The Muñeco Dressed in Red

In a corner of dense vegetation within the sanctuary, Michel Salas and Jorge Alcalá came upon a Muñeco — Cordia collococca — some eight meters tall that seemed to have dressed itself for a celebration. The tree's twisted branches hung heavy with bright red berries, a few still green, scattered through the foliage like small embers glowing beneath a cloudless blue sky. While Michel documented the fruits up close, a black bird slipped between the branches of the canopy, so absorbed in the feast that it almost ignored the camera entirely. It was confirmation of something botanical records don't always capture: a tree in full fruit is also a communal dining table, and the Muñeco that day had company. The encounter was recorded in five photographs, ranging from wide shots of the leafy crown to tight close-ups of the berry clusters. The Muñeco belongs to the family Boraginaceae, and its presence in this stretch of dense wild growth is a welcome sign of the health of the native forest in this part of the sanctuary.