*Curacao*

My friend and I went to Curacao for "Semana Santa" (Holy week- Easter). Curacao is a little island founded by the Netherlands. My friend and I went to a few different beaches, caves, and a slave 

museum.

One of the first things we learned in Curacao, is that nearly all of the streets are labeled in Dutch. They had names like "Schottegatweg" and "Caracasbaai." We also discovered that most of the streets weren't marked at all! I kept hoping to see traffic lights, but most of the roads used roundabouts instead. Needless to say, we got hopelessly lost for the first day and a half. 

We had hoped to spend our first day on the beach, but it took us until the late afternoon just to find a beach. It wasn't even the type of beach we had hoped for, but we parked the rented car and got out. It was refreshing to feel the cool of the ocean and watch the sun on its westward path. I played soccer with a little boy, then let the waves crash over me as I tread water. My friend read from a book, though she did cool off in the ocean at one point as well.

The beach we were on was a public one, so we didn't have to pay for parking or entrance. Most of the people there seemed to be in the afternoon picnic mood: nothing prepared, just a quick trip to the beach. For me, it was the beginning of paradise to be back in the ocean again! I hadn't been to the beach since November; which is a long time, considering that my city in Valencia is less than 2 hours from the sea. 

These are pictures from this first beach (near the Marriott):

The outcropping shown in the picture below was very common in Curacao. I think they are man-made, in order to break the waves. That way swimmers don't have to continually fight the breakers. This beach was quite windy though, so the ocean wasn't completely calm here anyway.

Our second day was more successful. We still got lost, but we did make it to one of our destinations: Mambo Beach. This is a party beach: shops, restaurants, fancy hotels, loud music, drinks, lots of people, and Christmas lights to top it all off. This turned out to be one of my favorite beaches, because of all the activity and excitement. The beach was also very calm and well taken care of. 

My friend and I bought our souvenirs here, ate at some of the restaurants, and met one of the locals. We talked with him about living in Venezuela and living in Curacao, and found that he was involved in business in both countries. We discussed the economic and political situations in both places, and ate a meal together.

Just before we walked to Mambo Beach, we stopped by the Sea Aquarium. I was excited to see if I could swim with the dolphins, though I kept in mind that it would likely be expensive. I wasn't pre-pared to hear that it would cost $174 to swim with one! It was then that I started thinking more ser-iously about getting my diving license, that way I could just find a dolphin in the ocean on my own! :-)

Here are pictures of Mambo Beach:

Most of the beach-goers left around supper time, so my friend and I were able to make use of the beach lounge beds intended for guests at one of the nearby fancy hotels :-)

I should take a minute to explain the languages again. Dutch is the main language in Curacao, but they also speak English, Spanish, and Papiamentu (a mix of the native language and all of the others, though to me it sounded most like Spanish). I always felt a hint of adventure every time I approached someone in Curacao, never knowing if they would respond to me in English, Spanish, Dutch or Papiamentu! Thankfully, my friend and I were able to speak to most people in Spanish or English, but there were a couple of times when I had to communicate with someone who spoke only Papiamentu or Dutch. We would just speak in whatever language sounded closest, and make gestures for the words we didn't understand!

Some of the streets were marked in the other languages, and the restaurants and businesses had names in any of the languages. For example, there was McDonalds, there was a clothing store called Messa (or something like that), and several markets with Dutch names.

The next day of our trip, we went downtown (Otrobanda) to see the Slave Museum. The Dutch West Indian company used Curacao as a major hub for transporting slaves. The museum provided a wealth of history about the slave trade, and about some other topics, as you'll see from the sign on the building below:

I decided to give some advice to the girl taking our picture, not realizing she was capturing the moment as I spoke!

About 8 slaves would have slept in this hut. The room is about the size of an elevator...





The Black Panther group arose in response to the KKK and other racist groups of the time. I remembered learning about the group in high school, and was glad to find more information about it here at the museum.

The 2 pictures below were in one frame. It was like the shades on a window. If you turned them one way, you'd see MLK. If you turned them the other way, you'd see Malcom X. I thought it was pretty neat :-)

Here are some examples of local artwork; representing Curacao landscapes, history and culture:



African boat



Ancient artifacts from around the world were also exhibited in the museum. These oil and perfume containers were from Rome or Israel (I can't remember which!).





These were pocket portraits, like ID cards. The Romans would carry them around, and they were like dog tags necklaces for the soldiers: if they were killed in battle, their clay portrait piece could help identify them.

Unfortunately, I can't remember in which country these caves were found, but they used to shelter a tribe of very small people. In fact, the doorways looked like they would only allow a human about the size of a child of 8 years to pass through!

The museum also housed a room with ancient animal and humanoid fossils.



Below is the skull of a giant lion.

Islamic artwork: no iconography is used, because no one knows exactly what God looks like. Every piece of Islamic artwork has a purposeful mistake in it as well, as a reminder than no human is perfect.





After we toured the slave museum, we explored the city. My friend was on the hunt for an African American hair salon to get her hair braided, and I kept my eyes open for more things to buy. All my Venezuelan friends assured me that I could find anything I wanted in Curacao, whereas many things things are scarce in Venezuela. I was on the lookout for pepper, flour, and souvenirs.

We did find an African American hair salon, and I watched the stylist braid an intricate design in my freind's hair. I found it very fitting that the museum had had a photograph of hair designs as well:



While we shopped, we took time to snap photos, gaze out to see, and watch some of the cruise ships and boats coming through the port at Ortobanda.











My friend and I ate at an expensive steak house that was built right next to one of the castle-like walls in the picture below. The restaurant had a table built into the wall, so I could have literally jumped off the table and into the sea! I found the idea intriguing, but my friend reminded me that we were mere mortals, and it was a long drop :-)

I should point out that my friend and I don't make a habit of eating at expensive restaurants, but it wasn't always easy to know which restaurants would be expensive just by looking at them, since most of them were open air and looked like any cafe or picnic place. We also simply didn't know out way around town, so we often ate wherever we were, rather than search around for a specific menu or price.

Below is the classic view of Curacao. Many postcards have this view of the city on them. This is also one of the ports where ships come through.

Here is the footbridge, which can be mechanically moved. It's like a wooden arm which slides into place, parallel to the boardwalk, while ships come through.

The Bismark Palm, my favorite!

In the middle of the week, we went to the Hato Caves. They were well worth coming to see, and we also learned more about the history of the island. Slaves used the caves as a hideout, but now only small bats take refuge inside the dark crevices.

Most of the other caves had stalactites, and there were pools of water and a small maze of caves to go through before arriving at this opening. We were not allowed to take pictures because it frightens the bats ;-)

I was not prepared to see so many cacti in Curacao. This was the first time in my life I'd seen cacti close up, and certainly the first time I'd ever seen a cactus in bloom!

Another of my favorite beaches in Curacao was Porto Marie. This beach is what's called a "natural beach," not touristy or lined with hotels and restaurants. There was one locally owned, open-air restaurant there, but it didn't take away from the natural beauty of the beach. 

Delicious Dutch pancakes from the restaurant:

These cute little birds would come for a sip of the syrup intended for the pancakes. Their thin, curved little beaks could slide right into the slit under the lid of the syrup container. I expect syrup tastes a lot like nectar, only better ;-)

I stared at this wall for a while, trying to decide why I could see fossilized coral in it, when it was clear that the sea level was quite a bit below. I surmised that the ocean level had either dropped significantly over time, or there was some other secret to the island's creation. When we went to the caves, I learned that the island had been created by volcanoes, so the coral in the wall was underwater at one point, brought up into the dry air as the volcanic mass grew.

The cabin-like building is the restaurant. Everything I ate there was delicious!