Fun week with the gang in Curacao, part 1

Amerigo Vespucci discovered Curacao in 1499; he left some of his scurvy-afflicted sailors on the island; because they were cured, he called the island Curacao, based on the Portuguese word for 'the cure'

There were always a handful of flamingos in the lagoon near our house; ornithologists claim to have seen 160+ species of birds on the island; Bernie was able to visit his former college roommate who he hadn't seen in 30 years who is from Curacao

In the 16th century, the Spanish settled on Curacao followed by the Dutch in 1634; the Dutch West India Company governed the island and controlled the area's slave trade in the 17th and 18th centuries before slavery was abolished in 1863

Curacao has a population of 160,000 with Aruba having 120,000 and Bonaire just 22,000; on Willemstad's harbor is a huge refinery owned by a government consortium which refines oil produced in Venezuela; it's unsightly but provides much-needed revenue

This shy pufferfish was hiding from me; Curacao has 30 beaches but many are on private land and charge a fee for visitors; all of the best beaches are on the western side of the island which has calm seas and coves protected from the gusty winds

Bob took all of our group photos but usually without him in the picture so this one, done with a timer, is especially nice; the historic center of Willemstad, Curacao's capital, was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997

We enjoyed amazing sunsets from the deck of our house; situated around 65 kilometers from the northern coast of Venezuela, Curacao is the largest (both in size and in population) of the three ABC islands, which are Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao

The island was full of large iguanas and I enjoyed watching this one cautiously approach the pool each afternoon; invariably he would lose his balance and fall in the water but each time flail until he was able to climb up the side and out of the pool

You can barely see light beneath this natural bridge at Shete Boka National Park; the rugged northeast coast of the island is a protected turtle nesting area but there was virtually no sand so it was tough to imagine turtles here

Famous athletes from Curacao include Andruw Jones who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball, most notably for the Atlanta Braves, and Jean-Julien Rojer, a doubles specialist, who has won four Grand Slam doubles titles including the 2022 French Open

Curacao has 65+ dive sites, mainly along the west coast, with most being accessible from shore; we only did a few dives and found shore diving increasingly challenging as we get older; the dive sites were not nearly as well marked as those on Bonaire

This sleeping stingray was the only one we saw all week; we didn't see a single shark either; some of the guys saw eels, one that was huge, but I never spotted one despite the water having excellent visability

This sculpture entitled Chichi is by Serena Israel; Chichi is the loving household name for the eldest sister in the traditional Curacao family structure; Serena used crowdfunding of Chichi sculptures to keep her artists employed during the pandemic

Governor's Palace is where the head of state lives and works; in each of the Caribbean countries in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the King is represented by a Governor (a similar position exists in Aruba and Saint Maarten)

Divi Divi tree; iguana is considered a delicacy in Curacao; it’s typically served as stob yoana (a.k.a iguana stew) and supposedly, this dish tastes like chicken – but you won’t see me testing this theory anytime soon!

Blue Bay was the nicest beach we visited but admission is $12 unless you're staying there; Curacao consists of two islands with uninhabited Klein Curacao 26 miles away and only visited with an expensive and often bumpy boat ride

Cas Abao Beach; England grabbed control of Curacao from the Dutch a couple of times, only to give it back, once in a battle in 1802, and once via the Treaty of Paris in 1816; Curacao achieved autonomy from the Netherlands in 2010