Urbex in Curacao...

Abandoned buildings have always held a certain allure to Jimmy. Years ago, while pushing Veronica in a baby jogger during a hash, he went into a shopping center in Durham that was slated for demolition. During another hash in Durham, he climbed up onto the roof of an old cigarette factory. Now, it turns out that there’s an official name for this hobby: urban exploration or urbex. When he noticed a large abandoned complex near our hotel, he couldn’t resist taking the girls for a little exploring. Using clues from a variety of rooms, they felt like detectives as they tried to piece together what this unfinished hotel was used for. You can see more photos and what they concluded this complex was used for on a blog Veronica set up.

Laughs Amongst the Ruins...

As you know, it doesn’t take much to amuse us and potty humor usually qualifies. Jimmy and the girls cracked up when they saw this sign in the ruins of an unfinished hotel.

Queen’s Day in the Caribbean...

When I realized that we would be in Curacao for Queen’s Day on April 30, I jumped on the Internet to see what kind of celebrations, if any, to expect. Similar to Holland, the night before the Queen’s birthday celebration is a big night to party. Jimmy and I left the girls behind and found a nearby beach cafe where we danced to a great piano player along with two back-up singers. Then on Queen’s Day, we went into Willemstad to check out the yard sales and happenings in the capital city. Didn’t buy anything used, but did find a new skimpy dress for Jimmy for the next Red Dress Hash; the poor salesgirl nearly had a heart attack when she realized the dress was for him instead of me.

Queen Emma Pontoon Bridge...

Pedestrians normally cross St Anna Bay between the two parts of Willemstad using the Queen Emma Pontoon Bridge. Originally built in 1888 and rebuilt in 2005, it consists of 16 floating pontoon boats; it is one of the oldest and longest non-military pontoon bridges in the world. Pedestrians had to pay a toll between 1901 and 1934 unless they were barefoot. Here you see the bridge resting open along the Otrobanda waterfront. Veronica and I braved the ferry that runs when the bridge is unaccessible. Since 1974, cars use the Queen Juliana Bridge soaring 185 feet above sea level (the highest bridge in the Caribbean and one of the highest in the world).

You can see the closed bridge in the distance behind the family. We enjoyed watching from the balcony of the De Gouverneur Restaurant as it swung (with pedestrians aboard) partially open to allow some boats through.

Colonial Architecture...

I gave Veronica the job of playing navigator as we followed a walking tour to see some of the colonial architecture around Willemstad. The buildings on the Punda side tended to be in better condition, including the lovely building on the left that was built in 1864 to house Temple Emanuel. It was a synagogue until 1964, when the congregation reunited with another, and now houses government offices.

Too Many Twisted Streets...

Veronica led us successfully on the architecture walk while on the Punda side, but the map was a bit harder to follow on the Otrobanda side so I took over as navigator. It didn’t take me long to get us lost within the twisted alleyways. Once we saw the sign on this dilapidated building that means Guesthouse Street, we knew it was time to find our way back to a main road. Turned out it was the perfect road because there was a fancy dress shop and Veronica found a beautiful dress for the big Year 9 (8th grade) end-of-year celebration. After shopping, we had a nice lunch along the waterfront.

Exploring Willemstad...

While Ashlynn & Jimmy went off in search of adventure (they tried to go windsurfing, but ending up going out on a Vespa to an ostrich farm without a camera), Veronica and I took the shuttle into the nearby capital city of Willemstad (with a population of 140,000). This city is made up of two distinctive parts separated by a bay, both of which are listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites because of their architecture. Here you see Punda (the point), established by the Dutch in 1634.
Across the water is Otrabanda (the other side) founded in 1707 and considered the working class side of the city.

Lawyers Have Been Here...

I always thought the Caribbean had a reputation of being very laid back. Perhaps that was case in Curacao until the lawyers arrived. I thought warning signs were bad in the US until I saw the signs around Willemstad. I sure didn’t get a feeling of confidence in their bridge-making abilities when I saw the sign above on a pedestrian bridge: Walking over the bridge is at your own risk.
It might appear that my judgment is really poor that I took Veronica on the ferry to cross the bay after reading that the government takes zero responsibility for the ferry, but it was a calculated risk as I figured the distance was short enough to swim if the darn thing sunk.

Floating Market...

The Floating Market in Willemstad is a colorful open-air market. Venezuelan merchants sell fruit, vegetables and fish while living on the small boats moored behind their stalls.
It always amazes me to see fish sold at street markets without any refrigeration or even ice chests. The weather was perfect for our entire vacation with highs around 82° and lows around 72°, but this is clearly much warmer than we normally store our fish.

Kids will Kiss Anything...

The aquarium next door was small, but the girls loved being able to stop by to watch a show whenever they felt the urge. There were several opportunities to meet the animals and Ashlynn made sure not to pass any of them up. Here she is kissing a nurse shark.
Veronica didn’t end up kissing a shark, but enjoyed touching one then feeding this one.

Antics at the Aquarium...

It’s true: the sea cucumbers do look a lot like poop. So, the above photo shouldn’t be surprising, yet somehow I am still amazed by our complete lack of maturity (Jimmy for the act itself, Veronica for laughing and me for capturing it on film). Is it bad when the nearly 11-year-old is the most mature one in the group?

Royal Sea Aquarium...

When I researched where to stay in Curacao (a much larger island with 142,000 inhabitants compared to Bonaire’s 16,000), I quickly found the Royal Sea Aquarium Resort, which ranked #1 on TripAdvisor. I knew that the girls would be thrilled to be staying right next to the aquarium with free unlimited access and somehow managed to keep it a secret until they saw an ad in the taxi on the way to the resort. We were all really pleased with the choice: very nice suites with great ocean and aquarium views. The girls thought it was especially cool that they got to sleep in Murphy beds that pulled down from the wall.
For the first three nights, we stayed in a pool front suite. On the last night, we relocated (a strange aspect of staying in a timeshare resort) to an oceanfront suite with a great view of the dolphin show next door.

Surrounded by Water...

The resort in Curacao was oceanfront, but rather than having a beach along the ocean, there was a rocky bulkhead. This was nice for watching the sunset, but not for swimming. Luckily, there was a small beach along the harbor side of the resort which gave easy access for snorkeling. The visibility wasn’t great, but there was an added bonus to snorkeling here: getting glimpses from underwater of the dolphins at the aquarium.

Kayaking Amongst the Mangroves...

For our final adventure in Bonaire, we met Hans early in the morning of our last day, for a 2-hour kayaking and snorkeling tour amongst the mangroves, whose roots you can see above. Mangroves are trees and shrubs that live in salt or brackish environments, but need fresh water to survive. They are important nurseries for many reef fish. We saw oysters and small crabs along the water’s edge. When we reached a passage through to the ocean, we got out and snorkeled. The water was murky, but we saw a huge porcupinefish and a school of snappers as well as some purple soft coral. Hans picked up an upside-down jellyfish that looked just like a plant. Afterwards, we rushed back to our apartment to finish packing, grab some lunch and head to the airport.

Caving in Bonaire...

Silly me! When Jimmy said he’d signed us up to go caving, I figured it would be like other caves that we’d visited with a set of stairs into the mouth of the cave. Imagine my surprise when our guide Hans led us to a hole in the ground and told us to start climbing down a ladder. Of course, the girls weren’t scared, but he had to assure me that the ladder was secure before I braved it.
There was another couple along plus the guide. We had to scramble down a steep hill (no pavement or lights in this cave) to reach the bottom. I’m glad I made the climb, because it was a very interesting. Besides stalactites (we learned a new hint--tits hang down) and stalagmites, there was evidence that the cave was once underwater as we saw the reverse fossils of coral. We also saw several bats, which are now on Ashlynn’s favorite animal list (tied in 4th place with snow leopards).

Getting Wet Underground...

When Hans brought us to the entry to the second cave (which he called the wet cave because of an underwater cavern) and set up a rope, I didn’t get a good feeling. Although he claimed it was an easy climb down, I decided that if you needed a rope, it wasn’t easy enough for me. I sat amongst the lizards and cacti for the hour that the braves ones were inside the cave.
After rock climbing down, they passed through a cavern to reach the underground lake where they took off their shoes and put on their snorkels. They had to be careful not to touch the bottom or muck would be kicked up and destroy the visibility. The water was very blue and clear; they saw one fish, which Hans said is actually rare to spot. They turned off their lights and felt shrimp nibbling on their legs.

Night Diving...

It was very nice that some of our neighbors at Belmar invited Jimmy to join them for night dives after discovering that I was grounded. He felt so comfortable after diving two nights in a row on the house reef that he decided to take the girls out. Technically, night diving is reserved for advanced divers. However, the conditions here are so perfect for beginners, that he figured the risk was very low. These photos were taken on the first night when he brought them out together just around the dock to get comfortable with the strange underwater world at night. The following night, he took them out one-at-a-time for a 20-minute dive on the house reef. Ashlynn was a bit freaked by the large tarpon that followed them, but loved the bio-luminescent fish.

An Unwelcome Guest...

All of Bonaire’s coast is a protected national marine park, so spear fishing is strictly prohibited. However, there is one exception: it is legal to kill the Pacific Lionfish. As beautiful as they are, this poisonous fish is not native to the Caribbean, but is an invasive predator that is killing many fish that are needed to keep the reef ecosystem in balance. There’s a theory that the lionfish might have escaped from a Florida aquarium during a hurricane in 1992. First spotted in Bonaire in October 2009, we were asked to report the location of each lionfish we saw. Click here to see a short video clip of two lionfish the girls saw.

An Unusual Easter Egg Hunt...

The girls were thrilled when they found out that there was to be an Easter egg hunt at Belmar on the Monday after Easter. Of course, this wasn’t a typical egg hunt as it was an underwater hunt for egg-shaped pieces of coral that had been painted orange and numbered. They were even more thrilled when all three of them found eggs; their prizes were a fish identification card, a small drypack and a tank banger (to get your dive buddy’s attention).

A Variety of Eels...

There were several varieties of eels in Bonaire. Not surprisingly, we mostly saw them in crevices in the coral, but occasionally saw them swimming. Check out the cool brain coral above.

Big Fish, Little Fish...

There was a huge variety of fish that traveled in schools, including the smallmouth grunt shown here, from tiny goby to beautiful blue tangs. The largest fish we managed to photograph was the barracuda above. We missed the large tarpon that showed up for the night dives.

Look at Her Go...

After the one hour windsurfing lesson, Ashlynn and Jimmy had another hour to try their new skills. Click here to see them in action. When Veronica and I returned from snorkeling, Veronica gave it a quick try as well.

Windsurfing Lesson...

After an Easter brunch at a Dutch oceanfront cafe at Lac Bay and a visit to the Donkey Sanctuary, we returned to Lac Bay so Ashlynn and Jimmy could take a windsurfing lesson. Jimmy had windsurfed years ago in Florida, but this was Ashlynn’s first time. The sheltered bay with knee deep water and gentle winds, make Lac Bay one of the best places in the world to learn this sport. It also made it a difficult place to snorkel. Veronica and I had been told it was a long walk out to the coral dam which separates the bay from the ocean, but hadn’t expected it to take nearly 30 minutes. The snorkeling wasn’t very good as it was still very shallow at the dam, but we had the excitement of seeing a lionfish, porcupinefish and a giant parrotfish.

Driving through the Donkey Sanctuary...

We really had no idea what to expect when we drove through the Donkey Sanctuary, but we were completely surprised when the truck was surrounded by hungry donkeys trying to get a bite. Us girls sat in the back of the truck and couldn’t give the food away fast enough. Jimmy had a difficult time driving as there was often a donkey’s head in one of his windows. Definitely a wacky way to spend an hour and a place we’d recommend for all visitors to Bonaire.

Donkeys on Bonaire...

Donkeys were first introduced to Bonaire in the 17th century when Spaniards brought them over to provide the only means of transportation between the interior of the island and the salt flats. Wild donkeys can still be spotted around the island, but often suffer from dehydration.
Today, over 400 donkeys are cared for at the Donkey Sanctuary, which provides food, water and medical care. They castrate the male donkeys, but still have babies to care as they adopt wild orphans.