The Land of the Elixir of Life

August 10, 1999

I’m starting a brand new journal today. I am committed to writing down as much as possible on our adventure to the Amazon. Jim and I arrived this morning around six am to the village of El Vergel, belonging to the Ticuna tribe. Our guides, Yuri and Bayo, were there to welcome us, and I was pleasantly surprised at how good their English was. The natives were busy with the day-to-day details of their lives, only glancing at us, some with curiosity and some greeting us with big, toothless smiles. We were not the first white people to visit the village, but we still were a curiosity to them. Our guides explained that no one has ever found ‘La Tierra del elixir de la vida’ (the land of the elixir of life). Nor did many explorers believe it existed. But, it is why we are here, and our guides will be taking us deep into the forest where natives consider it to be. La Tierra contains pools of water that are believed to be the fountain of youth. The water contains minerals from the surrounding ancient stones. These stones change the water into an elixir that can turn back the hands of time and rid the body of disease, making one immortal. But no one has ever made it there to prove this true. It is only stories told by the natives and storytellers of the world. Jim has done a lot of research on where these pools could be. He reviewed his findings with Yuri and Bayo today, and they agreed that he might be right. We gathered food and supplies to last a month, which is all Yuri said we needed. Hopefully, we will have a good night’s sleep to be ready in the morning.

August 13, 1999

It has been three days since we left the village. Too tired to journal every day. So far, it has been what we expected, and we have seen so many beautiful creatures. Thankfully, we haven’t encountered any snakes yet, but thousands of insects, none I’ve ever seen before. The last exploration Jim took me on was in Egypt, which was fascinating, dry, and dusty. This trip is mesmerizing with unusual lush plants, unique colors, and trees that are thousands, if not millions, of years old. I watched a swarm of Blue Morpho Butterflies, all different sizes and shades of royal blue, flying from plant to plant. Some are light sea blue with black trim only on the edges, and some are multi-colored blue with navy specs. But the largest one was royal blue with black patterned lines throughout his wings. The larger butterflies are male; this one had wings at least eight inches wide and may have been their leader. I was so distracted I didn’t see the sloth that dropped in front of me from a low-hanging branch and scared the bejesus out of me. He looked like he was smiling, and I was about to pet him when Yuri yelled at me to stop. Sloths do not like being touched and move very slowly, but if provoked, they can be dangerous with their razor-sharp teeth and claws. He had such a sweet face, though he is a wild animal and probably wouldn’t take too kindly to being hugged. Yuri said he believed we were getting closer and did not recognize the new area we were in. Jim pulled out his map and an advanced compass to confirm our direction. We needed to go south, and it seemed we were right on track; our excitement was growing. We camped for the night, and as we were eating, Yuri told a story he heard as a boy of a group of British men in 1949 who set out to find La Tierra, but only one man returned. The man spoke of the giant reptiles that moved through the night, crushing each man except him. The Gods had let him go to tell what happened and warn others not to come. Bayo started to get agitated and was speaking rapidly in their language. Yuri laughed and said it was a scary story the adults told kids to keep them from exploring the rainforest. It was just a folktale. I don’t know what was said between them, but Bayo decided to turn in for the night. Yuri smiled and reassured me that the story was just a fable. Jim laughed and told a scary story from his childhood, and the two had a good laugh. I, on the other hand, slept with one eye open, holding onto Jim.

August 16, 1999

You can find paths others have gone before in the rainforest, but today, we traveled through unknown territory. Yuri and Bayo cut through bushes to make a path for us, and Jim was busy taking pictures of the changing scenery. The plants were a deep hunter green, some mixed with crimson, exotic, lush, and larger than any plants I’d ever seen. Deep purple Passiflora, sky blue, and white convolvulus flowers, to name a few, have detailed floral morphology, making them look sculptured and unreal. The loud, continuous noises from the macaws, toucans, and parrots echoed in my ears as if they were trying to scare us off. When evening came, noises from the bats, who were hard at work looking for food, were enough to drive one mad. Yuri believes we are very near now, but Bayo said we need to turn back; something is wrong, and he can feel it. Yuri was able to talk him off the ledge of hysteria, and we made camp for the night. Yuri said the bat noises were spooking Bayo, but I sensed it was something else. We all turned in early tonight, though I’m unsure how much sleep I will get. The cicadas are singing louder than usual, and through it all, I can hear Jim snoring. It always amazes me how he can sleep anywhere, anytime he is tired. I envy that.

August 20, 1999

It has been a few rough days since my last entry, and I was too tired to pick up my pen. Bayo deserted us the next day after his outburst of fear that we needed to turn back. He believed the animals were trying to warn us and didn’t want any part of finding the fountain of youth. He said there was a reason why no one had made it to La Tierra and that we should all turn back. We had gotten further than anyone else did; that should be enough. I agreed, but Jim said we couldn’t turn back now; we had come too far, and Yuri agreed with Jim. There was nothing they could say to change Bayo’s mind. He left us the next morning, and two days later, we found what we believed was the entrance of ‘La Tierra del elixir de la vida.’ The eerily quietness and beauty were like nothing you could ever imagine. We cannot hear the birds, bats, or cicadas; we are so deep in the forest that it is hard to see the sky above us. It is as if there is no life other than the large lush trees and plants, but we could faintly hear water falling into a pool. The night was coming, and straight before us was an enormous crater, not very deep but in an extraordinary shape. We would have to travel around it. So, instead of continuing to look for the pools, we decided to camp and look for the waterfalls in daylight. While unpacking our backpacks, a loud shirking scream came through the trees, and the ground started to shake. The hair on my arms stood straight up, and I moved quickly closer to Jim. He put his arms around me and tried to calm me down, saying it was probably just a mild earthquake. Yuri noted the shrieking was perhaps a scared bird feeling the earth move. But I have never heard a bird make that powerful noise. We have settled in for the night, but I can’t help but think, could Bayo be right? Should we have turned back? There won’t be much sleep for me tonight, not just because of worry. Jim’s snoring could probably be heard all through the forest. God help me and protect us.

**This was the journal of Jacinta McCullen. It was in her shredded backpack found by trackers deep in the Amazon rainforest in 2023. In August of 1999, Jim and Jacinta McCullen, a young couple from Massachusetts in the United States, journeyed to find the Fountain of Youth but never returned to tell their story. The only information about their journey was what she wrote. Still, it was not written that they found the pools, so it is unknown if they made it to the pools. Officially, it is recorded they were lost and most likely died from starvation. Or could there have been some truth to the giant reptiles? We'll never know. I'd like to believe they found La Tierra del elixir de la vida, a place of paradise, and decided to spend the rest of their lives there.