CURACAO

Some history first, then our travels thru Curaçao.

Curaçao is pronounced “cure a sow” and was discovered in 1499 by the Spanish explorer Alonso de Ojeda accompanied by the Italian Amerigo Vespuci. 

By 1513, Curaçao and neighboring Aruba and Bonaire were declared ‘Islas Inutiles” (useless Islands) after depleting the little gold there was and finding the water sources insufficient for farming.  In 1634, there was only a small group of Spanish remaining on the island.  The Dutch West India Company (W.I.C.) then saw an opportunity and took over the island without too much resistance.  The W.I.C. promptly founded the capital of Willemstad on the bank of the inlet called Schottegat. This inlet is now called the St.Annabaai and it became a fortified port town with the construction of Punda city.

Curaçao is the most populous island of the ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao).  The population of Curaçao is more than 150,000 residents. The island is of medium size, an area of 171 square miles.

The Netherlands Antilles, an autonomous Caribbean country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, was dissolved on 10 October 2010. After dissolution, the "BES islands" of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba became special municipalities of the Netherlands proper, while Curaçao and Sint Maarten became constituent countries within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, along the lines of Aruba, which separated from the Netherlands Antilles in 1986.

The official languages are Dutch, Papiamentu, and English. However, Dutch is the sole language for all administration and legal matters. Most of Curaçao's population is able to converse in at least two of the languages of Papiamentu, Dutch, English, and Spanish but the most widely spoken language is Papiamentu, a Portuguese creole spoken in all levels of society.

The Capitol city, Willemstad is divided in two by the St. Anna Bay waterway used mostly by oceangoing ships.    One side is called Punda “The Point” and the side is called Otrobanda which means “the other side”.  OK, that’s simple enough.

One way to get from one side to the other is to walk on the Queen Emma floating pontoon bridge.  The bridge is hinged and opens regularly to enable the passage of oceangoing vessels. On the opposite end from the hinge is a small shelter where an operator controls two diesel engines turning propellers. The propellers are mounted perpendicular to the length of the bridge and allow it to swing parallel to the shore. The process only takes a few minutes to complete.  The bridge was built in 1888 and was completely renovated in 1939.

WE WERE ALLOWED TO STAY ON THE QUEEN EMMA PONTOON BRIDGE WHILE IT SWUNG OPEN & CLOSE

Queen Emma floating pontoon bridge

The Queen Juliana Bridge is a very impressive single span bridge that boasts to be the highest in the Caribbean.  The original bridge collapsed in 1967 killing fifteen workers, and got replaced. The current bridge opened on Queen’s Day, April 30, 1974.  It is 185 feet high. 

I found it quite scary driving on this bridge as it doesn’t seem to have much protection.

Queen Juliana Bridge

The local yacht club had sailing races in Spanish Waters right around our boat during Easter week-end.  There were J-24s, Sunfish & young kids on Optis.  The bigger ocean sailboats were racing at sea.  It was way too rough to go and see them by dinghy unfortunately.  What impressed us was the fact that the wind was blowing constantly at 30 knots and those kids rocked! 

THESE KIDS REMINDED ME OF OUR JUNIOR SAILORS ON LAKE DILLON, COLORADO

Whether we are in town visiting the sites or walking along the shores or hiking, there are sounds of parrots.  They are quite easy to see since there are not many leaves on the trees due to the drought.  My new camera’s zoom lense rocks !

Punda is full of color and shopping opportunities (many cruise ship type stores unfortunately).  Boats from Venezuela arrive in Punda with fresh fruit and vegetables that they sell right from their boat.  The area is called the floating market.  Some shoppers slowly drive past the vendors in their cars making purchases thru their car window…kinda a drive thru concept.

BOAT FROM VENEZUELA SELLING PRODUCE.  THIS AREA IS CALLED 'THE FLOATING MARKET'

THE FLOATING MARKET

SELLING FISH AT THE FLOATING MARKET

FRESH PRODUCE AT THE FLOATING MARKET

AROUND PUNDA & OTROBANDA:

OTROBANDA'S WATERFRONT

PUNDA'S WATERFRONT

 PENDA BUILGING BUILT IN 1708 AS A MERCHANT HOUSE

LOCAL ART BY ARTIST NENA SANCHEZ

I was tickled pink when I found a cheese store that imported delicious Goudas from Holland.   

LET THE TASTING BEGIN !

If there’s mountain, we must climb it.  So, the first thing we did with our rent a car is go to the Christoffel National Park and climb the 377 meter mountaintop.  It was a good hike with class 3 scrambling up top.  The park is home to many parrots and dozens of species of orchids.

EVEN THOUGH IT IS DRY, THERE ARE SOME BLOOMS

PRICKLY PEAR CACTUS JUST LIKE THE ONES IN COLORADO

TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN

GROUND BROMELIADS

We then drove to the Shete Boka National park.  There are seven Bokas, or inlets on the rugged northern coast which offer a spectacular view of the enormous waves crashing into the rocky coast. Here are some of my favorites.

BOKA PISTOL.  SOUNDS LIKE A SHOT GUN

BOKA WANDOMI, A NATURAL BRIDGE

We biked across the street from where we were anchored in Caracasbay, Spanish Waters, just to take in some sites and visit around.  We found this really hippy beach called TUG BOAT.  It has a small hut that sells a few trinkets and cold drinks and rents out beach chairs.  It’s a laid back place, not like the posh tourist area of Jan Thiel Beach where there’s a man made puny beach, packed with beach chairs so tightly you could hardly walk around.  By far, I preferred the cool Tug Boat beach area.  The snorkeling here is quite good and there’s a tug boat that wrecked and has many corals growing on it.  I just loved the atmosphere of this tiny and quaint area and so close to our anchorage.  Along the way, there's a nice fort that you can climb to the top for a nice view.

SNORKELING ON THE TUG BOAT

TUG BOAT BEACH

On each Monday after Easter, a harvest festival/parade comes to life.   The Seú is made up of graceful dance steps called “wapa”, mimicking the movements used in planting and harvesting.  The parade was about 10 miles going along Breedestraat (main shopping area) and ending up in Otrobanda on Rouvilleweg street.

KFC IS BIG IN THE ISLANDS AND THEY SPONSORED HIS TEAM OF DANCERS

I'D BE TIRED TOO AFTER 10 MILES OF WALKING AND DANCING

Enough with anchoring in Spanish Waters, it was time to see other places of Curaçao with Alpenglow.  We had a fantastic 27 mile sail to a bay called Santa Cruz.  During our sail, we were visited by a pod of dolphins taking leaps sideways as if to show us they pink stomachs then slapping their tails like beavers as they were sliding back into the sea.

We were the only boat in the bay which is surrounded by hills on each side and has a rocky coastline.  It has a nice local’s beach with a few straw huts.  At night, the little bar has a laser and shoots off laser beams off the hill which is really neat. 

We dinked to a snorkeling site called “The Cave, Blue Room”. You can hardly see it from the sea.  There’s a little opening you swim under and it opens up to a large cave.  When looking back at sea, the blue colors are truly amazing.  We were lucky to have this place to ourselves for awhile until a tour boat arrived.  Tim and I were sitting on rocks in the cave and a lady tried to get up the rocks.  Because of the surf, she got banged up against the rocks and received many cuts which were bleeding.  She was quite afraid to go back, I was afraid the blood would attract sharks !  Tim got a life ring from the boat and we helped her back.  That was our good deed for the day.

VIEW FROM INSIDE THE BLUE ROOM.  IT REALLY IS THIS BLUE

After visiting the Blue Room we snorkeled on the site called Mushroom Forrest because of the large number of mountainous star corals growing vertical on a sandy plateau.  The mushrooms shapes occur because the coral heads have been bio-eroded at their base to narrow columns by boring clams and sponges.

MUSHROOM SHAPES

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INFORMATION FOR CRUISERS:

Entering Spanish Waters Harbor

I recommend that you do not enter this harbor under any circumstances at night.  It is narrow and there are rock below the surface on your port side and very shallow on your starboard.

Immigration/Customs/Harbor Master

Many cruisers complain that it is quite inconvenient to clear in and out of Curaçao because it’s quite a ways from Spanish Waters.  We decided not to sweat it and make a day out of it.  Bus # A6 runs right outside the fishermen’s dock where you tie up your dinghy (anchorage zone A of Spanish Waters). There’s plenty to visit near the customs office and a nice walk across the floating bridge to immigration and harbor master.  The bus ride is approximately 20-35 minutes.  The Port Authority office closes between 11:45 and 13:00 for lunch (as of the end of March, 2016).

Buses

You can get a paper bus schedule at the bus terminal on the Otrobanda side.  The bus schedule at Punda is on a panel at the bus terminal. The #A6 bus has a bus stop at the roundabout outside the Fishermen’s Warf (Anchorage zone A in Spanish Waters).  This bus passes in front of Budget Marine, Waterworld, laundry & grocery and ends up at the bus terminal in Punda.

Free Shuttle  

Noonsite says the free shuttle to shopping (grocery store, Waterworld, Budget marine, laundry service) leaves from the Fishermen’s warf (Anchorage zone A of Spanish Waters) at 10:00 but it now leaves at 8:30am instead.

Maps

Best place to get a really good road map is at a car rental agency.