Curacao - our summary

  Willemstad, Netherlands Antilles Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Curacao is not the most beautiful of Caribbean islands but it has beautiful weather, beautiful sea (if a bit chillier than other Caribbean islands) and its very clean and hurricane free. Especially important for the time of year we were visiting. Owned and governed by the Dutch for many many years now, it feels more like a westernised civilised place, clean and well maintained, but they have prices to match. We loved ~  the footbridge, blue lagoons, di Zabbia restarant We didn't like ~ the fact that the hotel had advertised 4 restaurants – they had none, 6 bars – they had none. The people ~ ok… The Food ~  ok not brilliant but all expensive. Jody mainly ate pasta though – the usual problems of being vegetarian. As the hotel breakfast was so bad, we ate at the only other place available within walking distance – Dennys. Not exactly what we hoped for either but at least it was more edible than the hotel's food.The Transport ~ little mini van buses which zip around for about £1 a ride anywhere. Taxis were very expensive – 10 minute trip to the airport - $30 – yes $30….! Shame the little buses didn’t go to the airport. The Weather ~  beautiful! Hot hot hot! Sunshine all day long. Miles travelled ~  we have travelled about 50 miles (60km)???? Capital ~ Willemstad Population ~ 153,000 They drive on ~ the right Currency ~ Dutch Gilder  £1 = 2.36 ANG Language ~ Papiamento, Dutch, English, Spanish, Portuguese Did we feel safe? ~ Yes completelyThings which will remind us of Curacao ~ blue lagoon cocktails Would we recommend it?  Yes but take lots of money Places we stayed, cost per night and our Star Rating Total number of different beds slept in ~ 2 Willemstad        ~ Holiday Beach Hotel & Casino ~ £55 / night 3.5* ~ Ritz Village Hostel and Hotel ~ £20 / night 3*