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El Paititi

	The Search of El Paititi

	First Expedition

	Getting Close

	Indian Encounters

The search of El Paititi

Peter and Maaike prepare a second expedition to find the Lost City, also called El Paititi. The first expedition (2000) brought them into the heart of the Peruvian Andes. They found astonishing evidence but had to turn back by lack of supplies and funds.

Maaike: "We planned the first expedition carefully for more than a year, together with Marian van Vlaardingen from her Cuzco based Pantiacolla Tours. We did quite a lot of research and checked before going to Cuzco whether The Lost City’ could be the same as the ruins found at Tiwanaku, Bolivia. Zero! Then we checked the islands Isla del Sol and Isla de la Luna in Lake Titicaca for fingerprints. The French explorer Jacques Yves Cousteau searched tenth of years ago this part of the world for El Paititi! Again zero. The more research we did the more evidence we got that El Paititi had to be in the area where we were interested in."

Secret
Peter and Maaike kept the expedition secret. Even up till now they do not give any geographical information.
"It is too vital," Peter answers. "The only thing you might know is that for the second expedition we are well equipped with maps, GPS systems to locate our position with an accuracy of twenty meters and high-tech satellite communication equipment and computer linked digital camera's to send reports to this channel."
Peter and Maaike estimate the change to find any results 60 till 70 percent.
"Coming that close we would be very disappointed not to discover a trail leading to ‘The Lost City’," Maaike stated.

In 1532 the Spaniards overtook in Peru the Inca empire. Some Inca's did not surrender and retired to Vilcabamba in the mountain forests of the Urumbamba river. This last stronghold was a thorn in the side of the Spanish Conquistadores. In 1572 the Spaniards prepared an attack on this city but the Inca's had anticipated the Spanish move and vanished with all their treasures in the southeastern rainforest. The only thing the conquistadors found was a burned out village. Nevertheless they tracked the royal leader Tupac Amaru. He was drowned and quartered in the main square in Cusco. Fantastic stories began to circulate. The Inca's had built a golden city in nowadays Manu Nature reserve. The Spanish organized expeditions to trace the city but they did not find anything. Up till now, Manu appears to have ruins of Inca dwellings, small fortresses and roads and even a complete unknown history and culture revealed on petroglyphs.