I Was Kissed by a Seal at the Zoo...

We had just enough time before our taxi picked us up to stay after the seal show for a free kiss. No cameras were allowed, so those free kisses weren’t so cheap after all. But hey, how can you pass up an opportunity like this?

More Adventure...

 After their urbex adventure, Jimmy and the girls decided to go swimming. However, instead of starting in the water, they thought it would be more fun to start on the bridge....Ready, set, jump!

As usual, the wimp in the family stayed behind the camera and on dry ground. I was bummed to miss the best part of their swim: a private show by some dolphins at the nearby aquarium. Granted, they were separated by two fences, but Ashlynn was thrilled to see the dolphins jumping in the water from this vantage point.

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.