Coral in Curacao

We landed at Willemstad, the capital of this Dutch Island, which has a population of 132,000 and average temp of 81. It is only 35 miles north of Venezuela and has the Florin as currency. This is the birthplace of the Papiamento language, a mix of dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, English, African and Indian dialect started back in the time of slavery.
We took a bus to the Hilton Hotel complex where we got on a boat, motored out to coral reefs and then went down below where it had glass side walls so we viewed the fish and coral as we cruised along 3 to 10 feet above the seabed, absolute fascinating and great for people who don't snorkel. We seemed to be in an area where there was more white sand below and greater visibility than I'd had snorkeling the day before, so a great experience and good for Ron to see also. We passed 2 ship hulls on the bottom and the guide went below and fed the fish so we saw hundreds of different ones, so pretty with numerous colors.
The harbor, another natural one, is one of the worlds best. A short walk from the dock is Queen Emma's Bridge, a floating bridge that spans the causeway to the old town. I walked over to the very Dutch older area and it was astounding that the houses, 4 stories tall and attached to each other looked like you were in Amsterdam.
The Dutch originally tried to grow Valencia oranges and all they got was small, green, bitter fruit.They switched to Laraha oranges and the oils in the skin produce the clear blue Curacao liquor still made by the original 1896 distiller Sr. Curacao, seen here at the vendors stand with our ship in the background. It is also used for Grand Marnier and Cointreau.
I was amazed by the red soil and many cacti on the island which are even used for fences to cope with the wild goats.