The
name Curaçao sounds familiar to many due to the liquor named Curaçao (also
known as Sweet Curaçao). However – as you might figure the island gave name to
the liquor, not other way around. So what does the name stem from?
We
will get to the liquor later, but same as with Barbados different versions
circulate one of them being that the word Curaçao comes from Portuguese word
for heart – coração – either
referring to its heart shape or symbolizing the fact that the island was the
center, the heart of trade in the region. A more elaborate version tells about
a group of Portuguese sailors – some claiming the belonged to the crew of Vasco
da Gama himself – who suffered of scurvy (very famous disease after months of
travel, result of vitamin deficiency)
and were offloaded on the island. Soon the sailors were cured – curação – most probably after eating
fruits with vitamin C. The island was from then known as Ilha da Curação (Island
of Healing).
Willemstad
– the capital of Curaçao – can be rightfully called an ancient city (especially
for Western hemisphere) as it was founded in 1634 as one of Dutch naval bases:
natural harbor and deep bay made it a perfect spot. Two forts were built on
each side of bay: Waterfort and Riffort. The entrance to the bay is so narrow
that some say during World War II they had a steel cable hanging between them.
The city flourished and Dutch and Jewish merchants flocked here and soon the
first were surrounded by merchants’ houses, warehouses, markets….
Located on both sides
of Sint Anna Bay – the inlet that leads into the large natural harbor
Schottegat – the city has been historically divided into two parts: Punta and Otrobanda. Punta is a more ancient part established in 1634 when
the Dutch captured the island from Spain. The name Punta was originally de punt in Dutch and meant simply ‘the
place’. Otrobanda is younger as it was founded in 1707 and in local language
Papiamentu means simply ‘the other side’.
Norwegian Star docked in
Otrobanda.
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Norwegian Star with Queen Juliana
Bridge in the background.
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This
bridge is restricted for motorized vehicles and is 56 meters high which allows
any size of ships to sail underneath. Its construction took 14 years and 15
lives. Most probably you can get a nice view of the city from there but the
drive will take about 30-40 minutes and will cost you 50-80 euro. So do not let
them fool you!
As we were crossing
to Punda by pontoon bridge we noticed that – wait a minute! – the city is
moving. No, It is us! We were moving. We happened to be on the bridge as it
started disconnecting from the shore. We were disconnected for a couple of
minutes and used this time to photograph Handelskade (the name of the
boardwalk) without being pushed around by crowds of tourists who want the same.
Architecturally
Punda reminds Holland a lot: same type of merchants’ houses with the shop or
warehouse on the ground floor and family quarters upstairs you can see in
Amsterdam. The only difference is that here the typically Dutch buildings are
painted in bright Caribbean colors. This bright décor found in many colonial
cities had a practical reason: as slaves could not read and did not know
numbers they simply followed color codes of the houses.
Most
probably it is the best preserved city in the Caribbean as 765 buildings here
are considered UNESCO world heritage.
Later on we read that one needs to pay attention to the color of the flag in operator’s cabin: if it is orange it means the bridge was open for less than 30 minutes and it is safe to cross. If it is blue – it was open for more than 30 minutes and will soon be closing. We did not know it then so if you happen to be in Willemstad – check it out and let us know.
Our
next stop was Floating Market – where Venezuelans and Colombians bring fresh
fruits from their countries and sell right from the boats. The boats are docked
alongside the boardwalk lined with stalls shielded from the sun by colorful
canopies. The smaller fishing boats bring fresh produce.
The
boats are where the trade goes on, where the produce is kept and even where the
vendors live. This business that has been active for decades is a family
business that father pass to their sons.
One might ask why it is needed to go through so much trouble bringing
fruits and vegetables form Venezuela which is only 40 miles away. However –
despite their proximity – Curaçao has a totally different climate: it is arid,
almost desert-like. So all the colorful aromatic fruits are not grown here but
brought from tropical Venezuela.
This
colorful market has become one of the tourist attractions but its role as the
main supplier of fruits to the island has decreased with the arrival of modern
supermarkets where you can buy shiny vacuum-packed fruits in a smiley
air-conditioned environment.
The
delivery of merchandise is organized in an old-fashioned way:
And
so is loading and unloading…
We
did not stay long at the Old Market as we knew exactly where we wanted to have
lunch: a place with an intriguing name – Mundo Bizarro – and not less intriguing menu.Just think of Prawns in a crust with chorizo on a layer
of a basil mayonnaise prepared cucumber salad or On it’s skin fried red mullet fillets on fettuccini with crispy fresh
squid rings and a spicy jus of pimentos. No wonder we were intrigued.
Mundo
Bizarro is located is a little away from the main touristic streets – just mere
500 meters from Willemstad city center. Yet it is a different neighborhood Pietermaai Smal, just like Punta and
Otrobanda. It seemed that the neighborhood was once a well-off area that fell
into abandon and neglect. Now construction works are undergoing all over the
district with the intention of making it a new Bohemian hangout place –
something like Quartier Latin in Paris or Greenwich Village in New York. There
are several hip restaurants with creative cuisines, fashion and art workshops
and looks like there will be many more to come once Pietermaai Smal is restored
to its former glory.
At the moment
renovation was still in progress though…
The maze of streets brings us to Nieuwestraat 12. If you have trouble finding it – look around for black arrows, just like the one next to the staircase on the picture above pointing at Mundo Bizarro.
And
here we are: interior filled with eclectic furniture and objects that seem
harmonious in their eclecticism, wooden ceilings with huge fans and a portrait
on the wall…
…metal
outdoor garden furniture mixed with wooden interior chairs, antique pieces next
to Che Guevara portrait, Asian elements, painted tiles and baby carriage.
The
customers seem to match the interior.
We
had lunch – panini and sandwich, both tasty, unusual combinations and artful
presentation, dinner menu was not available at the time so we decided to return
on the evening. By the way, they even have free wi-fi there – another reason to
stop by for travelers.
After lunch we headed towards the beach. Erkki
remembered there was one on a walking distance. Whether you continue walking by
Niewestraat or return to Pietermaai – do not worry as both streets will soon
merge into Penstraat. We stroll by the streets looking at the houses – some painstakingly
renovated with tiled roofs and huge terraces, some in neglect with remains of
former luxury still visible.
Do
not miss the entrance to Hotel Avila on your right. Maybe there is another entrance
to the beach but we followed the arrows pointing to the shops and café, went
through an arch and ended up on a plaza with a coffee shop. According to the
signs it also offered free wi-fi but we did not check on it. Watch out for the
sculpture of a boy with a dog: the
entrance to the beach is right next to it.
Soon
you are on the beach. There are actually two beaches on the hotel territory
separated by a windbreaker with Blues Restaurant located on the pier. The restaurant
was only open for dinner so we do not know how good it is. The first beach
seemed more popular so we headed to the second beach as we were not sure if it
was allowed to stay at hotel property. Later on we read a sign advising that
the use of hotel beaches was allowed except for weekends so we can recommend the
Avila beach. It is close by and you can walk there from the city. In fact you
can even see the city skyline and the ship docked in Otrobanda far in the
distance. And of course as you save money on a taxi ride you can afford having
a drink or snack on the beach.
The view from the first beach:
windbreaker, hotel ‘Blues’ wing and the city with Norwegian Star docked in the
background
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The
water is crystal clear and is protected by a reef from the waves. Due to the
proximity of the reef you can have some off-shore snorkeling. We were amazed as
a skull of little fishes came close to us in the water. They swam so close to
us that if you opened your hand they would come and nibble you as if they were
expecting you to feed them.
Windbreaker with Blues
restarurant
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The hotel grounds are laid out nicely: there is a pool, shaded
restaurant, even a theater. The modern sculptures are scattered all over
territory.
If
you are looking for a nice view – walk to the second floor of ‘Blues’ wing.
Walk
through the corridor with blues motives in the decoration and once you make it
to the balcony…
…a
nice view opens up in front of you: the succession of beaches, thatched-roofed
Blues Restaurant and of course turquoise clear Caribbean waters.
The
boardwalk takes you to the next beach but it looked like private as there was
no obvious way of getting there. But we were happy with the two available
beaches.
After
a nice afternoon on the beach it was time to return back to Willemstad. As the
dinner menu was not yet available we hung around looking at colorful local
faces.
When
Spaniards came here in 1499 the island was inhabited by Caiquetios Indians who
made giant sculptures so they Curaçao ‘la
isla de los gigantos’ – island of the giants. There is little left of
Indian presence: the last true Indian is said to have died in Aruba around 1862.
It is due to the fact that when Spaniards landed here and did not find gold
they thought the island to be of no value and forcibly departed natives to work
on sugar cane fields in Santo Domingo or on the copper mines on the island of
Hispaniola. As the history shows, the Spanish were wrong as the island happened
to have natural resources: first salt mining became its lucrative export, in
the XIX century phosphate mining also became significant. Later the deep water
port became a significant center of commerce. But the real break for the island
came when oil was discovered in Maracaibo Basin in Venezuela. A huge oil
refinery was built on the former site of slave-trade market. In 1985 it was
sold to the Curaçao government for the symbolic sum of one guilder.
So
yes, Spanish did not see the island potential and in was captured by Dutch who
established the island as the center of slave trade the deep-sea harbor made it
an ideal place for the slaves to be brought, sold and shipped to various
destinations in the Caribbean and South America. In the XVIII century about 40%
of all slave trade of the Caribbean region went through Curaçao. After the
abolition of slavery Afro-Caribbean majority mixed with Dutch, Latin Americans,
French, Spanish, Portuguese, Asians, Jews – overall more than 50 ethnic
minorities – and formed the modern people of Curaçao.
Nowadays
the ethnical mix keeps changing as some locals emigrate to the Netherlands
hoping for better opportunities while immigrants from Latin America and Caribbean
islands come over lured by a better economic situation of the island. Another
group of immigrants are Dutch pensioners – referred to as pensionados – who chose sunnier shores of Curaçao over the foggy
coasts of Netherlands.
Many
thanks to Kay from Willemstad (below) for being such a patient model.
The
people of Curaçao are not only polyethnic but also polyglot. Most people speak
Dutch, English, Spanish and Papiamentu, the most widely spoken language. Even
though Curaçao was a part of Netherlands and Dutch was its official language for
centuries it was never really widely spoken outside of colonial administration.
Most people kept using Papiamentu – a creole language that has evolved as a
means of communication between slaves from different parts of Africa. The
language derived from African tongues mixed with Spanish and Portuguese,
Amerindian languages, English and Dutch and – even though widely spoken – it did
not become official until 1993 thus making Curaçao one of a handful of place
where a creole language has an official status.
As we were trundling along Willemstad streets the plan for dinner
changed: we saw a cute inner yard and impulsively decided to have dinner at Asian-Caribbeanrestaurant Ginger (Schoonesteeg 1, also in Pietermaai Smal district).
We liked the cozy atmosphere but also the menucombining Asian favorites – wontons, rice, noodles, tempuras – with Caribbeanspices and local dishes.
Cuban
Spicy Banana Soup – was recommended as Fidel’s favorite on the menu. I do not
know what Comandante really thinks about this soup but we truly enjoyed it,
even Erkki who normally does not favor thick soups.
Kabritu
Stoba – stew of goat, famous local specialty
Assorted
wontons
Noodles
‘Ginger’ style – come with rice crakers.
Shrimps
in tempura with Japanese BBQ sauce.
We
seated in the courtyard watching the sun go down and the lights go up.
As we approached the pontoon bridge it was opening and two huge ships
came into the harbor. We were watching as they were going under Queen Juliana
Bridge. For a while it seemed like they would not fit but they did. As the bridge
was still open we took a little ferry and soon were in Otrobanda. Walking to
the ship we saw that Queen Emma bridge was already connected and the crowds of
happy tourists were crossing back and forth. The city was reconnected again.
Our
long day in Curaçao was over. We only stayed in Willemstad and did not leave
the city but we enjoyed colorful architecture, creative food, great beach.
If
you are planning to visit the island – here are some ideas we got from these travelers (in Russian).
They took a taxi and took a 5 hour tour of the island, it took them a while to
find a driver who agreed on a $100 fee and $20 tip. The places they visited are
Shete Boka National Park ($3 entry fee) – rugged rock formations, a boka called
‘Pistol’ (because it ‘shoots’ with every wave), make sure you wear sturdy
shoes. Their description reminded us of Lanzarote National Parks. They visited
two beaches: Kinip Baai a.k.a. Playa Kenepa Grandi: one of the longest beaches
on the island with free entrance and offshore snorkeling. It is a picture perfect
spot: the views from the nearby rocks with thatched umbrellas and turquoise
water show up on every second postcard from Curaçao. The second beach was Cas
Abao a.k.a Bon Bini Beach – also very picturesque and ‘well worth the terrible
road you have to take to get there’ and you even have to pay $3 entry fee. Here
was even small spot with sandy bottom and sandy entrance to the water. Curaçao
beaches look perfect on the pictures as it seems that the beach is covered with
fine white sand but in fact these are small rocks so the sand is not so nice
like on Barbados or Antigua. After that they visited flamingo area where you
can encounter them in their natural habitat.
If
we happen to be in Curaçao again – we will check them out and let you know how
it goes.
So
what about the liqueur? We did not forget about it.
It
is a liqueur flavored with the peel of the local laraha fruit. Its history started when Spanish explorers tried to
cultivate Valencia orange on nutrient-poor Curação soils. The soil in
combination with arid climate produced fruits impossible to eat – the fruits
were small and bitter. However its aromatic peel maintained the essence of
Valencia oranges and the plants were eventually bread into laraha – the fruit
grown exclusively for its peel. The peel is dried and soaked in a still with
alcohol and water for several days; the peel is then removed and the spices are
added.
The
next day we visited Aruba, another one of Dutch ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire Curaçao)…
Dear Hanna and Erkki,
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