People and noise

On Sunrises

This morning I saw my first Amazon sunrise, and whilst I was watching it a couple of things occurred to me.

Firstly, I don’t remember seeing a lot of sunrises in my life. Maybe this is because they’ve mostly been unmemorable (this was certainly the case with a number of Sheffield’s attempts at sunrises as I trundled home from a night of clubbing) but happily, it’s probably mostly because I’ve spent most my life being pretty darn good at sleeping.

Secondly, maybe, just maybe, I might not have been missing out on all that much.

This isn’t to say the morning’s sunrise wasn’t perfectly lovely. An attractive range of colours were cast across a cloud-striped sky. I got a good clear view of the sun’s ascent, only partially distracted by a pretty charming homeless (I think) guy who came to try and chat, offer me a friendship bracelet and get the odd Peruvian Sol from me. (The friendship bracelet was a wrong move; there’s something about them that tends to set my teeth on edge.) A moment before the sun broke cover, the mass of white birds which sleep every night on a pair of trees on the river bank set off one by one on a collective mission to the jungle, which added to the moment greatly.

It’s just that…well…sleep is pretty good isn’t it? Plus, there seems to be so much hanging around with sunrise. There’s a good hour where the sky becomes progressively brighter and you’re thinking, ‘it must be about to happen, it must be due now’. Then, when it finally starts to pop it’s head up, it goes on to cheekily slips up the sky in a couple of minutes as though there was no big deal and it had no idea what all your waiting and fuss was about.

Yes, I guess I am calling the sun a tease.

And if that wasn’t enough, try getting back to sleep having looked at a rising sun for a few minutes. I certainly haven’t been able to, and thus am typing away on three hours sleep, unsure of whether to try and go back to bed again or get up and engage with the day.

Why the early start? Today Helen left on another visit to Rio Corrientes, leaving me with the exciting, challenging and only a teeny bit daunting prospect of my first fortnight in Iquitos without her love, support, company and Spanish translation service.

I just wish I wasn’t starting it with such a tired (and therefore undoubtedly grumpy) head.

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