On a four-hour hike, Janu (pictured left), a native friend of
Eugenio’s, uses his machete to chip off a few pieces of what look like ordinary tree bark. He hands me a sliver. Janu is way too cute to be the poisoning type and since I’m on a
once-in-a-lifetime press trip in the Brazilian Amazon—I’m in an adventurous mood. I pop a piece into my mouth. It’s bitter and it tastes like tree. But when he says mosquito and “medicino” in the same sentence, I realize I’m chewing o...
