Curacao is an island in the Caribbean that simply has it all: Idyllic coves and secluded beaches, a fascinating history, great contemporary art, amazing food, and a capital city that UNESCO put on the list of World Heritage. You know like they say that travel should be a journey. And I totally fall for that and journey across the world under the pressure of a huge amount of FOMO. No stone remains unturned, no museum unvisited, no World Heritage Site unphotographed.
To some people, my kind of travelling sounds rather like boot camp. Well, guess what, I like it that way. Yet, when thinking about where to go next, all of a sudden, the Caribbean came to mind.
I remembered my trips to Jamaica and the Dominican Republic and Cuba. I felt the soft sand between my toes and the sun on my skin. I felt so detached from the world, so free and relaxed. Yap, definitely: I wanted to go to the Caribbean and meet up with my younger and far less ambitious self.
I would read books on the beach, go for a swim, snorkel, and immerse in sweet nothing. And I actually did all that. However, I also did much more. And after two weeks on the island, I cannot agree more. Heretofore, Arawak Indians had settled on the island. Although the Spanish added the island to their huge empire, they did not show too much interest in it.
There were no mineral resources, and the dry climate made vast cultivation basically impossible. Under the command of Johan van Walbeck, a squadron embarked in the port of what was to become Willemstad. Governor Peter Stuyvesant β who eventually became the governor of New Amsterdam which today is better known as New York β tried to dominate the Caribbean from the island.
