| One day, not long ago, I sat at the round table in | | | | villages of Lamas and Rioja. We had a good |
| front of the Yellow Rose, drinking a cold Iquitena | | | | adventure, accomplished most of what we set out |
| with my good friend, Ryan, talking about the many | | | | to do, and learned a lot. We learned the truth is |
| beautiful orchids and epiphytes we have observed in | | | | rarely heard, seldom seen, and difficult to photograph. |
| the rainforest near Iquitos, Peru. Ryan nodded his | | | | The orchid is more the size of a saucer than a plate, |
| head. | | | | but it is one of the most beautiful, rare, and valuable |
| He glanced over his shoulder, leaned toward me, and | | | | blossoms I have ever laid eyes on. Here is most of |
| said in a low voice, "My spies, which are wrong ninety | | | | its story, woven together from several sources we |
| percent of the time, tell me that a new species of | | | | interviewed in and around Moyobamba. Some of the |
| orchid has been discovered near Moyobamba the size | | | | locations and most of the juicy gossip I am keeping |
| of a dinner plate." | | | | to myself. |
| "Sounds more like the size of a pile of horse manure | | | | A farmer named Faustino Medina set in motion an |
| to me." | | | | Indiana Jones style adventure by discovering a large |
| "My spies work for INRENA." | | | | group of pretty flowering plants. He dug some and |
| "I always wanted to go to Moyobamba." | | | | sold them at a crossroad truck stop called El |
| "They say the weather is perfect every day and | | | | Progresso, for $1 apiece. An orchid collector from |
| every night." | | | | Virginia, like a typical gringo, paid $3.60 for three of |
| "I think I will go tomorrow." | | | | them. He can be forgiven for not negotiating the |
| "You know about the Lacey Act?" | | | | price. He knew they could be worth $10,000 apiece |
| "How can I not know, you lecture me on it once a | | | | and make him famous. I imagine him running down |
| week!" | | | | the road, looking over his shoulder, cradling his three |
| "I only want you to be careful and stay out of | | | | treasures, but an important part of the story is he |
| trouble. This orchid is unknown to science, it is | | | | used Lee Moore's taxi driver, Jose Mendoza. He did |
| unnamed. You can not touch it, hold it, move it, | | | | not have to run; Mendoza drove him directly to |
| transport it, or export it. You understand?" | | | | Moore, who confirmed, "You have the Holy Grail of |
| "I understand! I only want to look at it. Smell it's | | | | Orchids." |
| scent, photograph it for posterity. That surely doesn't | | | | Wild orchids are protected by the international CITES |
| violate the Lacey Act, does it?" | | | | treaty. This orchid was new to science and was |
| "Be careful, it's intoxicating." | | | | unnamed. The catch is that only 23 experts in the |
| I spent one day researching and packing. My best | | | | world can name an orchid and none of them are in |
| friend, Marmelita, and I left the next day for | | | | Peru. To gain possession of an unnamed, world-class |
| Tarapoto, a quiet, clean, farming community. We | | | | orchid is hard. To get a legal permit to take the |
| found an inexpensive hostel, two blocks from the | | | | orchid to an official taxonomist is next to impossible. |
| central plaza, took a motokar to the market and | | | | Legend has it that Lee Moore has smuggled most of |
| made a meal out of fresh milk, whole grain corn | | | | the things that can be smuggled. His advice was to |
| bread, good cheese, fruits, and nuts from the local | | | | put it in a suitcase and go straight to the Marie Selby |
| farms. | | | | Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, Florida. They are |
| My Nikon D-70 camera malfunctioned and the man at | | | | affiliated with five taxonomists, the most of any |
| the camera repair shop loaned us his digital Canon | | | | botanical garden in the world. The collector walked |
| while he worked on mine. In the afternoon we hired | | | | through customs, worked up some papers, and |
| a car to take us up to the High Cascade Waterfalls, a | | | | realized his dream by having the lady slipper orchid |
| great place to swim and enjoy nature. In the evening | | | | named after him, Phragmipedium kovachii. |
| we ate delicious, giant, fresh, aqua-farmed Malaysian | | | | It is ok to build a road and destroy a million orchids. |
| shrimp and washed it down with a pitcher of mango | | | | One gets a permit. It is not ok to take an orchid out |
| juice. The next morning my camera was still in pieces | | | | of the country in a suitcase. That it has been done |
| so we decided to spend another day in Tarapoto. | | | | many times is not a defense, and it was not a |
| Tarapoto is not a bad place for nature lovers. It was | | | | defense this time. Federal agents confiscated the |
| near here the English botanist and explorer, Richard | | | | plant and charged and convicted the collector and the |
| Spruce, discovered and named the Platycerium | | | | botanical garden of possession of an endangered |
| Andinum, or Staghorn Fern. Spruce's specimen died | | | | species and illegal trade. They paid fines, served |
| before getting back to England and it was not until | | | | probation, and suffered loss of reputation. |
| 1969 that Lee Moore, the Adventurer, rediscovered | | | | At approximately the same time, the taxi driver, Jose |
| the staghorn in the vicinity of Tarapoto and got a | | | | Mendoza, raided Faustino Medina's patch, taking |
| live specimen back to civilization. | | | | every plant, and selling them on the black market to |
| I fondly remember growing two staghorn ferns in | | | | dealers in Ecuador and Lima. Lee Moore has the other |
| the shower of my bathroom in Indiana, in the 70s, | | | | two plants left by the collector, and has acquired 200 |
| doing my best to recreate the tropical rainforest | | | | others that he is raising and propagating for the time |
| environment. When I found my first magnificent | | | | when they are legal to export. |
| specimen in the wild rainforest, I realized how pitiful | | | | Faustino discovered another patch and seems to |
| my houseplants had been. This monster circled most | | | | have sold several hundred for $4 apiece to a rogue |
| of the tree, had fronds hanging down five feet or | | | | with a pickup truck named Kenneth Reategui, who |
| more, and the 35 shield fronds grew nearly two feet | | | | has a small recreational park and restaurant on the |
| tall. If my house plants had reached their natural | | | | outskirts of Tarapoto. He fenced them to an orchid |
| potential, there would not have been room for me to | | | | dealer in Lima for what is understood to be a small |
| have taken a shower. | | | | fortune. An article appeared in the Orchidist, about |
| The next morning my camera still did not work. I | | | | the last known site of P. kovachii. A thousand mature |
| purchased the used Canon 3.2 megapixel I had | | | | plants. It was considered to be a safe site because |
| borrowed the day before. Compared to the Nikon at | | | | of its inaccessibility, requiring a "hike from hell." Two |
| 5 megapixels, with the wonderful lens and all the | | | | weeks later a helicopter with cargo boxes swooped |
| buttons and functions that I know and love, this was | | | | in and stole all but two plants too high up on the cliff |
| a big loss. With no practice and the manual in Spanish, | | | | to reach. Armed men who would not know an orchid |
| the odds of getting great photos were about the | | | | from a cactus are fingering the hibiscus. |
| same as finding an orchid big as a plate. | | | | Intoxicating. |
| Moyobamba is the Orchid City, with 2,500 species of | | | | Anyone interested in having an adventure, |
| orchids growing in the high jungle around the town. | | | | photographing orchids, touring Tarapoto, Moyobamba |
| Marmelita and I hiked jungle trails, saw hundreds of | | | | and the surrounding countryside, swimming under |
| species in full bloom, soaked in the hot springs, went | | | | waterfalls, and soaking in natural hot springs can |
| to more waterfalls, and pursued tips to the nearby | | | | contact me to arrange the details. |