Memories of Curacao
As we approached the island, in the early morning sun, it looked more like one of the mystical islands that you read about in books but never hope to see. The water was so calm, crystal clear and blue, and a gentle breeze caused by the speed of the ship, kept it from being oppressively hot. Then as we came nearer, I was able to see houses – bright red-roofed houses. It surprised me immensely. On closer inspection I could see that they were typically Dutch, – more like dolls houses than real ones. The whole town was absolutely new; in fact, some houses were still in construction. I could see from the ship, the nature of the land, but it was not until I had got ashore, that I could see the different plants etc. The path that led round the shore, was dry and powdery. What little beach there was, consisted of coral.
A small portion of sea had been surrounded by a shark net for safety in swimming. Some of the chaps went in, but I preferred to explore. Right on the edge of the shore were two bungalows such as you see in magazine illustrations or on the films. The veranda’s contained wicker stairs, set around tables. Fruit hung from the roofs, and all was set in amongst palm trees. An old castle stood quite close to the bungalows, but I am told that at night time, man eating land crabs inhabit the place. Needless to say, I did not bother to find out if I could go in!
Continuing to walk in land, I came across a large lagoon, which was dotted about with green islands – green because of a peculiar tree-like shrub which grows near the water and has very bright green leaves. The water here was absolutely deep blue, and it rather reminded me of what I imagine the South Sea islands to look like;
The strata of the rock was most peculiar but rather nice. In the rock pools, I saw many strange tropical fish, which I could have spent hours looking at but time was passing quickly.
The queerest things there, were funny round objects with very long black spikes similar to a hedgehog’s, which had died in the sun after being left high and dry. Round the ship, were hundreds of quite big fish, and also small blue eel-like objects. But all too soon we were on our way, having spent a very lovely day.