Saturday, 28th February, Curacao, 26 degrees. Rough seas although we are in port

It was dark when I woke up. The ship had already stopped. We got up and went to breakfast, we didn’t walk around the deck this morning as we were due to go on a walking trek.

Curacao is another Dutch owned country and lies just about 40 miles north of Venezuela. Initially discovered by the Spanish who declared the island `useless’ as it had no gold and was considered to have poor agricultural potential, it was later taken over by the Dutch and used as a hub for its slave trade. It has had something of a chequered history in terms of ownership but when oil was discovered in Venezuela, Shell established an oil refinery on Curacao. This provided its main economy during the 20th century. In 2010 Curacao became an autonomous country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands and it still has a very Dutch feel in terms of architecture and place names.

There were the colourful ladies of Curacao waiting to welcome us as we left the ship. The waves were crashing against the jetty. It was a bright and sunny day.

The trade wind was still blowing which eased the heat of the sun. It was 8.15 a.m. We were directed to the tour representative for our trek. There were due to be 20 of us. Another 18 people we had never seen before! Once we had gathered we all piled onto a bus that only just accommodated us. The expected guide did not join us, but the driver took off at a rate of knots – all a bit disconcerting.

After about 20 minutes drive through the suburbs of Willemstad, the land around turned scrubby. We passed a lagoon with what we thought to look like the pink flamingoes we had been promised – but we did not stop. Instead the bus drew to a halt on the coast. There were a few wooden buildings about and a river flowing into the turquoise sea. A rusty tanker stood offshore in the bay.

It was here that we met up with our would be guide and his helper – Trevor and Naomi. In doing our homework on today’s outing last night, Keith saw reference to a requirement to ‘wade across a stream’ due to a broken bridge. We were initially told not to worry, we’d hardly get our shoes wet. As we left the bus we were confronted with said stream and broken bridge.

I think it was at this stage that our faith in our guide, already on shaky ground due to his non appearance at the port and very little introductory commentary, reached an all time low. It was to get even lower as we progressed on our journey when the ‘easy walk’ we were promised turned into a scramble over sandy rocks and a steep descent. However that was to come, let’s go back to the start. I guess we had all thought that the stream section might occur a little later in the day – as it was it occurred within minutes of setting off. Wet shoes and socks were therefore worn throughout the trek. Not ideal.

There was a strong current and the riverbed was rocky with stones and sharp coral so we were advised not to go bare foot. Instead we waded across and everyone landed on the other side with very wet shoes and feet and in my case, wet shorts as my legs are a bit on the short side, as it were. Nevertheless, off we went in single file along a very sandy track with spiny shrubs and dried out trees laid waste by the heat on either side of the narrow path.

Now and again we came across greener patches of heathland and on one occasion caught a glimpse of inland water. This was where old salt pans had been worked by slaves in the past – now as we looked down on the area it looked pretty idyllic with no evidence of its sordid past.

Mostly our path took us over dry rough ground, with all vegetation parched by the sun – there is very little rain between September and April.

Eventually our route took us to the sea again and we were able to look down on that old oil tanker, made obsolete by the ending of Shell’s refinery activity in Curacao. The sea shaded from turquoise through to dark blue. The warm wind held off the heat of the day which was gradually rising. I fancy I am not the first person to thank goodness for those trade winds!

We tracked along the top of the cliff. Down below we could see turtles and snorklers from the village which we had sighted further along the coast.

We passed the remains of the old Dutch Fort Vaersebaan and then it was a real scramble down to beach level. To be honest we weren’t terribly gruntled at the thought of an hour in wet socks and shoes on a sandy beach – but then everything changed!

Keith and I got ourselves a drink and went and sat in an area of the bar labelled ‘Iguana Feeding Station’. We peered around as we drank and saw no sign of an iguana, but what we did see were some amazing birds … (Venezuelan Troupial, Brown Throated Parakeets, Elaenia, Bananaquits, Yellow Oriole, Yellow Crowned Night Heron and, finally, American Flamingo…quite a morning! Ed)

And then came the iguanas.

Our arid trek had brought us to a little piece of Curacao paradise.

We spent a very happy hour there. Met a few more people from the ship who we will doubtless never see again and left in a very much happier frame of mind, despite wet and sandy socks and shoes!

On the way back we did see the flamingoes too. Lots of them!

It was then back to the ship – all of that excitement and it was only midday!

We had a quick turnaround and then we were out again to hunt down another restaurant that Keith had identified. In disembarking again we were nearly mown down by those returning to the ship to eat on board. But we were off to explore Willemstad, a UNESCO world heritage site.

We emerged from the terminal and turned right and wandered along the waterfront. The city is divided into two parts which are connected by a floating bridge called the Queen Emma Bridge, built in 1888. It rests on 15 pontoons and can open up to 30 times a day to allow shipping through.

We continued along the south side of the river until we came to the jolly sounding Swinging Old Lady Brewery, apparently a reference to the bridge. Another ‘who knew’ moment! The very next door was the restaurant we were seeking, The Grand Cafe Gouverneur. It was housed in a very grand old building, previously the Governor’s house.

We were unable to eat on the outside balcony, but had a great view from our table.

Disappointed that the Banana Soup was off, we moved straight into the main course. Curocaon specialities. Keith had a beef stew and I had a chicken and cheese dish – both were delicious!

We rounded our meal off with liqueur coffees. Keith a Caribbean and I had one with Curocao in it. Delicious.

I was then very entertained by our waitress and her interaction with a young chap who came in for a meal – he definitely made her socks go up and down!!

It was then time to be off. We sauntered back along the waters edge and walked across the bridge to see more wonderfully colourful buildings

Looking back to where we had lunch.

It was a delightful walk back to the ship. Tired but happy after what had started a bit shakily but ended up a great day.

After a bit of quiet time, we gathered ourselves to watch the ship leaving the harbour.

Tomorrow is a sea day. (I think we’re really enjoying The Caribbean. Ed)