Sunday February 2, 2025
Beginning of the evening we receive the key to the rental car in Curaçao. Not much later we stand in front of a gate without a bell. Fortunately, the friendly residents of the complex help us inside and arrange everything with the owner. We can stay in our apartment. The next day we visit the necessary beaches, including the beautiful Mambo Beach. A walk through Jan Thiele Lagoon where the lizards dart away and the flamingos quietly filter the water. In the coming days we will explore the island and see many beaches, Kleine and Grote Knip, more flamingos, the slavery museum and the rugged north coast. Of course we have to go into the water regularly and do some snorkeling. A visit to Willemstad’s Handelskade with its colorful Dutch houses, the floating bridge and the Swinging Old Lady Brewery is worthwhile.
Top up the electricity meter on Thursday and go to Aruba with the Saab 340. There are two large cruise ships on the boulevard of Oranjestad and therefore a lot of people in the city. Past the statue of Willemina and past the Willem III tower and Fort Zoutman. A visit to the National Archaeological Museum. Here we learn about the Indians who were the first inhabitants here. The next day we get into the car to explore the island. There is a parking lot full of buses in the middle of the island. A small climb and we are on Casibari Rock Formation, a large rock formation. Beautiful view and beautifully located. Then a walk between the rocks with cacti and shrubs. Several lizards dart back and forth and a pair of owls sit in the ground under a rock. You can hear them well, but seeing them is difficult. Bushiribana Gold Ruins is located on the north coast. Built of black volcanic stone at the time when gold was discovered. We continue along the dirt road and arrive at a rock bridge over the sea. Here we have an ice cream and back along the dirt road and to Ayo Rock Formation. In addition to the boulders, Indian drawings from 1,000 years ago can also be seen here. Through Arikok National Park and visit the Fountain Cave. A park ranger tells us about the cave and shows us the petroglyphs on the ceiling. The Guadirikiri cave is located a little further and is deeper and light enters through holes in the roof every twenty meters or so. Very nice. A bat flies through and yes, here too they live deeper in the cave. More snorkeling in the coming days, at Mangel Halto beach and Boca Catalina and enjoy the sun.
On Monday we hop to the next island, Bonaire. At Hillside Apartments in Kralendijk we received a friendly welcome and were able to go straight into the apartment by the pool. We quickly passed through Kralendijk itself, but Bonaire has a lot to offer. Klein Bonaire has a beautiful white beach and beautiful coral with colored fish. But the island itself is also worth seeing. We explore this with a golf cart. Beautiful road along the coast with rugged rocks, along the Salina Goto lake with its flamingos and the Mantana Hike for a beautiful view from the mountain over the island. Lunch in Rincon and past the petroglyphs at Boka Onima. We visit Tanki Maraka Heritage Park, a route with information boards about the radar station that stood here during the Second World War. Thursday to Lac Bay, Windsurf Paradise, lots of wind, shallow, light blue water. We follow the EEG Boulevard along the south coast and around the salt lakes. A stop at the Willemstoren lighthouse and the orange and white slave huts. All rebuilt for tourism. There are large mountains of salt at the Salt Pier. Snorkeling from the beach and seeing beautiful colored fish again. And before we know it the two weeks are gone and we also have to leave beautiful Bonaire.
