Tales from the Trail (and Places I've Been): The Breathtaking Beauty of Orchids

From Ollantaytamba we go to the neighboring town of Urubamba and our hotel, Sol y Luna. Tomorrow we’ll take the train to Machu Picchu. Tonight we enjoy an elegant meal in the main lodge and the beauty of the hotel’s adobe, wood, and stone bungalows with private outdoor porches, surrounded by beautifully landscaped gardens.

Sol y Luna bungalow

From our early morning train to Machu Picchu we see hikers en route to the same destination. In a way, I envy them. I certainly admire them. But we've been traveling for a while (starting with the Galapagos oh-so-long-ago)-- the train is good.

Hikers on the trail to Machu Picchu

When we get off the train, Rosa suggests that we will avoid the hectic and crowded early-morning entry rush to Machu Picchu if we take time to visit a nearby garden, where she has arranged a private tour. We’ve come to trust her judgement, so our first stop is the stunning Inkaterra orchid garden.

Amazing orchids.

Paphiopedilum hybrid ?

I’ve had the opportunity to talk with someone on the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Orchid Society (MOS) who helped me appreciate these beautiful flowers.

Orchids are one of the most diverse plants on Earth. There are about 25,000 species and they live on every continent except Antarctica.

Most orchids are epiphytes, anchored to other plants, like trees. They take nothing from the host plants, they just hang there.

Bird of Paradise

One orchid seed pod can hold a million microscopic seeds. The seeds need a fungus that will feed them with sugars-- not hard to find in the jungle here.

Inkaterra Orchids

I used to think of orchids as small, beautiful flowering plants I could get in the supermarket. Two things wrong with that thinking.

It wasn’t until the 1960s that growers learned they could use agar to provide the nutrients necessary for orchid seeds to germinate. Before that, the flowers were not easily available, and certainly not in supermarkets.

And then there was that idea that all these plants are small. Below our guide is talking to us about the elephant leaf orchid. That is the leaf, there, about the size of his torso. Nope, not small.

Orchid guide showing us elephant leaf orchid

I do not know my orchids very well; I’ve ‘named’ a few that I remember from our guide’s information (although I confess I'm not certain about the names). I welcome input and feedback from readers.