Issaquah vs Caribbean ???????…..Continued
While I sit here at my computer looking at all this cold, white stuff coming down from the sky, my mind ponders the joy of the Caribbean again, with great pleasure! Curacao, our next stop, is very close to northern Venezuala.
Curacao - (pronounced kyur-uh-sow) an Island of beaches, diving opportunities, impressive architecture, rich history, European flavor, Jewish culture, vibrant art scene, colorful carnivals and a climate of warm (but not too hot) weather. The white stuff here is SAND not snow!
WIllemstad, Curacao and the Queen Emma pontoon bridge
WIllemstad, the capital is divided into two parts, Punda and Otrobanda, but connected by the bridge shown above that opens up to let large ships come in and out.
We enjoyed a great lunch, walked around enjoying the unique Dutch influenced arcitecture……
…Took a gander at some of the innumerable shopping boothes…………………………………….
................made a wide path around this girl with a python on her neck
After waiting (not really, as there was much to do and see) for the bridge to close to get to the other side, we gave up and took a (water) taxi.
Hato Caves - a very different scene. Not far from the Curacao airport but a different end of the island from Willemstad. These caves have once been below sea level as they were formed but were thrust up and eons later became a refuge place for slaves to escape to.
Greeted upon our arrival by an Iguana.
Iguana soup is considered a delicacy. I don’t intend to find out if it is good or not!
- Inside the Hato Caves in Curacao
- Our guide explains the history of Hato Caves
Being a little bit claustrophobic, as interesting as it was, I was glad to get out of there. The tour was very professional and is worth seeing. There is a wonderful website with much info about Curacao www.curacao.com Be sure to watch some of the videos!
Like many places in the Caribbean, a mix of many languages has evolved, Papiamentu, a mix of portuguese, spanish, dutch, african and english! Wow, that must be hard to learn for an outsider.
European and Caribbean, 2 nations, 2 capitals
The island is divided almost in half. The South half capital is Philipsburg-Dutch Sint Maarten. The capital of the French side is Marigot, Saint Martin. The whole island is 36 Sq miles. They pack a lot into that 36 Sq miles. Our tour guide took us through all different areas, many elite, monied places and more common places. With the average wage at about $4.00 an hour there are many areas that resemble the poorer areas of Latin-American countries.
On the French side, the beaches have clothing optional and topless is the norm, we won’t show you this, however, because The Undressed Network is a G rated site!
We had a delicious lunch in Marigot at Sarafina's
House ready for Christmas St Martin style
A most common sight along the shore
Our time was too short. It would be nice to go back by plane, rent a villa and stay a week!? OR even a hotel would do. There are lots of nice ones.
LAST STOP! St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Here our cell phones didn’t have roaming charges, so this was the first place since Puerto Rico we called home. Surprise, they drive on the wrong side of the road here!
Coming into St Thomas
On our open air taxi (really a bus) which we took to get to and from the place of our boat rental, charged us $10.00 for each person. However, as residents got on along the way, they were only charged $1.00. We asked the driver about this. He said he was hoping we wouldn’t notice! And then added “That’s just the way it is!”
Renting a boat at the Naughti Nymph to go to St John
St John, a quieter island
A place for great snorkling
A great place for snorkling, but when we got back to the Naughti Nymph, the owner asked where we went. After being told of the place where we found wonderful snorkling, he told us he didn’t tell tourists about that place because sometimes on the open sea side of the little island you can get carried out to sea! Yikes!
Leaving St John, back to St Thomas, back to Adventure of the Seas, back to Issaquah
Back on the ship and after an night at sea, we arrived back in Puerto Rico (Click Here for article and photos of the ship.) Sadly, our vacation was over. It was still nice to know I live in a place I love, Issaquah, even if it does snow once in a while!
December 19th, 2008 at 9:50 pm
[...] and St Thomas have many pictures posted on IssaquahUndressed.com. Below is one of my favorites. Click here to see the others Santa Claus, Aruba style This entry was posted on Friday, December 19th, 2008 at 9:26 pm and is [...]