The lush green begins to thin. the jungle floor turns to sand. a half mile further and the rainforest is gone. it s like we ve entered a completely different ecosystem. from jungle to desert in a matter of feet. this didn t exist. these lakes didn t exist. nothing did. it was just flat forest like we went through. this is all manmade. wow. oh, my god. oh, my god. and these are all toxic pools now. this is all mining pits that are filled in after it s been abandoned with rainwater. they use an old brutal method, merciless on the land, cutting down trees, blasting river banks with diesel-powered fire hoses, cathy a slurry that gets sifted until eureka, a tiny