The undergrowth was becoming more dense, but Mark had already cleared a path with his brush knife. Truth be told, he had made several side trails, but they were only taking one of those paths now. His brush knife was similar to the machete often used, but somewhat shorter and with the point curved out ahead of the blade itself. Hanging from Mark's belt was a special sheath that kept it handy when he wasn't using it.

All around them were brightly colored plants of every shade that could be imagined. If possible, the animals added even more variety to the colors of the flowers and leaves. There were toucans and ants, an old anteater and a young anaconda. David even said he thought he saw an ocelot, but Mark quickly reminded him that they were mostly nocturnal.

They certainly did not have to look for large creatures to see something new and unique. To most people the Amazon forest is synonymous with strange animals and insects. The Nazca lines in western Peru show many creatures when viewed from the air. One of those is a cave-dwelling insect of the Amazon that is so tiny it remained unknown to our own scientists for a long time. But then it is also easy to wonder why you have never seen a beetle like the one that has managed to wander into your own house, wherever you might happen to live.

The two men were moving diagonally uphill as they threaded their way through the trees and underbrush. When they finally rounded the side, an even larger hill came into view. The remains of a large temple could be seen at the top, though it was hard to tell where the hill ended and the building began for all the vines and trees that had overgrown it. Even up close it would be hard to tell.