Every year, high in the Andes Mountains in Peru, a man builds a bridge.

The bridge is strong enough to hold the weight of more than a hundred men, but it isn't made of

iron or steel. It's made of grasses and fibers. It hangs 60 feet above a thundering river. And the man is

not a construction worker or a structural engineer,

but he is the only person on earth who knows how to build this particular bridge.

That man's name is Victoriano Aritzapana,

and he is the heir to a tradition that is over 500 years old.

The Inca Empire built elaborate rope bridges to cross vast chasms in the Andes.

Today, only one of those bridges remains, the Keshua Chaka.

And every single year, since the Inca Empire, Victoriano's family has led the local community in cutting the bridge down and reweaving it from scratch.

I'm Dylan Thuris, and this is Atlas of Skira, a celebration of the world's strange,

incredible, and wondrous places. We often hear about the first person to do something,

an inventor, a pioneer. It's rarer to hear about the last person, the last person to carry on

a tradition. Today, I'm talking with Elliot Stein.

He's a journalist for the BBC, and he traveled across the world, reporting on rare and ancient

practices, and talking to the final stewards, keeping these traditions alive. It includes a visit to

one of the greatest places that I have ever been in my

life, a place sometimes called the Last Incan Bridge, but better known as the Keshuacaca.

Elliot chronicled this in his book, Custodians of Wonder, ancient customs, profound traditions,

and the last people keeping them alive.

Hey, Elliot. Thanks for joining. Hey, thanks so much for having me. Yeah. I mean, your book is called

Custodians of Wonder. And what drew you to this subject matter? I had this chance

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