Our first night we got a little lost driving to the hotel, but once we found it, the security guard helped us get greeted and put in our hotel. We couldn't see the ocean yet, but we could hear it! We had dinner at the hotel by the water, which was fantastic because there was no beach from to the water, but it was still all sand and then a sea wall. So fun.
Day 2 we walked around downtown Punta (one half of the city) and went to the floating market for fresh coconut and mango. Then we hit the road to get to our first beach. There are just tons of beaches along the coast, so we constantly asked locals which one is the best etc. Our first stop was Cas Abou. On the way there we stopped at Flamingo Park, which apparently has a lot of flamingos, but we barely saw any. The beach was incredible. The nicer beaches in Curacao have bars and public bathrooms, but have a fee to sit on chairs. We found it to be way worth it to go to these beaches. I think they were about $4-8 per person? The beach was fantastic, we stayed until really late reading and enjoying being so close to so much beauty. That night we had dinner at a nice restaurant by our house called Kome, it was great! Then...THEN we found a place called Miles. All the blogs told us to go here, and we couldn't agree more after experiencing the place. Live jazz music, lots of people, cigars for sale. Such a cool atmosphere. Just what you would hope a local hang out on an island to be.
Day 3 we hit up Mount Christofell part to hike. John was such a sport. It wasn't a long hike up, but man was it hot. It rained a bit too, which instead of making it cooler, made it more humid. It was an awesome hike though. I chased some iguanas, that was awesome. It was really cool to see the plants and terrain change as we hiked up. It became more green and then more rocky. OH and when we were driving from the pay booth to the foot of the hike, I saw someone I thought I recognized, and said something to John, he realistically said, there's no way. And I couldn't agree more.
AND THEN when we were at the top of the peak, John asked if they wanted their photo taken, and I interjected and said "where are you from?". And I DID know them! From college! Such a small world.
On our way back we stopped at Jaanchies, which is a touristy little ma and pop shop on the way back, that was still adorable. Touristy in Curacao, isn't the same as touristy anywhere else. It still is charming and adorable as ever. Next, we went to Knip beach, I don't remember if we liked this one or not, but I think it was free?
That night we had the best dinner experience ever. We found this random restaurant from a blog post, that seemed to be pretty off the beaten path and hard to find. The blog post described a family owned restaurant that did it's darndest to stay small and hidden. And once we found it, we knew why. Not that that was an easy task, we drove all around the city looking for this place. Finally we found a scratched off hidden sign, and pulled our way into what looked like a house with lots of lights. It was wonderful. Mismatching chairs and tables. Skewers of veggies and meat and bread. It was incredible. This article does a better job of explaining Equus, and you can see at the bottom that the small amount of directions is why it was hard to find. - just kidding i can't find it, that's SO Equus...well here are some descriptions to do it more justice than I could:
"Expect to get messy and lick your fingers a lot at the Friday- night feast at Equus on the Ye-I Ranch, and don’t expect sides or apps. They serve one thing there: mouthwatering chicken and beef skewers that hang high above picnic tables, ready for the pulling. (Okay, plus hunks of bread and local beer.) Dinner starts at 6 p.m.; take a cab or ask locals to point the way."
"It's an official/ unofficial resto named Equus, which's actually just a space in that bald guy's backyard horse stable. His name's Roger, and what literally started as a weekly meat-skewer BBQ for friends and family more than 20 years ago is now Curacao's worst-kept secret. The ordering is simple: pick a steak, chicken, or combo skewer (there's a veggie option too), then sit back and sip on some Amstel Brights or vino while Roger cooks it up. Eschewing utensils, they literally hang your skewer at your table and you eat with your hands."
And then of course we ended up at Miles again
Day 4 we had breakfast at the hotel next to ours, which was perfection. Breakfast is my favorite meal ever, and my favorite thing to do on a trip probably. So i'm always thankful when we can find a great place to eat some morning grub. Portomarie beach was our hang for the day, and I remember really liking this one. We had some drinks and snacks from the bar. We had dinner at a place close by to our hotel called Mundo Bizzaro, which didn't have the best food, but the atmosphere was really great. We walked the famous colorful bridge, and were extremely excited at how much it looked like a mario cart game. We also had a long conversation with two locals at a cute bar by our house called Bluebird cafe. It was a crazy awesome place, but was completely dead. They said they were hoping to have more business once the tourist season was upon them. We hoped so too, because they were great and provided us with great conversation. And then, once again, finished the night at Miles.
Day 5 we explored downtown a bit, but realized everything is close don Sundays. So made our way to the beaches. First we tried Doobaai, but it was super crowded and not great since it was a free beach. We made an executive decision to go back to the first beach, Porotmarie and were really happy to spend the day there. On our way back, we almost ran out of gas, which was pretty terrifying. Gas stations were pretty sparse, and we didn't have a cell phone or anything, so we would have been pretty screwed. Plus it was getting darker and darker. Finally we found one, which was also confusing since you pay first, and then someone fills your tank for you. We drove in the wrong way. They were not happy. We had a mellow night, found dinner at a great place random place, and then called it a night. We were up at 4am the next day!
Some things we wanted to remember about the island:
-The amount of Usher that was played on the radio was hilarious and unending.
-Service was very different there, and they were also a little confused why we said thank you so often
-There were barely any road signs, which is why we got very lost on our way to our hotel from the airport our first night. We learned, amidst our yelling, that the only signs for 'bushalte" were not help. That means bus stop.
-Lots of iguana road kill
-The radio ads were hilarious - one that was played far to often, yelled"This is the happy hour"
-We were constantly impressed by the multiple languages everyone spoke. The native language, Dutch, Spanish, English. And they could switch to English so fast after hearing us speak.
-So. Many. Roudabouts.
-If we think no one uses blinkers here, literally no one does on Curacao
-Very few flowers on the island, a very desert like place
-Very few elderly and kids, but maybe they were in school while we were out and about
-On our way back from the beaches one afternoon, John stopped at a gas station for directions. He emerged with a stranger walking along side him. Slowly I made the connection as both John and this man got in the car. I make a rule of not inviting strangers in my car, so I was pretty pissed. Apparently the entire store reassured John that he should just take this man with him for directions, for he lived "right by there". It was a very humbling experience as they were right, he was great and knew right where to go. But don't worry, I was not encouraged enough to make this a regular practice mom and grandma.
-We learned a lot from conversations with locals too, like how it can cost $350 for water a month
-Iguanas are like rabbits, they find them in their pool and yards constantly
-When we asked their preferred language, they said English was more beautiful than Dutch because it doesn't sound like there's a hot potato in their mouth
-Lots of car crashes when it rains, since the cars and drivers can't handle it since it's so infrequent. Another thing we sensed the first night since a rain crash is what caused the detour that caused us to get lost.
Overall, just amazing.
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