As we explore Buenaventura Reserve in Ecuador, the roars of howler monkeys rumble through the forest, Nine-banded Armadillos rummage through the leaf litter, and Two-toed Sloths clamber about the trees.
A foraging Nine-banded Armadillo bumbles into my feet,
before realizing his mistake. (Photos by Narca)
Beautiful beetles…
…and butterflies like this heliconid
…and this Scarlet Peacock enliven the trails.
The plants are also striking.
A flowering bromeliad
Why would a plant have red tips on its leaves?? I’m sure that a botanist out there can answer that! Aldous Huxley would have credited it to the exuberance of nature…. and perhaps that’s as good an answer as one derived from chemistry and the study of ecological adaptation! One feeds our knowledge; the other buoys our spirits.