Well we were going down to Curacao today but due to too much socialising yesterday we did not prep the boat for the trip or get to customs and immigration and if we don’t run around too much again today we should be off tomorrow. The next day being Friday won’t work as we don’t go on Fridays. So then its new year so we may as well stay for that. No moving over the weekend for now as there is a little front with some high winds showing on the grib files with lots of rain. Now this area does not usually get much rain even though it is now its wet season, but so far this season they have had tons of rain. The park up on the NW corner has been closed due to the gravel roads becoming too soggy. We were hoping to go up there but could not hire a car anywhere as the place is full of holiday makers for the festive season. The locals here enjoy letting off crackers at this time of the year....... maybe I should say small bombs!!!! When they go off along the shore you get one hell of a fright. This goes on all day and most of the night. At night you see the flash and count anything up to nine seconds before the boom hits you. That would place the explosion around two and a half kilometres away. We caught a local “bus” out to Rincon which is the oldest settlement on the island. This area was settled first because there are springs there that the people could use to get fresh water from. Well the trip out was interesting as the driver poured himself a beer into a mug for the trip.
This was consumed on route to Rincon. The island as I said was very green at the moment but would usually be dry and brown. The scrub is mostly Formosa type of thorn trees and massive cacti (great for a cowboy movie).
There are a few interesting limestone rock formations that we saw on the way to Rincon, but as this was no brochure tourist trip there was no slowing for photos. The bus dropped us in the middle of nowhere ... I mean in the middle of Rincon, but talk about laid back.
Well the locals stared at us and us at them we said hello to the few on the veranda of the bank and headed off down the side street that looked the most interesting. Now it does not appear that anything ever happens here and there is not much to see.
There are some lovely old buildings, some well looked after, but far too many that have been left to nature as here in the tropics nature claims back quickly. There is little money here amongst the locals so renovating these buildings is just not a priority.
I guess as the island becomes more popular as Aruba and Curacao have, richer people moving to the island will buy these cottages for next to nothing and restore them as holiday homes etc. This has already happened on the coast and the price of property along the coast is already fairly expensive.
We bought a cold drink from this lovely little shop. The old lady inside was most helpful and very friendly as all the locals have been.
After a long walk around we found a local restaurant that seemed to attract a few locals and tourists alike ...a sign of good food. We had a very tasty meal that was also very cheap. Menu had five options... fish fried, goat stew, chicken stew, turkey stew or beef stew. We settle for the fish. Fresh fried with a bean and rice dish flavoured with cinnamon, a polenta and pumpkin dish, chips and salad.
After walking to the edge of town we were given a lift by a lovely couple and their two sons back to Kralendijk. On route we took a few back roads and got to see some of the island that we had not been to yet. It is a pity that we lost out on seeing the south side of the island as this comprises of salt flats in all shades from pastel green to pink depending on how long it’s been left to evaporate for. Some of the salt flats are full of brine shrimp. These brine shrimp attract the flamingos and also contribute to their amazing colour. If you get to the right place it will look like this(compliments of a placemat)
but we only found a few in a flat on the edge of town where they were well spread out but still stunningly beautiful. so no group photo for us but the individual ones will do even though they were a little distant.
Back at the waterfront the fishermen returned with their days catch. Early morning they catch small fish to use as bait just off the front of the anchourage and then dissappear out to sea. this lot returned with some lovely wahoo and a tuna that you will find freshly prepared in most of the restuarants. The only fish we found in the shops were farmed talapia?????? I guess if the locals want fish they just need to drop a line in the water. While on our mooring we caught two 4kg yellow tail jacks/trevalley. One on a salt water fly my last one that I lost the next night and the second on a blue/silver squid wanne bee. Well at least it fooled the fish
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