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On the Panamanian side, La Palma, the area's cultural center, is the capital of the province. Travel is often conducted with specialized canoes ( piraguas). The Darién Gap is home to the Embera-Wounaan and Guna (as well as the Cueva before the 16th century).
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The Panamanian side, in stark contrast, is a mountainous rainforest, with terrain reaching from 60 m (197 ft) in the valley floors to 1,845 m (6,053 ft) at the tallest peak (Cerro Tacarcuna, in the Serranía del Darién). The Serranía del Baudó range extends along Colombia's Pacific coast and into Panama. The geography of the Darién Gap on the Colombian side is dominated primarily by the river delta of the Atrato River, which creates a flat marshland at least 80 km (50 mi) wide. Panama expels some migrants back to Colombia. Panama finds the number of migrants overwhelming, beyond their resources to deal with and more than Costa Rica will admit. The Panamanian side is safer, as Panama has created a special border police force, SENAFRONT (Servicio Nacional de Fronteras, National Border Service). : 264 No police or medical support is available, nor is there anyone to bury the dead bodies. : 261 All the cameras and other gear carried by his group were wrecked. In 2017 Leonard Wood found it "one of the most brutal, skin-tearing, lung-bursting jungle climbs I have ever endured". It is one of the rainiest locations on the planet. It is a steep, muddy, dangerous, and unpleasant hike, crossing rivers with no bridges, with many casualties, as well as robbery and rape. As of 2021 the main industry in Capurganá is migrants: supplying them, guiding them, and temporarily housing and feeding them. Dirt bike riders, for a fee, will transport migrants as far as a dirt bike can go. Up to the Panamanian border there is a marked trail, and no shortage of men ready to serve as guides or porters. From Capurganá in Colombia to Yaviza in Panama there are some 60 miles (97 km). In 2021, as many as 1,000 migrants a day, most of them Haitians, hike northwards across the now-smaller Darién Gap, heading for the United States. One can go by paved road and scheduled bus to Yaviza, within what was formerly a much larger Darién Gap. The completion of the Chepo–Yaviza highway in about 2008 has made its transit far easier. The Darién Gap was formerly a challenge for the traveler who sought adventure. A ferry service around it has been proposed. Political consensus in favor of road construction collapsed after an initial attempt failed in the early 1970s, resuming in 1992 only to be halted by serious environmental concerns, and as of 2021 there are no calls for its completion. Roadbuilding through this area is expensive and detrimental to the environment. The Pan-American Highway has a corresponding gap of 106 km (66 mi), between Turbo, Colombia, and Yaviza, Panama. 'Darién plug') is a geographic region between the North and South American continents within Central America, consisting of a large watershed, forest, and mountains in Panama's Darién Province and the northern portion of Colombia's Chocó Department. The Darién Gap ( UK: / ˈ d ɛər i ə n, ˈ d ær-/, US: / ˌ d ɛər i ˈ ɛ n, ˌ d ɑːr-, d ɑːr ˈ j ɛ n/, Spanish: Tapón del Darién, lit. The Darién Gap at the Colombia–Panama border