Caribbean Day 6 - Curaçao
Today when we arrived in Curaçao, outside our balcony we had a parade of ships and very low flying helicopters. I was wondering if some famous person was being escorted. It was quite a show and we got some cool helicopter pictures as they flew by the cruise ship.
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| US Coast Guard ship and Helicopter |
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| Cruise Port |
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| Old Fort Wall |
Curaçao is part of the ABC islands, just north of Venezuela (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao) and is a Dutch colony. There are lots of evidences of Dutch culture here, which were familiar to me from living in the Netherlands for part of the Summer 1989. We didn't plan a fancy excursion here, either, just take us to the beach and let us relax. We walked from the ship to the right to an old fort which has been converted into a shopping center and hotel area. We shopped and has a couple beers and hung out for about an hour.
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| Bix shopping for BIG Backpacks |
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| Glenn went BIG shoe shopping |
Then we got a great cab driver who suggested Mambo Beach. This place was great. It had a nice sand beach (chairs cost extra), lots of shops, and a huge tidepool (think 300+ yards/meters long). You could swim to the rock retaining wall and they also had a big floating barge to swim to and jump off. We spent several hours here drinking, relaxing, and enjoying the water. There were nearby places to stay also, with their own private beaches.
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Ma'am don't stand on the paper
mache decorations |
Our same cab driver picked us back up at the designated time and took us to a place to eat which was walking distance to the ship. This place had several restaurants in the same outdoor complex and we chose an Italian place called Dal Toro because they had a burger for Bix. They also made their own pizza in a big stone oven and had a wide selection of pasta. Most of us got the Italian food which was really good. The table was right on the ocean and we saw a huge eel swimming right by the table. The waitstaff were really excellent and I'd definitely recommend it.
After dinner, we walked back to the ship, but to get there, we had to cross the inland ship channel, which you do by taking the Queen Emma floating bridge. This is a huge bridge that is "parked" alongside the channel's shore/boardwalk to let ships pass. Then the driver drives one end of the bridge over to the other side to let people walk across. This is not a small bridge - it is 548 feet long and about 30 feet wide, with a lighted arbor at night. It was a really cool thing to see and the perfect ending to our great day in Curaçao. We intend to go back for a longer stay.
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| The trademark pastel buildings of Willemstad |
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| People of Curaçao love baseball - I remember their team in the Little League World Series |
Our same cab driver picked us back up at the designated time and took us to a place to eat which was walking distance to the ship. This place had several restaurants in the same outdoor complex and we chose an Italian place called Dal Toro because they had a burger for Bix. They also made their own pizza in a big stone oven and had a wide selection of pasta. Most of us got the Italian food which was really good. The table was right on the ocean and we saw a huge eel swimming right by the table. The waitstaff were really excellent and I'd definitely recommend it. 
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