::: QUEST FOR PAITITI FIELD JOURNAL :::
ENTRY ONE (June 6, 2004) "IN PERU"

The expedition is in that critical "in Peru" stage where the future success and safety of the project depends on what we do and decide now. There are logistical questions to be answered: What about the helicopter? How long will the drive over rough jungle roads astride the Rio Alto Urubamba take in bringing us to meet up with the helicopter? Do we have enough expedition members to handle the increased load we have because of the filmmakers equipment? Can horses be arranged for part of the return, to carry some of the load over the last mountain ranges, with their interminable ascents, descents, and more ascents, during that part of the expedition when we're likely to be the most worn out? What is the best point at the very end of the most remote dirt road that approaches the frontier that is accessible to wheeled vehicle, where we should arrange for a vehicle to meet us when we emerge from the wilderness? Etcetera and etcetera...

One aspect about which we have no questions is that of the ability of the expedition members. Paulino Mamani, one of the only three Peruvian "International Fellows" of The Explorers Club in New York, has been a major part of our "Paititi" expeditions over the past 20 years, and is a master of all things related to exploration, survival, and Incan history and lifeways. And Goyo Toledo has emerged from the high-altitude jungles of Mameria, where he has lived as a Machiguenga--the forest-dwelling Indians who are masters of their domain--since 1980, to accompany us again. His mastery of the Machiguenga language and lifeways will help greatly in establishing the rapport with native peoples that is essential to any endeavor
that hopes to find answers to questions in the unknown and little-known areas beyond the Andes...

~ Greg Deyermenjian