A family from Spain shared with me some photos they took during their first four days in Belize, spent at Chan Chich Lodge. I asked what was their favorite “thing” about Chan Chich and I appreciated the simplicity of their reply: they most enjoyed the simple fact of being in nature. Waking up to the spectacular racket of monkeys claiming territory in the nearby treesand then a trek on their own after breakfast was the perfect start of their wilderness journey for these few days. They saw footprints of an animal that they could not imagine, but which I recognized from my first visit to Chan Chich Lodge to be those of a tapir. I had not been able to photograph the tapir I saw, but I can tell you from vivid memory that it is one of the most prehistoric-looking creatures roaming the earth today. It is also has a very special place on the food chain, making the abundance of jaguar in this region more understandable.

The mom in the family said that they did not really need the sight of animals, the sound of animals, or the tracks of animals–though they thrilled to all those–to give them the sense that they had come to the perfect place as an antidote to the fast-paced first ten months of 2016. They most appreciated the oxygen that these hundreds of thousands of acres of trees were producing.

And time as a family walking those trails.