This
is the true story of an
American family,
father, wife and
two
very young daughters, who
find out what it’s like to
be strangers in a strange
land, and what it really
takes to survive!
What it’s like for a young
girl to load a dying Indian
child into a dugout canoe
(that they carved from a
tree themselves) and paddle
all night down a jungle
river to get the child to
the nearest hospital, miles
away. What it’s like to be
your own doctors, teachers,
farmers. What it’s like to
be part of a family that
depends on each other to
wrest a living from an
inhospitable and unforgiving
jungle miles away from the
nearest Indian village. What
it’s like to learn values
from a people who, if they
are lucky, make a few
dollars a month. What it’s
like to live with the deadly
Fer-de-Lance, where a single
bite dooms you to an
unpleasant death. What it’s
like to stare down a full
grown male jaguar when the
only thing you have between
you and him is about three
feet and the mesh curtain of
your tent. What it’s like
that if you want to eat, you
have to grow it, catch it or
hunt it. What it’s like to
have lived in a place so
isolated that it takes three
days by canoe, bus, and
airplane to get you to the
nearest city. What it’s like
to live in a place with
hundreds of creatures that
either bite, sting or suck
your blood for a living.
What it’s like to look back
and hear your family say
that it was the best times
of their lives. It was
terrific. This is a revised
edition of BEYOND HERE BE
DRAGONS with several new
photographs.
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WHAT THE READERS SAY ABOUT “BEYOND HERE BE DRAGONS”
EDITORS CHOICE...XLIBRIS “It is not often that a non-fiction
book can keep me turning the pages as if it were a book of fiction.
I hated to put down “BEYOND HERE BE DRAGONS”. The book traces the
life of a family whose attentions were to move to Alaska, yet
somehow ended up in southern Mexico, and finally in Guatemala. It is
an account of the 25 years that photojournalist Jacques VanKirk, and
his wife Parney, also a photojournalist, spent in the jungles of
Guatemala. To add to the suspense, they had their two young
daughters with them. Even though I knew they came out of their
adventures relatively unscathed, as I read, I was afraid for them.
Life in the Guatemalan jungles proved to be far different from what
they had ever known and far more rewarding than they ever expected.
The reader gets the vicarious experience of the trials and joys of
these 25 years.“ Eva Knapp, freelance book review writer, Florida “Beyond Here Be Dragons is a
marvelous book. The reader comes away with a great deal of
admiration for the author and his entire family in this Swiss Family
Robinson-like adventure in the wilds of Guatemala. The narrative
voice is warm and engaging and this adventure is told with a
splendid sense of humor. This story of an American family in the
rain forests of Guatemala‘s El Peten is not just a story of man
against nature. It is a story of man, woman, and children against
nature as the author, Jacques VanKirk, includes the tales of his
sharp shooter wife, Parney, and two adorable daughters, Parney Lynn
and Gayle as they adjust to Ute in this dangerous and beautiful
land. VanKirk recounts not only the danger of the forest in terms of
poisonous snakes and blood-thirsty jaguars but does not shy away
from the treacherous politics of Guatemala in the late 60‘s and
early 70‘s. Jacques VanKirk, author of the classic Remarkable
Remains, is a hunting guide who is not your typical ‘great white
hunter.“ He is a man of compassion and
insight with a good eye for the foibles of human beings. He fills
his tale with a colorful cast of characters, each one well drawn and
engaging. Beyond Here Be Dragons sets the reader dreaming of far
away places in the spirit of Paul Thoreau‘s travel books. in reading
this tale of an American family hacking out a way of life for
themselves in a remote part of the world, the reader is reminded
that each of us must face life head-on and slay our own
breed of jaguar. A compelling, well written, funny, exciting, and
inspiring book.“
Jonathan Harrington, New York, author of “The Death of Cousin Rose“
and “The Second sorrowful Mystery.“ “Reading this memoir, I felt as if
I were continuing the conversation with Jacques VanKirk begun many
years ago in the Jungles of Belize. He is a superb storyteller with
the rare ability to translate that into his writing. Because of my
brief connection with Parney and Jacques, I found his account of the
rigors the family faced in their daring move to El Peten region
especially fascinating. My more recent visit to Guatemala‘s Maya
ruins included many of the sites so vividly described in the book,
including Rio Pasión, Dos Pilas, and Sayaxché. The book held my
attention to the end, which maintains verisimilitude by not tacking
on a phony climax.“
Pauline Hitt, Texas “Just when we think we know
everything we find out we know nothing. Jacques Van Kirk has the
ability to mesmerize you with his story telling ability.
This is a series of recollections of a family that give up all the
modern world has to offer to gain everything the world can offer in
a jungle environment.
Companionship, love, responsibility, danger and excitement; is there
anything else?“
Mark Gallone, Ft. Lauderdale Florida “I LAUGHED - I CRIED!“ Sherry
Meikrantz, Florida |
