Just a baby

Spotted this little chap this morning and couldn’t believe my luck when he stayed put till I got quite close. Got a few shots of him taking nectar from the Agapanthus too, but his colours don’t show up against the leaves. I think he’s very young.

Heavy rain again today – Teresópolis and other towns in the Serra are on the alert. A landslide in Macaé, the oil town up the coast, killed a 6-year-old child. So sad – and unforgiveable – that these tragedies happen every year and will go on happening until and unless the authorities deal with the almost insuperable problems of unplanned development, shanty towns and lack of infrastructure. And, of course, corruption on a massive scale.

‘Car-walked’ the dogs again, because I completely wrecked my knee on Saturday. However, HH and I managed to get out for a gentle stroll part of the way. Kayla, the big dog, was seduced by the possibility of snacks from the workers rebuilding the road, and it took their efforts and mine combined to finally get her headed in a homeward direction.

Left it till quite late to head back down the hill to Rio. Naturally, the rain started to tip down again just as we were about to pack the car. To go or not to go.... there’s always a possibility of landslides and falling rocks on the Serra. Eventually, we decided to go for it and luckily, got very little rain and made it back in good time.