Mini Monsters in the Rain

The arrival of the first rains in Dodoma has the same effect on our children as the first snowfall would in England. The children go wild with excitement!

Joel was so excited when we had the first rainstorm just over a week ago! He rushed outside with his brother and sister. This is where he ended up- with this monstrous grin on his face!

The puddle outside our garden was monstrous in size:

But the scariest monster was this little chap, discovered by Ben this morning after our long rainfall last night:

Thankfully, Joel had not climbed onto his scooter whilst this scorpion was aboard- this in one passenger you would NOT want! Ben's keen eye spotted it before anything dangerous could happen :-) These type of scorpions are infamous for their particularly nasty sting- it would be extremely painful. Jane was quite shocked to see it so close to our children.

In all the excitement, Moshi came to see what we were looking at and her tail brushed the scorpion onto the ground. It's a good job the children had been wearing their wellies, as you would not be able to see Mr. Scorpion on the ground- he is well camoflagued:

We took a final photo, as he raised his sting in protest:

Then it was time to get rid of the little monster- Andrew had to crush him before he stung anyone. It seems a shame, but a necessary shame- safety of the children (all playing with their friends outside) had to come first.