At about three in the morning there is a thunderstorm with torrential rain and lightning out over the bay. Because of the  balcony and our view from the third floor it was pretty spectacular. In the morning we drive a short distance north to Ropotamo, an estuarine national park with various species of fish, birds and flora that are on the endangered species list. It is also noted for its water lilies although the vagaries of the weather in the last few years mean that we only manage to see a few survivors of the drought and floods.
After a walk along a boardwalk, L insists we make a boat trip up and down the river.
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We sight cormorants, fish eagles and terrapins while having an almost-tropical feeling. The camera makes it possible to make up any number of stories to fit the pictures… Then we walk across the dunes, heavy-footed, towards the sea (which is invisible), after the jungle the desert. I notice a half-finished ruin looking gaunt, roosting on the hillside. I ask M and he agrees to investigate it with us. Retracing our path over the dunes we drive round the coast and find the right access road – M negotiates our way past the desultory watchman and we spend the next couple of hours making photographs and filming. It would have been a hotel complex. It appears as if the plans called for an in-house theatre/cinema. In other respects it is also quite spacious, judging from the size of the roughed-out rooms. But it has been abandoned in a relatively early stage – stairways finish in mid-air, negotiating the change from one unit to the next requires a ‘Great Leap Forward’.
The rewards are many though, with unexpected views of the sea framed in rough grey, an unforgivingly blue sky overhead. The division between inside and out that always exists, despite the efforts of architects in balmy climates to eliminate it as far as possible, is stripped to the absolute minimum by the state of the building. |
