The Lost City Of The Monkey God by Douglas Preston

 

For centuries in what is now Honduras, there have been folklore rumors of a vast city full of treasures in the jungle.  It was often called The White City or the City Of The Monkey God and it was rumored that anyone who went there would sicken and die which was the reason the original inhabitants had disappeared and deserted the city.  It was one of the last remaining mystery locations that explorers have on their bucket list.

In 2012, technology and resources met in a way that allowed an expedition to be mounted to find this city.  A new technology named lidar, similiar in some ways to radar, allows a three dimensional image to be formed from a plane flying above a site.  Prior work had narrowed the possible location to several tracts in impenetrable jungle and after the lidar work, there were three possible sites that might be profitable to explore.  An expedition was formed of archologists, geologists, explorers and media to try to find the city.  

It was a daunting expedition.  There were no roads and even the roads closest to the jumping off place were controlled by the wars of the drug dealers in the area.  There was hostility from the inhabitants whose ancestral cultural artifacts would be disturbed.  The terrain was unimaginable and there were snakes, insects and other natural obstacles.  Yet the exploration went ahead and a city of treasures that advanced knowledge of the cultural background of the area was found.  There were obstacles even after discovery.  Looters are a constant threat in this world as the artifacts found can be worth thousands.  The Amazon jungles are being clear-cut, sometimes for logging and often for agriculture.  There is tension between the government which sees this as a boon for their country and those opposed to the exploration.  Preston documents all of these.

There are also other issues.  Many of the expedition later were diagnosed with a parasitic disease called leishmaniasis.   This disease is common in tropical areas.  Preston discusses how climate change means that many of the diseases found in tropical areas are now spreading into the United States and even Canada and will be a challenge in the coming years.  He also discusses the war between academics over exploration and whether such sites when discovered should be removed or left in situ.  If left, they are in danger of destruction; if removed there is the possibility of destroying cultural barriers that prohibit such actions.  Preston documents the exciting nature of the find and the difficulty the expedition encountered.  This book is recommended for nonfiction readers.