The Upper Xingú Rainforest is an area in the Amazon basin of Brazil. As the name suggests, it borders the upper reaches of the Xingú River. The area is inaccessible by road and tropical diseases such as malaria are endemic. It is inhabited by native tribes including the Yanomamo and Botocudo. The Upper Xingú region was the target of the 1987 Whittlesey/Maxwell Expedition sponsored by the New York Museum of Natural History. The expedition's goal was to survey the poorly-explored region and search for traces of the mysterious Kothoga tribe.