# A possible alternative trip?



## Mahon (Jul 13, 2006)

[edited due to "offensiveness", sorry] ...a few years ago (or something), I went to the Commonwealth of Dominica (not to be confuse with the Domincan Republic)... this is a very beautiful place, also has black beaches... the great thing about this country is that it hasn't been fully searched for orchids, just skimmed alongside the main road... 

Unlike EC, this place is a rather new place, and island formed not too long ago... there are 365 freshwater rivers (when it rains, they are rapids everywhere!), and there is plenty of fruit and food in the rainforest to keep a person camping alive... I went into about 4 parts of the rainforest, and I started finding new records (possibly new species) everywhere... I found many types of Stanhopea relatives, Pleurothallids, terrestrial orchids, Prosthechea plants that bloomed with pods that were about 2cm tall (a new record), and all kinds of things in just a little bit... I found my new species Pleurothallis on someone's Orange tree, the rhizome is very long, and the distance between a bulb on this rhizome was about 6 inches... Dr. Luer never heard of such! There are thousands (if not more than that!) of blooming naturalized Spathoglottis plicata around the island, some of them grow in the trees, on tree ferns (the ones that are tall like a tree), and these plants are the biggest I have ever seen, the flowers as large as Phalaenopsis (note that on Troy Meyers site, the unknown genus and species flask of a pink flowering orchid, the pod collected in Dominca, 'the flower is like a Phalaenopsis', these flowers are huge!)... 

Ok, so I have been to this place for *ONLY* a few hours, and look at all I found, I saw Epi. nocturnum on a dead tree, found a new species of Erythrodes, some Koellensteinia looking orchids (unsure what they were), a few Anthuriums (these aren't the showy ones, I saw a few on the side of a cliff, and they were quite large with green and black spathed flowers), many Gingers, lots of Heliconia, and Bananas everywhere! It was raining, and I had a time limit, so I had to run the entire way through the rainforest... the people I met knew a few orchid locations, but because of a few hours time, I had to decline the offer to go see them... there are also Vanilla planifolia (these people use Vanilla all the time) and one native told me he knew of a green flowered Vanilla... assuming to be V. beyrichii or V. mexicana... they also have lots of Cocoa plants, and lost of this aquatic plant, that the roots are edible...

But there are also other things there, like boating, rafting, etc... there is a Botanical Gardens there, but because of time, we passed right by... 

[edited due to "offensiveness", sorry]...let me know if this sounds feasible (even if u all like to go to EC anyways, maybe an alternative trip or a second trip, etc...)

-P.A. Mahon


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## Gideon (Jul 13, 2006)

Very interesting Pat, I would definitely be interested in a visit


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## Heather (Jul 13, 2006)

I have heard a lot of great things about Dominica. It was recommended to me when I was in the Grenedines last year. A lot of people in St. Vincent had relatives in Dominica so they loved to talk about it. I'd love to visit some day, but I'd also like to see Phrags. and Inca Ruins, which is why Peru/Ecuador has always topped my list.


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## Mahon (Jul 13, 2006)

[I edited this due to offensiveness, sorry]

Dominica, for the short time there, was BEAUTIFUL! There was no trashy places (except a few of the natives households, but if they had money, you know they would be working to keep up their house)... It is very clean, the rain really washes the dirt off roads and keeps everything in order. [I am stating that the rain is a good natural cleaner]

Here is a weird thing... there are these large orange crabs that crawl around on the forest floor... their holes are dug under the huge trees... the things scared me in there... there are parrots there, and I am unsure as the the other fauna...

-PM

[edited due to offensivness, sorry]


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## Heather (Jul 13, 2006)

Mahon said:


> ... a greater thing about this place is that the natives don't poop in the streets (or in public buildings) like in parts or Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Columbia, and a few other South American countries!
> -PM



Well, thank heavens for that! 

(you know, you are digging yourself a very big hole here, Mahon...)


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## Kyle (Jul 13, 2006)

Mahon said:


> a greater thing about this place is that the natives don't poop in the streets (or in public buildings) like in parts or Mexico, Ecuador, Peru, Columbia, and a few other South American countries! It is very clean, the rain really washes the dirt off roads and keeps everything in order.
> 
> there has not been ONE report of any tourist [or anyone as far as I have been told] murdered on this island... sorry for the facts, but Ecuador is known for murders and kidnappings, as so Brazil...
> -PM



Wow, your ingnorance knows no bounds.

I never saw human feces in the streets of either Peru or Ecuador. And I traveled quite extensivly. And do you think it doesn't rain in Ecuador? It rains a lot and often! The people who live there arn't savages! They have tolets and toliet paper...

I'm sure there has been a kidnapping in Ecuador, but it is hardly an epidemic. And maybe there has never been one in Dominica, but compare the population and area of the two countries. Anyone who doesn't go to Ecuador out of fear of being kidnapped is a fool.

Kyle


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## Mahon (Jul 14, 2006)

Kyle, 

Just for you and your deepest, highest concerns, I have removed my post about pooping in the streets... it was to be kinda funny, but ok, it was taken too seriously... I have watched people in Mexico and in Belize take dumps right in front of me (ok, not exactly, but ahead of me some distance)... I was wondering what the smell was around there (I knew there wasn't any of Birk's _Amorphophallus titanum_ around!). 

Thanks for the comment, Kyle,

-PM


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## Kyle (Jul 14, 2006)

Why don't you write your buddies Magali and Pepe to see if they will offer an explaination of why thier countrymen insist on pooping in the streets.

Kyle


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## Heather (Jul 14, 2006)

Mahon said:


> Kyle,
> 
> Just for you and your deepest, highest concerns, I have removed my post about pooping in the streets...
> -PM



Patrick - a word of advice. It doesn't do any good to delete a post and then repeat everything you said again. You really need to just learn to step back and let it go.


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## Mahon (Jul 14, 2006)

Kyle: I am not interested in asking Pepe and Magali, I must agree with you, I must be ignorant, gotta be stupid for falling for such a story!

Well, sorry if I misinformed everyone about EC, I highly encourage everyone who wants to go, to go there... because I am agreeing that I am ignorant... I am going to have to talk to everyone who has lived in EC that they are telling me lies... my god. 

-PM


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