Three Rescued Souls in the Robles of El Paraíso

Yesterday morning, photographer Maicol walked the shoreline of the entrance lake at finca El Paraíso —where Fundación Loros was born— and found the robles (*Tabebuia* sp.) in full bloom, draped in pink flowers that set the landscape ablaze against the blue March sky. Among those branches were three visitors: an Amazonian parrot in green plumage with flashes of blue, bearing no visible band; another Amazonian identified by tag B16, perched calmly among the petals; and a blue-headed parrot (*Pionus menstruus*) its turquoise crown glowing between the blossoms. A little further along, a blue-and-yellow macaw (*Ara ararauna*) peered out with its black beak from the opening of a nest box mounted in a nearby tree. What Maicol captured with his camera carries a layer that photographs don't reveal at first glance: all four of these individuals came to Fundación Loros as victims of wildlife trafficking. Today they live in semi-liberty within the reserve, and the place they chose to land is called, quite literally, El Paraíso — Paradise. Sometimes reality allows itself the luxury of being perfect.