Posted on January 12, 2017 Updated on January 11, 2017. Some in the academic community, however, were not so easily impressed. In 2012, centuries-old legends of a lost city in Honduras were confirmed when ancient ruins were rediscovered in the dense Mosquita rainforest. “That I knew. “Well, I knew we found a city, an ancient city,” Elkins said. No. “Can’t say I see a whole lot from here,” one team member said. It was like cutting your way through a shag carpet. Watch CBS News anytime, anywhere with the our 24/7 digital news network. “But, you know, who knows? It’s a pyramid. An ancient curse. Somewhere in this impassable wilderness, it is said, lies a “lost city” built of white stone. But this time Elkins had something no previous expeditions to the area did: a piece of impressive technology called LIDAR, a laser mapping system. Was it a big deal? The results have now shown that the area is home to an incredible biodiversity of animals and plants. "Our team of scientists were shocked at the discovery of tremendously rich biodiversity, including many rare and threatened species," says Trond Larsen, Director of the Rapid Assessment Program. “We don’t go out looking for treasure anymore; we go out looking for knowledge,” she told Cowan. “The legend is there was a great city in the mountains that was struck by a series of catastrophes, and the inhabitants thought the gods were angry at them, and [they] left, leaving all their belongings behind,” Preston said. Months after leaving the jungle, Doug Preston noticed a bite from a sand fly that just wouldn’t heal. He showed slides and talked about his adventures that led to his nonfiction account, The Lost City of the Monkey God. Over the next few months, about half the expedition came down with the early symptoms, and had to undergo the painful treatment. That includes big cats like jaguars and pumas, which were spotted during the expedition. The Lost City of the Monkey God A True Story (Book) : Preston, Douglas J : Since the days of Cortés, rumors have circulated about a lost city of immense wealth hidden somewhere in the Honduran interior, called the White City or the Lost City of the Monkey God. Over 280,000 people receive our email newsletter. With a Bachelor of Arts in Professional Writing and several years experience under his belt, he joined New Atlas as a staff writer in 2016. Bill Benenson and Steve Elkins were spared, and their documentary about their adventure is now in its final edit. It would seem the jungle is still fighting to keep its secrets -- an almost impenetrable veil making a better accounting of what’s really there difficult at best. The team also found a thriving population of white-lipped peccaries – a pig-like animal – which are widely struggling in other parts of the continent thanks to deforestation. “They were either man-made or the world’s most intelligent gophers were out there, doing things they’d never done before,” Benenson said. Now, scientists have conducted a three-week expedition to these ruins, known as the "White City" or the "Lost City of the Monkey God," and found a trove of natural treasures. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story. A gamble that soon paid off. “So let’s go and see what happens!”. “Who doesn’t like a story that has some mystery in it?” Elkins said. In 2017, a team of scientists led by the government of Honduras and Conservation International's Rapid Assessment Program (RAP), was taken via helicopter to a specific site called the City of the Jaguar, to conduct a three-week biological survey of the region. Docile enough during the day, but when one slithered into camp under the cover of darkness, it caused an understandable panic. Spanish Conquistador Hernán Cortés is often cited as the earliest reference to the story, but he actually never mentioned a "white city" and his geographical references are vague. But it’s being portrayed as archeology, and it’s not.”. For centuries, the region had been rumored to contain a lost city, known as the City of the Monkey God or the White City, and now, thanks to a combination … Suspenseful and shocking, filled with colorful history, hair-raising adventure, and dramatic twists of fortune, THE LOST CITY OF THE MONKEY GOD is the absolutely true, eyewitness account of one of the great discoveries of the twenty-first century. “National Geographic Explorer: Legend of the Monkey God”, Rosemary Joyce, University of California, Berkeley, California Privacy/Information We Collect. I attended a talk by Preston about his research and new book—at Albuquerque’s historic KiMo theater, whose resident ghost I investigated and debunked several years ago (as described in the first chapter of my book Mysterious New … Of these, one species of poeciliid fish (or "molly") was found to be new to science. What wasn’t growing, was oozing with mud. Certainly not the explorers who’ve been reliving their adventures -- and misadventures -- with our Lee Cowan: If you ask bestselling author Doug Preston, he’ll say he doesn’t believe in curses. “And just getting in and out is dangerous.”. “And once you’re there, it’s thick, thick with poisonous snakes.”. Douglas Preston & The Lost City of the Monkey God. THE LOST CITY OF THE MONKEY GOD: A True Story was published by Grand Central Publishing and is available in hardcover (978-1455540006, $28).. The jungle was so thick, all they could see were leaves -- even when standing right in front of what Chris Fisher thought was a pyramid. Hurray! An expedition to the “Lost City of the Monkey God” in Honduras has revealed a trove of natural treasures. And yet, here he is, being treated for an illness he contracted while on a jungle expedition to a site rumored for centuries to rain misfortune down on anyone who entered. My only charity for 4 decades has been the Nature Conservancy, but even they have become overrun by alarmists and aren't preserving as much land and as many animals as they used to as they spend more and more on trying to fix what they perceive as damaged by Crimate Chang. “It was so powerful.”. Michael has always been fascinated by space, technology, dinosaurs, and the weirder mysteries of the universe. Enter documentary filmmaker Bill Benenson, who agreed to foot the million-dollar-plus bill if he could capture the adventure on film. The LIDAR made visible what looked like rectangular structures, including two perfectly linear lines, and a right angle. The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story is a New York Times best-selling nonfiction book written by journalist and novelist Douglas Preston and published by Grand Central Publishing in 2017. “Just to get into this jungle is extremely dangerous,” Elkins said. Even if he doesn’t find anything, it might make a good story.”, Read an excerpt from Douglas Preston’s “The Lost City of the Monkey God”. The False Tree Coral Snake also made a reappearance in the country for the first time since 1965. “It was phenomenal to think that in the 21st century you could still find something like this on the surface of the Earth,” Elkins said. Who’s afraid of the CURSE OF THE LOST CITY? Explorers Discover Ancient Lost City In Honduran Jungle Chris ... explorers have searched the jungles of Honduras for a legendary lost city known as the White City, or the City of the Monkey God. That archeologist was Colorado State’s Chris Fisher. “So what do you think you had found, initially?” Cowan asked. Description: The lure of finding a lost city, its treasures, and its glory, is too much for you and your archeological colleagues to ignore. A LIDAR-scanned map of the jungle in Honduras. The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story Douglas Preston, 2017 Grand Central Publishing 336 pp. See the stories that matter in your inbox every morning. Its possible existence has tantalized adventure seekers since the 1500s, including explorer Steve Elkins, who’d been obsessed with finding the city since the early ‘90s. ISBN-13: 9781455540013 Summary A five-hundred-year-old legend. But the next day -- almost by accident -- disappointment turned to jubilation, when they found carved inscriptions. The frog and snake were purty. “The parasite migrates to the mucous membranes of your mouth and your nose, and basically eats them away,” Preston said. The rainforests and archaeological ruins around the City of the Jaguar and the rest of the White City will be protected and researched. Douglas Preston was recently in town for an event hosted by The Poisoned Pen. History and science combine to unearth the ruins, as well as "the curse" so often associated with tampering with ancient Central American ruins: disease. “Look, I thought Steve’s never going to find a lost city -- that’s ridiculous,” Preston said. “If it was just being portrayed as an adventure story, we have no objection to that. Preston captures the complexity of his subject without bogging down in the details, presenting scenes with clarity, purposefulness and wit. What a gorgeous bunch of animals. After some initial backlash, the “lost city” was comically renamed the City of the Jaguar, which has no basis in local history, and it was also referred to as the City of the Monkey God, which has no grounding in real heritage either. These abundant herbivores showed that human hunting was low in the surrounding areas, leaving these prey animals able to support a range of predators. In total, 22 of the observed species had never been recorded in Honduras before, including some extremely rare animals like the Great Green Macaw. Save and protect! Some indigenous people bristled when the Honduran President removed the first artifact himself. “Someone said, ‘Hey, wait a minute, there’s some weird stones over here,’” Elkins said. What the LIDAR revealed -- once that jungle canopy was removed -- shocked everyone on the team. "The Lost City of the Monkey God is a superior example of narrative nonfiction, an exciting, immersive tale of modern science and ancient mythology. Unfortunately, this report may stimulate the hunters and collectors, to invade the area to collect as many specimens as they can, for their sale value, thereby confirming the supposed extinctions. A LIDAR-scanned map of the jungle in Honduras. “And we all came back and the first thing I saw was a jaguar head coming out of the ground, carved in stone, snarling.”. 5 Minute Read “It’s just too dangerous,” Preston said. The team says that it's likely that other new species probably inhabit these clear waters, and importantly no invasive fish species were found in the area. Exclusive: Lost City Discovered in the Honduran Rain Forest In search for the legendary “City of the Monkey God,” explorers find the untouched ruins of a vanished culture. Overall, the team identified 183 species of plants, 246 butterflies and moths, 198 birds, 22 amphibians, 35 reptiles, 13 fish, 40 small mammals and 30 medium to large mammals. Grand Central Publishing. So did Chris Fisher. The basic story line (based on true events) is about the discovery of the long lost "City of the Monkey God" (AKA "White City", etc.) Waterborne microplastics grow bio-coatings to sneak into living cells, Ocean Cleanup gets ready to tackle world's most polluting rivers, Stingrays demonstrate mapping potential as they skim the seafloor, Blunt-bladed hydro turbine packs fish-friendliness into a small unit, Single gene therapy injection surprisingly boosts vision in both eyes, New silicon/perovskite solar cell world record nears 30% efficiency. THE LOST CITY OF THE MONKEY GOD A True Story By Douglas Preston 326 pp. “Well, that’s what it is. “I would never trade that experience for anything,” he said. A red-eyed tree frog was one of the amphibian species observed during an expedition to the Lost City of the Monkey God in Honduras, A thriving population of white-lipped peccaries was discovered in Honduras, which are struggling elsewhere on the continent thanks to deforestation, Washington State University, Panthera, Wildlife Conservation Society, Zamorano University, Honduran Forest Conservation Institute, Travis King, John Polisar, Manfredo Turcios, Pumas appear to be relatively common in the area, according to the team, An endangered Baird's tapir, spotted on a camera trap, A pair of Great Curassow, endangered in most other places but common in the City of the Jaguar habitat thanks to its isolation, An Ornate Hawk-Eagle preying upon a Great Green Macaw. He helped National Geographic artists come up with a rendering of what the city might have looked like -- but he had to get there on foot to know for sure. The eagle is near-threatened and the macaw is endangered, A Great Green Macaw, which is extremely rare in other places but seems to be relatively common in the White City area, Cacao de monte fruits, which are used to produce chocolate, were found in the White City area, The tiger beetle was thought to be extinct until its rediscovery during this expedition, The Morpho butterflies are some of the largest in the world, The Pale-Faced Bat was rediscovered in Honduras for the first time in over 75 years, One of the campsites used by the research team, This glass frog indicates that the waters of the White City are pristine, The expedition area is home to a range of freshwater habitats, The expedition team. Left to right: (top) Onan Reyes, Travis King, John van Dort, Eric van den Berghe, Arnulfo Medina-Fitoria, Manfredo Turcios-Casco, Olvin Oyuela, Milton Salazar-Saavedra, Trond Larsen; (bottom) John Polisar, Carlos Funes, Josué Ramos (T. Larsen), Fresh water crabs found in the rivers of the White City area, The false tree coral snake was discovered in Honduras for the first time since 1965, The worm salamander is listed as highly vulnerable. An expedition in the jungles of Honduras uses advanced technology to search for the remains of an ancient civilization. Is it like Machu Picchu? But what it was, beyond that, that was up to the archeologists to figure out.”. An ancient curse. The precise origin of the Ciudad Blanca legend is unclear. Originally published in The American Weekly, September 22, 1940 ( Wikimedia Commons ) In 1952, explorer Tibor Sekelj searched for The White City on an expedition financed by the Ministry of Culture of Honduras, but returned empty handed. Natural selection is not evolution. Some called it the White City, others the City of the Monkey God. Copyright © 2020 CBS Interactive Inc.All rights reserved. A five-hundred-year-old legend. Suspenseful and shocking, filled with colorful history, hair-raising adventure, and dramatic twists of fortune, THE LOST CITY OF THE MONKEY GOD is the absolutely true, eyewitness account of one of the great discoveries of the twenty-first century. The Lost City of the Monkey God A True Story (Book) : Preston, Douglas J : Since the days of Cortés, rumors have circulated about a lost city of immense wealth hidden somewhere in the Honduran interior, called the White City or the Lost City of the Monkey God. The search for The Lost City of the Monkey God follows explorer Steve Elkins and a team of archaeologists, anthropologists, scientists and filmmakers in this true-life adventure as they overcome torrential rains, dense jungles, poisonous reptiles and deadly disease carrying flies … Has the White City of the Monkey God been found after 500 years? 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