Delicious Curacao

Upon landing in Curacao, we first experienced the 'joy' of being treated as Europeans, which resulted in a quick processing at the airport. We didn't even have to show our yellow fever vaccination certificate, which is required when entering from Panama.

Our first stop was in Westpunt. The location is somewhat remote but offers beautiful beaches and national parks. Since we wanted to fully embrace the tourist experience in Curacao, practically indulging in vacationing, we booked a room in a large and comfortable hotel complex. The hotel was charmingly designed with many mini-bungalows. Additionally, our accommodation featured two huge, beautifully landscaped pools and direct access to the sea. Here we enjoyed doing nothing: lounging by the pool, lying on the beach, swimming, and reading, reading, reading! On the beach, we noticed firstly the new sunscreen trend of the island (pineapple-coconut) and secondly the beach posers. Taking pictures is fine – and paying attention not to look too foolish is good too – but this kind of posing was new to us. Various positions were adopted with and without sunglasses, caps, drinks, beach dresses, etc. Whole groups coordinated their beach outfits and spent hours taking group photos by the sea. We were amazed and stared...

A highlight of the overly extravagant experience for our taste was the wedding of a US (or Canadian) couple, which flew in the entire wedding party. In the morning, they were at the pool, at noon they were getting all dressed up for the evening celebration, with guests half-dressed and half-made up running excitedly from bungalow to bungalow, and then perfectly styled in the afternoon to attend the ceremony, which culminated in a personal fireworks display in the evening. A private fireworks display! Beautiful? Romantic? Over the top? Extravagant? Self-centered? Perhaps a bit of everything. But the main thing is that the couple had an unforgettable day. The next morning, the wedding party flew away again.

The nature in Curacao is far less lush than in Costa Rica or Panama, mainly due to the very moderate rainy season, which only shows itself in the form of a 30-minute downpour every few days. Afterwards, the sun immediately shines again.

As a result of the weather conditions, the land is bone dry and particularly large cacti thrive. Likewise, geckos and iguanas feel very much at home on this island. When walking around, there is a constant rustle, and iguanas and geckos flee into the cactus bushes. Less pleasant animals are mosquitoes and, above all, sand flies. The latter are so tiny that they can easily get through the mosquito net. And they can sting just like the big ones! However, there are no really dangerous or venomous animals living in Curacao. So we gladly put up with the mosquitoes and flies.

Westpunt has several restaurants, some with gigantic views, as they are located directly on the cliffs. One restaurant even had a glass floor so you could see the cliffs and the sea directly beneath you, and even watch daring cliff divers during their evening activities. The quaint local restaurants had catchy names, like 'Kunuku Pachi Cola', where you could eat interesting dishes like cactus soup, iguana or papaya stew – as an alternative to typical Dutch fast food like lekker Frikandel Speciaal with fries. After a week, we switched to a chic hotel in Willemstad. Here we could stroll through the shopping arcades and go for ice cream. The city, with its many colorful little houses along the river and artistically painted walls, feels like a mix of the Netherlands and the Caribbean. The people are mostly in good spirits and often spend their leisure time on the streets chatting, eating and drinking together, laughing, and listening to music. During the pre-Christmas season, there are always groups of people, dressed as 'zwarte Piet', who travel through the streets with musical accompaniment, spontaneously stopping, briefly blocking traffic and dancing in the street, which is greeted with applause and cheers from the rest of the population.

Particularly interesting in Willemstad is the Queen Emma Bridge, which connects two districts but does not represent a fixed shoreline connection, earning it the nickname 'Swinging Old Lady'. When a ship wants to pass, the bridge is simply tilted open, allowing it to pass. Remarkably, this procedure takes place with pedestrians on it. As a pedestrian, you are simply pushed away along with the bridge. If the bridge needs to remain open for a longer time, the ferry 100 meters away is put into operation. This construction is unique in the world.

In Willemstad we were centrally located in the beautifully decorated old town at 30°C. Here we not only enjoyed many interesting flavors of ice cream (Mr. Ärmel will miss the guanabana ice cream, which isn’t available in Europe), but also familiarized ourselves with the dark aspects of Curacao's history at the slavery museum. There we learned, among other things, about the “Swinging Old Lady” bridge, that only rich people had to pay a toll to cross it. The measure of wealth was simple: if you wore shoes and weren't barefoot, you had to pay a toll. Luckily, we were allowed to keep our shoes on.

Once again, we changed our accommodation and moved from the luxury hotel to a more rustic option run by a Dutch couple who moved to Curacao 11 years ago. They offer various sized and comfortable guesthouses, some of which have their own kitchens and some provide access to a communal kitchen. All houses have an outdoor shower, which you can really use every day and at any time thanks to the climate. In our shower lived a gecko and a frog. (Or were we showering in their apartment?) Every morning it became a challenge to spot this reptile and this amphibian. And as soon as you sat down at the breakfast table, you were joined by the house dogs. The Dutch couple brought their dog from home but gradually took in street dogs and adopted four more. And when street dogs want something, they are excellent at begging during meals and giving heart-wrenching looks. Additionally, these dogs have an internal clock, and if you wanted to sleep in a bit longer in the morning, they would scratch at our door. After all, from a dog's perspective, it was already breakfast time.

We were able to borrow a car from the landlords and explore the spots on the island that we had not yet seen. Primarily, these were great beaches and snorkeling spots. At one beach, we saw our first sea turtle. These were loggerhead turtles that were very friendly and swam close to the shore. They are fascinating animals that move slowly and almost gracefully through the water. On a trip with a glass-bottom boat, we were able to admire even more marine life, including turtles, corals, trumpetfish, parrotfish, and more. Fortunately, many coral reefs are still intact, allowing us to enjoy and marvel at the fascinating underwater world.

But even the most beautiful and longest journey must come to an end someday. Thus, we spent our last evening after a nice meal outside on our terrace with a drink in hand. And then in the morning, one last outdoor shower and afterwards one last breakfast with the dogs. Then our nice landlord drove us to the airport, and it was finally time to say goodbye to Curacao, to America, and to our trip. As sad as it was, we were happy to know that we would soon see our friends and family again. And the knowledge that we would have a considerable amount of time off work made the flight to Europe more pleasant.