Vol 17 No 2 - August 2007

Ten Favs | Funny | Loading Dock | Beautiful Orchids | Beautiful/Bizarre
Caudiciforms | Terrarium | Beginners | Bookshelf | Supplies | Back Page

A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO…

  Morona, a tiny river village deep within a trackless jungle in the province of Morona-Santiago, Ecuador, on the banks of the Rio Cangaime, near the Peruvian frontier. We were just leaving the foothills of the Cordillera Cutucu heading into the flat expanse of the Amazon Basin when we came to a section of newly cut forest. Stopping for a while we scavenged the fallen trees for bromeliad specimens and whatever else we could find. Amongst the trees were a few palms that had also been cut and one had these large seed pods. I cut them off and carried them out to the road where Wally took this photo. Some years later I included this photo in a slide program about Ecuador and made the quip that these were “tusks from maybe the last Amazonian elephant”. There were a few chuckles in the crowd, indicating that at least some of the audience was still awake, and I went on to other topics. After the program an obviously upset older lady approached me and literally dressed me down, saying amongst other things that “I should be ashamed of myself for showing a slide like that, and for killing that rare animal.” I was caught off guard, first thinking she was kidding then realizing she wasn’t, and sputtered something for an explanation to no avail. Having made her point, she indignantly turned and stormed out of the meeting room door, no doubt convinced that I was guilty of an unspeakable crime against nature.  

  My attempt at humor having backfired, the ‘funny thing’ turning out to be not a bit funny to some, I have since reverted to my long held policy of sticking strictly to the facts.