One man’s terrifying journey across Latin America has been published in paperback and produced as a version for Kindle for the UK and US markets.

David Wood, 62, of Ham Green, Upchurch, experienced murder, mugging and an earthquake while on a business venture in Colombia during the late 1980s early 1990s.

Now people can read about his experiences in An Englishman in Colombia.

The idea of having a book published came after a shortened version was put on his website – colqat.weebly.com – two years ago.

In one year it attracted more than 12,000 hits with very little advertising.

Mr Wood said: “The average person does not usually have such a wide range of unusual experiences so I thought it would make good reading.”

It features street attacks – Mr Wood was mugged six times while he was there and regularly saw people being robbed.

He said: “The country was insecure due to corruption within the government because of its links with the drug cartels.”

The first time he visited was on a three-week holiday with his friend Nigel Barling, also from Upchurch, in 1987.

Little did they know they would have some encounters that would leave them lucky to be alive.

In one incident they were chased by Tikuna Indians through the Amazon Forest.

But despite his experiences on that holiday, Mr Wood returned in January 1989 and went into partnership with two Colombians in Bogota, exporting exotic fruit to London.

Things were going well until one of his partners, Jairo
Castiblanco, was killed by a bomb planted on a plane by terrorists. In 1997 he left to teach English at the International British Institute in Nizwa, Oman.

He said: “I decided I needed to work in a more tranquil and secure location.”

Mr Wood, who is working on his first novel, which is set against a background of abduction and jihadism in Kashmir, currently teaches English at King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and spends the summer months in Upchurch.

He added: “I have no regrets about spending 10 years of my life in a very interesting and beautiful country.”

An Englishman in Colombia is available to buy via www.troubador.co.uk, priced at £6.99 for the hard copy and £33.99 for the Kindle version.