A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO….

Uzhcurrumi, Ecuador in the state of El Oro was the start of a trail that led far into the mountains to an uninhabited place we nicknamed ‘OS Valley’. Wally Berg and I first found this trail, really only a muddy track, impassable in the rainy season, on a trip in the early ‘90s. As time went on it became inhabited first by ranchers then farmers then a few settlements sprung up and eventually a sort of ‘town’ with a few tiendas and a school.

The pristine forest gave way to open pastures and tilled fields, all except a few relatively inaccessible quebradas and steep cliffs. In these areas some beautiful and rare bromeliads persisted and attracted us from time to time. On one trip I had a friend from Japan along, his first trip to Ecuador. My thrill was seeing his excitement at each new find and there were many. He also learned about a few other things, like the ‘saca pantalones’ or vicious stinging ants inhabiting many of the large bromeliads in the region.

‘My friend’ climbed a tree and retrieved a bloomed out plant of Tillandsia fendleri to collect the seed. When he got back down from the tree and back up to the road, the ants attacked. He began slapping them but by this time they were all over his legs, under his trousers, and true to the name of the ants, he quickly dropped his pants. Naturally I wanted to help so I took a photo! I did not use his name because some Japanese are worried about ‘losing face’ or being embarrassed.

Even in the photo you can’t really tell that it’s Hiroyuki Takizawa. Oops.