Caribbean Christmas 12/30

We started out our last snorkel day near our hotel at Playa Kalki

After lunch we went back to Playa Abou so JB could see the underwater ledges. They were just as beautiful as before. 

Soft Coral Sea Plumes

 Fish

Anemone

White sea urchin

Welcome to the real world

Caribbean Christmas 12/29

Today is a "non-snorkel day" so we decided to explore other adventure opportunities on the island. One thing that kept popping up in our web searches was the

https://www.facebook.com/OstrichFarmCuracao

We saw a large male ostrich, and were even given the opportunity to feed some. They were softer than I thought, they'd be. Bill and JB stood on an ostrich egg to demonstrate the strength of the egg. The most interesting thing about the tour, for me, was how our tour guide was fluent in Dutch, English, and Spanish. He would explain one aspect of the tour in Dutch, then repeat the exact same information in English, and then a third time in Spanish. It was amazing!

After the tour of the ostrich farm, we visited the 

One of the first signs we saw...warning us not to touch the fruits that were falling from the surrounding trees. Here again, our guide spoke Dutch, English, and Spanish.

It was against the rules to shoot any pictures inside the cave until we reached a designated photo spot. It seems there are some camera shy bats in the cave. So I was good, and waited until I was told I could take some pictures.

Remember those poisonous fruits I just warned you about? Here is an iguana EATING one of them. I guess the are not toxic to iguana...

We still had some daylight to kill, and Bill had a cigar, so we headed to the beach nearest our hotel, Playa Kalki. It was a great beach, with a little bar and grill, lounge chairs, sandy shore. Beautiful. 

It also had iguanas! JB tried to feed one, but it just ran away.

So she searched for shells on the beach. 

Then we went back to our hotel and played some seriously rousing games of Magic the Gathering.  

Caribbean Christmas 12/28

Vacations are all about having adventures.... in Curacao we were able to experience many things that were not the same in the U.S. One such adventure was our entry into a roadside market in search of a loaf of bread. The market was very small, maybe about 1/2 the size of a 7-11. All of the items for sale were behind a row of bars. The cashier stood on the other side, and you told her (the best you could because she didn't speak English) what it is you wanted. We ended up doing a lot of pointing and nodding to get our single loaf of bread. We paid her in dollars, and she gave us change in Dutch gilders, handing everything out through the bars. I didn't dare take any other pictures because I didn't want to upset or offend the shopkeeper.

Finally we made it to our first snorkel destination, Playa Lagun. This site is rated in many snorkel and dive magazines as the best in the world. We were in for a real treat!

One fish,

Two fish,

Red fish,

Blue fish,

Super fish

After we came ashore for a break, we could smell some delicious vitals. Some local fisherman had brought in their morning catches, and were chopping up things to cook right there at the beach. It smelled good, and looked interesting....maybe just a bit too interesting for the likes of us. We ate our packed lunches instead.

After lunch we headed to our second snorkel spot of the day.

JB got tired and went back to play in the sand, so Bill and I snorkeled up along the edge of the lagoon. I think this may be the closest we have come to what is must be like to scuba dive. There was a small overhanging ledge that we were able to snorkel under. There was a few feet of headroom, not much, but enough, and we were able to get up close and personal with a lot of creatures living on the rocks.

Beautiful beautiful day.