Curacao Information  The C of the ABC Islands (part
of the five-island Netherlands Antilles group), Curaçao
is an excellent dive spot. It also offers intimate beaches, shops,
excellent restaurants, and lively casinos.
People
Curaçao is one of the few islands
in the Caribbean where the annual income averages US$5,000 or more
(most people on other islands scrape by on $1,500 or less). The Shell
Refinery remains an important element in the island's economy. In addition,
Curaçao has obtained a reputation as an international banking
center, with hundreds of millions of dollars passing through businesses
that only have a phone and P.O. Box number.
Today there are 79 nationalities
represented on the island, including Dutch, English, Spanish,
Portuguese, Chinese, East Indian, and Venezuelan. About 80 percent
of the population is Roman Catholics; the Jewish population totals
about 600. The Mikveh Israel-Emmanuel Synagogue is thought to be the oldest in
continuance in the Western Hemisphere, since Jews from Spain and
Portugal, via Brazil, were among the earliest settlers on the island.
The local language is Papiamento, the official
language Dutch, but almost everybody speaks some form of English,
as well as Spanish. |
History
Long before the Spanish explorer Alonso
de Ojeda set foot on the island in 1499, Arawak tribes, from the
clan of the Caquetios called Curaçaos, inhabited the island.
After Ojeda marked his claim, a Spanish settlement followed in 1527.
A hundred
years later, the Spanish unceremoniously left the island, leaving
it in the hands of Holland, which deemed it a possession of the
Dutch West Indies Company. The island's natural harbors and strategic
location in the Caribbean inspired predatory interest among the
French and British, who continually tried to send
the Dutch packing, with little success. In 1642 a young Dutchman named
Peter Stuyvesant became governor of the island, a mere three
years before he took over governorship of the Dutch colony of
New Amsterdam, today known as New York. During Dutch rule, the
island was divided into plantations. Not all were devoted to
agriculture; some of the estates were utilized for salt mining.
In 1863 emancipation freed the slaves. The island made waves
on the international scene when oil was discovered in Venezuela,
and the Royal Dutch Shell Company, impressed with Curaçao's
fine harbor potential, erected the world's largest oil refinery
there. The industry lasted well into this century, attracting
laborers from many nations who have created the melting pot that
makes up Curaçao's population today.
Today, Curaçao is part of the kingdom of the Netherlands. Curaçao
and the other territories which comprise the Netherlands Antilles-Bonaire, Saba,
St. Eustatius, and Sint Maarten-are administered through Willemstad, the capital
of the Netherlands Antilles.
Transportation
Inquire whether your hotel has a free shuttle service to the shopping district
of Willemstad. If not, yellow city buses stop at Wilhelmina Plein,
near the shopping center, and travel to most parts of the city. Buses
stop when you hail them.
Taxi rates are regulated by the government. Don't tip drivers unless they carry
your luggage. Charges after 11 PM go up by 25 percent. You'll find
lots of taxis waiting for passengers on the Otrabanda side of the floating bridge. If
you want to make a tour by taxi, expect to pay about US$20 per hour (up to four
passengers allowed). |
Geography
Curaçao is the largest of the five islands in the Netherlands
Antilles. Shaped like the arched wings of a great heron,
it is located 56 kilometers (35 miles) north of the coast of Venezuela
(which explains why it was long a tourist haven for Venezuelans
before the rest of the world discovered it). The entrance
of the harbor splits the main downtown area of Willemstad into
two. Downtown, which is well developed and recently renovated,
is the hub of Curaçao shopping, and its vibrant colors and
pastel-house façades are true picture ops.
The contrast between the bustling Dutch-cobbled pastel fronts of Willemstad and
the countryside is stark; once you leave the capital, the landscape takes on
the color of brown and russet, studded with three-pronged cacti, spiny-leafed
aloes, and divi-divi trees. You can still see Dutch windmills pumping water
to irrigate the arid fields. Since the island receives very little rainfall,
much of its landscape looks like the Sonoran Deserts of the American Southwest. Just
off East Point is the tiny island of Klein Curaçao (klein means
little in Dutch).
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