“Our goal is to traverse what is probably the most infamous jungle in the world.” The thousands of migrants who cross the Darién Gap, which separates Colombia from Panama, could say it, but the phrase is an offer made by a German luxury adventure tourism company.Two weeks through this dense jungle with “enormously diverse and hard challenges” and that will mean “the adventure of your life”, offer Wandermut, a German company that offers experiences in the Darién for 3,643 euros (almost 4,000 dollars today).His “adventure” takes place in that extensive jungle, without crossing borders and on the Pacific side, about 90 kilometers from where migrants -especially Venezuelans and Haitians- pass daily, risking their lives to reach North America, which has raised controversy in recent weeks. NOT THE SAME AREA”The Darién Gap is a very vast region. We operate in the Pacific, southwestern part of the Darién, far from the border, while the migratory routes are in the Caribbean, to the north, literally crossing the border between Colombia and Panama. There are almost 100 kilometers of thick jungle and wide rivers between them and us,” Rick Morales, one of the company’s guides, told EFE in a written statement.Just this Friday, the Panama Tourism Authority (ATP) also came out in defense of the company and the tourism that the Darien can offer, rich in diversity, and which for more than a decade has been open to excursions, natural expeditions and other type of tourism. “This type of connection does not exist, since these two activities take place in completely different areas of the Darién, separated by more than 55 miles (more than 90 kilometers) of tropical forests and tribal territories,” underlines the ATP.For them, the migratory crisis, “as a relatively new phenomenon, has nothing to do with the tourist activities that have been carried out for decades in Darién and in the rest of our territory.”TRIALIZATION OF A HUMANITARIAN CRISISAlthough the number of migrants has skyrocketed in the last 2 years, with more than 184,000 people having already crossed from Colombia to Panama through the Darién this year (five times more than in the same period of 2022), the humanitarian crisis on this border Nature is not new and people from all over the world -even from Africa and Asia- have been trying to cross the mountains and rivers of the Darien for more than a decade, not exactly to “enjoy an adventure”.”We are witnesses of what crossing this jungle means for migrants; it is an inhospitable jungle, very difficult, without service, migrants are exposed to a huge number of accidents due to the geography of that jungle (ravines, rivers, etc.) , to diseases due to poor sanitary conditions on the route,” Luis Eguiluz, head of mission in Colombia and Panama for Doctors Without Borders (MSF), explained to EFE.This organization carries out almost all the medical consultations at the migrant reception stations in Metetí, on the Panamanian side, at the exit of the jungle.”It is a true humanitarian crisis (…) We are talking about more than 500 people every day who are exposed to this situation; boys, girls, adolescents, pregnant women, people with different abilities who are exposed to this route,” denounces the MSF mission chief.In addition, in this jungle, which has served as a hideout for decades for Colombian guerrillas and paramilitaries, armed groups and traffickers continue to operate, exposing migrants to robberies, assaults, and constant sexual assaults.”We avoid the direct border area to Colombia and eastern Darién. Anything else would be imprudent,” warns the German tourism company. Migrants, however, cannot avoid this transit area and in fact are exposed to paying money to travel a route that remains in the hands of armed and criminal groups.The intrepid who pay the 3,643 euros are offered security, “latest technology” equipment so as not to get lost and, “in extreme emergencies, a signal is sent via satellite phone.”At 90 kilometers, the migrants who cross “cannot pay for security, they cannot pay for the easiest routes, so they are exposed to the most difficult routes,” recalls Eguiluz. In the area of ​​Darién through which migrants pass, it is not known how many remain on the way.”In our medical and mental health consultations we see the suffering caused by exposure to this jungle, therefore any trivialization of this humanitarian crisis does not exactly help to show the tragedy of these people,” laments Eguiluz.