Lost tourist says ‘hero’ monkeys saved his life in Amazon

Two squirrel monkeys, a mother and her child, in the Amazon rainforest near Leticia, Colombia. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

A Chilean man who was lost in the Amazon forest for nine days claimed that a troop of monkeys helped him survive by feeding him with fruits and guiding him to water and shelter.

Twenty-five-year-old tourist Maykool Coroseo Acuña had lost contact with his tour group from Max Adventures at Amazon’s Madidi National Park in Bolivia, National Geographic reported.

The night before Acuña mysteriously vanished, fellow tourists said that he declined to participate in a traditional ceremony thanking Pachamama, the earth goddess of the Andes people. Locals believed that if someone dishonored Pachamama, that person would enrage Duende, a goblin-like creature that preys on people.

“It’s because he offended the Pachamama,” Feizar Nava told the news site. “He didn’t want to participate in the ceremony.”

Hence, Nava called upon mountaineers, shamans and Acuña’s relatives to help locate him. “For myself and the rangers, this is our culture,” Madidi National Park director Marcos Uzquiano said. “We believe that Duende is real. And we think it’s possible that Maykool [Acuña] was taken by him.”

After nine days, Acuña was found less than a mile near the Max Adventures’ camping place. He was dehydrated, with swollen feet, and skin bitten by bugs. He claimed that a monkeys dropped him fruits every day and led him to the river and a safe haven for him to rest.

Though Acuña did not identify which species of primates saved him, the Amazon jungle is home to the Rosillo, Lucachi and Titi monkeys.  Gianna Francesca Catolico /ra

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