The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon

Author: David Grann

Rating: ⭐ 4/5

Date Read: 2013/07/23

Pages: 339

There are a lot of things in the jungle that can kill you. There are the obvious things, like malaria, piranhas, and the occasional jaguar, which would be unpleasant. However, that’s not really an exhaustive list. Mosquitos transmit malaria, but also elephantiasis, which, if the Discovery Health special I saw on it is to be trusted, is not something you want. Then there are candiru, minuscule fish that can swim up the urethra and sundry orifices (allegedly), causing damage. Beyond all the tiny things that can kill you, you’ll also need to watch out for hostile Indians, who seem to be handy with posion-tipped darts. Even if you manage to escape all these hazards, you can still starve to death out there. To sum up, the jungle is a pretty dangerous place.

Indeed, something in the jungle killed renowned explorer Percy Fawcett, along with his entire expedition, while they searched for the Lost City of Z. “Z” was Fawcett’s word for a fabled city in the jungle, the remnants of a rich, lost civilization. No one knows what happened to them, although Grann recounts their story with as many facts as he could dig up. It’s possible that they found Z and elected to stay there, hermits in an immense jungle. It’s also possible that they died from something as harmless as a broken arm.

The crazy thing is that “Z” might be out there, somewhere. I had thought that the El Dorado types were driven by insanity, but there are grounds for reasonable scholars to believe in the city. Even now, archeologists are uncovering evidence that suggests pre-Colombian societies were far more advanced than was thought possible in the 20th century. Maybe someone will find “Z” one day. Not me, though. Because seriously, the jungle can kill you.