Beyond Fear: A Journey Across New Guinea

Beyond Fear: A Journey Across New Guinea by Joel P. Kramer. Paperback edition. ISBN: 9780964881808.

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 on their own to cross the entire island of New Guinea without the use of motors, almost everyone said it was impossible and that they would surely die. To fulfill their dream, Kramer and Lippard must depart from Wewak on the north side of the island and travel in a tiny inflatable kayak over remote rivers and swamps and hike over rugged interior mountains, covered in dense jungle. They must face ferocious man-eating crocodiles that can sneak up on and ravage a man in a death twirl in a matter of seconds; a relentless onslaught of blood-sucking leeches, deadly malaria-carrying mosquitoes, and black flies; raging whitewater rivers and whirlpools; and a Stone Age tribe of cannibals before they reach their destination of Daru on New Guineas southern coast. The young men begin their journey as complete strangers. Learning to travel with one another under such extreme conditions at times seems less bearable to them than the chronic life-or-death situation at hand. However, what they learn about themselves, one another, and the human capacity for survival will change them indelibly and take them to an extraordinary emotional and physical place beyond their fears.