11 Days in Beautiful Curacao

We can't write about Curacao without a mention of our trip here. Travelling on the day we did meant that we had to fly through Venezuela to get to Curacao from Panama City. That or Columbia which was a lot more travelling. At the time we booked there was a lot of general unrest in Venezuela but nothing in Valencia where we flew through or any warnings to not go.... continued below

Unfortunately the week before we were to fly, both the US and Britain started withdrawing embassy staff, issuing stronger travel warnings and then there was an attack on the Valencian Military base resulting in two deaths. Obviously we were a bit nervous travelling that day but all went pretty smoothly. Valencia airport was fine, it was pretty run down and the security dogs sadly looked very malnourished but we got through with minimal issues and no delays. Rob was taken away for a bag search by airport security which went on a bit too long but he did return. He said it was slightly nerve racking as they couldn't speak English and he was put in a small concrete room at the back of the airport with different guards trying to tell him to do different things. The backpack was packed too tightly though and Rob said they lost interest after going through the first bag of children's raincoats.


It was stunning flying into Curacao over the clear blue water which we could even see through from up in the plane. On our first day we made the most of the car and drove up to the top of the island to Playa Piskado where a friendly local on a scooter told us to get in quickly if we wanted to see turtles. Of course we rushed to get our togs on and jumped in only to straight away face a huge green sea turtle as big as Olivia. We were all amazed and the girls really loved it. It was a beautiful day and the water was completely clear, on top of that there was a wharf to jump off so they were suitably impressed.


Both Sophia and I celebrated our birthday's on Curacao. I was excited to be able to get a chocolate cake and some icing so she could have a proper cake. We had such a great day on both, of course with lots of swimming.


Other highlights of Curacao have included:

• a trip to a Curacao distillery where we learnt how Curacao is made - nothing made me like it though the coffee flavoured was pretty ok. We didn't find out why it was originally coloured blue though.
• Having an apartment so we can shop and eat at home makes things so much easier. As nice as it is to have someone else cook for us it's calmer and the girls eat better at home. We could also unpack properly.
• Rob discovered Amstel Malta, we have a new saying which might help you get an idea of its taste; "Do you want the good news or the bad news? The good news is I have bought you a drink, the bands news is it's Amstel Malta!"
• Buying proper snorkel gear for Sophia, Olivia and I that we are learning to use and necessitated another trip up to see the turtles at Playa Piskado.
• The water, the water and beaches here is amazing. Beautiful soft sand with warm crystal clear water. We have been into Willemstad once but it was just to hot for us to walk around much so Curacao has really been a time spent out snorkelling or back chilling at the hotel.