Caribbean Cruise - Curacao

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Colourful Curacao ( Its name is thought to be derived from Corazon - Spanish forheart or Curacao – Portuguese for heart) and its Capital Willemstad is completely delightful, with its distinct Dutch influence of 17^thCentury gabled houses in wild pastel shades !

We decided to try and have a couple of hours on a beach before exploring the capital Willemstad so after rejecting the tours and the taxi’s we ended up at the bus station, that was on the first roundabout outside the Port.

We wanted to get to St Michaels Point and caught the 9.30am 8b bus and got off 20 minutes later at a closed up seaside village! There was nothing there at all, except a small fort and a wonderful little beach – all the bars and shops appeared to be shut up! Had a wander around, scaring a group of large lizards, watching the parrots fly overhead, before settling down on the beach with a few of the local people! Chris went in for a swim whilst I watched the pelicans flying around and diving into the shallow sea, amazed they were so close to the shore!

Caught the noon bus back to Willemstad and had a lovely afternoon wandering around the old markets, and the floating market - (apparently the boats come across to the island from Venezuela to sell their goods! ) and the old town admiring all the coloured buildings and old forts! Watched the Queen Emma bridge swing a few times to let huge tankers through . This is a floating pontoon bridge powered by a diesel engine and “driven” open through an arc of 90 degrees to open. Further up river is the Queen Juliana bridge, which is one of the highest bridges in the world at 185ft, allowing cruise ships and tankers to pass underneath!

A lovely island and would love to have more time here to do some more exploring

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