Fatima Valencia, the grandmother of the four children rescued on Friday after 40 days alone in the Colombian Amazon, had a simple explanation for why they had taken so long to be found despite a huge search effort: they were being carried through the jungle by a duende, a leprechaun-like mythological creature said to roam the forest.
As more details emerge about four children’s incredible feat of survival, it has become clear that the ancestral knowledge of the eldest child played a vital role in keeping her younger siblings, including a baby who turned one during the ordeal, alive for 40 days.
