Curacao - On Vacation & We're Turtley Fine!

 

Monday, January 22, 2024

 

 

Wow, I guess someone has to lay claim to it, but it would be most difficult to find a more beautiful, protected bay where the water is absolutely spectacular.  Today’s post on Curacao may be more about the pictures and less about what I have to tell you.   Willemstad is the only real city on the island and the rest is made up of small towns and villages. 

 

From the dock our first stop was this almost dried up swampy lake that had a couple hundred pink flamingos fishing.  Everyone know why flamingoes are pink??   Think about that little pink crustacean that we all like with our cocktail sauce. 

Our second stop was at the Shete Boka National Park.  The waves crashing on the rocky volcanic shore made a big booming sound, and then we went down into a cave below, where the waves really made a ruckus.  We saw little brown lizards everywhere.  The terrain is green there now as it is their rainy season, but Kathryn, our guide, said it will all be brown soon enough when the dry season comes.

We then went to a calmer yet beautiful bay, where we snorkeled with the turtles (no, didn’t touch any)!  Again, it was was gorgeous!  We saw some angel fish, some puffer fish and about 5 or 6 turtles.  Vi was spastic as she was pointing this way and that!  No way I could keep up with the pictures. 

 

Our last stop was a couple miles down called Playa Kenepa Grandi.  It was the most beautiful of all; the ocean just out did itself!   This place is what inspired that little thing called a postcard!

But before all the pictures out do me, I want to give you a few fun facts ... and odd ones at that.  I’ve never seen cactus growing right next to the ocean.   They are everywhere!  The people make fences out of it.   Curacao is actually an arid environment.  With almost no freshwater anywhere on the island, rain is sparce and most of the drinking water comes from the ocean in a reverse osmosis plant. While we were swimming here, we bumped into a very interesting and unusual beach goer!  This sow was literally rooting around the beach bags on lounge chairs!   "It was a real meat market!"

 

The island is small and has about 148,000 people on it.  The Dutch influence is obvious from the language to their politics.   While they have their independence, three of the top local officials are still appointed by the Netherlands.  What intrigued me was the language spoken.   It is called Papiamentu and it is the one language used and understood by everyone on the island.   Its what they grow up with.  Dutch and English are also recognized as official languages and taught in their schools.  Papiamentu is a blend of several languages, but it is not a dialect.   It is a language.    Sounds funny when spoken and I could not decipher a single word of it.

Curacao is or was part of the ABC islands.   Aruba, Bonaire are two of them and what’s the other one???   I can’t think of it right now but it will come to me…

Curacao has a pretty good standard of living compared to a lot of the Caribbean islands. They pride themselves on this and they credit it in no part to the fact that they are made up of several different cultures that blend together well and they don’t let race, culture, religion, etc get in the way.  Vialula, Melba Jean and I have been there once before way back when.   I sure don’t remember the beautiful waters we saw yesterday.   

Thanks for following along.   Let us know if you enjoy it or if you want different content.    We won’t listen but go ahead….

After a sea day tomorrow, we will begin our all-day voyage thru the Panama Canal.   Always a treat and always good info and pictures.  See y’all there. Until then, hang loose!

LeRoy & Vi