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rubber sacks, and a machete to cut through the jungle. Snakebite serum and mosquito repellent were particularly important, but most important of all were nets to keep out stinging insects and large sheets of plastic for shelter at night.

As for the route, he again promised to get us a map but, for the time being, charted it out for us from memory. We would fly to Apolo and be met by his crew, four Indians who lived in a village on the Tuichi River. From there we would have a week's hike to the place where we would working. The Indians had accompanied Karl on every expedition, equipped with digging tools and armed with shotguns and ammunition. There was no need for us to buy our own shotgun unless we felt the need for one on our trip back.

The plan sounded perfectly acceptable. Kevin tried to get as much detail as possible about the river and reminded Karl of our need for a current map. We agreed to meet the following morning to do our shopping and try to find the map. Karl shook hands with each of us before he left.

Despite our plans, the following morning Karl and I were left to ourselves. Marcus was going to ski the slopes of Illimani with Annick and Dede, and Kevin had errands to run. I suggested to Karl that we search for the map. We didn't find one in any of the bookstores. On a large wall map Karl pointed out to some salespeople the relatively small area where we would be travelling; but we left the stores empty-handed.