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Between Two Jungles: A True Story of Survival, Secrets and a Lost City
After Jim Woodman’s mother was sent to prison, he and his brother and sister were sent to live with their father. Rather than disrupt his new family, their father devised an extraordinary plan for his two set up a base camp in Honduras and search for Ciudad Blanca, the legendary lost city hidden deep within the rainforest.
Their father, an eccentric adventurer who had founded the International Explorers Society, gave the parents of three other teenage boys every reason to believe the journey had been carefully planned and the risks properly considered.
It hadn't.
He sent 17-year-old Jimmy, his 16-year-old brother Henry, and three of their friends into the remote and largely unexplored Honduran jungle. To guide them, he hired a Vietnam veteran and snake hunter—a man he had never met—in exchange for a couple of airline tickets and the promise of $500 upon their safe return.
What began as the adventure of a lifetime soon became a fight for survival. As the five teenagers traveled deeper into the Mosquitia rainforest, navigating swollen rivers, venomous snakes, relentless rain, and almost complete isolation, their guide became increasingly erratic and threatening. Eventually, he threatened to kill the boys and leave their bodies in the jungle. The man hired to protect them had become one of the greatest dangers they faced.
But Jimmy had been learning how to survive unpredictable adults long before he ever set foot in Honduras.
Growing up in Miami, he and his siblings had been drawn into their mother’s secret world of shoplifting, scams, and deception. They learned when to speak, when to stay quiet, how to read a room, and how to recognize when something wasn’t right. In the jungle, those instincts took on an entirely different significance.
The expedition later inspired stories in Sports Illustrated and on ABC Television. But those accounts told only part of what happened. They never revealed the increasingly dangerous situation unfolding in the rainforest—or the troubled family history that had sent the boys there in the first place.
Between Two Jungles is the story that remained untold for fifty a true coming-of-age memoir about five teenagers searching for a legendary lost city, the dangerous man entrusted with their lives, and the unexpected ways surviving one kind of jungle prepared a seventeen-year-old to survive another.
“Few people understand the dangers of the Mosquitia rainforest better than I do—and Woodman captures them with striking authenticity. But what makes this memoir unforgettable is the psychological jungle he was navigating at the same time.”
—Steve Elkins, Leader of the Lost City of the Monkey God Expeditions
Their father, an eccentric adventurer who had founded the International Explorers Society, gave the parents of three other teenage boys every reason to believe the journey had been carefully planned and the risks properly considered.
It hadn't.
He sent 17-year-old Jimmy, his 16-year-old brother Henry, and three of their friends into the remote and largely unexplored Honduran jungle. To guide them, he hired a Vietnam veteran and snake hunter—a man he had never met—in exchange for a couple of airline tickets and the promise of $500 upon their safe return.
What began as the adventure of a lifetime soon became a fight for survival. As the five teenagers traveled deeper into the Mosquitia rainforest, navigating swollen rivers, venomous snakes, relentless rain, and almost complete isolation, their guide became increasingly erratic and threatening. Eventually, he threatened to kill the boys and leave their bodies in the jungle. The man hired to protect them had become one of the greatest dangers they faced.
But Jimmy had been learning how to survive unpredictable adults long before he ever set foot in Honduras.
Growing up in Miami, he and his siblings had been drawn into their mother’s secret world of shoplifting, scams, and deception. They learned when to speak, when to stay quiet, how to read a room, and how to recognize when something wasn’t right. In the jungle, those instincts took on an entirely different significance.
The expedition later inspired stories in Sports Illustrated and on ABC Television. But those accounts told only part of what happened. They never revealed the increasingly dangerous situation unfolding in the rainforest—or the troubled family history that had sent the boys there in the first place.
Between Two Jungles is the story that remained untold for fifty a true coming-of-age memoir about five teenagers searching for a legendary lost city, the dangerous man entrusted with their lives, and the unexpected ways surviving one kind of jungle prepared a seventeen-year-old to survive another.
“Few people understand the dangers of the Mosquitia rainforest better than I do—and Woodman captures them with striking authenticity. But what makes this memoir unforgettable is the psychological jungle he was navigating at the same time.”
—Steve Elkins, Leader of the Lost City of the Monkey God Expeditions
308 pages, Paperback
Published August 24, 2026
About the author
Jim Woodman
1 book6 followersJim Woodman is the author of Between Two Jungles, the true story of five teenagers who ventured deep into the Honduran rainforest in 1976 searching for Ciudad Blanca, the legendary Lost City. What began as an extraordinary adventure became a fight for survival when the Vietnam veteran hired to keep them safe turned against them.
Nearly 50 years later, Woodman finally tells the story, weaving the expedition together with flashbacks to the chaotic childhood that prepared him for a very different kind of jungle.
Woodman is an entrepreneur, writer, and former magazine publisher. He founded The Active Network (Active.com), which went public in 2011, and earlier founded and published Florida Sports Magazine. A lifelong endurance athlete, he competed in the 1982 Hawaii Ironman and remains an active Masters swimmer.
He lives in San Diego, California.
Nearly 50 years later, Woodman finally tells the story, weaving the expedition together with flashbacks to the chaotic childhood that prepared him for a very different kind of jungle.
Woodman is an entrepreneur, writer, and former magazine publisher. He founded The Active Network (Active.com), which went public in 2011, and earlier founded and published Florida Sports Magazine. A lifelong endurance athlete, he competed in the 1982 Hawaii Ironman and remains an active Masters swimmer.
He lives in San Diego, California.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 27, 2026
I won this book in a goodreads drawing.
A teenage kid, with a strange past, including a distant father and a scammer mother, goes into the jungle to find a fabled lost city, with a sketchy guide they don't even know.
Some pretty good stories, for sure.
A teenage kid, with a strange past, including a distant father and a scammer mother, goes into the jungle to find a fabled lost city, with a sketchy guide they don't even know.
Some pretty good stories, for sure.
September 23, 2026
Some books you read. This one you survive right alongside the author.
Jim Woodman grew up with a distant father and a mother in prison — and then, as a teenager, his dad sent him and a few friends into the Honduran jungle to search for the legendary lost city of Ciudad Blanca. What follows is raw, real survival — these were kids, not explorers, and it's a small miracle they made it out.
But the real gut-punch is what Jim did after. Watching him turn that brutal chapter into a life of purpose is what makes this book stick with you.
Bonus: Ciudad Blanca was long thought to be a myth — until it was actually discovered in 2015. Wild to read this knowing the legend was real.
Gripping, emotional, and true. Highly recommend if you love adventure with heart.
Jim Woodman grew up with a distant father and a mother in prison — and then, as a teenager, his dad sent him and a few friends into the Honduran jungle to search for the legendary lost city of Ciudad Blanca. What follows is raw, real survival — these were kids, not explorers, and it's a small miracle they made it out.
But the real gut-punch is what Jim did after. Watching him turn that brutal chapter into a life of purpose is what makes this book stick with you.
Bonus: Ciudad Blanca was long thought to be a myth — until it was actually discovered in 2015. Wild to read this knowing the legend was real.
Gripping, emotional, and true. Highly recommend if you love adventure with heart.
September 15, 2026
A captivating "can't believe it's true" story!!! You know the feeling when you start a book and have a hard time putting it down because it immediately grabs your attention? This is definitely one of those. Just teenagers, their mom is sent to prison, so Jim, his brother and sister must move in with their dad and his new family. Being a lifelong adventurer himself, Dad sends Jim, his brother and three friends on an adventure into the Honduran rain forest to discover the lost city of Ciudad Blanca. Believing they will make the discovery and become famous they readily accept, before questioning why Dad would send them off on such a dangerous adventure? And why with a Vietnam vet/snake hunter that he had never actually met? Jim's creative descriptions make the reader feel as though you are right there alongside him, trudging through the deep mud, dealing with the seemingly never-ending rain and other hardships. Very creatively, through flashbacks, the story is revealed about his mother, why she is in prison and the emotional traumas they were subjected to as young kids. We feel the emotional toll it begins to take as he starts to wonder not only will they actually survive and make it home, but also what is the real reason why his dad sent them on such a dangerous trip??
September 17, 2026
What an incredible adventure! The story of a teenager venturing into the jungles of Honduras in search of a lost city was thrilling, immersive, and full of excitement.
This is a fantastic read for anyone who enjoys adventure, mystery, exploration, and stories about young people taking on extraordinary challenges. I was completely caught up in the journey and genuinely didn’t want it to end. Highly recommended!
This is a fantastic read for anyone who enjoys adventure, mystery, exploration, and stories about young people taking on extraordinary challenges. I was completely caught up in the journey and genuinely didn’t want it to end. Highly recommended!
September 7, 2026
Jim Woodman’s Between Two Jungles is a riveting memoir about the juxtaposition's between a dangerous expedition into the Honduran jungle and growing up in a toxic family unit. It truly combines adventure, suspense, and personal struggle, showing how courage and experience can help overcome fear. I can attest it is an exciting and inspiring read for anyone who enjoys true adventure stories!
September 7, 2026
What an adventure. In fact, more than one as the story weaves between the author's jungle quest to find Ciudad Blanca in the jungles of Honduras while recalling the urban jungle of his upbringing in Miami with parents who taught their kids hard life lessons, each through their own type of neglect.
Both stories are riveting, though the Honduras adventure takes precedent, bringing the reader into dark, punishing rainforests infested with venomous snakes (which their "guide" a Vietnam vet is inexplicably collecting to take back to the States), where they meet fascinating Indigenous people and become immersed in their day-to-day simple life, trying to just stay alive. The history, culture and geopolitics of some of the places the boys trek to is explored as well. Really well written, fast-paced, funny and poignant. A great read on so many levels.
Both stories are riveting, though the Honduras adventure takes precedent, bringing the reader into dark, punishing rainforests infested with venomous snakes (which their "guide" a Vietnam vet is inexplicably collecting to take back to the States), where they meet fascinating Indigenous people and become immersed in their day-to-day simple life, trying to just stay alive. The history, culture and geopolitics of some of the places the boys trek to is explored as well. Really well written, fast-paced, funny and poignant. A great read on so many levels.
September 24, 2026
The kind of book you can’t put down! What an incredible adventure.
October 14, 2026
An engaging tale of adventure and reconciliation. Easy to read and very enjoyable. I highly recommend this book.
Bernie Frohnen
Bernie Frohnen
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews