After hearing Adrian's advice, the three of them began heading deeper into the forest.
Adrian led the way with a machete, clearing a path, while the other two followed behind. Although the rainforest was hot and humid, this time both of them were wearing long-sleeved shirts, long pants, and boots, specifically to avoid the harassment of poisonous insects, rodents, and ants.
Along the way, Owen came across a scene of ants hunting a scorpion. The huge scorpion was utterly overwhelmed by the small ants. Densely packed, they swarmed all over the scorpion's body, making Owen's scalp tingle. The scorpion tried to escape, but its movements grew slower and slower until it finally went still, allowing the ants to eat it alive.
Adrian used a grass stem to pick up one ant and handed it to Owen. "You can smell it…"
Suspicious, Owen leaned in. Even from some distance away, a sharp sour odor hit his nose. This had to be the legendary smell of formic acid, and just from the scent he could tell being bitten by one would hurt terribly. And that was only a single ant—if it were a swarm, just thinking about what happened to the scorpion sent chills down Owen's spine.
When Owen left the ants' killing ground, he saw Monica a short distance ahead, pointing her camera at some flowers. Owen walked over and saw she was photographing an ant, but this one looked a bit strange.
This time, without Adrian's introduction, Monica was the first to speak. "This is a zombie ant…"
"Zombie ant?"
Owen had never heard of it before, so Monica elaborated: "A zombie ant is an ant controlled by a fungus. See how this one has locked its mandibles onto the central vein of a leaf and hasn't let go even in death? That's because it was infected by a type of fungus that parasitizes ants. The fungus grows and releases chemicals to change the ant's behavior, eventually controlling it and turning it into a puppet until it dies. As the fungus continues to grow and reproduce, the ant loses its own consciousness. It might wander aimlessly in circles or hardly move at all. In the final stage of its life, it leaves its colony, finds a nearby leaf, bites down hard on the vein, and then dies."
Owen shuddered at the thought—nature actually had creatures like this. Looking at the surrounding trees, he realized they had only just stepped onto the edge of the Amazon, but he could already feel its hostility. This place was truly full of danger at every step.
After Monica snapped a few more photos, the three continued forward. After a while, Adrian suddenly stopped and pointed to the ground. "You two might be interested in this."
Owen and Monica looked closer—it was a spider. The spider was the size of a palm, its body covered in long, thin hairs, looking downright terrifying. Monica took a few pictures while Adrian fashioned a small noose out of grass, looped it over the spider, and held it up for them to see.
"This spider probably eats insects and small birds. It looks a bit like a black widow, but I'm not sure of the exact species."
Owen had a natural aversion to hairy creatures like this and stayed far away, with no desire to observe it closely. Seeing their lack of interest, Adrian tossed the spider off into the distance.
After walking on land for a while, the three returned to the boat. They were still on the main channel of the Amazon River. Compared to other places, the main channel was relatively well-developed by humans. According to Adrian, the truly interesting spots were actually on the tributaries—but those were also more dangerous.
On the way, Owen suddenly remembered the Shuar tribe that Kroll and his group were searching for and asked Adrian about them.
"The Shuar you're talking about? I know them. In fact, a lot of guides in Belém know about them. They live near the Dodo River and worship the python as their god. There are other tribes nearby too, like the headhunters…"
"Headhunters? Cannibals?"
The term "headhunters" easily made one think of cannibals. Monica's curiosity was piqued as well, and she leaned in.
"No, they don't eat people. If they ever did, it was hundreds of years ago. But they do have a habit of collecting skulls. The reason I brought them up is that they're the exact opposite of the Shuar. The Shuar worship pythons, but the headhunters love hunting and killing them. They also like to keep the heads of their prey separately as trophies."
"Will our route pass by them?"
Monica asked with interest. It was their first time in the Amazon, and they knew nothing about it. This trip's itinerary had been arranged by Adrian—once they stated their preferences and paid, everything else was handled by him: where to go, what to eat, all his call.
"No, we won't pass them, but there is a section where we'll be fairly close. Still, I don't recommend looking for either the Shuar or the headhunters. These are indigenous tribes; they don't speak our language, and there's no guarantee they wouldn't attack us."
Adrian's words immediately made Owen drop the idea of adventuring. So far, the Amazon had left him with a good impression: beautiful scenery, pleasant climate, but also constant danger. Human exploration here was extremely limited, and the number of unknowns was staggering.
The boat continued down the river. Near noon, the temperature hit its peak. Owen lounged lazily on a deck chair, bored. The Amazon's scenery was nice, but the one downside was the water. It was always a murky green, looking dirty and with poor visibility—you never knew what was beneath the surface.
Adrian stopped the boat in the middle of the river and then took a small boat to the shallow bank. There was basic food on the main boat, but Adrian said he would get them a fish for lunch—a genuine wild Amazon fish.
It had to be said, Adrian knew how to pique a tourist's curiosity.
The Amazon was said to have several kinds of carnivorous fish, some with the fearsome reputation of piranhas, but with delicious meat. Whether they would get to eat one today remained to be seen.
Owen and Monica, wearing sunglasses, watched from the boat as Adrian, looking like a primitive man, speared fish with his long pole. He was quite skilled—he missed the first strike but on the second caught a fish nearly half a meter long, more than enough for the three of them.
The fish was still thrashing on the spear's tip when Adrian tossed it into his small boat and paddled back.
Half an hour later, they were eating freshly grilled fish, which was delicious. Owen didn't know what kind it was, but one look at the sharp teeth in its mouth told him it was a meat-eater.
As they were eating happily, Owen noticed a few fairly large animals entering the water from the shore.
Adrian saw them too and casually explained, "Those are giant otters."
Giant otters looked adorable, with whiskers above their mouths that made them seem even cuter.
They swam out into the water, and before long, a few heads surfaced far away. It was obvious they were skilled swimmers; their size didn't slow them down at all. They glanced at Owen's boat, decided there was no threat, and then dove underwater again.
After a while, a smaller giant otter resurfaced, holding a fish in its forepaws and taking bites from it now and then—just like a human eating snacks.
When it finished one fish, it dove again and soon came up with another, holding it in its forepaws and gnawing away. After eating that one, it went back for a third.
After three fish, the giant otter was finally full. It found a branch lying across the water's surface, sprawled lazily on it, then rolled onto its back to sunbathe with its belly exposed. The sight was irresistibly amusing.
Monica laughed so hard at the scene that she forgot her fish, grabbing her camera to snap away.
Perhaps her laughter was too loud, startling the otters that were foraging and playing. Two adult giant otters stopped and made strange calls toward the boat.
Seeing this, Adrian immediately maneuvered the boat a little farther away. Noticing Monica's puzzled look, he explained, "Don't let their appearance fool you. These giant otters are carnivores.
They can grow up to 1.8 meters long. Usually they eat fish, but sometimes snakes and crustaceans too. While they look harmless, they're actually dangerous. They're known for hunting in groups and can work together to take down larger predators, including anacondas and caimans. Locals call them 'river wolves' for a reason. The calls they just made were a warning—if we got closer, they might have attacked us."
In Owen's mind, it was like a thousand wild horses galloping past. In the Amazon, there didn't seem to be any such thing as a "simple" animal. Before coming here, he knew anacondas and black caimans were dangerous, but he hadn't expected even otters to be so formidable.
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