How To Drive on a Desert Island

Hopefully, my "how to" tips on self timed photography have been of some help to my friends. I don't profess to be an expert on everything; however, I have attained another skill during the past month. I have garnered many driving hints and tricks which will probably work on other Caribbean Islands...unless of course they drive on the left side of the road. That would add an additional dimension to one's stress level.

On my past trip to Curacao, I rented a car...twice. Each time was for one week. This brings me to my first suggestion. If you can do a bit of research, and deal with a local independent car rental establishment, you might not have to promise your first born in order to acquire a vehicle. The local places have autos which are a bit older, up to three years old, in good condition and considerably less expensive than the rental chains.

Driving Tip #1 The Need For Speed

Drive fast. Don't look in your rear view mirror. You don't have time to be distracted by the guy riding your bumper. Honk your horn frequently for no apparent reason. Don't worry about where you're going because you won't get lost for more than a day. It's an island. You'll always end up in the same place. You will be aware that you are driving too slowly by the constant sound of horns and whizzing of cars on either side of you whether there's a road or not. Do not attempt to pull over. There's usually no place to do this anyhow and shoulders are unheard of. I've become certain that the first skill taught at a Caribbean island driving school is without a doubt the all important horn honking.

Driving Tip #2  Wildlife

Again, not to worry. There will be roosters, goats, potcakes, iguanas and wild boar on the road. If you hit one, they are dispensable. The only problem is that they aren't dispensed with. You will view the same deceased wildlife for which you were responsible (in varying degrees of decomposition) every time you pass said location. On the bright side, the island will eventually gain another speed bump. Speaking of speed bumps, there are many. Someone who ran out of swampland to sell seems to have found an alternate entrepreneurial opportunity...selling speed bumps to desert islands.

Driving Tip #3  Traffic Lights

These are sparse...and by sparse I mean they exist, but you're lucky if you still see it once you get to the stop line. Traffic lights are not found on every corner as in north America. There isn't one on the other side of the intersection so make sure you stop when you see the one light on the median. If you drive up too far, you will be unable to locate any other traffic lights to help you decide when it's time to burn rubber. If you make the mistake I did, one time only, don't panic. Stay put. You can't back up because of reason in tip #1 (bumper riders). Wait patiently, wipe perspiration off your brow and accelerate rapidly when the traffic behind you leans on their horns.

Driving Tip #4  Street Signs

Ha,ha...forget it. You'll be lucky if you get any kind of indication of a road you're on. I found one...count 'em, one street sign and that's only because I was not driving, but I was a walker on that day....aka in Dutch laufer (get it? See photo). The good news is that there are area signs. For example, an area in the city of Toronto would be Scarborough, East York and so on. In Curacao, there are areas of Willemstad...Punda, Otrabanda, Scharloo etc. and the signs are listed as such. These will give you an approximate clue in which direction you're travelling. Should you venture very far from the city, you might even see a sign with its name. You will frequently see signs that say Bushalte. Do not confuse this with a street name. It's a bus stop.

Driving Tip #5  Escape from Circular Driving

If you are looking for a place, once you find it, it's hard to escape. In other words, you will keep finding it over and over again. This happened to me. I found Seaquarium after a day of searching. Curiously, I couldn't escape the area once I was there. All signage then pointed to the Seaquarium. Now I see the problem as I look at my photo. Here's what I finally did. I found a tour bus and followed it. Any bus might do for that matter. Buses, if you can keep up to them, can get you out of most areas.

Driving Tip #6   Traffic Circles/Roundabouts

These are tricky. You yield, kind of, then cut off anyone who may be coming around the roundabout too slowly or on more than two car wheels. Zoom into the mix quickly, honk your horn and pretend you're  a local. Traffic circles are of particular benefit when you miss your turn, as you often will at the speeds you are forced to drive. Some of the circles have an added feature of a yield sign in the middle of them. If you make the mistake of yielding when someone else actually has a mid roundabout yield, horns will honk.

Driving Tip #7   Parking

Anything goes. Nose to nose, left wheels against the curve, abandonment of vehicle. Be selective however. There are some obvious places where you might not want to park (see first photo). Once parked in some areas, it's almost impossible to move. Since I did not use one of the local car rental establishments, but rather had a brand new vehicle, I made the decision to park in the Renaissance Hotel parking garage when possible. It is multi level, free, central to Willemstad and a bit more secure. Many things were within walking distance and there is a security guard near the entrance for ornamental purposes. He automatically lifts the barrier for anyone who drives up with their window open ready to ask for admittance to the garage.

Driving Tip #8   Acquiring Gas

All gas stations have a prepayment requirement. Usually, there's either a little booth where you pay and they give you a pump number or you go up to a pump and go to the building to pay, telling them your pump number. There is no competitive pricing. While I was in Curacao, all gas was $1.25 a litre and I drove to my heart's content for a week on one tank. (Actually, I was mostly lost and driving in circles. They make their money from tourists I suppose). Sometimes, someone will pump your gas. I'm not too clear on where this person originates. It's quite random. They just seem to magically appear from behind a cactus or something after you've pulled up. Also, there are two types of gas...diesel and super. Use super lest you regret it and end up purchasing your rental car. Super has a yellow handle on the pump. Use the yellow handle if pumping yourself. Warning too - Should you neglect to put in sufficient gas in your rental car before dropping it off, you will be charged double their estimate of the amount missing.

Driving Tip #9    All Roads Lead To...

This is more of a specific tip for Curacao. Not to worry. You can't avoid this bridge no matter how hard you try. Any time you get lost, you will travel over this bridge...many times. It can be helpful in fact since it always takes you back to the same place. There are no lane marker lines. If someone honks, you've wandered over the imaginary lines. There might be three lanes on the bridge. That's as yet undetermined by me. It all depends on how much space the cars/buses/trucks that are travelling beside each other take. Also, if the bridge makes you nervous, don't be. It only collapsed once early on during its creation. The cruise ships fit, trust me. My only warning is, don't be distracted by the spectacular view, the submarines and the like. Keep to the left when going onto the bridge. Should you accidentally forget this and drive on the right, exit at the ramp. Don't try to get back on (as do highway drivers in Ontario). It's a steep drop between the ramp and the bridge lanes with only a few pebbles, a tree branch, and a goat or two to keep you from being suspended in mid...er....well, just keep left or exit if you make a mistake.

I Say, Then She Says, Then I Say...

My daughter is a brat. She has a twisted sense of humour. I'm not sure where she gets it. She's in Curacao and we have been texting and sending pictures using a free phone app. Ahhh the wonders of modern technology!

I recently sent her photo. Before I had a chance to write a caption, she returned the favour.

I sent a picture of the winter traffic on the 401. She sent a picture of the traffic outside her residence.

I told her we were at Winterlude and saw ice sculpures. She said she was at Kokomo Beach making sand castles.

 I sent her a picture of a nice place where we recently ate lunch. She sent one of where she and her friends are "forced" to eat.

I thought she'd be interested to know our temperatures. She just "knew" I'd want to see hers.

I baked cupcakes. She found a really cool mix.

Since then, I have received these photos taken from her dorm. I'm afraid the view from our house can't compete.

When I received this next picture, I made it official. I declared her the winner of the photo wars.

 

Say What?

My daughter rarely complains about food. She's a fish eating vegetarian, a pescetarian. When all else fails, she eats dessert, all kinds of dessert. Recently, I've been receiving text messages in which she has been describing her Curacao food experiences.

Her messages look much like this. "All the food here is disgusting." or "It's impossible to be fat here."

Since I found the food to be quite acceptable while I was visiting, I wondered what the problem was. She did recount a trip to Burger King for a veggie burger. She said it was passable, but she wouldn't go out of her way to get it. The best part of eating there was seeing goats walking around outside. There was also a Japanese restaurant with outstanding sushi in the Rif Fort area. The problem is, that fine dining is not in her student budget and this was a bit of a splurge.

I asked whether she'd shopped at the floating market. Venezuelan boats arrive daily with fresh fruit, vegetables and fish. She hadn't. She had only been to the "real" supermarket where she located some veggie meatballs and some burritos. Oh, and her salads consisted of a lot of spinach. Spinach was easier to find than lettuce.

Today, I received information from her about the water. Interesting. She's been drinking a lot of tap water since it's safe to drink and in her words, "sooooo good". It is distilled from the sea. When she bought bottled water, it too was "gross".

For all my rants about technology, I have to admit, it has its uses, many uses. For one thing, it's been nice to communicate from so far away by texting and the occasional email.

Tonight, a message arrived on my cell phone. Since I am not of an age where this phone is one of my appendages, I didn't see it immediately in order to come to the rescue. Judging from this, the salads too are starting to get tiresome.

Here's the message. I'm still laughing.

"My internet is broken, how do I cook spinach?"

Curacao Part 4 - CMU Residence

The main goal of our recent trip was to help my daughter settle into her new environment. The secondary goal was to have some fun in the process. After two days of relaxing, we decided it was time to begin our chore. We rented a car, a Terios, and headed toward the Caribbean Medical University headquarters at the World Trade Center, Piscadera Bay. Before long, registration was complete and we took all the suitcases to

 the student residence at Andres Bello plaza. In keeping with the lovely colourful country, the building was a vivid yellow...attractive. It was a wise decision to say "no roomate".

 As it turns out, some rooms are considerably smaller than this decent sized unit. Prior attempts to find out what might already exist in a room were futile, so we brought what we thought was needed and whatever we could squeeze into suitcases.  Here's what we had to work with in the room.                                 

 .                        

lawn furniture

two beds, one to be removed

                



                    





 There was also a small fridge and t.v., a kitchen unit which consisted of a two burner range combined with sink another small fridge and a microwave. On either side of the "kitchen" were the bathroom facilities, shower and sink on one side and toilet sink on the other.

toilet on one side, shower on the other

small fridge and Spanish speaking t.v.

                                      



                                                                                                                                                                

Since we had to remove some items from our overweight luggage, it was necessary to go shopping the next day when we no longer had a vehicle. We learned that the best shopping for household needs was at two stores. One such large department store was called La Curacao and had unusual hours. It was closed when we arrived around 1:30 with a sign saying it would reopen at 3:30. We also discovered that everything is closed on Sundays...civilized.

It was recommended that we go to Breedestraat, a neighbourhood in the opposite direction of the touristy shopping area. It seemed "seedy" by our standards but we felt safe enough. The buildings were a bit decrepit, not yet restored like much of Willemstad. We noted some construction work going on. Items for sale in this area were more suited to residents  ...appliance and furniture stores, grocery stores, kitchen and bath wares and some clothing. We loaded up on items we needed. The employees were incredibly helpful and unearthed whatever we asked for. One person even drew us a map of how to get to the residence from where we were. This was useful since we were now walking, carrying lamps, garbage cans, a scale, pots, a clock, a rug, curtains, groceries and more.

                        

We were part way to the dorm when we were cooled off by a small downpour. After a few minutes participating in a Curacao custom, standing under a roof ledge waiting for the rain to dissipate, we made the decision to venture into the drizzle. Soggy hand drawn map in hand, we headed out and immediately got lost. Our shopping was getting heavy as we walked in a circle near a small plaza. A lady, waiting under another roof, asked what we were looking for. She wasted no time opening her umbrella and telling us to follow her. Through two fences, along a muddy secret pathway, around some trampled lizards, past a cemetery and there we were...Andres Bello plaza. The sun came out. We thanked her profusely. We made the same trip two more times over the course of the next days until the residence room looked like this.

 

                                                                      

                           

                      



Satisfied that we had done all we could, we returned to our hotel and relaxed for the remainder of the trip. We estimated that the trek to the stores, to residence and back to the hotel consisted of many kilometres each day. We definitely got our exercise while we were there.

                       

Curacao Part 2...I'm baaaaaack !

I have returned from Curacao. My next few blogs will be photos and comments about this most magnificent of islands.

I wrote a trip advisor review about one of our activities, "Eric's ATV Adventure". This is it.  Photos below.

“Awesome ATV Adventure!”

Reviewed 17 January 2013

 

I had seen the many excellent reviews on trip advisor and decided that this might be a fun thing to do with my two adult children. Since we were going to be in Willemstad for a week, I emailed Eric and requested a morning tour. I decided that morning would be a better choice because of the sun and heat. He booked us on a day with no cruise ship tours. Besides the three of us there was only one other young man in our group. Excellent. We were picked up by Eric himself at our hotel. On the way, he regaled us with fascinating stories about Curacao, his diving days, and his many friends. What an interesting and friendly man!

Our guide Marco started us off with a brief lesson on the care and feeding of the ATV. From then on, it was trial by fire as we immediately headed down a steep rocky hill. I got stuck, or perhaps paralyzed with fear. In fairness, I was the only driver over the age of 60. Besides, I was carrying a passenger, number one daughter. When my son yelled from his ATV, "stop driving like a granny," it was game on. Over the water, down roadways, through the bushes and splashing through puddles I went. Most fun I've had this year.

Along the way, we saw, luxurious Curacao housing. We then rode past the island's prison. We passed animals, dogs, chickens, goats. Then, we went to a scenic lookout which had a painting of a pair of eyes. When we headed to an aloe plantation, we received drinks, asked questions, and used restroom facilities. I purchased some anti-aging cream at a 20% discount and I already feel much younger. I can just imagine how great it'll be when I actually start to use it. Next we zoomed through an area which reminded the young'uns of a Mario kart game...winding pathways through water hazards. Our subsequent stop took us to an area where we walked uphill, then scaled a bit of a rock face. I hesitated, but was eager to see what was up there. It was a cave, a bat cave filled with bats and guano. Wow! As we exited the other side, we went up another path and found ourselves on a the edge of a cliff. Yet another fabulous view. There were colourful birds flitting through the trees. Climbing down was a bit more challenging but I made it. Along the way we saw lizards, snails, crabs and more. Yes, unfortunately there were some piles of trash as one reviewer noted, but that did not detract from the wonderful time we all had.

After we returned to the hotel, we washed off the mud and laughed at our unusual spotted suntans. Eric delivered a cd of photos to help us remember our adventure. He even came back a second time when he located my windbreaker in a compartment in the ATV.

Closed shoes are recommended and do not bring a lot of baggage. A small purse with a long strap, or if you must, a backpack would be best.