There’s a Place Called Kokomo

Lilly girl, get that Beach Boys cassette tape out, we’re about to sing Kokomo the Curacao way…

Off the Dutch Antilles, There’s a place called Kokomo. That’s where you wanna go to get away from it all…. Diver’s by the sand, Beach chairs – at your hand. We’ll be full-moon dancin’ to the steel drum band…. Down in Kokomo….Westpunt, Lagun, ooh I wanna take you to Sint Michiel, JanTheil, come on dushi mama, Porto Mari, Scharloo, Jay Baby why don’t we go…to the top of Mount Christoffel….all on the Dutch Antilles.

That’s my song after diving Kokomo.

It’s week five on the island and I think you all can tell how much we love it. It is an easy island to live on. I’ve so much to share and haven’t wanted these blogs to be too long. So this week let’s tour around the island above the water. The length of the island runs WNW (Westpunt) to ESE (Oostpunt).

Beginning in the Westpunt area is Mount Christoffel, named after Saint Christopher. If you’ve ever downloaded the “All Trails” app on your phone, this is the only trail listed in Curacao. The word trail is a loose term, however there are yellow arrows painted on some trees or rocks to mark the way to the top. Many areas feel more like rock climbing. You have to be at the trail head no later than 10:00 a.m. to hike. They have had to rescue too many due to the heat. So they close the gates. It takes about an hour (Jay Harris record is a bit less) to go up and a little bit longer to come down. Mount Christoffel is the highest point on the island at an elevation of 1,220′. The view is amazing and a must do if you are in good shape and like a good hike.

All along the south side of the island are beautiful beaches, most of them called Playa…..something. Each morning the fishermen come into Playa Grande to clean and sell their freshly caught fish. After cleaning the fish, they put some of the remains into this bay where all the turtles come to eat. It’s close to a guaranteed turtle spotting when snorkeling in these waters. We bought a 30″ tuna for $25.00. It made about 12 tuna steaks. Cheap and delicious eating.

As we continue this tour of the island, we stopped for lunch after a dive, of course, at Playa Forti. There are cliffs approximately 40′ high. We had a great view of watching all the crazy people jumping off into the beautiful crystal blue waters. Of course, we rated each jump. I gave most of them 10’s just for the bravery of jumping.

By the way, from Noordpunt to Oostpunt, there are 70 dive spots.

One of our favorite areas is Playa Porto Mari. This is, again, a great dive spot with a beautiful beach for lounging. There is a restaurant/bar where the food looks really good. The fun and unique part of this area are the pigs. We haven’t seen them in the water, but hopefully before we leave so we can have a picture to give to our Lilly girl. In the same area is Coral Estates. This is where I would like to live. Jay said, in your dreams, dushi. Let’s just say, $27.00 to sit by the pool.

Then there is a little place called Kokomo. Palm trees swaying in the sand…..That’s where we wanna go, down to Kokomo. Beautiful waters, double reef to dive, a swing in the waters, and comfortable lounge chairs in the sun or shade, your choice. The perfect little place to hang out in the mornings or afternoons.

Blubaai (Blue Bay) is in Playa de Muro. If you ever want to come for vacation, this is a wonderful place to stay. One weekend a month Bluebaai hosts “Clean up the Reefs”. Bring your gear and gloves, they furnish a tank and a net bag for the divers to pick up the trash at the bottom of the ocean. This month it was on Easter. Because of the crazy condo owner, I felt like I needed to be at the house, so I missed Clean the Reef. However, Jay represented us well. Instead of picking up the trash, you guessed it, he cleaned up the Lionfish on the reefs. He said there were twelve people showed up to help with the effort. My kind of people!! My kind of place, right?

Also at Blubaai, we joined a group one Saturday to hang on a sailboat for the day. Definitely a must when you come to the Island.

Piscadera is the area we live right now. This is the area we watch the ships sail by and have been cleaning up the trash on the sides of the road. The Hilton Inn is just down the hill from our place. On Sunday evening just in time to watch the sunset is “Yoga on the Pier”. A little hard on the knees, but fun and relaxing. Piscadera has some of the best walking paths too. It’s a great place to practice spearing as well.

One of the places for a frequent walk from Piscadera along the edge of the ocean is to Fish row. This is a stretch along the waterfront where a few restaurants open when they have the fresh catches. We have made friends with Gina at Purinchi’s. She buys Jay’s extra Lionfish or she’ll cook it up for us. We found a place next door to Gina.

We have finally made our way to the capital, Willemstad. Willemstad is broken up into three different areas, Otrabanda, Punda, and Scharloo. This is where the beautifully colored buildings that you see in picures. It is one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites. UNESCO stands for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. It was formed after WWII with a purpose to build defenses of peace in the minds of everyone, through education, science and culture for everyone.

Punda is the more vibrant life and great for shopping. On Thursday (our new date night) we like to go to Punda. In addition to the shopping, there is delicious restaurants, street bands and dancing, and at 8:15, fireworks for two minutes. Yes, every Thursday. They call it Thursday Night Vibes. The walkway between Otrabunda and Punda is the Queen Emma Bridge. This is a 548′ pontoon bridge that spans across the Sint Annabaai completed in 1888. After the completion of the 185′ tall Queen Juliana bridge in 1974, Queen Emma was closed to vehicles. It is lit up each night. Since we’ve been here they have changed the colors on the bridge three times. We love to watch it swing open and close to the variety of ship traffic – cargo container, tankers, small cruise ships, coast guard (US and Curacao) just to name a few. I’ve even been standing on the bridge while it was opening for the patrol boats. You don’t have to get stuck on the bridge, there is a ferry you can take to cross.

Near the bridge is one of the “Lock your Love hearts” that are in a few places all over the world. We definitely have Punda hearts and have locked it in place. We still have the keys, however I plan to throw them away before we leave.

Also in Willamsted are some artists. We have met a couple. Lisette is a lionfish hunter like Jay. She takes the fins and tails from the pesky things and makes beautiful jewelry. No, they don’t smell fishy. You can see her work and find a place that sells it from her website – lionfishcaribbean.com.

And, Melissa, is a painter. Her family owns a gift store in Punda where she bases her work. Her “Skadey Cats” have been blessed by the prime minister and is the official cat of the island – Something of that nature. She is a sweet young lady with an outgoing personality. I believe she can be the next famous artists. You can follow her on instagram – dhanarts.

Another artist, we haven’t met, but have read about and seen his pieces on the sides of many buildings in Willamsted is Francis Sling. His work can be seen all over Curacao and gaining quite a bit of notoriety internationally. I mention him because I just finished a book by Francine Rivers called “The Masterpiece” This young gentleman reminds me of the character, Roman. Yes, Tobi, I finally finished the book. The funniest piece to that is on the island, we are attending a Victory Outreach. So funny how she mentions that in the epiloge.. Here are a couple of pieces, not the best ones, but the ones I’ve walked by.

Driving over the big bridge, Queen Juliana, is Jan Thiel, Mambo Beach, and several other Playa’s….. We have not explored this area much except for a few dives and one Sunday Salsa night at Mambo Beach with the nieces. Hey Beka and Annie, “Mi piacerebbe ballare con le tue figlie”, “I would like to dance with your daughters,” said in an Italian accent. (Inside joke, you had to be there.) Anyway, this area is where all the big sailboatd and yachts live. It is also pretty touristy for all the cruise ships. So that’s why we haven’t explored it much.

That ends the brief overview tour of this wonderful island. I have touched on a few of the many things to see and do, however, there’s so much more such as Kato Caves, Fort tours, Landhuises, and Boka Tabla at Shete Boka. I hope you enjoyed the tour. I recommend coming in person to visit when you have the opportunity. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

….That’s where you wanna go to get away from it all….all on the Dutch Antilles.

Bendishona (Blessings)