ARUBA

We had a beautiful 58 mile downwind sail from Curaçao to Aruba.  Still more dolphins entertaining us at our bow as we were sailing at 7 knots.  Once the dolphins left, we tried to fish but lost 1 lure,  again and had 2 other bights but loss the fish.  Darn, no fresh fish tonight...

Roughly 103,000 people call Aruba home. It is the smallest of the ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao).  It’s only 19 miles long and its total area is less than 75 square miles. 

We decided to take a slip at the Renaissance Marina.  They put yachts in transit beside the helicopter pad and boat shuttle to their private island and a small barge they use for transporting food to the private island.  Also, we had a nice view of the many cruise ships.  All in all it wasn’t that bad.  We took advantage of their pool and hot showers.  Talking about cruise ships, the Scientology religious group own a cruise ship name ‘Free Wind’ which was in town while we were there.

THERE WERE ACTUALLY 3 CRUISE SHIPS IN TOWN AT THE SAME TIME

ON THE LEFT YOU CAN SEE OUR ANCHOR.  THIS IS HOW CLOSE THE HELICOPTER WAS TO US

MED MOORED

 Since we stayed at the Renaissance marina, we could use their three pools and go to their private island on their boat shuttle.  There are some very tame flamingos there that they feed and they did cut their wings.  I believe this is done so that the tourists get to see some flamingos without having to find them on their own by leaving the comfort of their hotel.

I found some flamingo feathers on the beach in Bonaire. I didn't have any Styrofoam but found some on the beach.  Then I took an empty bottle of mouth wash to put the Styrofoam in.

FEELING CREATIVE

YOUNG IGUANAS

The Renaissance hotel has basically 2 buildings.  One is by the ocean and the other across the street.  Their boat shuttle goes to both hotels to pick up guests and bring them to their private island, simply named 'Renaissance Island'.  To get to the hotel across the street, the boat goes under a man made tunnel to the shopping area of the hotel, right next to Starbucks. 

ENJOYING RENAISSANCE ISLAND

DRY THRU STARBUCKS AT THE RENAISSANCE HOTEL BRINGING GUESTS TO THE PRIVATE ISLAND

AT THE END OF EACH DAY, WE'D COOL OFF IN THEIR BEAUTIFUL POOL 

HAPPY HOUR TIME

We took a local bus north to Eagle Beach and Palm Beach where there is a strip of low rise hotels and another strip with high rise hotels with lots of beach chairs.  Palm Beach is very beautiful, somewhat less touristy at Eagle Beach.

FOFOTI TREE.  IT CAN ONLY BE FOUND IN ARUBA

ONE OF THE HIGH RISES ON PALM BEACH

PALM BEACH

This contraption is called a "Sunscreen Application System".   Put in some money, get into the.....thing, close your eyes and get a blast of sun tan lotion.  ok ?

Hawksbill turtles lay their eggs on Eagle Beach starting in April and they hatch, I think, around September.  When we were there in early April, only 4 had laid their eggs.  In 2015, there were approximately 35 turtles that laid eggs by the end of the season.

We walked to the Bubali bird sanctuary which has fresh water.  There’s an observatory but no trails.

THERE WERE 10 DUCKLINGS

BANANA QUIT

YET ANOTHER PARROT

Aruba reminds me of America with their numerous shopping strips with loads of known makes such as Prana, Boss, Lacoste, Calvin Klein, ect…There are also numerous cruise ship jewelry stores, expensive hand bags and local markets with goods made from China.  They have the most American fast food restaurants I’ve seen in my travels in the Bahamas and Eastern Caribbean.  There are Chinese restaurants, Seafood & Steak houses, Cuban food , Mexican food…all at a very high touristy price.  There is even a free trolley you can hop on and off that goes thru the shopping district.

We took a local bus south to Baby beach.  On the way, we drove thru the dry towns of Santa Cruz and San Nicolas.  There wasn’t one house with grass since it’s so dry on the island.  They leave their lawns bare with dirt or the nicer ones have tiled front yards. 

VERY DRY CLIMATE

Baby beach is very pretty if you look south.  If you look north, you see the pipes of the Aruba Oil refinery Company; an unpleasant site. 

We're not big beach people so off we went and took a walk south and came across a cemetery which looked quite dilapidated.   I was quite sad about it being so un-kept until…..we realized, it was a pet cemetery.

JUST BEYOND BABY BEACH

PET CEMETERY

RIP. WOOF WOOF

 Along the shore, we came across some wild donkeys.  I really enjoy these docile animals.  They let me pet them until they realized I had no food and off they went or was it because they wanted to mate; sorry no picture.

LOCAL FISHING BY THE PET CEMETERY

Next stop: Cartagena, Columbia where Romancing the Stone was filmed.

INFORMATION FOR CRUISERS:

-   Immigration/customs:  We had to dock our boat at the customs dock in Oranjestad.  They ask that you hail them on VHF16, 30 minutes before our arrival to ask permission to dock.  Immigration and customs came to our boat each in their own cars and made us fill out forms.  Then they both went back to their office to scan our passports.  Once they returned, customs came on board and opened cupboards and looked in our bilge lockers.  They asked us if we had any liquor and we said yes.  We had about 4 liters of liquor and some wine in which all had been opened.  They told us that we were NOT allowed any booze at all.  So our choices were to surrender our booze and in this case they would have put them under lock.  Our other choice was to pay duty.  Lucky for us, they let us go because all our bottles were opened.  To check out, we had to dock again at the customs dock. 

-   The bus system is very good.  It costs $2.50us a trip and goes to the northern and southern tips of Aruba (not the national park or windward side).  There is a bus terminal in downtown Oranjestad behind and to the west of the pink Royal Plaza.

-   There used to be a self serve laundry mat near the Renaissance hotel but it closed in the beginning of April 2016.  You can have your laundry done by the marina for X amount a kilo plus they charge a $10.00us delivery fee.

-   If you take a slip at the Renaissance marina, you get access to their pools (3) and you can take their shuttle boat to their private island.  You can also use their employee hot showers.  They tend to put transients beside their shuttle boat and barge.  The hotel is next to the airport, and when a plane takes off, it’s quite loud.    There’s also a tourist helicopter beside the shuttle boats and it’s also very loud when in use.  Its med mooring and the marina personnel are extremely helpful.  There are many tourists walking on the docks since they do not fence off the marina area.  There is a security guard at night and felt very safe here.

-   There’s a cinema at Palm Beach plaza and at the Renaissance hotel in Oranjestad., call +297 59 29 393 or email turtugaruba@hotmail.com

-   If you want to volunteer in the turtle during the nesting or hatching seasons, call +297 59 29 393 or email turtugaruba@hotmail.com

-   The butterfly farm was built by a man from Montreal.  It costs $15us.

-   The Bubali Bird Sanctuary is free.

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.