After our time in Manaus, Bernie and I boated down the Amazon river where we stayed with Ipixuna and Crinicoru indians in floating shacks on the water. While there we ventured into the rain forest with native guides who showed us catuaba and muirapuama trees growing in different places. We also witnessed the harvesting of catuaba bark and its subsequent sale to a local buyer. We learned that most natives use these plants by placing a small handful of their combined barks in a glass of room-temperature water, let the herbs sit overnight, and drink the resulting amber infusion in the morning.

The Shamans
To confirm what we had read about catuaba and muirapuama, and what Antonio Matas had imparted, Bernie and I set off to interview a couple of elderly women shamans, both of whom were experts in the preparation and use of Amazon medicinal plants. Each woman told us that the sexual restorative virtues of catuaba and muirapuama were significant. One 89-year-old shaman named Therese echoed Antonio's words when she told us, "Catuaba and muirapuama together can make people sexually young again."

Throughout history, people have sought to increase libido and improve sexual function through the use of reputed aphrodisiac plants. Catuaba and muirapuama, two common trees growing widely across the Amazon river basin, enjoy centuries of safe, effective use as bona fide aphrodisiacs.

If you're going to try these herbs, there are a couple of ways you can go about doing so. If you can obtain them as bulk herbs in a natural food store, then two to four grams of the powdered bark combination is a good dosage range. I throw about that much into a blender drink, with good results. But not everybody likes messing around with loose herbs.

A number of supplement companies produce finished products containing these herbs in powdered or liquid form, and offer dosage guidelines. As research into the sex-enhancing value of these rain-forest plants increases and more becomes known about their modes of action, they are destined to become popular and widely used in cultures such as ours, beyond the rain forest.

Next, a trip to China for Horny Goat Weed...