Cloud-spotting and Sunset

A few days before I left Benalmadena, I was fortunate to see a lovely display of clouds followed by the sunset as it went down behind the mountains. It was quite a spectacular moment.

This summer in Benalmadena has been rather warm and there were clear blue skies on most days. Hence, I didn’t get a chance to see a colourful sunset, until towards the end of my holidays.

In an earlier post, I have said I like cloud-spotting. Serious cloud-watchers are able to identify different types of clouds, and learn about the weather. I am just interested in watching cloud formations and still not an ‘expert’ in clouds. However, I do know that clouds are important for many reasons. Rain and snow are two of them. Besides that, clouds reflect heat and keep us warm at night. During the day, clouds shade us from the sun.

The Earth is constantly recycling water through a process called the water cycle. Water evaporates and becomes water vapour. The water vapour rises to the sky and attaches to the dust and particles to form clouds. When the clouds are too heavy, it will release the water (rain), and there will be another water cycle process.

Anyway, I managed to catch the magical sunset from the balcony of the apartment. I watched the clouds float into the path of the setting sun until sunset. It was awesome. Of course, I took loads of photos. They will be some of my favourite holiday pictures and memories.

You only get a colourful sky when there are clouds during the sunset. Colourful skies are a result of the clouds reflecting the sun’s rays. What sort of colours we get depends on what sort of clouds are in the sky, and also how sunlight interacts with molecules and small particles in the atmosphere.

Here are the photos I captured of that sunset – from the clouds floating across the sky, and into the sunset.

“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water. Or watching the clouds float across the sky is by no means a waste of time.” - John Lubbock

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