6 BOOKS OF FANTASTIC FIRST-HAND LATIN AMERICAN EXPLORATIONS

Journeys always begin with a dream – and a bit of craziness to break the barriers within us. We may be setting off to experience something new – or to learn about nature or cultures and share that knowledge with others – or to indulge in some passion we may have.

Some of these travel narratives make me stop and realize how much tourism has changed the natural and human landscape of Latin America – especially of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, the Galápagos Islands and the Amazon River basin.

In this survey of six first-hand accounts of journeys in Latin America, we’ll travel with Charles Darwin to Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Peru and the Galápagos Islands. Michel Peissel takes us to the Yucatán. And we’ll embark on four different adventures on the Amazon River.

Look for them at your local bookshop or library. Some of them are also available for free online.

Safe Journeys!

The Beagle Diary

by Charles Darwin

Famed English naturalist Charles Darwin is most famous for his explorations of the Galapagos Islands and Theory of Evolution. Those five years, though, that he spent as part of HMS Beagle’s crew included much more than those Enchanted Isles. The main purpose of the Beagle’s 1831-1836 expedition, under the command of Captain Robert FitzRoy, was to map the coasts of South America and other regions.

Even though the expedition rounded the globe, it spent over two and a half years exploring South America. In February 1932, it reached the coast of Brazil, at Bahia. On 18 October 1835, the Beagle departed the Galápagos Islands to begin the long haul across the Pacific Ocean to Polynesia.

Because of his intense sea sickness, Darwin took every opportunity to make overland excursions, studying and collecting biological, geological and palaeontological specimens. In the Patagonia, he found fossils of giant clams, giant sloths and other extinct species that also played a rôle in the formation of his theory of Evolution.

My favorite edition of Darwin’s diary is that by Richard Darwin Keynes (Darwin’s great-grandson) who compares the edited text with the original diary. It is available online.

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The Sea and the Jungle

by H.M. Tomlinson

From 1909 to 1910, the British tramp steamer Capella sailed from Swansea (Wales) to Santa Maria de Belém do Grão Pará (Brazil; today: Belém). It then steamed up the Amazon and Madeira Rivers for 2,000 miles, as far as the São Antônio Falls. This was the first successful of a steamer that far upriver of the Amazon.

Henry Major (H. M.) Tomlinson voyaged with the Capella as a reporter for the London Morning Leader newspaper. Tomlinson’s writing of the ocean voyage and of the virgin Amazon forests  is poetic. Silhouettes are “black filigree.” A starry nocturnal sky is described as, “The night moved with diamond fire …” Absolutely breathtaking language that will hold you spell-bound.

This travel narrative is also available online.

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Witch Doctor’s Apprentice : Hunting for Medicinal Plants in the Amazon

by Nicole Maxwell

In late 1958, Nicole Maxwell, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society of London, set off on another expedition to the Amazon jungle in search of medicinal plants. This time, however, she had received a $1,000 grant from a U.S. pharmaceutical company and a plant press to bring back samples of plants with information on their uses.

During previous expeditions she had learned of numerous plants with astounding medicinal properties. For dental care, there is an herb that painlessly breaks up a bad tooth and heal the wound within days; another makes the teeth impervious to decay for six months. For women, one plant can cause temporary infertility for up to eight years, and another can reverse the effect; and some are natural abortifacients. Plants that can stop bleeding and internal hemorrhaging, another to cure hangovers – all proof that the Amazon jungle is a natural pharmacy of medicines that western / modern medicine still does not have, even 60 years after this botanical collecting expedition.

In her writing, Maxwell wonderfully captures her trip, the natural environmental and her interactions with the indigenous communities. Through her, we learn much about the millennial knowledge of these jungle nations.

Later editions of the original 1961 publications contain a wealth of further information – especially a deeper conversation about the indigenous nations from which she learned about traditional medicine. Witch Doctor’s Apprentice was released in 1998 by Citadel Press’s Library of the Mystic Arts. This new edition includes an appendix cataloguing all the plants Maxwell mentions in the text (complete with botanical and local names) and their medicinal uses.

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The Lost World of Quintana Roo

by Michel Peissel

After graduating from the university, Frenchman Michel Peissel set off on a walking journey that – at that time in 1958 – was said to be impossible to do. (Even the few locals he met along the way thought he was totally insane and would never make it).

At that time, Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula was a wild, largely undeveloped world. There were no roads. The only way to reach any place along the coast was by boat – or, as in Peissel’s case – on foot. Dense jungle, tangled mangroves, and murderous outlaws all were obstacles he had to face.

And in this day and age with massive tourist attractions and resorts, it is impossible for us to imagine the world through which Peissel spent six months hiking.

Peissel takes us into a world where tourists had yet arrived (quite remarkable to think that was only 60-odd years ago!). He describes a number of previously unknown Maya archaeological ruins, many of which have since been excavated and are now open to the public (like Tulum). But already in 1961, when he returned with his new wife, changes were afoot.

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Paddle to the Amazon

by Don Starkell

In this travel narrative, Don Starkell recounts his and his son Dana’s adventure of canoeing 19,602 kilometers (12,181 miles) from Winnipeg (Canada), down the Red and Mississippi Rivers to the Gulf of Mexico, along the coast of Mexico and Central America to South America. Once to that continent, they skirted the Caribbean coast to the mouth of the Orinoco River, traversing that waterway and others until they reached the Amazon. Their journey ended in Belém at the mouth of that mighty river.

This 23-month journey (1 June 1980 – 1 May 1982) set the world’s record for the longest canoe trip. It is a fascinating tale of a father and son’s adventure – not only in paddling in new territory, but also in their personal relationship. The father-son duo maintains a website about their adventure, and their various projects and speaking tours they continue to do.

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Amazon Extreme : Three Men, A Raft and the World’s Most Dangerous River

by Colin Angus and Ian Mulgrew

Imagine, if you will, three young travelers meeting at a hostel and discovering their mutual passion for white water rafting. Thus the seed was planted for this epic paddling trip down the entire length of the Amazon River.

Our three adventurers – Colin Angus of Canada, Ben Kozel of Australia, and Scott Borthwick of South Africa – set off in September 1999 on this dream excursion. First, they hiked from Camaná, on Peru’s southern coast, to Colca Canyon. From there, they hit the white waters of the Río Apurímac, through the still-hot territory of the Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path) guerrilla movement. The Aprurímac led them to Atalaya River, at the confluence with the Río Ucayali, which then flows into the Amazon.

In this five-month expedition that covered 6,450 kilometers (4,007 miles), they battled the waters and elements, and met the peoples along this back road through South America, until they reached the mouth of the Amazon River. Amazon Extreme recounts all these adventures and misadventures, and the stunning landscapes though which they travelled.