The sun's light is refracted through small ice crystals in the high cirrostratus clouds to create this round rainbow. It was high noon, burning hot and we were heading for lunch. My camera had fallen on day one and was stuck on infinity, f. 7.1, 800 ISO. I could not focus, so I just pointed it and hoped for the best. No one else in my group saw this strange ball in the sky. I did not see the rainbow until I looked at it on my computer.
These glorious trees are the best known floral spectacle in Brazil. All the flowers bloom at once, which prevents birds from eating too many of them before they have done their job of pollination. The blossoms blaze with color.
