Today’s guest post is from Jochen Quindel of GetYourCar.de who made a recent trip to the Caribbean nation of Curacao.
I must admit: I never wanted to visit Curacao at all, it was my sister-in-law who decided to get married somewhere in the Caribbean sea, which is quite romantic for the couple, but difficult for the guests. I said "she's crazy, I don't think anyone will…" but then my wife gave me THE LOOK and I said "let's check the ticket prices, why not do something crazy".
And so we did. Curacao is a small, beautiful island just a few miles north from the Venezuelan shore, with a huge oil refinery right in the middle of the southeastern part, which is unexpected and somewhat lessens its holiday appeal. The northeastern part is different, after a 10 minute drive from Willemstad you will soon be practically on your own – we found some nearly invisible beaches where no one bothered us the whole afternoon, in these places you feel like a castaway with adventures at hand, especially the kids liked this setting. We celebrated the birthday of our daughter there and I invented some stories including old pirates and treasure maps and we had an unforgettable time. But beware: you should leave those solemn beaches by nightfall, because than the wild pigs rule this part of the island. An additional kick to the wonderful sunset…”
The second place you mustn’t miss is the national park “Shete Boka” (which means “seven mouths” in papiamentu), if you visit it on a sunday you will be able to enjoy original curacao dishes, before you start to visit all the caverns and the crashing waves of the rough ocean. A short dusty road away from the entrance is the “Boka Pistol”, where the waves crash in like a gunshot, no need to mention that this is the ultimate kick for the kids – no need for any pirate stories there, just sit and enjoy.
So was it worth it? To fly with wife & kids all the way to Curacao (via Amsterdam), to empty our bank account and to repeatedly reassure my parents that curacao is no cannibal island any more… Well YES, but the next time I would try to find accomodation in the northeastern part, I didn’t enjoy the stay within the secured Jan Thiel resort near Willemstad, far away from real island life, everything prepared for the rich dutch retirees, apparently. That’s not what I am after, but YES I liked curacao – and to be honest: Where else in the world can you get original dutch fries along with a caribean sunset, that’s an experience!
