Areo Peña is the chief of the Wounaan tribe, a peaceful community based in the Darien rainforest, on the border between Panama and Colombia.
The tribe faces a pressing crisis: the jungle is under threat from illegal loggers, drug traffickers, cattle ranchers, miners and a government that refuses to recognise the Wounaan’s territorial rights.
When Areo discovers that, due to the indiscriminate felling of trees, the sacred kokorrdit bird is no longer to be seen in the area, he decides to set out on a journey to find it, in the hope of restoring the spiritual balance of the community. But Areo will not be travelling alone: he will be accompanied by Ayned, a rebellious teenager who lives in the city, cares only about her mobile phone and is estranged from the traditions of her people. The journey will not be easy: they will have to cross, on foot and by river, one of the most dangerous areas in the world and face countless natural and, above all, human threats.
Amidst illegal migrants and demobilised guerrillas, amidst poisonous snakes and black-market traders, Areo and Ayned will set out in search of the sacred bird and must learn to accept their differences and live together: after all, perhaps they are not as different as they think.
