Grand Turk
Historic downtown Cockburn is a mess.
We arrived for our second visit to Grand Turk on a windy, overcast day, with spitting rain and rough cloudy water. Of note, by our late-day departure, the sun was shining and the water had returned to its normal sparkling turquoise hue.
Originally, we had planned to do a kayak excursion while here – but when the cruise line reversed our itinerary it was no longer an option. Good thing, this would not have been a day to be on the ocean in a kayak. Instead, we took a cab into town. As stated – it was a mess. A shabby area, with dogs sleeping around, drunk locals selling conch shells, tacky souvenirs for sale and no real reason to hang around.
Except for one. The Turks and Caicos Museum is housed in an old home facing the water in the historic downtown. For $5 you can find out why these islands are special and the importance of their role in history. Visitors learn about marine archeologists who are working on the only Caravel shipwreck ever found. A Caravel is the type of ship Columbus and his contemporaries sailed and not much is known about them. You can also find out about the area’s unique geology, groundbreaking diving history, sea life, indigenous population, and early salt industry. It may not be the most sophisticated group of exhibits you’ve ever seen, but you’ll get your $5 worth and more.
Grand Turk had some crime issues, so I didn’t feel like just wandering around aimlessly. Since we’d been here before, we returned to our ship early and relaxed.
Observations:
For years the Turks and Caicos national flag included an image of an igloo! As crazy as that seems . . . someone unfamiliar with the area mistook a drawing of a large pile of salt and added an igloo to the flag. It stayed for the next 100 years until it was replaced in 1968.
Pretty sure I got Covid after riding in one of the decrepit local “taxi” transports, which holds about 12 passengers. One of the 12 was in the back coughing up a storm and we were trapped. It hit me like a truck the afternoon we returned to Miami. The good news, I did recover quickly.
I’ve traveled in Latin America enough to recognize some basic similarities. First, I must qualify this post by saying I feel comfortable in the region and have always loved the places I’ve visited.
On this cruise, the ship visited Puerto Plata on the north shore of the Dominican Republic. The ship docked at the newly constructed port of Amber Cove, a pretty port located 3.5 miles out of town. With access into town on a busy highway, it is not safely walkable in my opinion (as I had seen reported). We’ve been to the Dominican in the past – but only to Casa de Campo, the famous golf resort. At that location we rented a villa which came with a heavily armed guard during the night (a bit disconcerting at the very least). At the resort, the three golf courses were wonderful, service attentive, and the setting beautiful and tranquil.
This trip, there was no time for golf and we chose to head up into the mountains. Like every other Latin American town there are lots of signs of construction. But you never know if the building is going up, being torn down, or simply abandoned – it can be very hard to tell. We took off in an open-air vehicle and immediately got stuck in traffic, next to a gigantic new truck with the loudest most obnoxious horn I’ve ever heard and a very big old utility truck spewing toxic diesel fumes. It was awful. Finally, we turned off the main road. Our route took us past the requisite small tiendas, stands selling helados, lush untamed greenery, and, unfortunately, a lot of trash along the rough, uneven uphill road.
During the parts of the drive that surrounded us with nothing but a tangled mass of vines, palms, and many other tall green trees, I tried to filter out the bumpy road and channel images inspired by the Green Mansions book of my childhood.
It took us about 45 minutes to get up about 2500’ to the top where we visited Parque National Isabel de Torres, with wonderful vistas of the city below, a gondola to sea level, and a replica of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The main features of the park are the beautiful, landscaped gardens and it was lovely to walk around the paved paths and boardwalks. It was very interesting to see the cave where they say the ocean starts (pictured above). I’m not sure I understand how that is possible, but that’s what they say. The gardens were enjoyable, the area around the replica statue, not so much. There were vendors selling tchotchkes and young men haggling to arrange pictures in exchange for a few dollars.
On this day we happened to be in port with four other cruise ships. Alarming! One of them docked at our port, was a Carnival ship with more than 6,000 passengers. In the town of Puerto Plata three more ships were docked, one each from Celebrity, Regent, and NCL. There were so many people in the city center it was hard to move. Plus, they seem to have some annoying rule here, that tour groups must enter shops. Our guide literally had us speed-walk through several; we were in and out in a flash. The only spot where we lingered was one serving samples of their delicious Dominican hot chocolate in small ceramic cups.
It’s a historic city and looked interesting with Colonial and Victorian architecture, and I was disappointed not to be able to explore and experience it. But, I couldn’t wait to get away from the crowds.
Puerto Plata was designed in 1496 by Christopher Columbus and his brother. I wonder what they would’ve thought of it on this day.
A nice contrast to Curaçao, Bonaire was my favorite island on this trip. Without a big population or huge tourist industry (the government is limiting cruise ships to one at a time), the island has a laid-back, authentic vibe. Hurray up and visit before it changes!
We arranged a private guide and driver here and it was a nice, relaxing choice. The vehicle was pretty beat up, but the A/C did work and our local guide was a sweetheart.
She knew we wanted to see wild flamingos and started our day by running us by a lake near the airport where they’d been recently hanging out. It was a large flock – but impossible to photograph with just my iPhone. We headed to the south part of the island to see the desolate-looking salt flats and existing salt operations (now owned by Cargill). Our guide said when the water just finishes evaporating, the flats sparkle in the sun like millions of diamonds.
The historic Slave Huts were not far away. Built in 1850, they once housed 6-9 slaves in each tiny building. Many have survived throughout the island and stand as a testament to the past. Earlier slaves camped outdoors, then had wooden huts until these stone structures were built with no water or facilities. They were considered a big improvement, but when you looked inside it was impossible to imagine how people could live in those conditions. The view, however, was incredible; but now the waves have eroded the shoreline to the point the huts survivability are threatened.
Heading north, we visited the 14th-century Spanish village of Rincon, nestled between mountain peaks for protection from attackers. Rincon is the oldest village in the Netherlands Antilles and Aruba that has been in continuous existence. While there we tasted a liquor made from the abundant native cactus. I’ll pass on this one, not to my taste.
Eventually, we got up into the hills on the island and stopped at a beach known as 1000 Steps, because it feels like 1000 steps, instead of the 67 it is, to those divers coming back up to the road with all their equipment. It was a stunning beach setting and made me sad I wasn’t able to do any snorkeling on this trip. Anyone who visits Bonaire and can snorkel or dive – should!
The drive towards Goto Lake was lovely and wouldn’t have been well-traveled were it not for guests from our ship bicycling, in golf carts, or tours on the road. The landscape was dusty and arid, even though they had much more rain than usual in the just-ended rainy season. It wasn’t unusual to spot iguanas or donkeys in addition to the flamingos and bright orange oriels fliting in the trees.
There were not many flamingos in the lake this day (it’s nesting season), but we did spot a few as we drove around a side not visible from the viewpoint.
Kralendijk was a serviceable town. Lots of stores selling basics for the locals, one KFC, and housing for the many divers that flock to the island famous for its pristine diving. You can take a short self-guided walking tour of the town from down by the port and there is a small crafts market catering to the cruise port located in the square. We walked around a bit before boarding our ship at the end of a really nice day.
Last Spring – a lifetime ago – my husband and I went on a get-a-way cruise. At the time, my dear mother was ill and I thought she would improve with rehab. She didn’t. Most of the past year has been filled with bittersweet, challenging trips to see her. As I begin to refocus on the many suspended details in my life, I realized I wrote content, selected photos, and never posted details of that trip. Better late than never, here we go . . . .
Formerly known as the Netherlands Antilles – Aruba, Curaçao, and Bonaire are now loosely independent from one another, although still showing off their shared Dutch culture and heritage. After Aruba declared her independence, Curaçao followed, leaving Bonaire and her sisters of Sabo and St Eustatius under Dutch rule. St. Marteen rounds out the archipelago.
In pictures, Curaçao is colorful and thriving. Up close and personal it shares many of the qualities found throughout the Caribbean – crumbling structures, rough roads, litter, and roaming donkeys.
It was, however, an enjoyable island to visit and we were well-informed by our knowledgeable tour guide during our open-air island adventure. Initially, I was disappointed the historic walking tour of Willemstad I planned was not available during our Sunday visit. I also knew most of the shops would be closed (that is not necessarily a bad thing as far as I’m concerned, it keeps the crowds down).
Thankfully, we hopped out of our colorful bus and were able to walk through an area featuring some of the many vibrant murals and street art that have been added to the neighborhood in recent years. We managed to get around to the key sections of town, including, Otrobanda, Punda, and Scharloo. Scharloo was once the location of the thriving Jewish community on the island, and while today structures house museums and government buildings, the town of Willemstad is still home to the oldest continuously used Jewish synagogue in the Western Hemisphere, founded in 1651.
The old district of Punda was very interesting. That is what you see when you look across St. Anne’s Bay from Otrobanda where the cruise port is located. It contains what is probably the most iconic visual of Curaçao, a colorful row of attached, colonial Dutch merchant homes along Handelskade facing the bay. That is the only spot we saw that type of building. It didn’t take Dutch settlers long to realize that in a humid, salty, breezy Caribbean setting, air surrounding buildings is a good thing and homes and buildings were then built freestanding.
It was nice to spot some wild flamingos as we drove around, interesting to learn (and sample) how the drink Blue Curaçao is made, and hard to resist a stop at charming Kokomo Beach, even if it was named in honor of the hit Beach Boys song.
The Dutch were very late to publicly acknowledge the role they played in the slave trade and Curaçao was a significant cog in that dark part of their history. Today a waterfront park and monuments pay homage to their history and the role of the slaves who began the fight for independence in 1863.
We rounded out our Curaçao experience by taking advantage of our late stay in port with a food-hopping tour. Booked from the ship, and in partnership with Food & Wine Magazine, it made for a fun, special night in town. A group of 19 of us began with appetizers at the Gouverneur de Rouville restaurant in Otrobanda where the banana soup was a new taste for me (and a new fav). We then crossed the “new” Queen Wilhelmina Bridge (they name bridges here after Dutch queens) for the second time to visit Tabooshh an open-air restaurant along the bay in the Spanish Waters area. After a special welcome (Bon Bini) cocktail made with Curaçao liquor, we enjoyed our choice of entrees. I tried a Dutch classic called Stuffed Gouda Cheese which was made with chicken, vegetables, and spices and was very good, while my husband had a very nice piece of swordfish. Swordfish is not a local fish, turns out it really wasn’t the season for local catches. The owner of the restaurant was the designer of the Curaçaoan flag adopted in 1984, even before the territory became an autonomous state within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. In 2010.
We ended the evening back on the “other side” (which is what Otrobanda means) for dessert at O’Porto, on a lovely patio set against the walls of the historic fort.
A bonus was seeing the pedestrian-only Queen Emma Pontoon Bridge that connects Otrobanda and Punda, known as the “Swinging Old Lady”, completely open and lit up in multicolors.
Afterthought: I had to make sure this was true . . . the buildings of Curaçao used to be all white. The governor in 1817 decreed the bright white buildings were giving him a headache and they needed to be painted – any color at all, as long as it was a color. And so, they were; giving us the iconic images everyone loves today. Fact was, the Governor owned the paint store.
Some things never change . . . .
