A Pictorial Book Review

This is my review of The Cloud Garden by Tom Hart Dyke and Paul Winder. Tom gave me a signed copy as a Christmas present. As pictures paints a far better review than my words would I thought I’d included some.

The Cloud Garden by Tom Hart Dyke & Paul Winder

At the turn of the new millennium very few people drifted into the Darién Gap between Panama and Columbia and made it out alive. Civil war made it a no go area. Even the Lonely Planet Guide said don’t even think about it! So where better to explore for wild orchids? Well that’s what Tom Hart Dyke thought. It’s at this stage I hear the faint mutterings of Captain Manning saying ‘Stupid boy...’

Before he and his travelling companion could say ‘look an orchid’ they had their noses in the jungle dirt with an AK-47 pointed at their heads. For 9 months they were moved around the jungle and swamps with a $5M ransom placed on their heads. 

Knowing their families wouldn’t be able to pay and the UK government unwilling to either they had their fate in their own hands and that of their captors. 

The narrative is shared by both Tom and Paul which works well. Each different but as a team they mentally disarmed the hostage takers. It was touch and go many times not only because the unstable minds of the guerrillas but also because of the conditions of their surroundings.


So how did they survive without the ransom being paid and how did they get the terrorists to pay them to leave? I guess you’ll need to find a copy of the book to find out...