With his Grumman Widgeon, a well-maintained WW II twin-engine amphibian, Hans Gerber runs a free-lance charter service flying cargo and passengers to and from Panama City. He has an encounter with a terrorist group intent on shutting down the Panama Canal. His adventure takes him and the terrorists into the Darien jungle where they are taken hostage by an Emberá tribe. Two educators from Panama City, Melissa Mendez, head of the Environmental Foundation, and Dora Verduga, a professor at the University of Panama specializing in environmental studies were also taken hostage by the Emberá. They all manage to escape and a love interest develops between Hans and Dora. Hans eludes the terrorists, but they attempt to carry out their threat to close down the Canal. Hans is instrumental in thwarting the efforts of the terrorists with the help of Panama's Defense Forces. Despite their failed attempt, the terrorists force Hans to fly them to Columbia. However, a rare hurricane sweeps through the area and again Hans has to make a forced landing on one of the jungle rivers. Hans, using his wits and strength, gains the upper hand. For both Hans and Dora, their adventure in the Darién was enough excitement for a lifetime. To them, the Darién would always be a land of lush impenetrable tropical rain forest laced with a network of meandering rivers and inhabited by an extraordinary abundance of wildlife and semi nomadic Indians well adapted to their environment. They both hoped the Darién would never change, that it would always be that way forever.