Preston, Douglas. The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story. New York: Grand Central Publishing. 2017. Print.
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Grann, David. The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon
Adams, Mark. Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time
Deep in Honduras, in a region called La Mosquitia, lie some of the last unexplored places on earth....Early maps labeled it the Portal del Infierno, or "Gates of Hell," because it was so forbidding. The area is one of the most dangerous in the world, for centuries frustrating efforts to penetrate and explore it.
Description:
In today's era where seemingly every inch of our Earth has been thoroughly explored, wouldn't it be fantastic to discover the ruins of a vast civilization? A thriving culture previously never before identified? A huge city and art right under our noses, completely sheltered by the thick rain forests of Honduras?
Well, enter Douglas Preston and his new book on the recent exploration of just such a modern-day architectural/cultural find: The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story.
While there had been whispered rumors and scraps in ancient diaries of a great "White City," Ciudad Blanca, or the Lost City of the Monkey God, deep in the forests of Honduras, natives were reluctant to lead explorers to possible locations due to curses and evil histories of the city. Thick tree canopies, impossible terrain, and dangerous fel-del-lance snakes, leopards, insects, and unrelenting rain, rain, rain helped preserve any possibility of finding such a city. One could walk five feet by ruins covered by vines and other vegetation and never notice them.
But technology to the rescue. A new radar system from Jet Propulsion Laboratory designed to analyze photos from space was also able to penetrate thick tree cover and up to 15 feet below the Earth's surface to identify potential lost cities. An ariel survey in the late-1990s identified several possible locations for the White City deep in the Honduran jungle but it was ten years before a physical exploration on foot could be mounted.
The White City expedition, accompanied by writer Preston, is described in all its wet, scary, trackless, and dangerous glory. Slogging through knee-deep mud, relying on GPS systems when more than 100 yards from camp to find your way home, the explorers do eventually discover ruins and statues, but their difficulties are only beginning.
Intertwined with historical details about the lost culture that may have existed and built these unknown cities, the possible reasons the abandoned their homes, and the effect of the Spanish conquerors is carefully described by author Preston as well. I knew nothing about Honduras and its cultures, so this research was absolutely fascinating.
That all this exploration and discovery happened and continue to develop as of 2017 is unbelievably exciting. The explorers and scientists from the first trek continue to re-live the discovery long after their return via publications due to diseases brought back from the jungle. The knowledge and city they literally uncovered and continue to explore will keep scientists and anthropologists challenged for years.
Well, enter Douglas Preston and his new book on the recent exploration of just such a modern-day architectural/cultural find: The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story.
While there had been whispered rumors and scraps in ancient diaries of a great "White City," Ciudad Blanca, or the Lost City of the Monkey God, deep in the forests of Honduras, natives were reluctant to lead explorers to possible locations due to curses and evil histories of the city. Thick tree canopies, impossible terrain, and dangerous fel-del-lance snakes, leopards, insects, and unrelenting rain, rain, rain helped preserve any possibility of finding such a city. One could walk five feet by ruins covered by vines and other vegetation and never notice them.
But technology to the rescue. A new radar system from Jet Propulsion Laboratory designed to analyze photos from space was also able to penetrate thick tree cover and up to 15 feet below the Earth's surface to identify potential lost cities. An ariel survey in the late-1990s identified several possible locations for the White City deep in the Honduran jungle but it was ten years before a physical exploration on foot could be mounted.
The White City expedition, accompanied by writer Preston, is described in all its wet, scary, trackless, and dangerous glory. Slogging through knee-deep mud, relying on GPS systems when more than 100 yards from camp to find your way home, the explorers do eventually discover ruins and statues, but their difficulties are only beginning.
Intertwined with historical details about the lost culture that may have existed and built these unknown cities, the possible reasons the abandoned their homes, and the effect of the Spanish conquerors is carefully described by author Preston as well. I knew nothing about Honduras and its cultures, so this research was absolutely fascinating.
That all this exploration and discovery happened and continue to develop as of 2017 is unbelievably exciting. The explorers and scientists from the first trek continue to re-live the discovery long after their return via publications due to diseases brought back from the jungle. The knowledge and city they literally uncovered and continue to explore will keep scientists and anthropologists challenged for years.
Happy reading.
Fred
(See more recommended books)
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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:
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If this book interests you, be sure to check out:
Grann, David. The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon
The 1925 true story of explorer Percy Fawcett and his gripping, obsessive hunt for the Lost City, the rumored civilization full of gold, in the Amazon rainforest (previously reviewed here)
Adams, Mark. Turn Right at Machu Picchu: Rediscovering the Lost City One Step at a Time
Author Adams retraces the steps of ancient Incas through Peru to explore ancient cities. Along the way, this inexperienced hiker and historian uncovers tales of this ancient culture, the men who originally discovered it, and the future of these fragile cities. (previously reviewed here)
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