Mar 17, 2019
Flight: Bonaire (BON) to Curacao (CUR); Divi Divi Air; DHC Twin Otter economy
Hotel: Curacao Airport Hotel
Already our time in Bonaire had come to an end. A very early morning today as mrs and miss hauteboy were heading back to Austin on the 6:30AM United flight. I drove them to the airport about 430AM and said our goodbyes as they went through security. I then went back to the hotel as it was so close. Got a nice surprise at checkout as our original reservation had a $39 per night charge for an extra person in the room, but they didn't add it to the bill.
Courtyard Bonaire
I left for the airport about 7:30 but the Divi air desk wasn't yet open. I was finally able to find some pastechis at the airport cafe. The checkin finally opened and it was quick through security to the waiting area. The Divi Divi Air flight was on a DHC Twin Otter and a quick 30 minutes over to Curacao. Arrival was quick and easy.. on a Sunday morning the terminal was deserted.
Bonaire airport
Curacao Airport
I got some cash at the ATM (Curacao still uses Antilles Guilders) picked up my Hertz rental car and drove to Willemstad, about 20 minutes. The Renaissance casino at the Rif Fort has free parking. The mall area itself was dead and nothing yet open. The weather was mostly cloudy. I crossed the Queen Emma pedestrian bridge over to Punda. The bridge is a pontoon bridge that swings open several times a day to allow traffic from Curacao's harbor to pass through. There is a huge refinery and there is usually a cruise ship or two in port. However today there weren't any cruise ships and the town was quiet, quiet.
I spent an hour or so wandering around Punda on the self-guided architectural tour. The central part of Punda is old Dutch colonial architecture from the 1700s and 1800s painted in bright colors. I crossed back over to Otrabanda where I had a refreshing fruit smoothie. The sun then decided to come out so I went back to Punda to get better photos of the colorful buildings. The town finally started coming alive a bit more. I went back to the Rif fort and had a touristy lunch with a great view at Steak & Ribs, followed up with an ice cream for dessert.
I wanted to see a bit more of the island and decided to head up to the northeast coast and the Shete Boka National Park. The drive took about 50 minutes after hitting traffic on the main north road. The Park closes at 5pm but they said I only had until 4:30. Still that gave me about 90 minutes to explore the rugged coastline and do a few hikes to the bokas. The first one, Pistol Boka was in the process of forming, with a thin slot that would spray out water continuously with the wave action. Another boka had a huge fossilized sponge and corals.
It was pretty hot and humid and I grabbed a couple of bottles of water before heading off to the next destination, Grote Knip beach. Apparently this is where everyone was in Curacao today as it was packed.. I had to park some distance down the road and walk down. The beach was a gorgeous strip of white sand filled with locals and tourists, playing loud music and BBQing. Some daring folk were diving off the rocks into the blue water below. As inviting as the water looked I didn't want to bother getting changed (no towel, plus sand everywhere). I grabbed another fruit smoothie just in time as the kiosk was closing.
Grote Knip beach
I wanted to visit another beach, Cas Abao but it was too late and by the time I got there it was closed. I continued back towards the airport and stopped at the Flamingo viewing area. It took a bit of hunting around before I found them.
I had booked the Curacao Airport Hotel for the night as I had a fairly early flight tomorrow to St. Martin. Checkin took forever. There was some event going on at the hotel (Aruba Day celebrations) and they had a band and food setup. Luckily my room was on the opposite side so I couldn't hear the music. I went down to the patio to check it out but the music was way too loud. I did manage to grab a bit of food, a local speciality pan stoba which is bread filled with a meaty stew.
Curacao Airport Hotel
Pan Stoba
