I was eager to start my journey as soon as possible; my imagination ran wild as

I pictured myself in a beautiful city full of ancient Latin architecture made of

gold and stone. I was brought back to reality when I thought of the cost and
preparation for the trip. I needed equipment, a team of more experienced
researchers, a budget, a new notebook to write all my experiences, a camera,
etc.

I decided to call my mother for some financial help, using the excuse of needing
it for my student debts. She gave me a significant amount of money, which I
saved regretful on my bank account in order to save it for my selfish trip.

Likewise, I dropped out of University and started to work. I got a job in a retail
shop and took the nightshift from Monday to Friday while I had some other
part-time job on a Fast-food restaurant. I even managed to get a job in a
newspaper company on Saturdays and Sundays, which was surprising
considering my terribly small amount of experience to apply to said job.

I did that for two years until I had a good amount of money to cover my needs,
as well as some luxuries of my trip. After that, I started to plan out what places
I would have to visit so that I could arrive at Brazil completely prepared and
ready for anything. I thought my next move was to head over to the U.S, more
specifically South Dakota. The U.S had many of the things I needed: I would
gather an hire a group of researchers, I would go to some experts of Latin history
to contextualize me of the kind of place I was going to, and I would also get the
equipment since I thought all of that would be of a high quality if a bought it in
a powerful country like the U.S. And I chose South Dakota because of the
Archeological Research Center and The Journey Museum and Learning Center,
in which I thought I would find anything I needed.
April 26th, 2018.

I woke up at 4:30am in my small room of my house filled with only a few

books and papers. I had packed most of valuable things I owned up in two
backpacks. After dressing and eating at some toast, I put my eye patch on, took
my bags and headed towards the Coimbra Airport.

In the bus on the way there I thought of the crazy possibility of finding The
City of Z, the buildings containing books, ceramic pieces, art, drawings,
buildings, so many years of history, culture and past knowledge. Just imagine
the number of things we can learn from that lost paradise! But again, the mere
possibility of even finding that city was beyond me. If Percival Harrison
Fawcett, the man I looked up to as a role model for my entire trip, died when
trying to find it, then what would make me any different from him? Though, I
was a little excited to go to Brazil, even if I did not find such a mythical place,
anything would be better than getting stuck in this lonely endless cycle of a life
most people have: Go to school, work, have a family, die. I would be satisfied
enough if I had the chance of looking at the beautiful ecosystems the only big
problem was, I going to find a team of researchers that were as crazy as me
willing to find a place that was most likely fake. Eventually, I figured I would
tell them that I would just visit the Kuhikugu, an archaeological site located at
the head of the Xingu River, for research purposes. Thought that site is said to
be actually near the City of Z itself.

Once I arrived, I was a little anxious, I have never really been comfortable in
airplanes so the idea of travelling across the entire North Atlantic Ocean to an
entirely different continent scared me to death. What if I crash? What if the
engine fails? What is we land on water? I can´t swim! What would be my last
words? What if the plane goes missing? These questions were constantly
following me as I got in the plane. I sat on a window seat, the other two seats
besides me were occupied by some guys that were luckily quiet and normal.
After about 8 hours stuck on that plane, I eventually arrived at the Rapid City
Regional Airport and took a taxi from there to my hotel. It was the first time I
had been in the US, I was caught by the warm weather that was covering the
flat land around me, there the streets were awfully calm and depopulated,
something strange of a country with 325.7 million people in it. 20 minutes in
that taxi surrounded my awkward and silent tension between me and the driver,
I dropped in the Holiday Inn Rapid City-Rushmore Plaza. My room has
standard, nothing too exiting, I stayed in for the night, enjoying as much as I
could the hotel´s pool and free Wi-Fi since the next day I was planning to fly
over to the Archeological research center in California to look for some
archeologist to help me.

August 27th, 2018.

As soon as I got up, I went into the airport again to fly to California, it was a
nice flight and I was not as paranoid as the last time since the flight was much
shorter and we were surrounded by land. After I arrived at the airport and took
a taxi to my next hotel, the Larkspur Landing Sacramento, I noticed that the
landscape barely changed but overall it was hotter and the three more people on
the streets.

When I to the Hotel I quickly dropped my bags and headed towards the
Archeological Center, I was excited, but perhaps too excited to notice that I
would obviously I would have a trouble with socializing with the researchers.
And having a trouble socializing I did; the moment I entered the building I had
no idea who and how to approach. Eventually someone approached me. ´´Hello
Sir, may I help you with anything´´ A blond woman said as I just stared at her
in awe and panic ´´Ah yes, I, well, um, I was looking for some re- ah, I mean…
Sorry I… Think this is the wrong building´´ And then I left. My social skills
were a problem, a big one in fact, so much so that I did not have the guts to even
think of approaching the building in the first place, let alone ask for help.

Embarrassed, I returned to the Hotel and meditated for a while. I came to the
solution that any introvert has at one point or another, I wrote a script for me to
learn and practice in order to know what I needed to say. To spare you the details,
it worked. It worked! Soon, I found myself with three archeologists that were
currently going to Brazil for some research and they thought visiting Kuhikugu
was a good idea from my part. That´s how I met Will, Mat and Andrew, my
´´team´´.

The three archeologists were kind to me and talked to me normally,

besides my weird appearance and shy personality. I really did feel
comfortable around them and talked to them like they were some old
childhood friends, thought I never had those.

About their appearance and personality; Will was a tall and blonde
guy with messy hair, his personality was happy and lively, but he also
had an aura of professionality and seriousness. Mary was a short,
brunette girl with long hair and pale skin, she often told she was nice
and sweet but really liked to tell jokes. Lastly, Andrew was a, rather
short guy, about 5 centimeters taller than me (170 cm) with long and
dark hair and thin glasses. He seemed very serious and intellectual at
first, but he laughed at Mary´s jokes and made funny remarks himself.

¨So, Jack¨ Will said ¨You look very interested in Brazil, huh? ¨ I
replied rather quickly ¨Ah yes, I´m really want to visit it´s jungles and
history. I´ve read lot about ancient cities and towns there and I´ve
always wanted to go where they once where to know more about
them¨. I well what I said was not exactly a lie, the City Z was a lost
and ancient place that I wanted to go to visit the place to know more
about it. “Oh interesting, so that´s why you want to visit Kuhikugu,
lucky for you that we are going there as well¨ said Andrew. ¨Yup, but
we must pick up some stuff on the Bavarian State Archaeological
Collection, ya know, over Germany¨ Mary added, ¨So either you go
to Brazil and wait there for us or ya can follow us to Germany! ¨ She
was saying this in a happy tone, but I could tell she was dead serious.
I did not know what to respond, it was sudden and kind of weird that
she could say that to somebody she just met. ¨Mary, I don´t know if
you´re joking, but we can´t just tell him to follow us all over to
Germany, it would be kind of uncomfortable to him to buy airplane
tickets and other expenses just for him to feel dragged all the time
with us¨ Will told Mary in a soft but also passive-aggressive tone.
¨Well actually¨ I interrupted ¨I need to… V-visit my mother, she lives
in Germany. I haven´t met her in a while, it´s best for me to tell her
that I need to go to Brazil¨

This was kind of a lie, though I thought that telling my mother that I
would go to Mato Grosso, I did not want to. I did not speak to her in
a regular basis and I did not like when we spoke together,
conversations often ended in disagreements or that awkward silence I
have grown to despise. The real reason why I agreed to go with them
was a bit incoherent, but I was a master at making the most random
and unconscious decisions, and persisting until I complete them, I just
wanted to be with them. Yeah, just that, no other reason.

I really bonded with them, as must as you can bond with someone you
just met an hour ago, I felt comfortable around them, I felt like I could
express my mind, I felt… Included. For once in my life. Of course, I
would stick with them, they were my first taste of what
companionship and inclusion were like and I was already addicted to
the feeling of not being alone anymore.

¨Welp… He said yes! ¨ Mary exclaimed to Will in a mocking tone

¨Oh… That´s great, thought we do have to visit some places before
we even go to the museum for some… uh…work stuff…¨ Andrew
said in a serious, though kind, voice ¨Yeah… ´work stuff´…*cought*
we´re visiting some tourism places as our summer break *cought*¨
Mary said quickly. ¨Mary! *sigh* She is right though…¨ Will said
sheepishly ¨Oh… I don´t really mind! I´d love to go with you
guys…umm well if it´s ok with you¨ I said ¨Well we´d love to hang
out with you! But you still must pay for you food and plane ticket,
though¨ Mary said as the other two agreed.

August 29th, 2018

We all went to the airport, 3:00pm, all of us talking and chatting, and
got to the plane with no problem, except of me being anxious again. I
sat in the window seat while Andrew sat beside me, Mary and Will
sat on other seats, two rows back from us. While on the ride plane,
Andrew help me release my concerns by talking with me and telling
me some stories, turns out we had a lot in common, he was just like
me some years earlier, that is until he met Will and Mary and really
tried to open up since then, he stopped being so quiet and isolated and
began to change himself for the better, I wish I had the courage to be
like him when I was younger, just to approach people more and stop
being so shy; but he did have and advantage over me, people could
approach him, he looked completely normal, handsome even, while
I… was a freak.

¨Hey, sorry to ask but, I´ve been curious about something, what
happened with your eye? ¨ he said as the words hit me, causing panic
to my soul ¨Uh… well…I-I… It´s…It´s personal…¨ I said stuttering,
embarrassed and trying to give him a more satisfying answer I spouted
¨But I-I mean I DO have a right eye… It´s just… uhhh¨ I got flustered
while he gave me a small chuckle ¨Heh… It´s alright, you don´t have
to tell me, I understand¨ he said softly, and I was relieved I did not
have to tell him about my eye or explain anything else about the
subject.

After some time, we were almost there. ¨Ah, Germany, 375,000 km2
of area filled with 83,000,000 people, with temperate climate and
expanded history, we finally arrived. ¨ Andrew said as the plane
landed harshly. Mary took us a taxi from the beautifully build Munich
International Airport to the Pullman Hotel, were we rested from the
8-hour flight.

The next 2 days were great, I got to spend time with my new friends,
as I called them now, we visited many places, such as Marienplatz,
Munich Residenz, and the Nympherburg palace. I was so happy, I
finally had friends that I could talk to, I wasn´t alone anymore, I felt
so hopeful and happy during those time. Oh boy, if only I knew back
then It was not going to last long.

During the third and last day, I followed them to the archäologische
staatssammlung, where they had to pick up their equipment. After that,
we immediately had to take our flight to Mato Grosso, but there was
a big problem, when I was packing my bags, I noticed that I could not
find m plane ticket, nowhere to be found. Things got so bad that I had
to buy a ticket for the next fight, on the next day. I had to say goodbye
to my friends and told them we needed to meet at Kuhikugu as soon
as we could.

After we parted ways, I decided I had to do one more thing before I

go. I went to take a taxi right outside of the airport. I told the driver to
take me to Kardinal-Faulhaber-Straße 14. Half an hour later, I drop
by that old house I lived in about 2 years ago, with my mom, she was
still living here, alongside her boyfriend, a man that hated me for no
reason. I was about to take my courage and tell my mom about my
plans, even if she did not approve them, as she would do with
everything I liked; I was going to tell her I was going to find an ancient,
lost city, I was going to tell her I had friends that would help me, I
was going to tell her that I dropped my studies to do this. But I could
not. She would never approve of such a crazy idea, she never really
gave me support in any of my dreams, she would never help me make
friends or help me with my condition, she only cared of my education
so that I could have a normal job and work until I die, not taking into
consideration my feelings; she was not my father. She would not have
believed me about anything I would say, and even if she did, she
would be disappointed for not finishing my studies and focusing on
that boring lifestyle she wanted for me. I backed away, I never told
her anything about my life since that day, I only left her a text message
saying ´Bye´ later that day. I went to the hotel and prepared for the
flight.
August 30th, 2018

I went to the airport again with all my stuff, I was feeling a regretful from
yesterday, but I tried to ignore such feeling by looking at what my future hold,
I was going to Brazil and to look for the City of Z, I had a team, that were also
my friends. I was a much better stop in life that some years ago as a lonely 18-
year-old that knew nothing more than studies and solitude.

I was almost entering the checkup line when I noticed a weird looking guy,
wearing dark and big clothes, messy brown hair and awfully pale skin. I noticed
his big and packed backpack, it almost felt like his thing were going to burst out
of there in an explosion. I was ticked off by his appearance, it looked exactly
like a homeless guy I would see in shady streets back in Germany, I honestly
thought he was a criminal. I stopped thinking like that, I did not want my anxiety
to get the best of me in this ride, I told myself to stop overthinking so much, it
was just a regular guy, I was going to be fine. Oh, how wrong I was.

I boarded the plane and sat on my chair meanwhile I was getting my phone and
head phones to listen to some music. The fight was going smoothly, nothing
wrong, yet. I even remember the exact song I was listening when It happened,
I was listening to ´Bohemian Rhapsody´, half way through the famous song
when the plane suddenly started violently shaking and moving. We were almost
reaching Brazil but just there the whole thing had lost control. The sight was
horrible, everyone screaming, backs flying everywhere, smoke was visible
through the windows and even parts of the plane became physically detached
to it. I just closed my eyes in silence, waiting, waiting for everything to be over.
I woke up to a dim light that reached my eye lids. I tried to move, but the
slightest action make my entire body twitch in pain. I barely gather the last of
my strengths to sit down the wet dirt floor full of broken glass and dry leaves. I
observed my surroundings, trees, very tall trees everywhere that blocked most
of the hot sunlight that tried to reach the floor, the were many different animals
and plants around me. I was in the jungle, not just any jungle, but the Amazonas´
jungle. I was lost and I was horrified. My brain was going through so many
emotions, anger, sadness, anxiety, panic, fear. I could not think properly
because of the confusion in my brain and the merciless pain my body was in
due to all my hounds. I eventually calmed down, panic wound not have done
anything good to me in that situation. I saw my body, my legs and arms had
copious amounts of glass stuck into them as well as some deeper cuts made by
lose pieces of metal that had fallen of the plane, bruises and punches where
everywhere as well, fortunately, none of my important organs had been reached
my any of the glass of metal, so I was not in the worst situation.

I took a while to get all the glass out of my arms and legs, I had patched my
hounds with a piece of fabric I found in the floor. I was finally able to stand up
and walk to find some resources of the destroyed plane. I found a plastic bag,
some food leftovers and a half empty bottle of water. I drank the water and ate
the food while I used the bag as a little roof on a tent I made (and by tent I meant
some sticks put together poorly against a large and formidable tree).

August 31st, 2018

That day I woke up in the uncomfortable floor of the wet jungle, pain
everywhere and hunger ran all my body. I could resist some day without water
and a couple of weeks without food, so I was fine for now, my main concern
was to find a water body, preferably a river to guide me to some sort of village.
But nothing, I found nothing more than a pocket knife, some berries, a couple
of clothes and more water bottles.

It was a bit difficult to know what to do, I have never been in this kind of
situation before, I was so used to the commodities of a privileged middle-class
life, phones, air-condition, food and water. I was not physically fit per say, so I
had trouble walking large distances and the hot air made my breathing very bad
and consequently made me very fatigued and dizzy; I was used to cold or temple
air, even at the beaches I went back in Bristol or Portugal did not reach such
burning temperatures. Not only the temperature affected me, also the humid
ground made my socks wet, I had to wear some plastic bags in my feet in order
to keep them dry and avoid tissue break down or some type of sickness. I also
had to protect most of my skin for mosquitoes and other insects that carried
diseases in that type of weather, such as Chikungunya. But the hardest task of
all was to find food, I only could gather food I was only familiar with, coconuts,
squash, cucumber, cashews, peanuts and citrus fruit, but It was overly difficult
to find those, Whenever I did find them, I tried not to eat much of them to save
resources. I has just lucky to find water, I knew I could find it where large
amounts of insects appeared and so I found it and had to boil it first before
drinking it, in order to avoid any germs or animals entering my weak body. I
was just lucky I did not run into some wild animal, thought I had seen some but
avoided at all costs.

On my time there, I found something interesting, some bags, but not just any
bags, it was the bags of that weird looking guy I saw on the checkup line about
to get in the plane. He was in the plane. I thought it would be impossible, the
bags where filled with knifes and some liquids, impossible that he even got a
chance of getting in, but there he was. Not only that but there was a parachute
nearby, weird. I took what was of value, including some small shoulder bag I
used to put everything that was valuable to me in there. I continued to look for
some sort of life desperately, I felt like Juliane Koepcke lost in the forest, alone
and panicked, except I did not know if I would even survive in that situation.
Some weeks in that living hell with large trees, wild and unknown animals, hot
temperature and that characteristic loneliness that I had known for some many
years yet despised deeply. I had not seen a body yet, but I had found some
medical kit I used to clean and cure all my hounds.

That little box of hope made my heart be filled with faith, faith that someday,
sooner or later, I would be out of there, and I did. About 5 months later, yes, 5,
I celebrated New Years alone and lost in a damn Jungle. It was January 27 th, I
believe, when I found a ray of hope and salvation in the form of smoke. I dashed
thought the thick jungle to that smoke. I found it, I found a village.

I got to a random man and started asking him for help, for water, food, shelter.
I was almost in tears when he spoke to me in a language I did not understand
back then, he just dragged me to a little house and made me sleep in a bed. I
rested for little over 14 hours, well rested ones since it was my first time in
months sleeping in and actual bed. I got up and noticed that many of hounds
that were once patched up roughly with some fabric were now covered in proper
bandages. I got out of the little residence and saw some kids playing with some
football ball in the hot weather while some other people were playing some
´Criollo´ music in some weird looking instruments. The town was also very
humble looking, it was obvious that I was not in a rich country or area.
The man I had seen earlier approached me and started talking in Spanish, it was
then when I realized that I was in Peru, I could barely understand him, I tried
communicating with him in Portuguese, but it was no use. Fortunately, he got
some of his friends that knew a little of Portuguese and told me that the people
on that village had seen the plane crash and were looking for some survivors,
he told me that many people had come into the village for rescue and already
left once they were healed and feed. I was relieved that I was not the only
survivor of the accident and, I was happy that I did not have to be trapped in
here any longer and was able to go and continue my journey. Yes, even after all
of that I still wanted to continue my crazy trip. The man that had brought me
into his home was named Juan and the one that spoke Portuguese was named
Pacha, a quite nice name, also the name of my Disney character. They both sat
me down and fed me some fish and tropical foods such as ´Papaya´ and
´Maracuya´ (which I did not really enjoy but who am I to complain when I was
lost in the middle of a Jungle with barely any food for 5 months).

After I stayed for some weeks and tried to learn a bit of Spanish, Pacha told me
that I could go to Cusco if I pleased because some if his familiars were going to
arrive here quickly and then go straight back to Cusco, I obviously said that I
would love to go and 2 days later, I left.

February 28th, 2019

When I arrived at Cusco after 2 whole days of a ride with a beautiful sight to
the sea (because we took a route that took us through the western coast of the
country, directly besides the South Pacific Ocean. When I got to the city of
large plazas and humble and clustered buildings, I did m best to get to a bank, I
needed to get some money for my trip to Brazil. I arrived at BCP Money And
Tourist Services I saw somebody quite familiar, a guy talking in his phone,
when I got a little close to him, I overheard his conversation “...yes. Yes... Yeah
it took a while to pass that damn security, but it still did it regardless…Yup, the
whole thing went down right into the jungle…” It was him. The guy who I
noticed from the start that my guts told me that it was dangerous, it ended up
being a terrorist who was the one who took my flight down and made me live
through 5 months fighting to survive in an Amazonian jungle.