Desert Island Survival

Matt Maynard is marooned on a remote island off the Panamanian Pacific Coast. It’s the same island where they filmed Bear Gryll’s The Island. But this is no TV show, and it’s a very real drama.

- Matt Maynard

I don’t like beaches, or insects, or getting my face wet,” shouts my new acquaintance over the noise of churning propellers. We are airbourne in a twitchy 12-seater plane, flying from Panama City straight out over the Pacific Ocean. On board are eight castaway-game Brits. The plane is carving its way through the hot morning mist, and the sea below has merged indistinguishably with the sky. To distract myself from the thought of ever seeing terra firma again, I’m trying to get a feel for the experience and ability of the group I am about to be castaway with for the next eight days.

“Oh, and I don’t like getting my hands dirty either,” shouts the 51-year-old financial adviser from Liverpool. But the irony of embarking on a survival course where we won’t have clean clothes, hands, faces, sheets or water for eight days isn’t lost on Mark. With a wonky smile across the jolting airplane, I somehow reckon he is going to be okay. “I’m fat though,” he adds, “and I reckon I’ll be alright for a couple of days without food.”

At the other end of the survival spectrum is Tom Williams: group leader, North Pole record holder and founder of Desertislandsurvival.com. For the first five days on the island he will share his skills as we learn how to build shelter, make fire, catch fish and collect fresh water. Initially he’ll provide us with a few fishing rods, a speargun, an expedition hammock each and – from looking at the food supply – what I calculate to be about 40 percent of an active man’s RDA of calories. During the last three days all these “luxury” items will disappear. “Then you’ll be fending for yourself,” he smiles rather wickedly “with just fishing line, weights and a few hooks.”