Biggest island in the ABC chain of islands (Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao), I was told by multiple people on the ship, as well as on Aruba that Curaçao had “nothing to see or do” and to wait for Bonaire.
I’m glad I didn’t listen to them and did my own thing instead!
Changing Plans
Changed my plans again, woke up a little late, started with a juice and quick lap around the top deck to scope the view. Not entirely sure why, but there was also a red flag added to the ship. Sounds from a quick google search that it has to do with refueling and maybe having a fire line or something. The carrot concoction was NOT my cup of tea…will stick to the fruit juices I guess.
By the time I got off the boat at 11:30 ish, I was already 3 hours late for my rental car at the airport. As I walked off, saw there was a rental car agency right outside so I stopped to chat with them. It was a nice company right inside the cruise port (very small space right outside the ship with some shops etc.)
Was pleasantly surprised to find that the entire rental was similarly priced to my rental at the airport, so I just opted with that new one for convenience sake of renting and returning to the location right outside the Serenade — literally a couple hundred feet.
No jeep today (thank goodness), but got a Compact SUV instead, and felt right at home.
The rental car staff advised me to go the west part of the island (or Westpunt in Dutch) if I wanted to explore and see nature and wildlife.
Driving around Curaçao
Maybe it was just the way that Google Maps took me, but I thoroughly enjoyed driving around Curaçao, the roads were fairly smooth, especially the main highway going up north. The one thing I noticed that was drastically different from Aruba, was that there were virtually no markings on the road. Some were very faded, but there were also sections that simply didn’t have lines, and you just had to use your intuition on whether it was 2 lanes, 1 lane or a merge point.
I hadn’t mentioned in the Aruba post, but one of the interesting things in Aruba was their love of the two-laned roundabout — which there were…MANY of them. In Curaçao, it was more vague, cause there weren’t any lines.
Decent drive though, and had a great time, but definitely not for those that are worriers.
First Stop – Mirador Tera kòra
I noticed an attraction on the way to westpunt and so just went there on a whim to see what was up there. Drove through some local neighborhoods to make it to this nice area that had been renovated by funds from the EU (I think that’s what the sign says). Lots of parking space, some nice paved trails and beautiful panoramic views…and not a single soul around.
Wandered around for about 30-45 minutes taking photos here, and just enjoyed the scenic views in peace and solitude.
Saw some falcons as well, which was pretty cool.
An unexpected adventure
I tried then to try to go see a blowhole that was on the way north according to Google Maps…however, the route took me down a secluded dirt path, that certainly looked like a one way…was pretty rough and muddy and tight…and when I got to the destination, it was the middle of a road, and definitely not parking or trail anywhere to get to the beach.
I ended up turning around and making my way back out (thankfully reversed to a point where I could do a multi-point turn). It definitely was a little nerve inducing and thought a couple times this was where I get stranded and they find my body in a week.
Next attempt – Christoffel National Park
Getting back on the main road, my next attempted stop was Christoffelpark Nationaal Park (Google Maps) which was supposed to give me some views and hiking trails, etc. but as I pulled into the parking lot, someone was walking out of the office, and told me they just closed the park (at 1:30PM!). No worries, onto the next adventure. I should mention, at this point, it was already blazing hot outside, so I wasn’t SUUUPER disappointed not to go for some hiking.
A great fallback – Shete Boka National Park
Leaving Christoffelpark, I started driving toward westpunt, and before I even had my next heading there was a sign for another National Park called Shete Boka National Park (Google Maps / Park Website). I wasn’t sure if they were open, or if everything just closed early (it WAS a Sunday, I realized…)
Fortunately, the park was open, so I paid the $15 entrance fee and started to take the trek through the park. There’s just three short drives through some compact dirt roads to various points. It’s also super walkable in either direction from the main parking lot if you rather hike…but it was hot…very hot…and I was in my oofos, do did the drive and shorter hikes as I went.
Boka Pistol
First stop was at the Boka Pistol Blowhole which was a nice little drive up that way and a very easy walk down a path to the lookout. Awesome space to just wait and listen to the ocean waves crashing into the shoreline and create massive shoots of water. There was one other family there but no one else and spent a good 10-15 minutes just watching and listening.
Boka Kalki
Next a stop over in an area known for sea turtle nests. I didn’t see any sea turtles (probably end of the season), but there was a nice hike through some wooded area and a tiny blue bird landed next to me and said hi.
Down at the beach, I noticed on the maps that it had images of little crustaceans so I looked more closely and lo and behold…ALL around there were tiny creatures moving around…at first I didn’t realize they were there and thought the shells were moving on their own! Some really fun times shooting pics of the tiny creatures. Their eyes are so interesting and almost transparent.
Oh, the view was gorgeous as well…
Did I mention it was hot?
Boka Wandomi
Next back across the park to another spot along the coast with a natural bridge consisting of a land mass over the water separating two bodies of water, pretty neat and definitely a cool site. At this point I was super hot and ready for the day to be done…or at least cooler…
the security guard at the station was yelling at us to get off the path and it turned out that there was a bees nest somewhere on the path so we had to go offloading a bit.
Boka Tabla
Lastly but certainly not least the front entrance led way to a cave that fills with water. I was in my oofos so didn’t go in but peeked in to see they had created a platform where people can go down and get soaked.
Heading up the stairs i found another platform to see more ocean crash super violently against the shore. At one point I got freaked out that the waves might come and get me! There were some benches and since no one was around, I stayed for 15 minutes just enjoying the sounds and movement of water.
One of the final scenes of The Good Place definitely came to mind about the wave returning to the ocean (go watch it if you haven’t seen the show!).
Overall, I’d definitely recommend this National Park. It’s a little hidden and I wouldnt have found it if I wasn’t looking for the other more well known one (at least from Google searching), but it was a great experience, easily accessible and there was no one there, so very peaceful and quiet.
Westpunt
Next, I left the park and headed to Westpunt…to my chagrin, as I got there it turned into a parking / traffic nightmare and I realized that it was a beach and a popular one at that…so I promptly turned around and left in search of something less populated.
Santa Martha Bay Viewpoint
Started on the way back down to the city and ended upstopping at the Santa Martha Bay Viewpoint (Google Maps), then a short drive to the Bay itself. Lovely space, and seemed to only be a few people there who felt more like locals rather than tourists.
Flamingo Habitat
Last stop of the day, I stopped at the Flamingo Habitat. Based on google reviews and comments, seemed like I shouldn’t get out of the car and go too far, so I took photos from the car. Really interesting space, where a whole flamboyance of flamingos were just chilling and fishing as the sun went down.
Last Stop
After filling the car with gas and dropping off the rental car I went in search of a Starbucks mug in Curaçao to add to the collection. As I walked into the Starbucks, I didn’t see any country mugs, so I started to look online to see if I could just get one shipped home…and found that they were at $85 each instead of $20. I waited in line, and then asked the barista if they had any left, she turned around and there was the very last one left on the counter behind her in a box. What good luck!
Sunset
As I went back to the ship with my spoils of the day, I saw that the sun was setting (rapidly) and quickly got some shots, as much as I could before it disappeared. Started to walk away, when all of a sudden beams of light radiated out from where the sun went down. For the next couple minutes, I just sat and admired the views. The moon was also out again, and its been fun to track it every day as it goes through it’s phases.
Food
Went to dinner real quick, cause I wanted to get up to go for a run as we cast off at 8:30 PM. Asparagus and some tapas for appetizer. Special of the day was a Pork Chop (and it was freaking delicious). Layered Peach Trifle and Blueberry Pie for desert.
Quick Run
Went upstairs to get a quick run in, and as I started the second lap, all of a sudden I thought I heard cannon fire….which wouldn’t have been strange since one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies was playing over the pool, but it sounded particularly loud. As I rounded a corner, I saw that there were fireworks coming from Curaçao (looked like from the Casino). I don’t know if there was something going on, or if they were literally just celebrating us and sending us off, but I’m going to just live my life assuming the latter. Nice little fireworks show for about 10 minutes while I was running. Didn’t get any photos or video as I was letting my GoPro upload videos and was running with an old phone….plenty of people took videos and shared on social media though, should be pretty easy to find if anyone is interested!
Super hot and humid run, and there were a ton of people up there crowding the track (which is why I usually run closer to midnight), so I ended up cutting my run short as well.
Vibe Check
5 parts joy – I absolutely love going off the beaten path and going away from all the regular touristy places — really enjoyable time exploring the island of Curaçao…if only it wasn’t soooo hot and humid…
Lotso Corner
Lotso made another appearance, cause he had so much fun in Aruba, he wanted to get out there again!
Matti 
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