Tino Lemay TB Logbook

Tom Shepherd's

Logbook

1908

Montezuma, The Cursed Treasure of the Aztecs

Hi, my name is Tom Shepherd and I am an explorer, an adventurer and since I was a little kid I have been passionate about lost treasures. I'm writing this journal to have a sort of vestige of my adventure or if anything should happen to me during this exploration. My goal is to find Montezuma, the cursed treasure, which dates back to the time of the Conquistador Hernán Cortés. According to some rumors, the treasure has been hidden, somewhere in South America more precisely in Costa Rica, after the Spanish attacked the Aztecs.

San Diego, California May 16, 1908

That's it, the big day has come! In a few hours, a boat will bring me to Costa Rica, where it all began. I'm very anxious but just as very enthusiastic and in a good mood at the idea of discovering all of these marvels. I don't know how long this exploration will take me, but I shall take my time to analyze each detail in order to find the truth.

Pacific Ocean

We have been gone for 13 days now and my restlessness is getting bigger and bigger. I must grin and bear the waiting time. Meanwhile, I prepared my route and each stage that I will have to go through before arriving at my destination: the castle of Montezuma.

Pacific Ocean

After more than 1 month of travel, Costa Rica's coast is in sight! I'm so excited and happy that just after the landing, I was rushing on everything interesting to me (and everything interested me). That's why I spent the whole day discovering everything that surrounded me, in detail. At nightfall, I decided to stop my research and set up camp to start my journey in the jungle as soon as possible and in the best conditions.

Pacific Ocean

The day has come! The long-awaited moment of departure is felt in the team. Everybody is enthusiastic about the idea of discovering something new for us. The flora and fauna are totally different from what we are used to and it's very unsettling while being so much interesting.

I try to recreate the landscape as well as I can to put you in the atmosphere of our trip.

Pacific Ocean

It's been 1 week since we left for the island and the bad weather didn't spare us: torrential rains, storms, a tropical climate rather unbearable. To prevent any accidents, we are to be always together. Moreover, I have a good feeling and I think we are very close to our objective.

Pacific Ocean

We finally arrived in front of the gates of Montezuma Castle and our enthusiasm allows us to inspect the castle and its surrounding in only 1 day. Nonetheless, apart from some magnificent ruins, a few bones, old vases, and some frescoes, we didn't find any treasure. We hypothesize that the treasure of the Aztecs was only provisioned and deduce that there is no curse.

I am a bit disappointed that I did not find anything extraordinary but this trip was still very enriching about this region of South America. In the future, I hope to have new adventures and discover, one day, a real lost treasure.