Guadalajara is fortunate to sit adjacent to a magnificent pine and oak forest as vast as the city itself.
The Bosque La Primavera spans 30,500 hectares, offering a natural escape where one can walk ten kilometers into the woods without encountering another soul. It’s an ideal setting to introduce younger generations to butterflies, woodpeckers, pumice, canyons, acorns, mushrooms, and edible plants.
However, such introductions can easily backfire. Well-meaning adults often take children on long, arduous hikes, leaving them hot, sweaty, and exhausted. Inevitably, the refrain of “How much longer do I have to do this?” takes over, followed by a chorus of “Let’s go home!”
One of the most effective approaches I’ve seen for connecting children with nature is the Summer in the Bosque program, run by naturalist Jesús “Chuy” Moreno for over 30 years.
For a month each year, around 100 kids enter the Primavera Forest daily at 9 a.m. under the care of Chuy and his team, returning to their parents at 5 p.m. Rain or shine, the children spend their days immersed in the woods, learning about snakes, insects, flowers, and curious plants as they encounter them. When they find a quivering black mass of bugs on a tree trunk, for example, they eagerly bombard Chuy with questions:
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