DEEP IN THE AMAZONIAN JUNGLE, I Was discussing maggots with a Huaorani tribesman. Sinking his axe into a fallen trunk, Bei opened the rotten wood as deftly as a surgeon and lifted out a handful of squirming yellow grubs, the larvae of an Amazon beetle. His smile was as wide as the river mouth. Bei [...]

Aside from being a charming holiday spectacle on balmy summer nights, the timeless tradition of the passeggiata is also a highly civilised social ritual, says James Hamilton-Paterson OF ALL THE Social CUSTOMS that go hand in hand with a warm climate, the evening promenade is surely the most immemorial. It has the unmistakable feel of [...]