I lived in Ecuador for many years in order to research this story. I kept a visa, which allowed me to stay in the country, by getting a job teaching at the American School in Quito. What a magic country of volcanoes and jungles! I was studying monkeys in the rain forest of eastern Ecuador when I heard the story of this great Inca treasure worth five billion dollars in today's money. And I was hooked! This story, more than any other, was the reason I chose to become a writer. All writers need stories. And this one, about a lost treasure of 750 tons of worked Inca gold, buried in a mysterious place, was the best story of all.