Jungle Pete and the Library of Gold?

Thousands of years ago, members of an extraterrestrial civilization descended upon the Amazonian rain forest where they hid vast treasures of gold within the Tayos Caves of Ecuador. They extended passageways in the underground labyrinth and sculpted a golden library in the darkness beneath the rainforest floor and then disappeared back into the cosmos.

The book Gold of the Gods by Erich von Daniken (1973) popularized this myth based on the accounts of Juan Moricz who claimed to have visited the cave and witnessed these exotic antiquities himself. The book and its assertions inspired the 1976 expedition of 100+ individuals including cavers, zoologists, biologists and archaeologists. Organized by Scottish explorer Stanley Hall, the Tayos Cave expedition was accompanied by astronaut Neil Armstrong as well.

Last November I wrote of my own expedition along the Ecuador/Peruvian border to a Tayos Cave led by a local Shuar guide, Ambale. Our trek was arduous - requiring an hour ride by boat up the turbulent rain swollen Rio Nangaritza to a Shuar village where we met our guide. He led us through the rainforest for three steaming hours to the cave, reminding us along the way of the vestigial mines strewn along the border from the 1995 Peru/Ecuador War.

Apparently there are several such caves, all occupied by Oilbirds and well protected by the Shuar people. Alex Chionetti, a scholar of lost civilizations, was polite enough to point this out.

While the 1976 expedition turned up no gold or metallic libraries, the caves still stir interest and hope that the legends may some day be proven fact. Alex knows this first hand and has journeyed to the cave twice to uncover its secrets.

The Argentinian-born adventurer/independent filmmaker has been dubbed a "real life Indiana Jones" by the Spielberg/Lucas publicists for his exploits including one harrowing escape in March of 2007 when Chionetti's expedition was forced to run for miles through the jungle, leaving behind cameras, equipment and clothing as they fled from the Shuar who pursued with poisoned arrows. The Shuar (formerly known as the head-hunting Jivaros) who number only in the hundreds in this region, took exception to a non-aboriginal guide leading outsiders into their territory. The Tayos Cave along the Rio Coangos is is their "cathedral" where their God resides. It is the Mecca of the Shuar and they defend it ferociously, Chionetti says.

The main entrance is an 85 meter descent into the ground and extensive mapping already covers a 5 square km area. Chionetti says coastal tribes (related to the Valdivia culture) may have migrated to these caves in the past millennia based on ceramics, bones and spondylus shells specific to Pacific Ocean tribes that were found in the caves.

He's currently wrapping up a documentary on his experiences with Tayos and even plans to return to the cave in the near future. I would venture to guess with a new guide, the Shuar word for "my apologies" and maybe Jungle Pete?

Ants - Why Did it Have to Be Ants?

When the water rises - head for high ground. And that's just what thousands of ants did the night of our exhausting horseback adventure.

Cabinas Yambala is just outside the town of Vilcabama and is run by Charlie, formerly of Boston, who has lived in Ecuador since the 70's. When we returned from the mountain he told us he was getting worried that we hadn't returned. It had never happened that people hadn't returned, but having rained an extraordinary amount in 3 hours, the rivers were raging and darkness would make it very difficult to return. I didn't ask what could have been done if we hadn't come back! But now that we were back, we could get cleaned up, have something to eat and sleep.

Sometime after midnight I was woken by Ma-Le who yelled "something bit me". I tapped the lamp on the nightstand and it began to softly glow, illuminating the low-ceiling, wood-framed cabin and revealing a frantic Ma-Le who had discovered not only the ant that had bitten her, but the army of ants that had taken positions on the battlefield of a blanket.

As a kid I was known to exaggerate - someday I'll retell the story of the "100 dead squirrels", but suffice it to say that the lesson I learned in telling that tale was only embellish that which can not be proven to be false. So when I say there were several hundred if not thousands of ants peppering the blanket, pillows, floor and walls I have an honest Ecuadorian who can back up this claim. Just replace the snakes with ants from Raiders of the Lost Ark and this was the scene we'd awoken to.

The super saturated earth outside had left the ants with no alternative but to join us indoors and remarkably, only one ant had taken exception to our presence by biting Ma-Le. Had it not done so, we may have slumbered blissfully unaware of the insects that trekked on, over and around us just as we had trekked the mountain the day before.

But it did bite and woe were the ants who minded their own business. They were brushed off, swept up and escorted back out into the rain. So tired were we from our excursion the day before that we didn't care that they would just trot right back in - 6 legs at a time.

A few thousand ants? Far better than rats, snakes or spiders.

Pete, Pete, Pete of the Jungle - Watch Out For That Tree!

It's Thanksgiving and there's football to passively watch, turkeys to baste and pies to eat (for breakfast? I'm looking at you Gibbs!) so I won't write much. I know, I know it takes nearly 6.5 minutes to read a typical post....where will some of you get those minutes back?!? (Blog exhaustion? I'm looking at you Gibbs - put the pie down) So I've removed most of the big words and nearly all of the spelling errors. That should help. But thought I'd share another moment from my Ecuador trip and give thanks to my three heroes for inspiring a life of vine swinging, jungle fun.

Pitfall Harry

Mowgli

and of course Indy

This was back on the trip to Tayos Cave. My first attempt I missed the tree - my second try I found out just how high 25 feet off the jungle floor is.

I need a whip.

(Did you get this far Gibbs?)

Jungle Pete and the Canoes of Antiquity

The cypress log jutted from the water's surface, stuck in the mucky bottom of Lake Trafford. In June, the lake had receded to the lowest levels in recorded history. Partly due to lack of rain, partly caused by the dredging project. But here was the anachronistic log. Out of time and out of place. There are no cypress trees for miles and no streams or rivers flow into the lake; only out.

The airboat captain slowed enough for me to get a good look and sped off without a word. Later he would tell me that the log was most likely a Seminole Indian canoe from their time living in this area over the last 2 centuries. Lake Trafford is in Immokalee, a town whose name is Seminole for "My Home" and was just that in the not so distant past and here was a potential remnant of their lives, exposed by the lack of water.

Cypress wood is relatively rot resistant and Seminoles had learned from their Calusa predecessors how to hollow out the logs and make 12+ foot pole boats for pushing about in the swamps and marshes of the Everglades. Here was history, but the presence of it was being kept quiet. If anyone were to find out, they may stop the restoration project here and the lake could lapse into a state of anoxia (no oxygen) which would kill most life in the lake.

It's not unusual for me to repeat lines in my head from my favorite movie Raiders of the Lost Ark - and here I found myself saying "It belongs in a museum". I understand the consequences but certainly reasonable people could compromise here and we could save the canoe and protect the lake.

My next trip out on the airboat we noticed two more canoes sticking out of the mud. One only a few feet long with obvious tell-tale burn marks and another nearly 5 feet with parts obscured by muddy water.


I called a rep for the Collier County's Historical & Archeological Preservation Board later that week, knowing I could jeopardize the restoration project and potentially my job. The state investigated and my next trip out, there were at least 7 sites marked off. Instead of zipping by, the airboat driver carefully navigated closer to one and explained that he had been asked to mark the sites! So everyone was on board with protecting the canoes. But these were not just Seminole canoes; these canoes are estimated to be over 2000 years old and belonging to the Calusa themselves! The state is currently in the process of doing carbon dating to get a more precise date, but this find is now forcing historians to rethink many of the theories of the Calusas. (For more info CLICK HERE) Apparently they navigated from the ocean, through the Corkscrew Swamp and inland to Lake Trafford where the inhabited the area for quite some time. Long enough to generate a shell mound near the lake that will be investigated soon.

from http://www.pineislandfl.com/

Before the state could get out to the canoes, one of them had disappeared. Thinking it was one of theirs, the Seminoles, with their proud cultural heritage grabbed it in the dark of night! The state asked for it back and soon enough it will be in a museum. Indiana Jones would be proud.