An Amazon Expedition in Beyond The Veil

A theory finally gets an expedition

Beyond The Veil by Ronald Bagliere pairs anthropologist Claire El-Badawy with jungle guide Owen Macleod. Claire has spent ten years seeking grants for an Amazon expedition. Her goal is to test a theory about a connection between Africa and South America five thousand years earlier. The discovery of a lost bushman in the rainforest finally brings university support.

Claire is pursuing a theory she has spent years trying to investigate. The newly supported expedition gives her the opportunity she has sought, but it also moves her work out of grant applications and into a place where she must test her expectations.

Two reasons to enter the jungle

Owen comes to the expedition from a different direction. His life includes guiding tourists, supporting Indigenous people against mining companies, and traveling with his companion Manny. The expedition offers a chance to move beyond the tourist trade.

Claire’s academic ambition and Owen’s desire for change bring them together without giving them identical expectations. Readers interested in exploration stories can follow that partnership as well as the question driving it. The rainforest holds secrets neither is prepared for, but their nature remains for the book to disclose. The starting point is a long-delayed opportunity and two people willing to pursue it.