I’m sitting with Consta throwing dice and drinking Caipirinhas at Balneário do Sol, a beach resort in Bonito in Brazil, when a guy from the staff stops at our table with a red and blue macaw in his hand.
I eye him suspiciously.
“That better not be an animal caught in the wild”, I think.
But he tells us it was found injured and then rehabilitated.
I soften and hold the bird for a second and take a picture with my phone.
“I normally hate when places use animals as tourist attractions”, I tell Consta after the guy has left.
“But this one was rehabilitated”, I continue. “So, I guess that’s OK.”.
“Yeah, but I never believe them”, he says, and I wonder if next time I should just relentlessly refuse to hold any animal at touristy places.
My Maddy Travel 