Where the City Ends and the Marmosets Begin
Field Notes from Floripa · Florianópolis, Brazil One of the strangest and most delightful things about the island of Florianópolis — or Floripa, as locals call it — is that you can step out of a developed neighborhood and straight into a forest that feels completely untouched. No dramatic transition, no warning sign. Just: pavement, then trees, then a small primate staring at you like you interrupted something important. That's exactly what happened here. While wandering near a green reserve that borders a residential area, a small troop of common marmosets ( Callithrix jacchus , known locally as saguis ) were going about their busy little lives in the canopy — eating, lounging, and occasionally shooting us the kind of look usually reserved for someone who brings unsolicited opinions to a dinner party. "The marmoset regarded us with the calm superiority of someone who has always lived rent-free in a nature reserve." The trees they ...