Chapters 4 through 6 Summary

In chapter four, Alex and Kate fly to Manaus, a city described as the "most populous of the Amazon region", where they are to meet up with others of Kate's team. Those people are Timothy Bruce, Joel Gonzalez and Ludovic Leblanc. Timothy and Joel are photographers for the magazine and Professor Leblanc is a famous anthropologist. They are to meet up with their guide at Santa Maria de la Lluvia. In addition to the magazine team, they are traveling with a couple of missionaries and a young doctor named Omayra Torres. As they begin the trip, Leblanc shows off his stash of weapons, saying that they must be prepared for hostile natives. Leblanc says that "brutality" is normal among the native tribes, and that only the fit and strong survive. In contrast, civilized people have "compassion" that makes them protect the...