Six titis among the branches of Lago 2

At 9:15 in the morning, Carlos Andrés Matas Contreras was walking along the shore of Lago 2 at Finca El Paraíso when movement in the canopy stopped him cold: six titi monkeys were making their way through the branches, climbing without hurry and pausing to feed on fruit. The titis — those small, long-tailed primates with their sharp, lively eyes that inhabit the humid forests of Colombia's Caribbean coast — are always a sighting worth celebrating, and Carlos Andrés had the good sense to capture them on video before they vanished into the foliage. The lake had more to say that morning. Without showing its face, the forest spoke: coronas, a ave cola de ardilla, chachalacas, and an oropéndola left their voices hanging in the air. Carlos Andrés listened carefully and noted each one down. Sometimes the field tells its story through the ears as much as through the eyes, and that sonic record is every bit as valuable as any photograph.