It's a Hard Rain That's Goin' to Fall in the Sertão !!

This photo shows Ivonete and Sara overlooking the almost dry lake at Sitio Poço Mill which Ivonete's grandfather ran many years ago.

How lucky we are to be living in a part of Brasil which has sunshine all year round.

Well, that's what I thought when we arrived in this baker's oven, in the centre of the Sertão, five months ago. As temperatures ranged from 35 to 40 degrees Celsius you had to open the car doors and wait a few minutes. If you didn't, the hot air almost cauterised your throat!

By contrast, we are now in the midst of the loudest thunderstorms and heaviest downpours imaginable. The water floods the streets in minutes and all you can do is to wait until it stops.

People love the rainy season of course. Relief from the water shortage is apparent. Children shower excitedly in the street under roof drain water spouts. Frogs the size of dinner plates congregate in dozens on the door step braying like donkeys after a banquet of insects and beetles. Goats almost smile as they fill their bellies on the new lush grass. Farmers have waited many months for this precious rain to germinate their crops.

At the beginning of the year, in a small village called Extrema high up in the hills on the Pernambuco - Paraiba border, the old padre, having intimate knowledge of these things, told his flock to expect plenty rain this year. Previously, all years ending in seven had been very wet. Local knowledge is a wonderful thing.

So - it's a Hard Rain That's Goin' to Fall in the Sertão. Perhaps we'll wait a little longer to replace our leaky roof!