The Legend of Paititi, the lost Incan city of Gold
It was a cold winter morning high in the Andes mountains of Peru. The alarm had gone off at 4am, and we had minutes to prepare all our gear for the rough days ahead. I knew it would be my last warm shower until I returned so I took advantage before we headed out. It was everything we had prepared for, but we could only mentally prepare for so much and now that the time came we set our minds on automatic and let things come as they would. It was still dark outside as our van came to pick us up along the dimly lit narrow cobblestone streets of Cuzco, the once ancient capitol of the Inca. Driving past the ancient Incan stonework, I began to ponder if another such magnificent city could exist somewhere out there just waiting to be found. Just as Hiram Bingham, by a stroke of luck, stumbled across the remains of Machu Picchu in 1911, how many other lost cities could be lost out there among the dense vegetation. This idea is what drove me to learn as much as I could about existing sites within Amazon that could possibly be clues in discovering the ancient lost city of Paititi, the lost city of gold.
The legend o
f Paititi starts when the Spanish had captured Atahualpa, the last Incan emperor. In exchange for his life, he agreed to fill a large room full of gold. As the gold began to pile in from various parts of the Inca empire, primarily from Cuzco, Atahualpa was seen as too much of a liability and was executed. When Atahualpa’s wife caught word of this, she demanded that all the gold to be sent back to Cuzco and to another unknown region within the Amazon. During the time of the conquest there were various reports by indigenous people regarding a city of gold east of the Andes, known as Paititi, within the Amazon region, however, due to its geographical location the area remained largely untouched and later turned into myths. Several documents still exist that mention the chronicled accounts of this lost city. The stories that traveled through South America of unknown riches and lost cities later began to take shape. Other legends, such as the El Dorado legend from Colombia later became intermixed with the legend of Paititi in Peru and began to take on a new form. To this day many still search for the location of this lost city within the dangerous Amazon region. Many go in never to be seen again. There are several claims of people discovering gold from the mysterious lost city, strange tales of a ‘white-skinned’ people within the jungles, and even more bizarre, claims to have been within the city itself, none of which have been proven.
Famous explorer Colonel P. H. Fawcett once wrote in a letter to occult scholar Lewis Spence, “I have good reason to know that these original (white Atlantean) people still remain in a degenerate state…They use script and also llamas, an animal associated with Andean heights above 10,000 feet, but in origin a low country, hybrid animal. Their still existing remains show the use of different coloured stones in the steps leading to temple buildings and a great deal of sculpture in demi-relief…” Fawcett disappeared never to be seen from again in 1925 after setting forth into the Amazon jungles hoping to find the lost city which he simply called ‘Z’.
In recent years new research regarding the lost city of Paititi has come to light, and out of all places, one such source surfaced from the Vatican Archives in Rome.
Full translated text taken from explorer Yuri Leveratto’s blog:
Report on a miracle happened in Peru, thanks God’s mercy, or better in the kingdom of Paytiti, near Peru
As Father Andrea Lopez came to the city of Rome in order to speak with our General Father, he gave report of this miracle, shown by God’s mercy in those countries, and here it is.
Father Andrea Lopez, chief of the Jesuit College in the city of Cusco, Peru, says that there were 3 or 4 Indians who, even if christened by his own hand, were not happy by treatment caused by some soldier , decided to leave Peru and go to another kingdom, 10 days of march far away from Peru, and this kingdom is called Paytiti, whose extension is about 1000 spanish leagues, that is 3000 italian miles, where are living white men as Germans, and very proud but educated in their way of living and form of government.
The king of Paytiti is very strong , he has a court as majestic as of the Great Turk, his kingdom is very rich and full of gold, silver and many pearls so that they use them to make every sort of pots for cooking, as we use metals and iron.
These Indians went away from Cusco, and came to the Paytiti border and they were controlled by the guards, and since these Indians were Christians, taking with them a wooden Cross, a gift of Father Andrea before their leaving, the guards asked the meaning of that strange Cross with a man inside, the Indians said it was the image of the God of the Christians.
The frontier guards laughed very much of it, leaving them going to the kingdom so that the Indians entered the city, where the king of Paytiti had his court, and the king knew of their coming, taking the image of the God of Christians, and the King, curious of it called them in front of all his court of gentlemen, to see the image of this God and listening to the Indian’s speeches and explanations.
Now the king, keeping the Holy Cross in his hand, began laughing of it together with all his courts men, and laughing again returned the Cross to the Indian telling him to go away with his God of the Christians and after doing so, spitted on the Holy Cross kept by the Indian’s hands , but suddenly here the miracle because from the Cross Jesus hold up his face and looking on the right and on the left, with terrible eyes, pointed all the courts men and the king so that all of them fell down on the ground as dead, remaining in these conditions for three hours, with the Indian standing still shocked.
The first to get up was the king, followed by all the other men definitively frightened, so that the king began speaking and like Saint Paul said that the Christian’s God was great, and more, and all the others did so and finally all together with the king fell down in adoration of the Holy Cross, and after the King gave order to build a squired golden chapel with gems, where that Holy Cross was fixed, and the king with his son, the prince, and all his men used to pay the Cross a visit many times every day.
A few days after, the king met the Indians again and with respect asked them many things concerning the law of Jesus Christ , promising them the fortunes of his kingdom if he could personally talk with priests who had knowledge of the Christian laws, so that was agreed that the king with his son the prince and other six knights and the Indians could meet with the Jesuit Fathers in Cusco, particularly with Father Andrea Lopez, so the king arrived with his parties, and very pleased of the Christian law and of the words of Father Lopez he asked to be baptized with his son and the other knights and so Father Lopez did, but the king, God willing, got a fever and died in a few time but before this he ordered his son the prince and the other knights to save the Christian law and asked Father Andrea Lopez to go to the Paytiti kingdom with them trying to promote the Christian faith, with the promise to build a great college and a church with golden walls, owing to the faith of the king in front of Christ.
And now our General Father wants Father Andrea to go to the Paytiti kingdom in mission, and in fact he with others is intentioned to start his travel after Easter, with our God’s recommendations.
During that period Father Andrea Lopez found in Peru some Indians of the forest who were never baptized and without any Christian law, so Father Andrea began telling them the true law and doing so he found that their God was a great strange stone like a melon, about 60 or 70 ounces weight and over this stone the Indians used to burn incense as a sacrifice; so Father Andrea asked when they began to consider this strange stone as a God and they said only from a few time, one year or less.
Father Andrea again asked who was considered God before the stone, and they said that was the Moon but later on they used the stone like God owing the continuous miracles caused by the strange stone, which had the power to recover anyone from illness.
In fact they said that every time, like a form of sacrifice, they used to cut a little bit of the strange stone, bringing it in front of all the patients and taking care of them.
And now Father Andrea told them, thanks God’s mercy, that all this was really a fraud of the devil, and that it was better begin loving the true God, from whom the stone got that power and in fact these Indians understood as good as well that Father Andrea baptized all of them.
And today they all are good fellow Christians; and Father Andrea took with him the strange stone, that the Indians thought was God, and presented it to the Pope, who was very pleased that, thanks God’s mercy, all the Indians were baptized, and the Pope was very pleased too for the power of that strange stone, and in fact we think the value of it is about 4000 escudos.
Pusharo
It was stories like that that sparked my interest in this lost city. I now set off to a location deep within the Amazon jungle to explore a strange wall covered in petroglyphs (within the restricted zone of Manu National Park) called Pusharo. It was first discovered by a rubber tapper during an indigenous raid in 1909, which was later explored by a Dominican missionary in 1921. There 
have been several expeditions to the area to try and scientifically document the symbols and contents. Anthropologists believe that it is solely of a pan-Amazonian origin, perhaps a mystical or shamanic significance or for ritual. Similar shamanic/ritualistically induced designs can be found throughout the United States, for example. Other researchers and rouge archaeologists believe that due to the close proximity of the supposed lost city of Paititi, that the petroglyphs at Pusharo are perhaps related to one and the same. Symbols found at the Pusharo site, as well as other isolated spots within the Madre de Dios region of Peru, maintain a striking resemblance to that of pre-Incan cosmology, leading some to suspect that if the city of Paititi were to exist then it may have been of a pre-Incan influence. Could they a carefully encoded map to the lost city of gold? Or, perhaps just remnants of a forgotten tradition?
In retrospect, I believe we may have slightly over-packed. Before heading to Peru I made sure to pack everything I could possibly need, including anti-Malaria pills and an array of vaccinations (especially Yellow Fever), 3 different types of mosquito repellant, pants, boots, outdoor shirts, camera gear and a pair of last minute cheap ponchos (which ended up coming in handy). I had teamed up with EcoManu Expeditions based out of Cuzco who specialized in Amazonian jungle tours and archaeological expeditions, however it was the founder, Fernando Rivera Huanca, that drew me to contact him. Fernando grew up in the Madre de Dios region of the Amazon and had been a part of a lot of expeditions with well-known explorers from around the world. The most recent of whom was Diego Cortijo, who teamed up with Fernando to explore various parts of the Amazon in search of lost archaeological sites (which they did find!). It was this experience and reputation that drew me towards him and his team.
It was an arduous 8-9 hour drive over the Andes and down into the Amazon. The road itself is known to have sections of it get washed away during the rainy season and becomes completely impassible at times. The one-lane road winds dangerously close alongside cliffs and other obstacles which leave you paralyzed, holding your breathe when passing up other oncoming vehicles as the rear tire hangs over the side of the cliff. The thin Andean air quickly begins to thicken as we begin our decent into the area known as Cloud Forest. Cloud Forest lives up to it’s name due to the thick Amazonian moisture meeting the cold Andes to form dense fog-like clouds along the mountainside.
Along with me and my fiancé, our small van was filled with some interesting and hilarious characters from around the world including two Irish teachers who cleaned out the only village store of alcohol upon reaching the Amazon basin. We reached the first camp an hour after dark, this was where we would all go our separate ways. They wished us luck as we continued deeper into the jungle, from then on it was just me, my fiance and Fernando. We hopped on a off-road 4×4 truck and headed deeper into the absolute darkness. At times we could see where the dirt road would end and we would zigzag back and forth across parts of a river back onto another dirt road. We stopped once more in a village called Atalaya. While Fernando left to gather our final provisions we and our driver took a walk along the edge of the river. It was a beautiful sight, it was almost in complete darkness however, the river was lightly illuminated by the soft moonlight and fireflies going about. I’ve never seen so many stars in my life. Looking up you could see the milky way as god intended, pure and without light pollution. In the far distance I could see flashes of purple lightning. I can’t explain the profound emotions experienced while staring off into this pure untouched world with the milky way above and the flashes of light rumbling in the distance. I felt like everything up to this point was a lie and this was truly reality.
We drove for what seemed another 1-2 hours until we reached a small town called Salvación. It was getting late when we arrived at our hostel located on top of a storefront. Our group of three along with our driver, decided to go grab a bite to eat at the only place still left open. It wasn’t just the miserable heat that was effecting my brain functioning, but now the the bugs were getting on nerves. Every type of bug you could imagine was flying anywhere there was a light source. Trying to eat was a little bit of a pain, but it was interesting seeing insects I had never before seen such as the huge Rhinoceros Beetles that were flying into everything. Once we got back to our rooms it was hard to sleep, I was paranoid of the insects I couldn’t see once I turned off the lights. We had to be up early the next morning to catch the only vehicle (a public bus) that heads towards our next checkpoint near where the road ultimately comes to an end. It was extremely hard trying to sleep in such a humid environment, I simply just wasn’t use to it.
Onwards to Palotoa-
This wasn’t your run-of-the-mill tours, we were at the mercy of the elements. The second day started early, I tried to shower, but despite what others had said, it was freezing cold. We jumped on the public bus that travels in between three to four rural villages and went on our way to the Port of Santa Cruz. The bus was pretty old and I could see how during the rainy season the road would become completely impassible. We crossed several streams and once we go to a certain point there were no more cars or vehicles. This was the edge of civilization.
We reached Puerto Santa Cruz about an hour and a half later. If this was to be the edge of civilization then the Port of Santa Cruz would be considered the last exit before heading into the abyss. The village, if you could call it that, consisted of a few shacks lined around a small three-way intersection, one way lead to up Shintuya (where the road eventually comes to an end) and the other led to the rivers edge. We entered the park station where we were required to fill out some last minute forms and sign our permits which were required in advance. Prior approved government permission is needed to enter what is considered the ‘restricted’ zone. We were entering two zones, the Manu Biosphere Reserve where our camp would be and the restricted Manu Zone where Pusharo was located. Many National Park is considered the most biologically diverse place on the planet, and they intend on keeping it that way.
We walked with our gear to the edge of the Madre De Dios river, meaning ‘Mother of God’ in Spanish. It was along this very river that a year or two earlier Fernando and Diego encountered the uncontacted Mashco-Piro tribe (more about them later). At the edge of the river was our boat, a long canoe-shaped single motor boat called a ‘peque peque’ (which is what the sound of the engine makes along these rivers). It wasn’t even midday and we were burning up so we decided to wade around the river as we began to load up our gear. After a few minutes I began to notice tiny bugs gathering around my legs which I gave no real attention to. They looked like tiny gnats, so I didn’t think twice about it. After another few minutes passed I looked down again and my legs were covered in blood. Apparently, these were sandflies and they just love to suck on blood resulting in the spread of many tropical diseases. I pulled down my pant legs and jumped on board.
We were heading to the native Matsiguenka community of Palotoa-Teparo. It was a nice boat ride through the beautifully forested landscape. We were there during the dry-season, which is a period of 2-3 months when it doesn’t rain. The river levels were pretty low and as a result the driver (the native man in the front) had to use a thick bamboo pole to push away from rocks other obstacles. Despite this, at times he had to jump off and push the boat past areas to shallow to float over. Fernando leaned over to tell me that because the water levels were too low up to Pusharo that we would have to hike 3-4 hours through the river to ultimately reach the wall. He said we can pray for a little rain to help us get to our destination. I looked up at the sky and saw only a few small white clouds in the distance but nothing to hint a single drop of rain.
We finally reached the village and walked up a slightly muddy embankment up to main path leading inwards. We walked some distance to a schoolhouse where we were to setup our base camp. We were greeted by a village representative who was to show us around and made sure we were okay. After quickly situating ourselves inside the schoolhouse we walked to a nearby house where a lady and her family served us some food. Steamed fish wrapped in banana leaves and yucca were the only thing on the menu, and boy, was it delicious!
Some time after eating small clouds began forming overhead, was this the rain we were praying for? It lightly began to sprinkle as the smiles on our faces began to widen with delight. Once our stomachs settled, we cooled off with refreshing coconut water. Despite the light drizzle it was still extremely humid and hot. Afterwards, we headed along a tiny barely noticeable path far away from the village along with two local girls (around the ages of 8 to 10). We walked through dense trees, across a small stream until we reached a hut in the middle of a clearing…it was then that it began to rain. Inside the hut we met a man, revered by some as a shaman, who lived far away in isolation with his family. He was one of the few who still lived in the traditional manner, wearing traditional clothes and who, by choice, wanted to keep his distance from the main village. Apparently, many Matisguenka chose traditional livelihoods over modern commodities and live isolated around different locations. Some chose to live in isolation, like in this instance, while others band together to form smaller traditional communities.
The family spent no time in offering us Masato, a Yuca-based alcoholic drink used by indigenous throughout most of the Amazon. Similar to corn-based Chicha in the Andes, the traditional method of fermentation includes a group effect (done by the women) who would stand around making the mash by using a wooden-paddle/mallot to smash the yuca and by taking turns chewing and spiting back out the pulp (yes, you read correctly). Nowadays the Matsiguenka use different types of sugar to speed up the fermentation process instead of using the traditional saliva-mix technique. The rain outside became to rumble more and more violently. It was a surreal experience, listening to him sing his traditional songs while the rain and thunder added a deeper level of dream-like ambiance. At one point we went outside to shoot arrows, we set up a target and he had himself a good chuckle at watching us attempt to shoot. The bow large and the tension was extremely tight. When it was his turn he took little effort in pulling it back and nailing the piece of wood right in the center. We didn’t take much time shooting arrows outside because the rain began to fall harder than before. We waited around inside the hut, while they kept a small fire going, in hopes of waiting out the storm. After some time it started getting late and we knew we had a long trek ahead of us and we definitely did not want to be caught without a flashlight in the middle of the storming jungle.
We had to make a run for it. We ran through the forest, up and over obstacles, past the stream which was now a raging river all the while heavy rain was pouring and thunderous booms could be felt all around. As I looked down I realized that the two girls running with us had no shoes on! They were having a blast and thought nothing of it. The jungle floor was littered with tree debris and god knows what animals crawling just beneath the surface. But, we made it back in one piece and for that I was thankful. Soaking wet I quickly changed clothes and hung my wet clothes to dry. The storm was still raging as night began to fall. There was no electricity, nor did we have any candles so we stared endlessly outside in awe at the fireflies circling around the open field and while lighting illuminated the trees. This was real lightning and thunder. I thought I had seen scary lightning in the throughout the southwest, but that was nothing compared to this. We sat around in almost pure darkness gathered around a small table as we ate our last meal of the day, fish with white rice and a cup of tea. He than began to tell us local legends of others who sought entrance to Paititi and of the mysterious Chullachaki, the spirit of the forest who lured men away from path to obtain their souls.
Before settling in for the night we discussed the plans for the following day on the assumption that the storm would more than likely subdue by the time we departed to Pusharo the following morning. Hopefully the river would have just enough water to take us all the way, we thought. When it came to mother nature little did we know what to expect and that this element of surprise would lead to an insane adventure. Sure there was enough water to take us up to Pusharo, but little did we realize the consequential effects of so much rain during the driest time of the year.