Chapter 3, To South America Summary and Analysis

Thor and Herman land in the port of Guayaquil and take a hotel in the hot, humid weather. They learn enough Spanish to get around, with their first major order of business being the procurement of large, fresh balsa logs. None grow close to the coast any longer, and none of the sawmills have appropriate logs, so the only place to chop them down lies inland, within the jungle. However, the rainy season has started, which makes the jungle inaccessible due to deep mud.

Herman and Thor think hard for a solution. By using a map in the hotel, they determine that they can enter the jungle from behind by traveling over the Andes Mountains, harvest trees on a plantation owned by Don Gustavo, and float the logs downriver to the coast.

They fly to...