I mustn't get angry with the professor, we do need to use donkeys but I will insist on looking after their well-being, they must be fed and watered frequently and be able to rest, and they'll need shelter and straw to sleep on. I'd heard about the leeches and the thought of having one clamped onto my skin terrified me, so I was glad that I'd been able to smuggle my tazer through at the airport, I'd saved Victoria from the leeches with it and I'd use it to shock any creature that saw me as dinner!
Now why didn't I think about packing tazers knowing full well leeches were prolific in Amazon waters. They'd also be useful against Piranah too so may I borrow yours for when we may have to enter waters containing these flesh eating terrors. As for the donkeys Miss Morgan you may tend to their welfare but not to the detriment of the expedition. As for straw for them to sleep on. Where do we get that from. Now be reasonable we need them to transport us and supplies thru the jungle. You will just have to reconcile yourself to that fact.
"Well," said Terry, "I've got the revolver I bought in Caco. I think it's an old gun too and it cost me a fair bit....especially the license written by the gun vendor himself in Spanish and stamped. At least my machete was cheapish in a few ways but it was sharp and easy to shave off those leeches. I once heard Leeches have 8 brains. They were probably accountants in past lives too! Damn, some of that insect repellant we brought includes Eucalyptus oil that repels Leeches the first aid book says. Next time we'll be ready." "Professor, there's a little clearing ahead that Capo's pointing to, and it's late afternoon. Camping there we'd have a good view to the sky for our satellite devices like the GPS and the laptops. I could stream a movie or phone my Mother. She worries."
Very well Terry we will break for the evening, eat and retire early. Have Capo's boys collect firewood. Tomorrow I want to use the drone for the first time in earnest. Plus lets give the Geo/Phys a workout too. How time saving will it be if we find something so little distance into the Oriente rather than have to trek deeper in where using our specialist equipment will be more difficult due to thicker undergrowth, wild animals are also more prolific the deeper you go. And who knows there may well be a undiscovered and ferocious tribe of Indians yet to see the white race.....
The Drone will be great to see in action. We can all watch what its camera sees and with Capo's local knowledge to guide and explain, and Victoria's expertise.
There was an air of excitement in Professor Wentworth's voice after he studied the Drone camera monitor. Team, the Drone has located a large rock formation about 20km south west of here. Capo please have the pack donkeys and porters ready to leave in and hour. We four will take the bare minimum in our back packs so we get to the location sooner, make a preliminary geo/phys search of the area, then return to camp by sunset.
Terry took the lead mostly using his machete to clear a path. Victoria using gps and suchlike with a satellite phone mapped our way towards our destination which the drone had located. Ocassionally the small party had to work around obstacles like fallen trees, ant nests, streams, creeks, small mainly, and we had used the Eucalyptus oil this time with great sucess. Only Jess and Richie got just one Leech each. Later, seeing a clearing ahead we agreed to a brief rest and there was a large boulder in the centre that offered seating in the sun. Wandering over first Terry was surprised by 5 boar like creatures with 2 large ones snorking out growls at him. Half panicking Terry dropped his machete and pulled out his Revolver, cocked it, and fired it into the air. It did the trick with scaring off the 5 jungle boars, and also hundreds of birds and bats taking flight in a confused noisy frenzy. Even screeching from monkeys in the trees about. A strange looking Sloth gave us a dirty look too as he slowly climbed away. Professor Richie didn't look happy, and Terry expected a lecturing when Jess called out saying she could see some faint letter like symbols on the big granite boulder. At least half the boulder was covered in lichen and moss, mainly on its shaded side. Terry's jungle pig.
Terry took a shot of the strange symbols after removing the moss and lichen from the large boulder. The Professor stood motionless. Thinking could this have been inscribed by the Canejos. It certainly looks pre Columbian heiroglyth. But not one I have seen before as I can not decipher it. His voice became more excited. That means it is an unknown language. You little ripper! Victoria replied with a southern American yeehah!........
The professor called his three colleagues to him. Firstly three cheers for Miss Morgan's keen eye noticing the symbols. Now I have two educated ideas as to the significance of this boulder. A religious stone as part of a temple or some kind of ceremonial centre piece. I am leaning towards the latter as mesoamerican religious temples were unlike this. He handed around a photo (bottom). It is known that early Mayan culture filtered south to Ecuador and probably beyond, so makes sense they'd have adopted Mayan culture. As I have already alluded to I believe after the Canejos came to this part of Ecuador, they decided to settle here because they were not followed, so felt confident in practicing their culture undisturbed. The Drone camera registered a large rock formation in this area. I will send it up again to pinpoint a more defined locale of what I believe will be a lost Canejos settlement maybe even city sized that had been swallowed by the encroaching rain forest over the past five centuries. Small Mayan Temple in Tulum Mexico
Could there be ancient golden artifacts to be found Professor? Your ground detector would come in handy. So if this is an offshoot of Mayan culture, over time I reckon they would have developed in different ways and cultural norms. Environment itself alters many behaviours.
As we headed through the jungle to the coordinates of where the drone spotted the hidden structure Terry went first cutting down vegetation to clear a path for us and later for the donkeys, Pedro and his two other porters who can't speak English, and of course our wise guide Capo. The jungle was very thick and there were birds and monkeys flitting about in the tree tops. Bats hanging in trees, an Armadillo even. A giant centipede came at Terry who just managed to strike it with his machete cutting it in two halves that kept wrigling about frantically. Eventually it died and we cut a path around it. Jessica and the Professor helped a bit using the machete. We saw some snakes slither away scared by our chopping through the thick undergrowth. We avoided and went around acres of spiderweb fields strung between trees and giant ant nests. This thick underworld of the Giant Amazonian forest was dimly lit, even dark at times, and still air, no wind. Victoria was abuzz about the vegetation taking samples of all sorts, mushrooms, fungi of all sorts, even some bugs. Half way to our destination we discovered signs of an old civilization: Tired from the jungle machete work Terry sat down for a rest while the Professor and the two ladies investigated the ancient stone work we saw and stopped for. Cameras, pictures, samples, .... After a while Terry saw Capo and the rest come up his path, even clearing some extra bits for the laden Donkeys. "You go slow" laughed Capo to exhausted Terry. "Cup of coffee I'd say while Professor Wentworth and the two ladies do their work?"
Victoria I am having a problem getting my head round this even tho I had great belief that it existed. To see it spread out in front of me, gives me the shivers.. of excitement, not fear. With Terry and Jessica joining the two professors the team worked thru the day, locating and cleaning items of interest such as broken pieces of pottery. By dusk two boxes of assorted items had been collected including several small beads or chiquira, which were used as the currency of the ancient Indians of the South Americas. There was nothing, tho, in the way of precious metals or gems. Wentworth felt certain that their resting place still remained hidden among the ruins or perhaps underground. That was an assignment for another day as the nite was descending on the dark forest and the four were exhausted and hungry.....
The following day the group explored more of the ancient settlement ruins, much of it hidden under heavy foliage plus thick moss and lichen.The further they ventured into the forest the more the cacophony of sounds such as chattering monkeys, other wildlife plus a large array of birds all added to the jungle orchestra......