The White Bonga in the Thirsty Forest

Somewhere in the dry scrubland of the reserve, where the vegetation crowds itself into low shrubs and the earth holds the heat of midday, a white trunk rises above everything else. It is a bonga — ceibo, palo borracho, call it what you will — and its pale bark stands in sharp contrast against the merciless blue of the April sky. José Marín managed to capture the image before the signal dropped, and the photograph took its time arriving, like so much news that travels slowly from the most remote corners of these 520 hectares. The tree stands alone in its size. Around it, the branches of the surrounding shrubs appear bare, surrendered to the dry season, while it remains upright with that stillness that belongs only to very ancient trees. We don't yet know in which sector this bonga makes its home, nor who was the first to stop and look up at it. Those details will come when the signal returns. For now, what remains is the record of its presence: a white trunk, a blue sky, and the hot silence of the forest.