"The lost city of the monkey God" by Douglas Preston - True story !
This book is published by Head of Zeus in 2017 and has 336 pages.
Since the days of Spanish conquistadores rumours have circulated about a lost city of immense wealth hidden deep in the Honduran interior. Indigenous tribes warn the legendary city is cursed. To enter it is a death sentence. They call it the Lost City of the Monkey God.
A mission is launched to do LiDAR surveys of potential areas. LiDAR is a technology that can see what's on the ground and below it by penetrating the dense foliage off the tree canopy. The sites (T1, T2, T3) are identified in Mosquitia, Honduras. Now it's time for a physical mission. A team of archeologists, journalists and army personnel is put together. Author is the chosen journalist.
Will there be able to land and survive in the Virgin jungle? What dangers will they face? Will they survive? Will they find the lost city of Monkey God?
It's a fascinating account with encounters with fer-de-lance (a very poisonous snake), Jaguar, sand flies, mosquitoes, insects etc. It's the story of discovery. Story of a place not visited by any human in almost 500 years. Story of a curse.
When the Spanish conquerors landed in Americas, they brought with them their diseases. Local population had no immunity to these foreign diseases, mainly Malaria and Leash Menises. Local population died en mass and Spanish survived. Local population saw this as wrath / curse of God and abandoned cities. Up to 90% of local population died. This resulted in extermination of civilizations and races. It was the most brutal extermination of mankind, anywhere in the world.
The visiting team discovers a city. It's not established if it's the City of Monkey God, but they find a city. It's neither Mayan, nor Aztecs. It's a mysterious Pre-Colombian civilization. But the curse strikes and some team members become victims of Leash Menises.
By the end of the book, the excavation has just started. So, what is revealed there remains unknown.
It's a good account. Despite being a nonfiction, author captivates you with his account and with the possibilities. A couple of things that didn't sit well with me are:
It is not established if the city the found was indeed the Lost City of Monkey God. Then why give that name to the book?
Author has spent a lot of time in the history of the diseases and their history. Although diseases are essential to understand why the Native American civilizations became extinct, the book delves into it too much in detail. If that was shortened, it would have made the v book crisp.
Why did I read this book? Nonfiction for a change.
What did I like? The account
What didn't I like? As mentioned above.
Read it for a change.
