Sloth and Motmots at Los Guardianes

Carlos Andrés Matas Contreras was making his way through the grounds of Los Guardianes when a slow movement among the branches stopped him in his tracks: a sloth was climbing unhurried through the trees, indifferent to the world and to the camera that Carlos Andrés raised with his own hands. There was only one. It took its time, as is its nature, and Carlos Andrés captured every movement with the same patience the animal itself seems to teach. At that very spot, two motmots completed the scene. With their blazing orange chests and long, trailing tails, these birds are a familiar presence in the reserve — but to see them alongside a sloth in the same frame feels like an unexpected gift. The three of them shared the territory of Los Guardianes as though it had always been this way: unhurried, undisturbed.