Carribean island off the north coast of Venezuela. 33 degrees every day, approx 75% and higher humidity, sunshine, misquitos, sticky skin all day, beautiful beaches, sunsets, reef fish and coral, sunshowers, and of course, beautiful people!Right: Volker, Naraleska, Samuel, Hope and baby yet to come, our friends who made a corner of their very full house into a bedroom for us. You guys are amazing!
Right: The island has some mountains! Unfortunately they are covered with cactus and other prickly bushes which were brought there by outsiders, but they look nice! The island was the main port which received slaves from Africa and were then taken to all parts of America. For many years the island was covered by plantations owned by white people and worked by dark people. For this reason, any sort of cultivation of the land is associated with slavery and the locals (mostly African in origin) do not grow anything that doesn't grow itself. Amazingly, apartheid existed on the island until the 1980s, when it was abolished, and a tension between white and dark people still exists today. For more info about the island, go to http://www.curacao-travelguide.com/about/
Right: The second beach that Volker and Nara took us to. We went snorkelling many times at different beaches around the island, and everytime was amazing! There are so many fish and interesting things to see, and very close to the beach, too.
Right: Happy snorkellers!
Right: Everywhere on the island there is rubbish to be seen and, sadly, the beaches and the ocean floor are no exception. The locals use the beaches as a place to go to 'party'.
Right: Ulf and Samuel in the water as the sun sets. The ocean is the nicest place to be during the day to escape the heat, despite the sun.
Right: Volker and Nara's freshly painted yellow house. The houses on Curacao are painted in bright colours, with concrete walls and guard dogs. Volker and Nara also have a dog, but she is friendly and goes for a run with a YWAM staff every morning - something which amazes the locals as they just feed their dogs to keep them for security.During the day the iguanas scurry about the yard, foraging for food, eating fallen mangoes, chasing each other and running from Samuel and the dog! You can see as many as five at one time. Mocking birds were also about and we had a theory that they loved to play in the trees in this yard because of the yellow coloured fence!
Right: Downtown Curacao is likened to a colourful Amsterdam and is split in the middle by the harbour entrance. A floating pedestrian bridge connects the two sides, which has an engine to push it to one side whenever a ship enters the harbour. A free ferry also takes passengers from side to side throughout the day. The coloured tents and the boats are the markets - fresh fruit and vegetables, some fish and souveniers.
Right: This beach was covered in coral, not sand. From here we swam a short distance to see a small sunken boat and loads of reef fish. We saw, among others, Banded Butterfly fish, Yellow Goatfish, Trumpetfish (agressive), Yellowtail Snapper, Spotlight & Princess Parrotfish, Sergeant Major, Blackbar Soldierfish, Carribean Reef Squid, French Grunt, Bluehead... that's all that we can identify at least. The following sites have photos:http://www.reefnews.com/reefnews/index/fishes.html
http://www.reef.org/resources/galleries/caribbean
Right: Ulf enjoying a rest after the exhausting return swim from the boat wreck. The wind and waves had picked up, making the return swim a lot harder physically than the swim out.
Right: Emma, Sarah, Naraleska, Hope, Corina, and Malena (Nara's Mum) enjoying a drink and some special desserts in the city.
Right: Flamingos at the Curacao Zoo, which has free entry. They looked like statues at first, until we saw them close up. They also had many species of monkeys and birds that are native to South America.
Right: Cocktails at the old Fort in the middle of the harbour - great views of the city at night. Ulf was glad to finally try the famous Blue Curacao, which is produced on the island.
Right: The airport is right on the edge of the island. This is just before takeoff to Amsterdam.
Well, that's our Carribean holiday in a nutshell! Of course, the photos just show the snorkelling and sightseeing, but we had many good times with our friends and the YWAM staff who live on the same property. We really appreciated the times of worship and prayer, and of course the times just hanging out. Volker and Nara were very gracious hosts and we are thankful for all the time that we could have with them and their family. Misquitos were a common enemy and much time was also spent swatting and zapping them!
Our trip to the Carribean was amazing and I'm so thankful to God for allowing us to be able to go. He doesn't miss any opportunities to speak to us and teach us things, and for me Curacao was no exception. Some things were difficult to hear and painful to surrender to. But as the journey of dying to self continues, so to does His refining of our souls. - Emma.
