The first explorations of Carlos Neuenschwander Landa
The first explorations of Carlos Neuenschwander Landa, true discoverer of the Hualla fortress and the “stone road”
Carlos Neuenschwander Landa (Arequipa, 1914-2003) had spent much of his youth in the Carabaya jungle, on the Inambari River. He had traveled through the Andean plateau numerous times and its majestic peaks had fascinated him. He had spent a long time in Cusco, the ancient capital of the Incas, and the wonderful archaeological sites of Macchu Picchu and Sacsayhuamán had dazzled him. He had asked himself again and again if those imposing constructions had been built by the Incas or by a previous megalithic culture.
One day he heard a story, a true story that described a lost city, hidden in the jungle, which had been found, by pure chance, by some men looking for a fugitive.
In the Cahuide camp, owned by rubber prospector Felipe García worked a farmer named Borda and his two children, Angelino and Rosita, as well as an indigenous Matsiguenka, whose name was Huahija, and another native belonging to the Mashcos ethnic group. Both natives were attracted to Rosita and, during a confrontation, Huahija killed the indigenous Mashco and escaped into the jungle. Then Captain Felipe García commissioned the only gendarme in the camp, Farfán, to capture the fugitive.
Farfán was helped, in his difficult search, by two natives named Celestino and Gregorio.
Here is the original story taken from Carlos Neuenschwander Landa's first book, Pantiacollo, (1963):
Evidently, Huhija had taken precautions to mislead those who followed them, since it was very difficult to find them tracks. At least that's what it seemed to the gendarme, who, disoriented, did nothing but follow the two savages. For them, however, the clue was very clear: they found it in the torn leaves, in the bent twigs and in a hundred other details that went unnoticed by the target. Thus they went up the course of the Yavero, for three days. Finally they found the remains of a path paved beautifully with flagstones, which ended right at the edge of the river. Following his direction they crossed the Yavero, in a small raft that they improvised and after searching for a moment, they found it again on the right bank. The road disappeared in places but Huahija's footprints, which he had not been able to stop marking in these blurry sections, led them to find it again and again. The ascension was very difficult. The slopes became increasingly steeper and the three men were forced to avoid the deep precipices by climbing like monkeys. Farfán felt faint, but as the leader of the group, he had to overcome his fatigue...Finally, at dusk they reached what seemed to be the last summit because the vegetation was much less high and a fresh wind revealed that they were at great altitude above the valley floor. The savages stopped and the corporal took the opportunity to lie down on the ground, sweaty and exhausted. The Machiguenkas moved away from him momentarily and disappeared from his sight, descending towards the opposite slope. After half an hour, when the corporal began to get restless, they silently emerged from the undergrowth."We cannot follow my cape," Celestino stated, "because Huahija's footprints are lost in the sacred city, and we do not dare to enter it."
"What a sacred or unsacred city," Farfán exclaimed, "they have sent us to capture the murderer and we have to catch him dead or alive." And in a titanic effort, he stood up and ordered: Forward!
Celestino and Gregorio submissively retraced their steps and guided Farfán along the cobblestone path that now followed a downward direction. But they had barely walked ten minutes when they found themselves in front of some enormous carved stone walls, which immediately reminded the gendarme of those he had seen so many times in Sacsayhuamán, Quenco and all the ruins near Cusco. The large stones were sculpted on their surfaces. Somewhat astonished, he began to walk through them looking for a door that would allow him to look inside. Finally he found it and entered through it. His astonishment increased when he distinguished, among the foliage of the trees that had grown on the walls, high towers, winding alleys, open spaces like squares and, finally, the blurred image of a great city. Along with his astonishment, fear grew, as he nervously observed a large number of vipers that scurried between his feet and hid in the cracks of the walls...
The shadows of the night spread quickly and with the growing mist that rose from the valleys, almost nothing could be distinguished anymore. The towers and walls began to take on a ghostly appearance and the soldier felt really scared. He therefore began to return and, stumbling and stumbling, he finally gained the summit and, reaching it, ordered the savages to make a tambo to spend the night. Throughout it he dreamed of “gentiles” and “appearances” who assaulted him and tried to throw him into the abysses. Hence, when the first clouds of dawn began to edge the undulating dome of the low clouds with gold, he was already on his feet. Celestino had collected water from a nearby spring in a container and in a fountain that he extracted from the remains of a small neighboring wall. They were so beautiful that Farfán, despite his rudeness, decided to take them with him to present to the captain and also as testimony of the version that he intended to give upon his return to Cahuide.
The three men returned to camp after two weeks and, although in the following months expeditions were organized to find the lost city again, they all failed.
Carlos Neuenschwander Landa was delighted when he first heard this story. He thought that, although Captain Felipe García had tried to find the lost city without success, he himself could do it with not only more modern means, but also more time and financial resources. Perhaps it was the lost city that the gendarme Farfán and the natives Celestino and Gregorio stumbled upon the legendary Paititi or was it, instead, a fortress in the jungle which Neuenschwander later called Pantiacollo?
In any case, Carlos Neuenschwander had decided: he had to go look for the stone city. What he didn't know was that that decision would change his life forever.
Although he did not stop practicing his profession as a doctor for the rest of his days, he never abandoned the idea of searching for Paititi, inspired as he was by the so-called “call of the macaw.”
In 1954, Neuenschwander met his old friend Alberto Appiani, who told him that some natives had informed him of the existence of a stone path that led from the lower Yavero to the Paucartambo mountain range, and another that descended from the mountain range. towards the Nistron River, already in the Madre de Dios basin. The two friends decided to undertake a first expedition, beyond the Nistron River, with the aim of reaching the Palotoa River (sometimes called the Pantacolla River), a tributary of the Madre de Dios River, since several rumors believed the presence of some ruins to be true. in that area.
After having walked for several days, the two researchers arrived at the banks of the Palotoa River, guided by some Huachipaeris natives.
Carlos Neuenschwander realized that the headwaters of the Palotoa were very far away and that to reach them it would be necessary to organize an expedition lasting months, with many other resources.
Consequently, he limited himself to traveling along the Palotoa River along the current, to later return to Pilcopata and Paucartambo.
In the following months, Neuenschwander and Appiani attempted to contact Farfán and Celestino in order to hear first-hand the story of the lost city.
The trip to meet Celestino was not easy.
Carlos Neuenschwander had to get to Quelluno first and, after a walk of several days, he arrived at the Yavero River, in the area of the old Cahuide camp, where Celestino, who was already an old man, still lived.
The old native, speaking in mediocre Spanish, confirmed that after about four days' walk up the river the stone path should be found.
He even told him that a native Matsiguenkas, named Topeka, could guide him. Then Neuenschwander returned to Cusco.
Meanwhile, Appiani, on his side, had searched for the gendarme Farfán and had found him, but he was already an old man consumed by alcohol and illness, and had not been able to provide him with additional information.
In the following months, Neuenschwander and Appiani met Agustín Ocampo, an elderly adventurer who had accompanied an Italian traveler named Lorenzi to the Lacco area years before in order to find Paititi. Ocampo declared that the Italian had seen the ruins of the lost city in the distance, but as the group was attacked by a huge bear, it was decided not to continue the expedition, since the native guides considered the attack of the animal as a bad omen of the future. destination and refused to continue. Later, Ocampo could not dedicate himself to searching alone for the ruins that had been observed in the distance because he lost a hand fishing in a river due to the explosion of a firecracker.
Neuenschwander was now offered as a guide in exchange for half of the riches discovered on the expedition.
Ocampo's version coincided with that of Farfán and Celestino, so Neuenschwander and Appiani decided to organize a second expedition, precisely in the area of the Yavero River, where they could find the stone path traveled by the fugitive Huahija.
In addition to Neuenschwander, Ocampo, Civil Guard Sergeant Carlos Ojeda and Max Landa, as well as several porters, participated in the expedition, which took place in 1955.
Unfortunately, the enterprise failed, since the amount of provisions carried had been miscalculated and, furthermore, the journey turned out to be incredibly long. On the other hand, the lack of water in the rivers, especially in the Lacco valley, induced the adventurers to retrace their own steps to prevent the entire expedition from becoming a tragedy.
The next expedition was carried out in 1958 in collaboration with Justo Paliza, a colorful character who knew backwards and forwards all the stories of the legendary cities lost in the jungle of Peru, and with Ernesto Von Wedemeyer, an expert hunter.
As soon as they arrived in Hualla, a small town located on the Paucartambo River (which is called Yavero further down), the researchers first dedicated themselves to documenting and studying the so-called “Hualla fortress”, a pre-Inca fort that probably had the function of controlling the access to the upper valley. Carlos Neuenschwander Landa was, therefore, the first researcher to divulge the existence of this forgotten fortress, very important for studying those who inhabited it.
Next, the participants of the expedition arrived at Larapata, a land owned by settlers dedicated to agriculture and livestock. In that place they were able to obtain two guides and several mules, of great value to avoid useless fatigue. Just before leaving, Agustín Ocampo arrived in Larapata, because having heard about the expedition, he had decided to participate in it.
Although Neuenschwander knew that Ocampo and Paliza did not like each other, he decided to let the old adventurer join them. The first day was very arduous, as they found themselves facing an endless slope, under the hot sun, of approximately twenty-five kilometers, to the site of Collatambo. They camped at an altitude of 4,500 meters above sea level and spent an extremely cold night, with a temperature of -4 degrees Celsius.
The next day, July 20, 1958, the researchers continued walking in the direction of the legendary Pantiacolla plateau. The guides told them that they were right on the dividing line of the Yavero and Madre de Dios basins, at the sources of the Chuncosmayo River, a tributary of the Yavero.
Suddenly, at a distance of about two kilometers, they were able to glimpse a lagoon, which was later baptized the “black lagoon.”
As they approached the lagoon, a strong hailstorm surprised the explorers, who decided to enter a large cavern to take shelter. In addition to recognizing some petroglyphs that represented slender llamas, they found a phrase written in Spanish: “Miguel González passed through here in 17…”
Who could have been that Miguel González who had been precisely in that cave in the 18th century? A gold digger? One of the first adventurers to explore the Pantiacolla plateau in search of Paititi?
When the heavy hailstorm ended, the researchers went outdoors again and walked along the muddy shores of the “black lagoon.” After having walked another hundred meters, Neuenschwander realized that a “stone path” unraveled nearby. It was just a cobbled path built by who knows who in the remote past.
The explorers' excitement was uncontrollable: they had finally found the famous “stone road” (perhaps built by the cultural hero Inkarri?) that would lead them to the ruins of the mythical Pantiacollo which, according to Neuenschwander's vision, was not more than one of the many fortresses hidden in the plateau, perhaps corresponding to the mythical Paititi.
After several hours of walking, the adventurers reached another lagoon that Ocampo recognized, stating that he had already passed through there on his expedition with the Italian Lorenzi. The guides said that that place was called Suchococha.
Around the lagoon, Neuenschwander, accompanied only by one of Von Wedemeyer's German shepherds, discovered a set of ruined walls.
In the following days, the researchers continued their path in a northwesterly direction, towards the Pantiacolla plateau. However, they realized that the stone path continued indefinitely, and since their supplies were running out, it was in no way possible to continue advancing. Furthermore, the guides began to maintain that entering the legendary Pantiacolla plateau was extremely dangerous, since that entire area was “diabolical and possessed by evil spirits.”
Neuenschwander then decided that it was prudent to end the expedition, which had already been, in part, a success, given that not only the fortress of Hualla had been documented, but the “stone road” had also been discovered. Without knowing it, the explorers had reached the Toporake plateau, where several torrents originate: the Chuncosmayo towards the Yavero valley and the Callanga and the Mameria towards the Nistron-PiñiPiñi valley.
Upon returning to Cusco, Neuenschwander realized that walking to the Pantiacolla plateau would require at least 45 days, in addition to considerable financial resources. For this reason, he began to think that perhaps it was possible to get there from another area, for example, by going up the Manu River and one of its tributaries.
So a few months later he organized another expedition, this time in the middle of the tropical rainforest, precisely on the legendary Manu River, the tributary of the Madre de Dios traveled by Fizcarrald on his mythical journey at the end of the 19th century.
Precisely beyond the mouth of the Manu in the Madre de Dios begins the most magnificent and primitive jungle that can be imagined, where even today there is an abundance of jaguars, caimans, tapirs and other Amazonian animals.
Carlos Neuenschwander Landa, along with other members of the expedition, stopped at the mouth of the Pinquen River in the Manu, where he saw remains of camps of native Amarakaeris, warlike and violent nomadic indigenous people who it was better not to encounter. He decided to continue, arriving later at the mouths of the Cumerjali River (Providencia River) and Secajali, whose headwaters are located precisely on the Pantiacolla plateau.
Observing precisely the flow of those tributaries, Neuenschwander reasoned that going up them in order to reach the Pantiacolla plateau would be a very long trip, perhaps months long. On the other hand, the explorers noticed, apart from many fresh jaguar tracks, also other vestiges of camps of the violent Amarakaeris and, consequently, it was decided that proceeding up the Cumerjali would be an undertaking without the possibility of success, which would involve many risks, many more than the “Andean route” to reach the Pantiacolla plateau.
Upon returning to Cusco, Neuenschwander contacted his old friend Manuel Mujica Gallo, who was a very influential person, interested in the Arequipa doctor's research, and who, taking advantage of his contacts, managed to obtain the possibility of using an airplane from the Faucett airline company. for an exploratory flight on the Pantiacolla plateau.
The year was 1961. It was the first time that Carlos Neuenschwander Landa flew over the exploration area and, although the view was constantly obstructed by thick clouds, he managed to recognize the Paucartambo River canyon, part of the plateau, the Nistron River, the Palotoa and then the Manu River.
In a second series of exploratory flights, Neuenschwander managed to recognize the Yavero River, the Ticumpinea
River and the sources of the Manu, in addition to the stone path, sometimes identified among the clouds.
Neuenschwander realized, however, that the best means of exploring the immense unexplored valleys of the Cusco and Madre de Dios regions from above would be a helicopter, precisely because of its technical characteristics.
During a trip to Lima, the Arequipa doctor was able to obtain an interview with the president of Peru, Dr. Prado, to whom he explained his theories about the possibility of discovering important archaeological remains on the Pantiacolla plateau and the need to have a helicopter available. of the air force to carry out several exploration flights.
The president listened carefully to the Arequipa doctor and promised to help him.
During those days in the capital of Peru, Neuenschwander also tried to raise funds for subsequent expeditions, both by contacting old friends and by exposing his projects to the most important national newspapers, to which he would later provide exclusive news of his eventual discoveries. After countless expectations, bureaucratic obstacles and waiting rooms, the long-awaited news finally arrived: the Ministry of Aeronautics had granted a helicopter to make available to Neuenschwander for explorations on the Pantiacolla plateau; It was just a matter of waiting for the moment when the aerial vehicle was available in Quillabamba.
When Neuenschwander returned to Cusco he met Francisco Ojeda Farfán, who had contacted him by mail. Ojeda Farfán claimed to know a man who had been a prisoner of violent Machiguenkas for two years about 45 years ago, and who had also been in the lost city. This man called himself Angelino Borda.
A partnership was quickly formed between the three men, who promised to organize other expeditions as soon as possible in order to try to shed light on the mystery of the ruined city visited by Farfán, Celestino and Gregorio many years ago.
Carlos Neuenschwander Landa was only at the beginning of a very long series of extraordinary adventures that would lead him to search until the end of his days for the remains of the Paititi or, as he said, the Pantiacollo.
YURI LEVERATTO
