Beyond Fear A Harrowing Journey Across New Guinea Through Rivers, Swamps, Jungle, and the Most Remote Mountains in the World

9781585743438

1585743437

The island of New Guinea has long been a land shrouded in mystery, living up to its ominous reputation as the "Land of the Unexpected." When Joel Kramer and Aaron Lippard, two young explorers from Salt Lake City, Utah, set out to cross the entire island of New Guinea without the use of motors, almost everyone told them it was impossible and that they would surely die. To fulfill their goal, Joel and Aaron depart from Wewak on the north side of the island and travel in an inflatable kayak over desolate rivers and swamps. They must then hike over the rugged mountains, choked by dense jungle, of the island's interior. They face man-eating crocodiles that can ravage a human being in a death twirl in a matter of seconds; a relentless onslaught of deadly malaria-carrying mosquitoes and black flies; blood-sucking leeches; raging whitewater and whirlpools; and a Stone Age tribe of cannibals before they reach their destination of Daru on New Guinea's southern coast. Having begun the journey as total strangers, Joel and Aaron soon find that traveling together under such extreme conditions seems, at times, even less bearable than the life-or-death situations at hand.However, what they learn about themselves, one another, their faith in God, and the human capacity for survival changes them indelibly and takes them to an extraordinary emotional and physical place beyond their deepest fears. (6 x 9, 228 pages, color photos, maps)