As I dig through my photos to create these Caribbean wallpapers, I try to avoid several types — types that just feel a little too cliché. But try as I might, I can’t seem to overcome the allure of a magnificent sunset (or sunrise, for that matter).
What is it about these moments, captured in all their vibrant glory, that we as travelers, or just plain humans, find so undeniably alluring?
I took to the internet to try to find out and surprisingly there wasn’t one solid answer to this phenomenon. Here are some of my favorites:
1. Their warm glow is awash in a specific wavelength orange
On Quora, I came across someone else trying to get to the bottom of this mysterious attraction asking “Why do humans enjoy looking at sunsets?” Part of my favorite answer from Julio Rodriguez had this to say:
I’m pretty sure we’re wired to feel safe in the gentle glow of a fire. Fire was a crucial part of our evolution into Homo Sapiens. Our ancestors are thought to have used fire for around 75,000 years before Homo Sapiens came to be, and we have only been around in this form for about 50,000 after that.
Warmth, safety, security — you can’t get more desirable, on a base level, than that.
2. They tap into deep-seated, mystical sentiments on the cycle of rebirth
Before we understood anything about the earth revolving around its axis and the clockwork like gravitational machine our solar system is, the sun would be reborn and die every single day. This was obviously one of the greatest mysteries imaginable.
Could it just be another case of use gawking at what for the majority of our existence has been unexplainable magic?
3. They’re literaly nature in (slow) motion
From Tom Gillis came a thought that, while not obvious at first, seems like a definite part of the magic:
It’s one of the few times in nature that you can see a visible process of change happening. The sky changes colors, the sun is dim and close enough to the horizon you can watch it move. Shadows also move. All within a predictable range of motion and a short enough span of time that you can pause to experience. Most other natural processes like flowers blooming, or ice freezing, or things growing, or seasons changing, happen way too slowly to really see, or are way too complex or subtle to appreciate. Fire being the notable exception.
Who doesn’t like watching slo-mo action? (Even the latest iPhone is packing it!)
Bringing in the exception of fire takes this to the next level. In some parts of the world, campfires are referred to as “bush tv” since you can’t help but stare at it in the pitch black of night. This also somewhat backs up some of the thinking behind #1.
4. They embody another day in paradise
Science and speculation is all well good, but for me, when I look at all the sunset photos I’ve captured over the past 3 years on adventures throughout the Caribbean, I immediately get drawn back to that feeling you get at the end of another special day in the West Indies.
The air is beginning to cool off a bit, bird shadows are zipping above treetops capturing their dinner, ice is softly sizzling in the first rum of the evening (but certainly not the day), all around light is being softened by the atmosphere from the harsh contrast of the day into something much more relaxing, and the sound of the sea is practically shushing me to sleep and it’s only 7pm.
When you think about the quintessential quiet moments in the Caribbean, they often seem to happen beneath the slowly shifting sky at dusk.
5. Shut up and look
Want to really decode the allure of Caribbean sunsets like the one above, captured overlooking the magnificent beaches west of Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic?
You could probably have skipped 1 through 4.
Instead, just download the wallpaper and look. How you feel is all the answer you’ll ever really want.
No further words needed.