Meanwhile the colours of the landscape, ocean and skies keep changing. The soft blues and pastel pinks of the skies and its purple gray clouds, combined with the dark greens of the island. With every second the island and skies gain more colour. The dark greens change into grayish greens. The pastel colours become bright and shiny.
The fat air with the exact right temperature, and the cooling winds, make me feel like every bird is telling me that this is going to be a lovely day.
It is going to be a good day
After arriving in Curaçao, the fun part of being out of sync with my daylight and nighttime schedule is to wake up at 5 in the morning. An hour before the sun rises.
I always love my first morning in Curaçao: to sneak out of bed, go outside and watch the dark island come alive. Just feel the immense silence and stillness of the island.
Out of a sudden there is this faint chatting of birds. First the chuchubis (mocking birds) and the trupials (yellow orioles). When their singing swells on, occasionally another bird drops in (I still don’t know what bird it is.) All this chatting and singing is supported by the vibrated calling of the cicades through the salt pans.
No picture can ever visualize what I am feeling at that moment. It only takes 5 minutes. The sun still has not risen, yet. However the magic spell is broken.
Dogs start barking. Humans start shouting. Cars start driving. The human day begins.
Not everyone on the island is blessed like me. I know my breakfast is within reach. But for too many it is not. More than ever I support charity projects like the Voedselbank Curaçao and the Dutch foundation Stichting Hulp aan Curaçao. So everyone can have this magical feeling of waking up before sunrise and knowing it is going to be a good day.