Paph. bellatulum in the wild

[goldenrose]

i was just wonderin' how you was gonna drive the car from illinois to thailand.....

wouldn't an all terrain vehicle work? OCC has one, don't you think Paul Sr would let us borrow it? better yet let him chauffer us, we'll bring the TV crew along, the more the merrier!

really? it works very fast for me... even the annoying "singing birds"..

:rollhappy::rollhappy: it was a little slow to load, I was doing something else in the kitchen & I thought did my husband change the batteries in the bird clock, those are sounds I don't remember & the dogs are running from room to room, 'where are they, let us at 'em!'

 

[Kavanaru]

if you put your mouse over the music thing in the upper right, you can turn it off

I learned that VERY quick!

 

[petergw]

Unfortunatly when your in the jungle there is no switch to turn the sound of the birds and insects off!!!

 

[Kavanaru]

Unfortunatly when your in the jungle there is no switch to turn the sound of the birds and insects off!!!

believe me, they are not that loud in a real forest and a lot more discret...:rollhappy:

 

[petergw]

They shouldnt come across as too loud - it may depend on how your speaker system is set up. When I view the site they are more of a quiet background sound!
On another point I have been in a forest in Thailand in April when the cicias (spelling?) are singing and that is almost to the point of being painfull on the ears!

 

[goldenrose]

BTW - WELCOME Peter! Please introduce yourself, tell us more , we know you have travel agent skills!

If anyone is seriously interested in seeing these plants in the wild a special 'Slippertalk' trip could be organised. And if its Paphs particularly that members would like to see then I also know of some other sites where they can be seen in Thailand. I also know of two nurseries in Northern Thailand which specialise in selling Paph species and hybrids - so a trip could include a visit to these nurseries where members could buy plants.

That would be soo cool! I wonder how many years that would take for me to save?
We could buy plants but the problem is getting them thru U.S.customs. I bought paph hybrids in flask from an ebay vendor who's never had a problem & his feedback indicated such, customs confiscated the flasks, sent me the empty box with a threatening letter.

They shouldnt come across as too loud - it may depend on how your speaker system is set up. When I view the site they are more of a quiet background sound!
On another point I have been in a forest in Thailand in April when the cicias (spelling?) are singing and that is almost to the point of being painfull on the ears!

Oh the lovely cicadas! One has to wonder why they were put on this earth, what purpose do they serve? Guess everyone gets a free hearing test every 7 years!

 

[petergw]

Introduction!

What can I say? A brief resume would be along the lines of: Many, many, years ago I used to work as a manager of a Garden center in the U.K. and import and sell orchids as a hobby. However in 1990 I decided to go to Thailand and set up an orchid nursery. Being married to a Thai had something to do with this! After the nursery had been running for a few years I found myself continually being asked by orchid hobbyists (who were going to Thailand for a holiday) if I could show them any orchids growing in the wild.
After I had done this a few times I decided to offer specialist orchid tours with the aim of showing people orchids growing and flowering in their natural habitats. The first tour was in 1995 and we have been conducting 2-3 tours every year since. In all we have now conducted 27 group tours and 7 personnal tours (for individuals looking for specific plants.)
One of my own goals while exploring the jungles of Thailand was to see Paphiopedilums growing in the wild. At one time I thought I would never find any - it took seven years of exploring before I found some.
I now spend about six months of the year in Thailand - of which about five weeks is spent conducting tours and the rest of the time restocking and growing the plants on my nursery there. The other six months I spend in the U.K. selling plants and promoting the tours.
We have had members from the U.S. before and managed to sort out all the paperwork for them to take plants back with them. One lady who was on our tour in March 2009 came from Florida and she imported quite a few plants - if you like I could send you her email address and she could tell you how things were organised.
Well I hope I havent bored anyone to much!!!

 

[Clark]

Gung is king.

Frame 13-- colocasia esculenta??? lower middle.

 

[SlipperFan]

Well I hope I havent bored anyone to much!!!

Not boring at all -- in fact, quite interesting. Such are dreams made of for most of us.

 

[NYEric]

Welcome to the forum. Great to see the species, vanda, habenaria, etc in situ. Thanx for sharing.

 

[goldenrose]

What a dream Peter!
OK this is the new motivation to get in shape!
I got a trip to Hawaii once from my hubby, think I can get him to offer Thailand???? :drool:

 

[petergw]

I am sure you could. If you can get a small group together and everyone is interested in Paphs then we could organise a special Paphiopedilum tour - with the aim of seeing them in the wild. And of course observing them in their natural habitat gives you new ideas on their captive cultivation!

 

[luvsorchids]

I am sure you could. If you can get a small group together and everyone is interested in Paphs then we could organise a special Paphiopedilum tour - with the aim of seeing them in the wild. And of course observing them in their natural habitat gives you new ideas on their captive cultivation!

That would be so cool :drool:, but $ is always the problem :sob:.

Susan

 

[petergw]

Obviously the price for a group would be lower than for just an individual. To give you a rough idea - for our next spring tour which is aimed at general hobbyists (We would put a special ittinerary together if it was a Paph only appreciation group!): Note here we do not organize the flights as people join us from all over the world, so the cost of the flights needs adding onto the price of the tour.
For nine nights (We also organize longer tours) at the present exchange rate for a single person we are charging 1200 USD. For two people sharing a room it is 900 USD each. This includes everything except your mid day and evening meals - (food is very cheap in Thailand!)
This would apply for a group of six.

 

[paphioboy]

For nine nights (We also organize longer tours) at the present exchange rate for a single person we are charging 1200 USD. For two people sharing a room it is 900 USD each. This includes everything except your mid day and evening meals - (food is very cheap in Thailand!)

I so want to be American right now... oke: oke: I love your exchange rates...