Javari Valley: the lawless primal wilderness where a journalist went missing

The largest refuge for Indigenous tribes living in isolation is also a hotspot for poachers and illegal loggers and a major smuggling route for cocaine traffickers

In Brazil's far west lies an immense swathe of rainforest and rugged terrain reachable only by snaking brown rivers. Wedged alongside the border with Peru, the Javari Valley is nearly the size of Portugal, and is the largest refuge for Indigenous tribes living in isolation from the outside world.

The Javari is one of the last true bastions of primal wilderness in the Amazon - and in the world," said Scott Wallace, author of The Unconquered: In Search of the Amazon's Last Uncontacted Tribes.