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.

BONAIRE

The sail from St-Martin to Bonaire was approximately 500 nautical miles, all downwind.  The wind prediction was 20 to 25 knots from the East and North East, so our sail would be mostly dead downwind.  The wave height was predicted at 8-10 feet but they were more like 10 to 15 feet, if not more.  It was a very uncomfortable 3 night’s sail with hardly any sleep.  It didn’t matter what sail combination we put up, Alpenglow rocked from side to side. We had to hang on to sleep otherwise; we would have been thrown to the ground.  We definitely need to install Lee cloths.

For the first time on Alpenglow we got pooped.  For those of you who don’t know the meaning of pooped on a sailboat, it simply means a large wave crashing into your cockpit from the stern (the back of the boat), getting salt water in the cockpit and getting everything wet that’s in the cockpit and sometimes it goes below deck, especially if the hatch boards are open.  Luckily for me, only Tim, the cushions and the cockpit got wet.

On our second day out at sea, we noticed an airplane flying very close to the ocean to our starboard.  We watched it curiously as it banked and came back towards our boat at our stern.  As it approached, we were able to see that it was a Coast Guard plane which was painted white and yellow.  Was this the Dutch Coast Guard?  We had hoped they would have hailed us but they didn’t.  I guess we didn’t look suspicious. 

We always plan to arrive in an unknown harbor during daylight.  We knew very soon that we wouldn’t arrive during the day.  I despise getting into an unknown harbor at night.  As far as harbors go though, this one was very wide and open with mandatory mooring buoys equally lined up along the brightly light seashore.  My only hope now was that a buoy was available; otherwise we would have had to dock at the commercial dock which didn’t have adequate lighting.  I motored along the outside of the boats while Tim looked for a suitable buoy.  Luck had it that it was a calm night and very easy to pick up a mooring.  I stressed out for nothing! 

As we stepped out of our boat the first morning to have a first view of Bonaire, a small pod of dolphins welcomed us in the acrylic blue water.  Bonaire & Klein Bonaire (small Bonaire) are surrounded by an almost continuous fringing reef.  A shallow and narrow terrace slopes down gently from the shoreline to a depth of 30 feet then suddenly drops, typically at an angle of 45 degrees to a depth of 130 feet.  There are vertical walls and double reef formations.  This makes it very popular for shore diving.  Many people rent cars and walk from their cars to the beach and walk into the water.  If you do this, I suggest wearing booties because at some sites, you must walk on rock and coral.

We walked and biked along the seashore in the town of Kralendijk looking for Dive shops that would allow us to tie up our dinghy to their dock while we scuba dive.  It wasn’t as easy as we thought but we did find two outfits that were accommodating.  While talking to one of the dive shop keepers, she received a phone call.  She got all excited screaming that there was a whale spotted just north of here.  She was so excited, she completely ignored us.  She just kept looking outside beaming from ear to ear.  I was wondering if she was expecting the whale to pass in front of us?

We ended up choosing a small shop called Carib Inn near the center of town. The owner Bruce, store manager Kitti and instructor Karen were extremely pleasant and helpful.    Bruce owned his scuba diving shop for 35 years.  He lost most of his fingers on one hand due to an electrical saw accident.  Bruce also hired a local deaf young man who was always smiling and very helpful.  This dive shop wasn’t as crowded as the others.  I loved this place instantly.  Karen, an instructor gave us a review since both Tim and I haven’t dived since 2012.  She explained how to shore dive on our own.  We opted to do a couple of boat dives with the shop then dive from our dinghy on our own. 

ALL SHOREDIVES ARE MARKED ON YELLOW PAINTED ROCKS.  WE DOVE ON THE HILMA HOOKER WRECK

PEACOCK FLOUNDER

PORCUPINE FISH

GIANT ANEMONE

QUEEN ANGELFISH

FRENCH ANGELFISH

HONEYCOMB COWFISH

There is a beautiful art shop in Kralendijk called Art Bonaire.  At the counter, Larry, the artist’s husband is a real hoot.  He talked to us about living in Bonaire, politics, and the economy for quite some time.  He is originally from Nova Scotia but moved to Bonaire 20 years ago, marrying Janice who is the artist.   His wife, Janice Huckaby Baillie (janice@janartbonaire.com  paints beautiful local art.   I bought a tile from her for my collection.   Larry was in the navy and was very opinionated and had quite the potty mouth but he was very entertaining.  He looked like a typical Harley dude and in fact, he did have a Harley outside the store.  He was quite mad about the Chinese in Bonaire taking advantage of children they bring from China and make them work 7 days a week, wearing the same t-shirt day in and day out. 

The island is the home of approximately 17,000 people, who have the luxury of spreading out over most of the 113 square miles. The north end of the island is mountainous (highest peak is 784 feet) and largely unpopulated, as is the rugged and windswept east coast.  Bonaire is the top of a volcano that erupted in the sea. 

Bonaire is very dry with very little fresh water.  Most people here have septic tanks and some use the contents to water their gardens at night.  They say it stinks at first but the smell doesn’t last long.  The wild donkeys on the island adapted to drinking salt water, therefore their meat has a very high content of salt so it is not suitable for human consumption.  Since there is no fresh water on the island, there are no mosquitoes.  Bonaire is known as the driest island in all of the Caribbean and while we were there, the island was in the midst of a severe drought.  Dust covered Alpenglow inside and out.

Dutch is the official language of Bonaire as it is part of the Netherlands.  The most widely spoken language is the creole language called Papiamentu (read more about this in my blog on Curaçao).  The other languages are Spanish and English which is spoken with only 2.8% of the population.

FLAMINGO MADE OUT OF ROCKS ON THE PAVEMENT

ART IN THE TOURIST OFFICE

Between diving days, we biked the southern part of Bonaire making a loop out of it.  We started in Kralendijk and headed south to the salt lakes called Salinas and the manufacturing of salt.  The Cargill Salt Bonaire Company manufactures natural salt from the sea water in salt ponds.  It seems that the whole southern end of the island is covered in salinas.  There are 2000 tons of salt an hour that are loaded by conveyor belt onto ships.  The harvesting of salt has been a major industry on Bonaire for over 350 years. 

Read more at http://www.bonaire-travelguide.com/attractions/salts.html

SALT PONDS:  THE SALT MAKES FOAM WHICH REMINDS ME OF SNOW.  

CARGILL SALT POND FACTORY.  TABLE SALT ANYONE ?

 Biking to the most southern tip of Bonaire greets us with a nice beach (Atlantis Beach) lined with many colorful kites.  This was definitely the hangout for kite boarders.  Parked were 2 school buses selling snacks and cold drinks.  They set up some shade and put some bean bags on the sand.  It had a hippy feeling to the place which I loved.  We purchased cold drinks, sat on their bean bags and had our peanut butter and jam sandwiches, watching them fly into the air.

ATLANTIS BEACH KITE BOARDING AREA AT THE SOUTHERN TIP OF BONAIRE

KITE BOARDERS NEED COLD DRINKS AND SHADE

 All along the southern tip of Bonaire, inland are the never ending salinas and across the street is the ocean.  We viewed several pink flamingos just standing on one foot or flying away when I got too close.  I spent some time collecting flamingo feathers from the ground. Bring binoculars, sometimes the flamingos are quite far away.

Flamingos can survive until 50 yrs old but most only live to 25.  They are the only birds who filter their food.

FLAMINGO FEATHERS ARE NATURALLY WHITE.  THEY TURN PINK BECAUSE OF THE CAROTENE IN THE FOOD THEY EAT.

I GOT TOO CLOSE & OFF THEY WENT

The road is flat and straight.  There is no shade and the headwind is constant.  Our lips our drying out and we’re feeling dehydrated even though we keep drinking.  This may only be a 30 mile bike ride but the heat and dryness is making it very difficult.  A car stopped and asked us if we were ok to continue on.  We said yes as sweat was pouring down my face.  I now carry a handkerchief but forgot to reapply the SPF. 

WE SAW THIS LIGHTHOUSE WHILE SAILING INTO BONAIRE.  NEAR IS A RED LIGHTED RADAR TOWER

LONG, FLAT LONELY ROAD

 We found civilization.  A resort named Sorobon and Jibe City bar had very needed cold drinks!  In fact, it was the wind surfer’s area.  It was much busier and more popular than the kite boarding area but beware, I’m sure in the future; someone will set up accommodations at the kite boarder’s area also. 

JIBE CITY, WINDSURFERS HANGOUT

On our way back to our boat, there’s a donkey sanctuary.  For $7 you can ride your car along and feed the donkeys.  By then, we were soaked with sweat and in need of another cold drink.  All I wanted was to dive into the ocean to cool down and get a beer.  Anyways, we already visited a donkey sanctuary in Antigua.  I’m positive that the donkeys here are quite the same.  But…..wild donkeys are everywhere and while driving to the national park, a few were in the middle of the street and proceeded to come to our car window begging for food. 

NO COMMENT

 A trip to the Washington Slagbaai National park is a must.  There are more salt ponds with flamingos, and also parakeets, iguanas, small white sandy beaches, blow holes, historic buildings, diving & snorkeling and kayaking areas.  We rented a car and spent a good part of the day driving thru the park and taking in the views.  The size of the park is 14,000 acres.   It provides safe habitat for many important flora and fauna of Bonaire.  The beaches inside the park are a nesting ground for globally endangered sea turtles.

We also drove to the Lac which is the largest bay in the Netherland Antilles.  Lac is home to 3 globally endangered species:  the Green Turtle and the Queen Conch and the mangrove trees.  Here we saw more flamingos. 

YELLOW SHOULDERED PARROT

PRIKICHI.  THEY FLY IN COUPLES OR FAMILIES.  EATING CACTUS FLOWERS ARE ONE OF THEIR FAVORITES

KNOWN AS THE 1000 STEPS.  SCUBA DIVERS WALK DOWN & UP THESE STAIRS TO THE DIVE SITE

BOKA KOKOLISHI

BOKA KOKOLISHI

CADUSHI CACTUS

IGUANA SOUP IS DELICIOUS, YOU SHOULD TRY IT

 

STOPPED AT THE CADUSHI DISTILLERY.  THIS LIQUOR IS MADE FROM THE CADUSHI CACTUS

On our last day, we dinghied 2 miles to Klein Bonaire (small Bonaire), which is an island that’s only 2 by 3 kilometers.  It has a very nice beach but unfortunately, the island is mostly covered with spiny trees so it makes it difficult to hike it.  Best to stay on the beach, however there is not much shade.

INFORMATION FOR CRUISERS:

Locking bikes:  At the Harbor Village, just outside the marina, look for a parking lot on the water side with a security booth at the entrance.  Go beyond to the hotel and talk to the bellhop (Jeison).  He’ll let you lock up your bikes for free.

     Most dive shops will not let you leave your dinghy at their docks even if you dive with them.  There are 2 shops we found that would let us:  Divi Flamingo and Carib Inn.  But you should ask them first as the rules often change.  We used Carib Inn and Bruce, the owner was very accommodating. 

    Dinghy docks:  There are only 3 that I know of: 

a) Karel’s restaurant/bar

b) Harbor Village Marina:  a young man in the office will tell you that you may leave your dinghy tied up to the fuel dock at either end as long as it is not in the way of boats coming in the dock.  You may not lock it.  Also, since the marina opens only at 8 and closes at 5, you cannot come into the marina after these hours.  We suggest you lock your dinghy on the opposite side of the marina near the restaurant.  Here, you can get your dinghy after hours.

c) at the fishing dock, however beware of the kids on week-ends playing on this dock.

    Hailing channel is 77 and only switch to 71 or 80a as per www.noonsite.com

     Loud music:  On Saturday nights, there is loud music near or at Karel’s restaurant and bar.  If you don’t like, take a mooring more to the north towards the marina.