We and a bunch of other dazed souls arrive in Manaus Airport to be herded into a painfully bright customs area where we’ll pick up our bags and also meet our local producer, Flavio Somogyi. For a man called down to the airport in the middle of the night, he is bravely cheerful and welcoming. What a relief to see a friendly face—speaking English!!

Gathered around our bags, we smile wearily as our videographer, Brian, takes a group photo. The intrepid souls in this picture (you’ll read about them in these Travel Logs) are the scouting and documentary crew: your faithful chronicler, Ann Devereaux, is the sleepy-looking woman at the center. To my left, there is the Brazilian field producer, Flavio Somogyi and the PTK Project Director, Geoff Haines-Stiles. John Diamond, satellite engineer from NASA/Lewis Research Center is on the right. It’s hard to get our other team member, Brian Igelman, out from behind his camera, but you’ll eventually see our elusive videographer in photos to come.