Waiting

The Bretania Islands of San Agustin are best seen and photographed in their sun drenched glory.  When the sun is high and the sky is mostly clear and solid blue, the islands are in their picture postcard loveliest.  You can ask the increasing number of visitors who have been coming and returning to the islands for what they consider to be the ultimate experience in tropical island hopping and the chance to sinfully indulge in pristine white sand beaches, crystal clear seas and breathtaking seascapes.

But I have been to Bretania on less sunnier days and yet even under overcast skies and the mild drizzle of rain, the islands, as seen from the mainland, are still a wonder to behold. The mood though is markedly different.  Instead of the sharp contrasts and the warmly vivid colors brought about by bright and sunny summer days, the islands float eerily like ghostly wraiths or illusions on pastel colored waters under gloomy, menacing clouds.  Everything seems pale and insubstantial, the whole dreamlike panorama of sea and sky framed by the misty haze of faraway rain. (Click here for more pictures...)

On these days, everything is in quiet repose.  The motor boats that noisily ferry tourists to the various islands and islets and then back again to the mainland on busy days remain silently tethered to their moorings, scarcely moving in the still, almost glassy sea. Very people are up and about and there is a sense of desolate isolation over everything, as if the village and the islands beyond it are merely watchfully waiting for something. Something exciting and wonderful that is yet to happen or wondrous possibilities and empty promises yet unfulfilled.