Curaçao

Background

Curaçao is a small Caribbean island about 20 miles off the coast of Venezuela. It is owned by the Dutch, and their currency is the Netherland Antillean Guilder. Due to its location and history, the people there speak Papiamento, which is a Portuguese based mixture of Spanish, Dutch (also an official language), and African. English is also an official language. Curaçao is also known for growing large amounts of aloe vera, as well as producing liqueurs- blue curaçao.       

Weather

Curaçao has tropical warm weather year round, about 80-90*F. The rainy season occurs during our fall/winter, and there are usually showers at night and sunny skies during the day.

To Do

• Kayak
• Snorkel
• Atv tour
• Hike
• Rent a car and explore
• City tour 

Our Trip

This, like all my previous international travels, was planned by my sister. Not wanting to deal with another multifamily tour de Thanksgiving dinner, she opted to go to a beach somewhere and invited me along. She booked our stay at a beach resort which featured little lagoons beside the room huts. I love beach vacations, don't get me wrong, but after about an hour of sitting in the sand, I get bored and am ready to do something else. She had an excel sheet with probably 100 excursions to choose from, and I randomly chose an atv tour and kayaking.

At the start of our second day, we made our way to the atv company. Being two strong independent single women, we opted to drive our own atvs as opposed to sharing, like all the other couples in our group. The fact that we both wanted to drive and siblings aren't great at giving each other the reigns may also have something to do with it. Hindsight, my hands started cramping after about 20 minutes, so I probably should've let my sister do all the work. We rode through some backwoods and jumped over little muddy hills until we arrived at an aloe vera farm. We got a snack and shopped around the aloe vera beauty products store. When i finally had feelings in my fingers again, we were off to a cave expedition. We took the atvs so far until we had to hike. I wouldn't say it was honestly grueling, but I'm lazy and have a disdain for outdoor activities, especially those that involve me overexerting myself and sweating. Somehow my chacos and I made it to this cave entrance. We went inside and found it occupied mostly by bats and hermit crabs. After we walked through the cave, we came out at the top of the mountain overlooking the distant ocean. We ended the tour at a little restaurant to rehydrate, and headed back to base camp. Before we took the van back to the hotel, we received a cd of all the photos the tour guides took from the excursion.     

The next day my sister had a rental car waiting at the hotel for us, and we took off for a kayaking session, followed by a mini road trip. This was my first time kayaking and snorkeling, so i was a little nervous, but quickly realized it was the simplest thing. We were joined by our guide and one other guy on vacation. we went out, no more than 2 or 3 miles I'm sure, until we arrived at a little rocky beach. We parked our kayaks and got back in the ocean for snorkeling. Apparently a little tip is rub baby oil in the goggles to keep them from fogging up. Anyways, we swam out I'm really not sure how far, because i was breezing through the water. While everyone else wore the standard flippers, being the extra queen I am, I had on my mermaid monofin. I was basically like a dolphin out there, probably beating Michael Phelps' best. We saw small tropical looking fish, that honestly are probably the same ones at the pet store, and a ship wreck. I honestly believed the shipwreck was real, but my sister thinks it was put there solely for the tourist attraction. After our water adventures were over, we drove out to this cafe which is known for serving iguana on the menu. I will try almost anything exotic if the thought of it doesn't give me an instant gag reflex. I wouldn't say there is anything wrong with iguana meat itself, but it is very  gristley and full of small bones. I wouldn't recommend it unless you just want to say you've had it. I then made her drive by a place that is reportedly known for flamingos in the wild. Almost discouraged, we started to drive back to the hotel, but at the last minute, i spotted them and was rather pleased with my mapping skills. 

The rest of the trip consisted of a tuk tuk city tour, shopping, and watching netflix, by the way they got a lot of releases way before the U.S., so i didn't feel completely bad about "wasting" the day.  

Overall, 10/10 i would recommend visiting Curaçao. I'm pretty hard to impress, and find everything mediocre, but the weather alone is wonderful. I don't remember the food if that tells you anything, and I wouldn't say it's a big shopping place either, but it has a very relaxed friendly atmosphere. Also, if you're looking to stash some cash, I think this would be a good place.