Friday, March 7, 2008

Getting ready for Curacao!

Since nothing is really going on here to write about (other than me trying to figure out how to effectively do my new church calling), I thought I would write about a wonderful place that Easton and I get to go with my parents a week from tomorrow. We haven't seen them since Thanksgiving so we are excited! It's time to start getting ready because taking a little one to another country requires good and thorough packing. The earlier I start, the more confident I feel that I have not forgotten anything. :0)
Curacao is an island in the Southern Caribbean that is part of the Netherlands Antilles (a little north of Venezuela). I have been there once before about 2 years ago so I am excited to go again. I loved it! Many people have not caught on to how cool it is so when you're there you feel like you are really "away" and don't feel like the place is crowded with tourists. There is a lot of Dutch influence and they speak a language there that is only spoken in the Dutch ABC islands (Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao). It's called Papiamento. Simply put, it is a combination of Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish and English (with a few French and Indian words thrown in as well).
About the only thing to do there is hang out on the beautiful beaches and go scuba diving (however there are a few family oriented attractions and some fun shopping at the markets - downtown Willemstad is fun to explore). Most of the diving there is shore diving which makes it very convenient. No 30-40 minute boat rides out and back. The coral reefs are amazing and they even have a couple of wrecks to dive. One is a small tugboat in only about 20 feet of water, and one is a freighter called the Superior Producer who's hull sits in 100 feet of water. On the last trip I was fortunate enough to dive both of those sites. Scott had a little bit of trouble getting his ears to clear on the deep dive and I kind of get chewed out by our dive master because I left him and went down further so I could see the boat. By diving rules you are supposed to stay right next to your "buddy" but I wasn't going to miss out on seeing the ship! :0)

Another sweet dive is the Mushroom Forest. Highly recommended if you ever visit. We also did a dive with a sea lion when we were there too (I think I brushed up against some fire coral on that dive - not fun). So, needless to say we are really excited to go. The weather here has been pretty okay but the water is not yet warm enought to start going to the beaches. And I am terrified to swim at a beach because of stories I have heard about shark and jelly fish. Once you become a scuba diver, snorkelling and swimming on top of the water is unacceptable. You never know what lurks beneath you!!!!

1 comment:

Angie said...

Sounds fun! We hope you have a great time! Can we come too?