Trail of Feathers: In Search of the Birdmen of Peru

by Tahir Shah

A shrunken head from Peru and a feather with traces of blood are the clues that launch Tahir Shah on his latest journey. Fascinated by the recurring theme of flight in Peruvian folklore, Shah sets out to discover whether the Incas really were able to "fly like birds" over the jungle, as a Spanish monk reported. Or were they drug-induced hallucinations? His journey, full of surreal experiences, takes him from the Andes mountains to the desert and finally, in the company of a Vietnam vet, up the Amazon deep into the jungle to discover the secrets of the Shuar, a tribe of legendary savagery.

Genres: Travel, Nonfiction, History, Anthropology, Travelogue, Memoir, Plants

288 pages, Paperback

First published February 27, 2001

About the author

Tahir Shah was born in London, and raised primarily at the family’s home, Langton House, in the English countryside – where founder of the Boy Scouts, Lord Baden Powell was also brought up.

Along with his twin and elder sisters, Tahir was continually coaxed to regard the world around him through Oriental eyes. This included being exposed from early childhood to Eastern stories, and to the back-to-front humour of the wise fool, Nasrudin.

Having studied at a leading public school, Bryanston, Tahir took a degree in International Relations, his particular interest being in African dictatorships of the mid-1980s. His research in this area led him to travel alone through a wide number of failing African states, including Uganda, Sierra Leone, and Zaire.

After university, Tahir embarked on a plethora of widespread travels through the Indian subcontinent, Latin America, and Africa, drawing them together in his first travelogue, Beyond the Devil’s Teeth. In the years that followed, he published more than a dozen works of travel. These quests – for lost cities, treasure, Indian magic, and for the secrets of the so-called Birdmen of Peru – led to what is surely one of the most extraordinary bodies of travel work ever published.

In the early 2000s, with two small children, Tahir moved his young family from an apartment in London’s East End to a supposedly haunted mansion in the middle of a Casablanca shantytown. The tale of the adventure was published in his bestselling book, The Caliph’s House.

In recent years, Tahir Shah has released a cornucopia of work, embracing travel, fiction, and literary criticism. He has also made documentaries for National Geographic TV and the History Channel, and published hundreds of articles in leading magazines, newspapers, and journals. His oeuvre is regarded as exceptionally original and, as an author, he is considered as a champion of the new face of publishing.

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Reviews

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Shah's book on renovating his home in Casablanca a couple of years back and liked it. So, when I saw this one on my library's New Books shelf I checked it out, not realizing that it's actually a re-issue of a decade old work; that having been said, it wasn't dated much at all.
Essentially, the book is two tales in one - the first being the author's travels from Macchu Pichu to Lima by bus and train, with stops along the way to meet interesting characters. At one point, he becomes obsessed with the legendary "birdmen" (having passed through the famous Nazca drawings site), which leads to the second part of the story. Shah is directed to the country's Amazon region, flying up to the port city of Iquitos, where he spends a considerable amount of time, with very funny observations. Eventually, not without mishap, our hero organizes a boat trip to the interior, in search of the "wild tribe" that takes ayahuasca - a drug that gives them the ability to "fly" over the countryside.
I rehash the plot here to note that the first part is far more of a detached travel narrative. Yes, the author's writing is humorous, but it's not until he arrives in Lima, on his quest, that I found him becoming more of a unique voice. He's certainly no wimp when it comes to "roughing it" ... and that's just the hotel rooms in Lima and Iquitos! Definitely recommended!

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The subject of this travelogue is one of the most fascinating I've found out there. The writing is smooth and direct, and the cast of strange characters join rank with those to be found in a Marquez novel. The author surveys the mysterious anomalies of the land and people of Peru, visiting well-documented sites such as The Nazca Lines and Machu Piccu, but shedding a perspective on them which isn't conventional to the world outside. Shah lets the reader's imagination fill the gaps he leaves open. Starting somewhere around the middle, he takes us on a sleepless, psychedelic journey through the Amazonian jungle, which doesn't let up right up to the very end. This segment reminded me very much of a similar adventure taken from the fictional diaries of Maqroll the Gaviero, by Mutis, wherein Maqroll is a foreigner traversing the jungle waters by motorboat, sharing similar observations with Tahir about the inherent power of the jungle and dreamscapes of the people and wildlife found within it. Cool book.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book rubbed me the wrong way a few times, for a few reasons: the fantastical narration style was hard for me to really believe, the author poked fun at Peruvians one too many times for my liking, and I was extremely envious of his journey through the Amazon with all of its bugs, plants, and other creatures. BUT in spite of these issues, the subject matter was interesting enough to keep me turning the pages. The highlight of this book that you'll see in published reviews is the journey that the author takes to find the Shaur tribe and learn about ayahuasca, but I found the sections about pre-Incan mummies and burial practices even more fascinating.

[Cecil Lawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tahir Shah is an English travel writer and adventurer. In this book he follows up on a long-time obsession with the notion that certain "bird-men" were able to fly across the jungles of Peru, following from early accounts by the Spanish conquistadors. He obssesion leads him to Peru, including the ruins of Macchu Picchu and a trip up the furthest reaches of the Amazon with a superstitious crew to find head-hunting members of the Shuar people whose still claim to have to have the ability to fly. Not without a few slow spots, this book is still a treat for those who enjoy these kind of informative but tounge in cheek adventure stories. Defintely worth the psychdelic conclusion.

[Graham Bear · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantstic

Gripping account of the most excellent quest on Trail of Feathers . Sordid ,spell binding journey to find out how the ancient birdmen flew. It is my belief that this journey started the other way round. It was the birdmen that found Tahir Shah. Excellent.

[June Gemmer · Rating 1 out of 5]

I checked out this book and returned it the same day.

[Jaime Vázquez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun read overall! Props to Shah for enduring that long trip on the Amazon, since I couldn’t sincerely rough it like that. This travelogue is quite informative of indigenous customs and traditions in a way that is fascinating, but also borderline fetishized.

Nonetheless, Shah’s dedication to finding the Birdmen of Peru is gripping and fun to follow along. As I reflect over my time in Peru, which was also fun, chaotic, and challenging, it’s somewhat comforting to know that the classic Inca Trail feels like child’s play compared to some of the experiences endured by Shah.

Shah’s experience with ayahuasca is also interesting. When we were in Peru, many locals told us that only people who are really sick (physically, mentally, or spiritually) should take it “los que necesitan ayuda”. I’m not sure if Shah’s parched curiosity around flying would’ve necessitated his trip, but at least we have one hell of a travel story as a result of that!

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the content of this book interesting; it shows several different societies and cultures as the author travels across Peru and down the Amazon searching for answers about the Birdmen of Peru. Some reviewers commented on the humor in Shah's writing but I didn't really feel it was that funny. I suppose it's the dry, British wit, but it was just too dry for my taste. Even though it was told in first person narrative, documenting his adventures, it felt more like a third person telling--we saw many events that occurred but I didn't feel like I really connected with the author to know how he felt or reacted to those events. While I would recommend this book to others, I wish it had been more "inviting" to the reader. I never felt like I was there with him, but only that he was recounting a tale after the fact (or that a third party witness was telling the tale).

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read, and very informative! I've always wanted to go to Peru to see its wonders, and Shah's account of his experience there is steeped in rich detail so that I could appreciate its beauty vicariously through him. Not forgetting his quest into whether the ancients flew (an interesting topic, I might add!) this book explores ancient wisdoms, focusing on an interesting theory behind the Nazca Lines and the shrinking of heads. It seeks to answer ancient questions, whilst simultaneously dredging up new ones. A very good read overall, with some light-hearted comedy thrown in. Pleasurable and surprisingly amusing.

[Floramanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as The Caliph's House, but still an entertaining and informative journey through Peru to find the Birdmen who achieved early flight. Tahir Shah is well researched, and it takes a lot of guts to trek up the Amazon in search of headhunters and their favorite hallucinogens!

[Michael Burnam-Fink · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tahir Shah likes to play the fool, but behind the jokes is a sharp observer of people. Trail of Feathers is actually a fascinating adventure and serious work of ethnopharmacology masquerading as yet another dumb European travelogue (as a Pakistan Brit raised in the West, I count Tahir as Western, at least compared to indigenous Amazonians). A chance encounter with a mysterious Frenchman at a London auction for shrunken heads gives Tahir the bug of an idea. The Inca flew, and he's going to find evidence of pre-Columbian flight.

The first part of the book takes Tahir through the Peruvian tourist trail: Cuzco, Machu Pichu, Puno, Nazca, where encounters with other seekers and Peruvian shamans push him towards his ultimate destination, the Shuar tribe of the Amazon rainforest. The second half of the book is intense, a long journey by water in the Amazon, guided by a Vietnam Veteran and crewed by a handful of superstitious Peruvians on a leaky boat, towards the deadly Shuar headhunters. When he arrives at their village, he find that evangelical missionaries have gotten there first, but a few shamans hold to the old beliefs. Tahir convinces one of him to let him participate in the ayahausca ritual, which is a potent and truly awful hallucinogen, and yes, he meets the Birdmen.

For all that Tahir's quest is weird and exotic, it's also firmly grounded. He has no patience for those who say the Nazca lines were created by ancient aliens, and besides the lines are boring compared to Nazca mummies, which are nothing next to Peruvian textiles. I'm engaged to an Andean archaeologist, so I know Peruvian textiles are Serious Business. I've done a fair bit of the Peruvian tourist trail, and while it may have been grittier 20 years ago, any combi ride you walk away from is barely a hardship. Tahir exaggerates the standard Lonely Planet stuff for effect. That said, I've never been to Iquitos, and the whole jungle voyage thing seems like a real venture, with some real danger. On the last trip, the one by ayahausca is indescribable, and if you expect birdmen, you'll find them. While these days The Onion can crack jokes about the commodification of shamanic voyaging, Tahir's book holds up as a great adventure.

[Andrew Pixton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having lived over two years in Cusco, I came to know Peru pretty well, although I never went up to Iquitos where most of this takes place. And my time was later than Shah's, thirteen years later. So Shah's observations of Peruvians as by and large crazy, horny, dishonest, violent, etc unnerved me but to his credit, all the non-Peruvians fit those as well. I suspect it's an angle he replicates throughout all his books and aims more at being whimsical than negative. So long ago, Peru's infrastructure was probably less than it was in my time there. Another odd criticism I'd have is that it just seems weird to launch this long, dangerous expedition to learn about flying Incas. The foundation of the search was based on the same kind of odd conspiracy-minded pseudo-science that thinks aliens did it all. He eventually leaves that behind but has me thinking that at least he's seeing Peru but only to get to the bottom of a personal riddle rather than just to see Peru. In the end, I'm not really sure what I was supposed to get out of the flying thing. If it's a metaphor, what's the lesson? If it's just watching his journey, I guess just good for him?

A note about Ayahuasca. It's a spiritual practice for Peruvians calling back to their older paganism but still in the shadow of Catholicism and evangelism. I definitely sympathize with his spite for the latter and the way it's wrecked a beautiful heritage. But at the same time we ought to be careful about the romanticization of the old ways. He doesn't really do this, but there's lots of new age people that want to paint heathenism as non-violent and part of a monistic worldview. Instead each culture is/was unique and has its own history of violence. Ayahuasca for me was different than he describes. I was wise enough to settle for doing it in a controlled resort instead of the remote area he lands in. I had a nurse and shaman guide me. I was told before hand that I would either vomit or get diarrhea, I got the former and then enjoyed a vision that was frightening at first until I submitted to it. There was no flying involved, but I communicated with Incan gods, or with my subconscious projections of them. But don't do this for tourism, do it for the spiritual growth they see it as. Respectfully honoring the local indigenous people, paying them, and taking care to not be exploited by bad actors.

[Tim Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

_Trail of Feathers_ by Tahir Shah began at an unusual place; at a London auction of shrunken heads. The author, who had been on the trail of shrunken heads for some time and who had sought to begin a collection, was frustrated by his lack of funds and the limited availability of tsantsas (as they are more properly called, a product of the Jivaro people of South America). However he did come across a mention of something else interesting out of Peru, a group referred to by a cryptic Frenchmen as "the Birdmen." At first dismissing this ("at shrunken head sales, you get more than the usual smattering of madmen"), he meets another (insane?) South American Indian enthusiast, this time a self-schooled authority on ancient flight, an eccentric man who maintained that the Maya, Aztecs, and Incas had all built gliders (along with of course the Ancient Egyptians and King Solomon himself). Like the Frenchmen, this expert urges Shah to go to Peru and do his own research.

After also coming across a brief mention by an early 17th century Spanish monk by the name of Friar Antonio de la Calancha, who wrote "...the Incas flew over the jungle like birds," Shah decided to put together a one-man expedition to Peru and find out the truth himself. Could the Incas or other Andean peoples really fly, or was it just myth and legend?

What followed was a two part journey through the mountains, deserts, jungles, cities, and tiny villages of Peru. During the first half of his expedition Shah was largely alone and traveled from Machu Picchu to Lake Titicaca across the Altiplano through Nazca and on to Lima. On his quest for something - anything - that could shed light on whether there was flight among the Andean peoples Shah introduces the reader to the many unusual sights and people of Peru. Among the author's many encounters were the textile weavers of Taquile (an island in Lake Titicaca), who bemoaned that the once sacred cloth was mostly sold to tourists now instead of more properly being sacrificed to spirits, the chullpas (round-sided towers) of Sillustani (did the Incas once jump off of them; Shah recounted how there was a medieval fad of sorts, tower-jumping); and the famous Nazca Lines, huge geometric and animal shapes, so immense that they were only first noticed by a pilot in the 1930s. Shah wrote that this fact lead an American by the name of Jim Woodman in the 1970s to speculate that ancient man had in fact flown in balloons, citing the fact that ritual smoke balloons were used in Guatemala and the Quechua language had a word for "balloon-maker" (Woodman later built a working balloon he dubbed _Condor I_ and flew it). Shah found images of Birdmen in a museum containing Paracas textiles (Paracas being a pre-Incan culture of the Peruvian coast that existed between 1300 BC and 200 AD and was noted for the exquisite textiles they used to wrap their mummified dead, found in immense cemeteries in the desert).

After consulting with various people in his trip, Shah came to the conclusion that Incan and pre-Incan flight was likely more metaphysical, allegorical, or mental. One local urged him that in order to understand the Birdmen one had to understand the drugs that they took while they were alive. He stated that they drank a tea made from a vine, known as ayahuasca or "the vine of the dead" (scientifically it was two species, _Banisteriopsis caapi_ and _Banisteropsis inebrians_), which gave the user the feeling of growing wings and flying. A professor he met told Shah that ayahuasca was still in use by various tribes in the jungles of the Upper Amazon in Ecuador, Brazil, and Peru, including coincidentally, the Jivaro (which means "barbarian;" though that is their most famous name, the proper name for them is the Shuar, which means "men").

The second half of Shah's expedition becomes an often frustrating trek to find brewers of ayahuasca among the Shuar, an expedition that begins in the jungle city of Iquitos and takes him hundreds of miles downstream the Amazon River and its tributaries. After a series of adventures in Iquitos Shah manages to finally find a reliable guide, a very colorful man by the name of Richard Fowler, a Vietnam veteran (who volunteered for Vietnam, saying "As far as I was concerned it was an all expenses paid, two year snake hunt, with unusual and additional hazards thrown in"), who promised Shah only one thing, that he would keep him alive. Putting together an unusual team (including a local man by the name of Cockroach and a shaman) on a rickety, rotting wooden, rat-infested boat (infested by still worse things when Shah ordered the rats removed), they do make contact with the much feared Shuar, something many people had warned the author would do various dire things, including slit his throat, decapitate him and shrink his head, or eat him.

This was a very enjoyable book, as the author was an excellent writer and really did a good job of describing what he saw and the people he met. I loved how he contrasted his earlier expectations of the jungle and what "experts" in London said he would find with the real thing and found him often funny without trying to hard to be so (as some travel essay writers are prone to doing). He clearly did a good amount of research, as he had a several page bibliography and two appendices, one detailing the science and history behind ayahuasca as well as several other Amazonian flora-based hallucinogens and a number of Old World ones as well (some authors he said speculated that hallucinogenic content of Syrian rue might have given rise to the vivid geometric designs of Oriental carpets as well as legends about flying carpets) and the other the history and culture of the Shuar (going into detail about the how and why of the tsantsas).

[HoboWannaBe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book because of our planned travel to Peru. While I learned a lot about the culture and the exciting ways of unplanned travel, I thought the last portion of the book was too drawn out. I did appreciate the info shared about the Nazca lines, Lake Titikaka, Lima, etc. and shaman and animals of Peru. I can’t wait to go see for myself!! I will certainly be looking for birdmen!!! 3.5 stars really.

[Jillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good read. Very engaging and somewhat educational. Supposedly a true travel memoir, I suspect a bit of embellishment! Obviously he made this fascinating journey intro ayahuasca territory but I found many details and adventures along the way frankly unbelievable. Nevertheless it is thoroughly researched. I learned a lot and would certainly read him again.

[JANEY MCGEARY · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting, Shah paints his characters vividly. One quibble, at the end, he decries the "tourists" who come to Peru to take ayahuasca...but he is essentially a tourist who came to Peru to take ayahuasca :-)

[Tonya · Rating 1 out of 5]

For me this was an odd book with an interesting premise. The oddness is why I gave it a 1 star. The things I liked about it is going to numerous places in Peru and hearing about things that I have recently seen on my trip. Odd book but shows lots of parts of Peru.

[Wayne Jordaan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one, which sees an "innocent" trekking across Peru in his search for answers to the mysteries of ancients flying. The botanist tn you might find this one interesting, Anna Jacobs.

[Kamila Jast · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my best books by Tahir- thrilling adventure as if I had been with them.

[Brooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not what I ecxpected

This is a biographical tale that reads easily like a novel.
The journey through Peru was quite interesting as well as entertaining.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much fun! I'm going looking for more by this author! And when I fact check him, it appears to be true! Hilarious and gross both!

[Patrick Cook · Rating 2 out of 5]

A rather silly book, although intermittently amusing.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating history of Peru, jungle story, and info about shamanism and medicinal plants. Think Carlos Casteneda.

[Lukas Van Veen · Rating 3 out of 5]

We all have wings, but we have forgotten how to use them.
The flying ointment's recipe contained deadly nightshade, henbane and datura.
Deer are regarded as human demons with supernatural powers.

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trail of Feathers: In Search of the Birdmen of Peru by Tahir Shah

While at a tsantsas (shrunken heads) auction, Tahir Shah meets a Frenchman who plants the seed in his head to travel to Peru not in search of shrunken heads, but in search of the legendary Birdmen of Peru. His research leads him to believe that flight was invented long before the Wright Brothers and he hikes along the Inca trail, flies over the Nazca lines, railroads to Lake Titicaca, and buses to the Festival of Blood before he ends up deep in the Amazon jungle with the Shuar tribe and a shaman who introduces him to an ayahuasca ritual that may provide the answers he is seeking.

Peru is a land of extremes from the beaches and deserts to the West, the central highlands and the Amazon jungles in the East and the author takes us along on his travels by bus, train, boat and foot in search of the story of the Incas that flew like birds. His guide through the jungle to meet the Shuar tribe is a Vietnam vet named Richard Fowler who features in another book I’ve read and enjoyed called Turn Right at Machu Picchu. This is where the book slows down and it's as the author wanted us to really get the feeling of being stuck on the boat cruising down the Amazon, but overall it was very humorous, enjoyable read that has me both eager to visit Peru while at the same time thinking I should just stay home and read other people adventures.

[Kevan Bowkett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Trail of Feathers: In Search of the Birdmen of Peru, by Tahir Shah, is a magical journey among the mountains, desert coasts, Amazonian rainforests, and highly colorful characters of that country. Starting in London with the author’s penchant for shrunken heads, we are soon following the trail of a mysterious feather that he receives in the post. The many highlights of this journey include: the flight over the lines of Nazca; the less-than-idyllic state of a jungle hotel room, which the author puts up with to toughen himself for a gruelling river journey into headhunter country; the floating market of Iquitos, the city in the Peruvian Amazon in which there are 8 women to every man; a rugged Vietnam vet and his hilarious shaman companion; detailed instructions of the method of shrinking human heads (and sloth heads too), and its rationale among the Shuar people of the Upper Amazon; fascinating details of the methods of preparation of the compound beverage ayahuasca; and a swim with freshwater dolphins. The book is a tour through both literal and metaphorical flight. A great read, which carries on to the startling conclusion. Shah’s knack for discovering adventure and surprise in today’s world is remarkable.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah, one of my favorite travel authors. But Tahir Shah never does the expected travel or travel writing. He's always on a journey of discovery. Something piques his interest and he follows it to its origin. This time it's the legend of the Birdmen of Peru. According to the stories, they flew. Clear back in Inca times, before the Spanish arrived.

As he progresses in his journey, he meets Peruvians, strange Europeans, an American Viet Nam vet who will guide him to his destination and the question: "You ask if they flew; but do you know why they flew?"

Of course, the answer revolves around the meaning of "to fly." Shah finds his answer and along the way reveals as much about being a clueless tourist as he does about the cultures and people he meets.

Anyone who enjoys offbeat travel writing (like Bill Bryson) will really enjoy Shah. Jump into his expedition into Peru and you won't regret it.

[Susan Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tahir Shah is an amazing writer with a wonderful curiosity, intelligence and adventurous spirit. I have travelled in South America but his story of his quest to find the bird men taught me so much about the South American culture, the history, and the fascinating and heart breaking impact of Industry and Christianity on the rich tribal cultures and traditions, their spirituality and the plant life. I found myself laughing out loud at the incredible situations he found himself in. HIs descriptions of his treks up the mountains and his hikes deep into the Amazon to meet what were thought to be tribes of head hunters was fascinating, at times hilarious and very informative. A fantastic book.

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the first chapter of this book to the last appendix, I was enthralled! Shah's adventures in Peru transports the reader into another world, one filled with mysticism, adventure, and danger. He treks across Peru looking for the illusive Birdmen, a mystery to be solved and also learned from. Shah's writing is descriptive and humorous. He also writes in a way I found to be very thought provoking, which I appreciate. This book was recommended to me by my Inca guide as we trekked through the Andes. Having just returned from Peru, reading about the places I had visited, including the Amazon jungle, gave me a greater appreciation of what I experienced and the people encountered. A must read for anyone with a love for travel beyond the "all-inclusive mega hotel experience".

[jen8998 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Initially intrigued by the idea of early flight in Peru, Shah treks through the jungle in search of the Birdmen of Peru. Rather than early Wright brothers, he finds that hallucinogens leaving the user with the sensation of flight are the real answer. Fascinated, he tries them himself by tracking down an obscure Amazonion tribe with a reputation for head shrinking and describes a horrible experience that he takes much better than I anticipate I would in the same position. Interesting discussions of Peruvian history, head shrinking and hallucinations abound but I was left a little disappointed that they weren't actually flying.