One day whilst walking through a forest we came upon an enormous pile of fresh dung. It was literally crawling with blue-black shiny beetles; I have never seen anything like it before. On another day, whilst taking a rest (it was very hot, my pack was heavy) we sat down at the edge of the track, and as I sat, my eyes unfocused, I slowly became aware of a large pinkish insect beside my boots. It dawned on me that it was a praying mantis. I haven’t seen one since biology lessons at school, many years ago. We spent many minutes watching this extraordinary, seemingly ungainly insect. It looked at us too, with it’s large round eyes either side of it’s head.
One path past the Eremo di Cerbaiolo, the lower, gave us a good view of the settlement. To one side of it the markings in the rocks gave the impression of an eastern-looking face, with a trident on the forehead. Circling above the rocks were great dark broad-winged birds: eagles.
