Giant wasp is at fault - short story
During my first years of university down in South America back in the early '90s, I did some missionary work with a youth group I belonged to. We would volunteer with a foundation that studied appropriated technologies mostly in health care and agronomy. This work was conducted in communities that were quite far from cities and paved roads. It would take a good 10 hours or so to drive out to the trailhead on a fire road and then about 5 or more hours of hiking up a huge mountain going from a tropical climate up to a cold and foggy climate with thick vegetation and a few openings where inhabitants grew small crops. You could not see the houses, just dark green mountains, and more mountains. Yet the thin columns of smoke coming out from the forest would reveal the location of the small ranches or perhaps of guerilla or paramilitary camps for there were oil pipelines in the region that were under constant attack. A small school with a small playground and a spectacular view of the north end of the Andes on a clear day would serve as our headquarters and for the daily gatherings with the community. Some people would walk hours to get to the school to celebrate Christmas together and talk about some of their problems and try and seek solutions with the expertise of the lead scientists of the foundation. It was incredibly fun and exciting to go to such remote areas and meet these amazing folks and learn how they survive with so little of what we are so accustomed to in the big cities. Two weeks out there eating their diet and you are transformed into almost a superhuman. There are too many stories to tell of the magical things one experiences when visiting other cultures, especially more indigenous and simple and remote cultures. Having the opportunity to share and learn from them and about their customs and humor and values was great. I wish we all could travel to such places at least once in our lifetime in a respectful and non-destructive manner. This entry is just to remember the most magical encounter I have ever had with any living creature. It is very magical because I got to see something I have yet to find in any book or documented anywhere. I have sought out entomologists from several countries to ask about this one insect I saw but so far I have not been able to find any information or description of anything like it. Because of this, and because I was not able to take any pictures, I will just enter this here as a journal entry to enjoy recalling this experience every time I see this story. It also reminds me that there are so many species that are out there that we have yet to discover. We have definitely destroyed many of these unknown species with all the destruction of the environment we have caused since the industrial revolution in particular. Back to my experience, I awoke at 5ish in the morning to start the fire for breakfast. I first just got out of my sleeping bag and walked outside the schoolroom to a small porch that surrounded the school. I was stretching my arms as I admired the vegetation and looked for the morning birds when suddenly I saw what I thought was a bird squashed on a tile of the porch toward the back of the school near some adobe bricks. I stepped closer and noticed it had the shape of a wasp and for a moment I thought it was a toy but was amazed at how realistic of a toy bug a person would have in a place as remote as this area. It did not move and it was perfectly standing on top of a tile with its legs reaching the outside of this tile that was about 10x10 inches. When I realized I was looking at a real giant wasp I freaked out and did not know what to do and could not remember where my camera was so I ran to the little kitchen and grabbed a huge pot and ran back to try and trap it but by then I saw it take off like an airplane, It flew super steady and gently gaining altitude as it turned in a large "U" shape path and up towards the top of the mountain that had a sort of thick cloud forest. I asked everybody about the wasp for the rest of my stay there but nobody had ever seen it. I looked every morning but was unable to see it again. Some folks said it was probably just a giant moth but I knew what giant moths looked like, I collected insects in high school (which I now feel very sorry about) and I knew very well the difference between a moth and a wasp. Since then, I have gotten back to researching giant wasps but have never found anything like it.
A year later there was an attack on that community by paramilitary groups and some of the folks I knew were killed. Then a few more years later I heard they built a large damn in the area and also more oil pipelines so everything has changed a lot probably. Perhaps that thick high forest, the habitat of that giant wasp has been destroyed,? or is it still there? Maybe someday I will go back and revisit. That giant wasp taught me that there is so much to be discovered on earth. Because of it, I am more curious and contemplative, and quiet when anywhere outdoors.
