Running out of port time so excuse the lack of continuity between pictures and words!
I don’t think I’d heard of Curacao before this trip which is
too bad as it’s a really nice place!
Curacao is one of the ABC Islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curacao) that make up
the Netherlands Antilles. Although they gained
independence, that only happened in 2010 and the Dutch influence was clear as
soon as we sailed in. I love the
architecture and the colours on the buildings, a great mix of European (Dutch
specifically) and Caribbean. The city we
docked in, Willemstad, was very pleasant to walk around it, lots of little
streets to wander down.
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Waterfront in Willemstad |
In Curacao I had two afternoons off, I spent the first one
exploring Willemstad and on the second I travelled down the coast to the beach
at Jan Theil. Again it was a little bus
adventure to get there. I had the right
bus but got off too early. There were a
couple guys who made the same mistake and after asking at a local café we got
headed in the right direction and made it to the beach about 15 minutes
later. The beach was full of cafes,
lounge chairs and white sand. It was a
resort area but very pleasant. I had
borrowed snorkel gear from the ship and after stashing my stuff in a locker at
the dive centre I spent about half an hour floating around the little bay
looking at fish. I don’t know the names
of any of the fish I saw but there were about 20 different species, some the
pale colour of the sand, others that looked like they were wearing camouflage,
blue fish, little fish, bigger fish, a brown and white spotted eel, a tiny
black fish with brilliant yellow stripes.
There was also lots of coral and a small shipwreck. I found getting out of the water after
snorkelling a much stranger sensation then stepping onto land after a sail!
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Queen Emma pedestrian bridge |
After snorkelling I went to the grocery store I’d noticed on
my way down to the beach (I love visiting grocery stores in foreign countries
even when I’m not working as cook’s mate).
It was lovely! Definitely Dutch and I quickly realised I was going to
have to catch the later bus. Of course I
didn’t really need to buy anything,
meals are provided on board, but I found some things to snack on (Doritos,
raspberry chocolate granola) and some yogurt drinks and chocolate milk juice
boxes that don’t need refrigeration. I also got a cake slice (white, with
fruit) which turned out to be as delicious as anticipated.
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Vendors at the round market |
Finding wifi is always a premium port activity and we were
very lucky in Willemstad that the city provided free wifi about a 5-10 minute
walk from the ship. That makes is so
much easier to keep in touch through e-mail, Skype and Face Time.
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Sorlandet docked in Willemstad |
Unfortunately our stay in Willemstad was a day shorter then
planned due to our late departure from Barbados but I enjoyed the time we had
there and would definitely go back.
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Beach at Jan Theil |
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Another beach shot. Not a bad place to spend an afternoon! |
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Bus stop! |
sounds like you are having a great time.
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