All he had was basic tools and whatever he could forage
A Merseyside man who survived alone for three days on an isolated, uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean has said that the experience made him realise “just how lucky we are”. Paul Bowness, 45, swapped his home comforts in Wallasey for a tiny island 60 miles off the coast of Panama, Central America, on a “bucket list” survivalist retreat that left him thirsty, hungry and exhausted as temperatures soared to more than 30C.
Left alone on the island with nothing but some rudimentary tools and a walkie talkie for emergencies, Paul – who works as a consultant in his regular life – had to catch fish and forage for food, drink water from fallen coconuts, and build a shelter out of anything he could find on the beach that was his home. While the experience was “much more difficult than (he) thought”, with the isolation affecting him more than he expected, Paul raised £2368 for the charity SOS Children’s Villages – which works around the world to support children and young people who don’t have, or are at risk of losing parental care – and said the experience made him “really realise how lucky we’ve got it” at home in the UK.
“You take things for granted – if you’re hungry, for us, we just go to the fridge and get some food. On that island, when I was hungry, I got up early, started fishing at 9am, caught the fish, had to gut the fish, scale the fish, prepare the fish, make a fire… It’s like five hours, just for a fish,” Paul told PA Real Life. “Life is not easy for a lot of people, and we take a lot for granted – I certainly realised that on the island.”
In February this year, Paul set off for Panama’s Pearl Islands, 60 miles off the coast of the Central American country, to a tiny three kilometre by one kilometre island that was to be his home. He had planned the trip through Desert Island Survival, a company he had come across on social media when an advert “popped up at a time that was pretty right for me – I was really stressed with work, life got a bit tough, and I remember thinking: I just need a new adventure”.
Paul met a group of fellow adventurers for five days of training on the island where “there’s no phone signal, there’s no electricity, nothing on there at all”, and was taught essential skills like building shelter, catching fish, collecting coconuts, “and then other cool little things I never really thought about, like weaving a mattress out of palm leaves, weaving a sombrero to keep the sun off you, making rope”.
He also learned about the dangers of the island wilderness: “There are sharks in the sea, you have to shuffle to get into the sea so you don’t get stung by a sting ray. There’s deadly snakes, there’s poisonous spiders, there’s an apple tree that grows all over the island that’s poisonous, deadly.” Then it was time for Paul to go it alone – he was transported to a remote part of the island which was completely “isolated” once the tide came in – “unless you want to get your machete and trek through a jungle,” he said.
He had decided to “do it properly” – he didn’t take any extra water, a sleeping bag or other comforts, just minimal essentials like a knife and a first aid kit. “And that’s it. You’re on your own, you’ve got to build your shelter, find water, make fire, get food, and do all that for three days,” he said.
“It was much more difficult than I thought, to be honest,” Paul added. “When things go wrong, you realise: ‘I am on my own. I’ve got no one to talk to’.”
Paul’s first job on arrival was to build a shelter, using a wide branch as the supporting beam and sea hibiscus to secure it before hacking down palm leaves and using those for coverage from the sun. The only drinking water available was coconut water, so Paul needed to go and collect some coconuts to drink from before heading to the sea to try and catch some food.
“We whittled our own little fishing rods, so I took my little rod,” he said, adding that he only managed to catch one fish, leaving him hungry come dinner time. Desperate, Paul cooked some limpets he’d foraged for fishing bait and had “five limpets for dinner – horrible”.
“I had a spear to do some spear fishing as well, but I got into a little bit of trouble at one point and realised: ‘no-one knows where you are. No-one can see you. You could be swept away at any moment’…” he added. “You’re on your own. If you can’t get a fish, don’t risk your life.”
However, the second day on the island brought all manner of challenges. Paul had gone out foraging, both for coconuts and tools – “you wouldn’t believe how much rubbish is washed up on shores, but for survival, that’s good, because you find things that you need,” he explained – but he returned to his camp to find disaster had struck.
He said: “The tide had come up, and got up to where my sand bank was and washed away my big supporting pole. My whole house collapsed.”
To make matters worse, Paul “didn’t catch any food on day two, so I hadn’t eaten anything. And then trying to sleep was awful.”
At these challenging times, when even the basic essentials needed for survival are lost, Paul really recognised how difficult it was “being alone and trying to keep yourself motivated” – especially when he was hungry, thirsty and tired. It was a moment for him to reflect on the privilege we experience at home in the UK, where our houses are stable, our food readily available, our drinking water able to be poured directly from a clean tap.
“You just really realise how lucky we’ve got it,” he said. By the third day, however, Paul was settling into island life – he rebuilt his shelter, made himself some “coconut popcorn” by roasting coconut on the fire, and caught two fish for a delicious dinner.
Soon enough, it was time for the rescue boats to collect him on the fourth day of his solo survival mission. “They had an ice box on there, cold beer and everything – best best beer I’ve ever tasted in my entire life,” he laughed.
To find out more about SOS Children’s Villages and to support their work, visit: donate.soschildrensvillages.org.uk.
