Destination Truth

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Spurred by news reports of SWAT teams searching the jungles of Papua New Guinea for a dinosaurlike beast, Josh travels to the little-explored South Pacific island nation to investigate sightings of an iguanodon near Tinganavudu, a remote village on the island of New Britain. After arriving in the capital city of Port Moresby, Josh meets with Dr. Linus Digimrina, an anthropology professor at Papua New Guinea University who provides photos of bones thought to be the remains of an iguanodon.

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Josh and his team travel to Thailand to investigate reports of spooked villagers bringing in professional ghost-hunters to track down increasingly active spirits haunting their surroundings. Josh and his local guide and translator, Tom, head to the Khon Kaen province, where the sightings are occurring. They meet in a field with ghost-hunters Vimolrat and Somkovy, who immediately detect a spirit. With Josh's help, they trap the wayward ghost in a tube covered with a holy cloth.

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Josh brings his team to Sao Paulo, Brazil, in search of the much-reported giant anaconda. Their hunt begins with a visit to Dr. William Ernest, coordinator of biodiversity research at Inpa. Dr. Ernest explains that with 96 percent of the Amazon rainforest left unexplored, new species of life are found there all the time.

Anaconda (a snake) is a common name for large South American snakes that kill by squeezing prey. Anacondas are among the largest and most powerful snakes in the world. Female anacondas grow bigger than males and can reach enormous size, ranking as the heaviest of all snakes. Anacondas spend much of their time in water. They hunt reptiles and mammals, as well as fish and birds. The biggest anacondas can swallow prey as large as caimans or deer. They rarely attack humans. The name anaconda is said to come from a Tamil word meaning “elephant killer,” originally used for pythons in Sri Lanka. Local names for the snakes in South America include the Spanish term matatoro, meaning “bull killer,” and the Native American terms sucuri, yakumama, and jibóia. Anacondas are members of the boa family and are sometimes called water boas.

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A run of new sightings prompts Josh Gates and his team to travel some 20 hours to Vietnam to hunt the Tarasque. Although sightings date back centuries, he was told by Mai Dinh Yen of the University of Hanoi that the first recorded report dates to the 19th century and might be something akin to a giant, underwater snake. Dr. Vu Ngoc Thanh of the Hanoi Zoological Museum directs Josh to a northern region where fishers live in a floating village. Arriving in Halong Bay, the team comes prepared with squid for bait, hooks, an anchor, rope and other supplies. After talking to eyewitnesses, they head out on a large boat in search of their prey. Using a hydrophone and fish-finding sonar, the investigation begins. When the team gets a hit indicating a large mass moving under their boat, Josh and Casey don their scuba gear and dive in. The visibility is at best murky, and the duo cannot see anything. Soon after, a second hit is detected, and the two make another dive. While searching, another vessel comes too close, and its engines create a strong undertow that nearly drags Josh and Casey into a large rusty buoy.

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After reading reports of a "Wild Man" living in Cambodia, followed by accounts of a woman leaving him and being reunited with her father, Josh knows he has to investigate. He and the team pack up and fly to the capital of Phnom Penh, where they arrive ahead of their luggage. Josh first talks with journalist Nick Ray, who broke the story of the girl's escape from the Wild Man and says the markings on her wrist indicate she was either snared by a trap or bound in captivity, convincing him there is a man in the jungle.

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Making a rare trip into paranormal territory, Josh brings his team to Pemba Island, a territory of Tanzania off the eastern coast of Africa. Recent reports indicate that fishermen avoid it, frightened by the spirits of dead slaves who linger there. Heading out toward the Madoni Ruins, Josh encounters Jakob Marley, a farmer. He invites Josh and the team to visit with him and his family, and he explains that about a quarter of a mile away there is a tree where ghosts gather every evening at midnight. He explains that people who see the ghosts die the next day — including his own 19-year-old daughter, who succumbed after a quarrel with the ghosts.

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