WHEN GEORGE FREDERICK THOMAS arrived for a week-long homestay with the indigenous Brazilian Macuxi tribe earlier this year, it was the middle of the night. Not only did the darkness make it impossible to take in the sun-scorched plains and rainforest-covered mountains of the region, but it also led to a case of mistaken identity when a friendly creature bounded over to greet him.
“I thought it was a dog,” George recalls. “But it had quite wiry fur. Then I realised it wasn’t a dog at all, but a capybara. A pair of indigenous girls had rescued it from a nearby river,
