Chapters 7-9

Before setting out on the actual expedition, the crew was invited to Mauro Carias' camp, which was about one mile away from Santa Maria de la Lluvia, in a large clearing. Carias is rich enough to have his camp filled with trailers that were flown in from far away and to have "real" food (according to Alex who was an incredibly picky appetite) flown in as well. After having been given a tour of the camp, Carias invites them to view a jaguar trapped in a cage. He explains to the crew that the jaguar is to be sent to one of his zoo's. As soon as Nadia and her pet monkey Boroba lay eyes upon the jaguar, Boroba goes crazy and runs away, forcing her to leave the crew to chase after the monkey. Suddenly, with seemingly no reason whatsoever, Alex approaches the cage in a trance-like state. His grandmother gives him a few warnings, but he does not heed them.

"He saw the cat open its jaws, he saw the gleam of its enormous pearl-white teeth, and in a human voice, but one that seemed to issue from the depths of a cavern, it spoke his name: Alexander. And he answered in his own voice, but it, too, sounded cavernous: Jaguar. The cat and its counterpart repeated those words three times: Alexander, Jaguar; Alexander, Jaguar; Alexander, Jaguar, and then the sand of the plain became phosphorescent, the sky turned black, and the six moons began to whirl in their orbits and scatter like slow-moving comets." (105)

Suddenly, out of the blue, Alex leaped at the lock of the cage and attempted to unlock it so as to set the jaguar free. Two guards grabbed him and prevented him from unlocking it, but Cesar Santos whipped out his pistol and shot the jaguar right between the eyes. He explained to the appalled crew that captured animals were better off dead. Later on, after the incident had subsided, Alex tried to explain his experience to Nadia who had not observed the madness on account of her chasing Boroba. She explained to him in an understanding tone that:

"Your name is Jaguar," said Nadia.
"Jaguar?"
"Alexander is the name your parents gave you. Jaguar is your real name. But to use that name, you must be like a jaguar." (108)

Later on, when they were getting ready to embark on their expedition, Nadia came out of nowhere and declared that she was coming along on the journey. Ludovic Leblanc refused to allow her to go, and another debate erupted; it ended with Kate saying, "Like you, Professor, I have a bad back. I must have a personal assistant. I have hired Nadia Santos to carry my notebooks and fan me with a banana leaf" (114).
After embarking on the expedition, Alex told Kate about the conversation between Mauro Carias and Captain Ariosto that he and Nadia had overheard. She listened intently and agreed with him that she didn't like Carias. While on the boat, Cesar Santos told Alex all about leeches and insects, and how it was futile to try to prevent them from attacking you. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a short arrow-like projectile pierced the heart of one of the soldiers. He died instantly, and they sped the boats up to top speed to get away from the area where he had been shot. After giving the man a brief burial ceremony, they came upon a small lake in the river. Everyone got out and swam for a while, when suddenly, Joel Gonzalez, one of the photographers, was attacked by an 18-foot anaconda. Everyone rushed over to try to save him, but it was Cesar Santos who decapitated the anaconda with a knife, saving Joel. Dr. Omayra Torres arrived at the scene with a medical kit and a shot of adrenaline for Joel. After removing the anaconda, she discovered that Joel had several broken ribs, but otherwise was not dying. They made a makeshift full body cast out of bark and mud, and decided that he needed to be sent back to Santa Maria de la Lluvia to receive further medical treatment. For dinner that night, they cooked the anaconda, which was described as having the texture of chicken and the taste of tuna. Also, several men skinned the anaconda, and Ludovic Leblanc bought the skin on the spot to use at future lectures to boost his prestige, even though he had no part in the killing of the anaconda (he stayed on the boat and fired shots into the air for no apparent reason). After dinner, Alex had a clear-as-day vision of his mother that Nadia described as seeing with the heart.
That night, the crew set up guard shifts. During Alex's shift, a large pig came out of the bushes. Alex yelled to wake up the camp, but no one hurt the pig. Instead, they left it alone, and it eventually left. After Alex's shift, he went to bed, but woke up suddenly several hours later. The rest of the camp was awake as well for one of the crew members was missing. A small search party was set up, and the body of the missing crew member was found with it's head facing the complete opposite direction. Around the body and throughout the camp, there was a terrible stench. That morning, Matuwe, a soldier, and Joel Gonzalez took off back down the river to get medical treatment for Joel and to get reinforcements on account of the several deaths and injuries they had encountered. The remaining crew at the camp decided to create a trap for the Beast or whatever had mauled the soldier. After hours of digging a whole, they realized that it would be impossible to dig through all of the roots, so they gave up the project. Later that night, Nadia asked Alex to play his flute for a while, which helped to calm everyone's nerves a bit. Suddenly Boroba began jumping up and down, frightened. Alex and Nadia quietly left the camp without anyone knowing. They went a few yards into the jungle and stopped. Only a few yards away were approximately twenty Indians, blending into the surrounding woods. As quietly as they had arrived, the Indians departed without making any sound. Nadia explained to Alex that the Indians they had just encountered were the People of the Mist.
Nadia is a round character. She is constantly being described by new terms and is always surprising Alex with new skills and intelligence. She is quite childish, but is also very mature in different ways. One example of her being childish is when she and Alex paint themselves and dance around like Indians. A counterexample to her childishness is when she knows exactly what to do when the People of the Mist come and surround them in the forest.
One element that adds to the background of the novel is the use of Spanish and Indian words. Throughout the book, many words have been used from different languages such as: nahab, caboclos, shabono, papagayos, surucucu, pirarucu, iraras, and urucu. The use of these native tongue words draws the reader even more into the plot because it makes it seem as if you are in the story and not reading the translation of the text.