rated it:
This is the story of two British idiots (one a banker and adventure seeker, the other a gardener and orchid enthusiast) who decide to try to hike through the Darien Gap. Despite it being the haunt of Colombia's FARC and paramilitary groups, all embroiled in Colombia's civil war. They get captured almost immediately and held for nine months. They are lucky to be alive, and their story is sometimes funny, but mostly boring. Neither one is a very good writer and not much actually happened. Being he
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Nov 30, 2010
Dana
rated it:
A couple of twenty-something Brits go walkabout in Darien on the border between Panama and Columbia and get kidnapped by guerrillas for ransom. It takes them nine months to convince their captors they don't have any money, and in the meantime Paul the adventurer's foot almost falls off and Tom the orchid nut builds a garden.
Told in the form of alternating first person narratives, their story is realistic and straightforward, honest storytelling with no pretensions to literature. Othe More...
Told in the form of alternating first person narratives, their story is realistic and straightforward, honest storytelling with no pretensions to literature. Othe More...
Sep 28, 2010
Kathy
rated it: 
Having just returned from Panama and having had my own fascination with the Darien Gap (the unpassable land that prevents completion of the Pan American Highway connecting North and S. America), I could hardly put this book down. It's horrifying that these 2 naive, STUPID backpackers were kidnapped there but it's also laugh out loud funny at times. These 2 were SO lucky to survive to be able to write this book.
May 04, 2009
Mary Lou
rated it:
Here is where real life trumps fiction for suspense, edge of your seat thrills. Amazing account of two men taken hostage by Colombian guerillas and their daily lives at gunpoint.
Mar 08, 2009
Brandon
rated it:
This book is about these two dumb asses who walk into the Darien Gap and get captured by para military dudes. Its pretty awesome.
Nov 15, 2011
Bob
rated it:
I really loved this book. The style in which it is written is interesting as it gives most accounts from both individuals perspective.
Apr 07, 2009
Jacquie
rated it:
A real story of survival after being taken prisoner by paramilitants. Very descriptive of the flora and also of survival.
Aug 11, 2011
Awesome read. Great story of survival at the hands of a (somewhat disorganised) group of revolutionaries.
Sep 02, 2011
Sarah
rated it:
I hate to say it, but to the authors: "What were you morons thinking??!!"
Jun 21, 2010
Paul
rated it: 
While I enjoyed the read, and was very interested by the premise, it was, in the end, a pretty repetitive story with a very anticlimactic ending. On top of that, it's sometimes hard to empathize with the narrators since it was pretty stupid to venture in there to begin with. In any case, some of the stories were comical and/or heartwarming, but I generally found it to be a disappointment. Not a high recommendation on my part, but certainly interesting for certain niche readers perhaps.
Dec 16, 2009
Christy
rated it:
Two British guys, an adventurer and an orchid lover, are taken hostage in a very dangerous area of Central America - the Darien Gap. One of those non-fiction books that proves that truth is stranger than fiction, their tale is full of fear and gross-out moments (giant parasites, anyone?) as well as humor as only the British can carry off. At one point, the two guys sing a Monty Python song to their captors - I believe it is "Look on the bright side of life." Yep, only the British.
Mar 19, 2008
Judy3
rated it:
A well-written story of two young backpackers one a rare flower hunting botanist, who decide to go through the Darien Gap in southern Panama on foot. They are captured and held for nine months by the FARC. Very suspensful but with much humour. Well worth reading.
Dec 16, 2009
Michelle
rated it:
An interesting story (how can a kidnapping not be?) But these two are not writers, just two guys that had something extraordinary happen to them. It's the type of story you want to hear someone tell you in a bar, not in 300 pages. But still, exciting story!
Oct 05, 2008
Gabriel
rated it:
This was a very interesting read. Rarely do I read non-fiction but The Cloud Garden turned out to be captivating from start to finish.
Jul 02, 2008
Gemma
rated it:
Awesome- a travel book and a book about plants, and it's got kidnapping guerilla fighters too! What more could you want?
Oct 16, 2008
Kk
rated it:
Not great literature, but a good read about scientists trapped in the jungle with a rebel faction
Jul 08, 2007
Jenni (jenniloveselvis)
rated it:
Very interesting, slow at first but towards the middle got much better. I highly enjoyed it.
Jul 08, 2008
Wendy
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Great and riveting tale of two real characters and how they survived the Darian Gap.
May 29, 2009
Michael
rated it:
Proof that truth is stranger than fiction. Fun read by a man with a unbelievably over-the-top love of orchids and his travel buddy who are kidnapped by keystone cops-like paramilitants and held for nine months.
Feb 16, 2012
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