“Stijn Watches While Tico Takes A GIANT Leap Into The Sea”

“North Coast Cave Fed By The Ocean”

“Riding Thru Playa Canoa”

“The Giant Windmills Have Been Torn Down”

“Stijn Checking Out The Landhouse At Koral Tabak”

Good evening friends, Stijn and I just got home from a super fun three hour mountain-bike ride along our wild and windy rough North coast. We started our ride today near a little town called Montana and rode first to Saint Joris bay. The wind was pretty heavy today making our ride really fun in one direction and not so fun in the other! We followed the waters edge at Saint Joris until we ran out of waters edge and then headed up and over a little mountain sending us straight down into where the ocean feeds Saint Joris bay, we call it the North coast. We immediately ran into my work colleagues Tico and Michiel who were on there way for a dive/lobster hunt but to get there they had to jump off this insane rock wall into very rough water! My question was and still is, “how do you get back out”?? Stijn and I both looked at each other shaking our heads and said, “no thanks”, those guys are crazy! From there you can follow a very rough but beautiful and fun two track four-wheel drive road along the whole North coast. Our next stop was this cool cave that is fed underground by the ocean. Many folks come here on calm North coast days and dive here but so far I have never done it. They say you just enter the cave as you see here with all your scuba gear on and dive under a big section of rocky shore-line and “presto” your out in the ocean! As I have been told the hard part is finding the hole to get back, just not sure I’m up for that yet, maybe after a few thousand more dives! Our next stop was Playa Canoa and seconds after taking this photo we got soaked by a surprise tropical storm, there was no where to run! Canoa is a favorite spot for surfers here in Curacao as you can see and it’s also one of the only semi-protected bays for fisherman so they use it to park their boats and have a cool little rustic village set up here. Soaked to the bone we carried on and headed West but soon we got hit with another downpour and within seconds the ground was soaked and we were caked in mud! So you guessed it we turned around and started back, now heading directly into the wind and let me tell you, that was zero fun! After drafting Stijn for around 15 minutes we finally came to what is now left of the giant windmills. The blades are all gone, must have been hauled away and all that remain are these big posts that once held the spinning giants in place. Not sure what they are doing out there but it looks like they may be building new ones, stay tuned if I hear something I will pass it along. Our final adventure of the day was riding our bikes up to this beautiful old 1800′s Landhouse. Stijn said it’s called “Landhouse Coral Tabak” which makes sense to me. He rode around investigating the whole scene while I took photos, and I think it’s safe to say we had a great time here! It was now getting late and we were still quite a ways from home so off we went back into the wind, fun, fun, fun!! We did make one more stop and that was to watch the illegal races at the speedway we have here in Curacao. It happens every Sunday evening on a paved stretch of road about a half mile in length. They race everything they can find, we even say a kid doing a long wheelie on a moped! We managed to get back to Stijn’s house just before dark and I was thankful to be done, that wind is just enough to drive one crazy! It’s so much fun having a strong tailwind but turning around and riding into it for an hour and a half is just not a good time! Fun ride.

We did a whole lot of trail work on Saturday morning and on Sunday, it’s starting to look like a mountain bike park out there! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, see you again soon, Barry

• Plastic bottles take 700 years to begin composting
• 90% of the cost of bottled water is due to the bottle itself
• 80% of plastic bottles are not recycled
• 38 million plastic bottles go to the dump per year in America from bottled water (not including soda)
• 24 million gallons of oil are needed to produce a billion plastic bottles
• The average American consumes 167 bottles of water a year
• Bottling and shipping water is the least energy efficient method ever used to supply water
• Bottled water is the second most popular beverage in the United States

Although it can be easy and convenient to pick up bottle beverage products the end cost to the environment is staggering. So be mindful when you drink…and remember, friends don’t let friends drink from disposables!

The good side to these trash piles if there is one is that it’s also filled with many useable or recyclable products like all the driftwood! This is just one of the many little Boca’s/inlets I frequent in search of wood to build my furniture and necklace holders, every day something new comes in!! These piles are also homes to many creatures like hermit crabs, rabbits, and even quail so I usually have to be very careful when digging thru this stuff.

The rain seems to have stopped here in Curacao and the sun is back! I did one dive with the sub yesterday and again noticed how cold the water is still this year, quite a difference from last year!

Hope everyone has a wonderful day, I am off to go diving,

be well, Barry

Good morning friends, here is one of the hundreds of beautiful churches that can be found on Curacao but this one is my personal favorite. It’s in an area called Willibrordus and is completely surrounded by fun stuff to see and do. About a half mile down the road to the East is a big salt water pond that is usually filled with flamingo’s and every other kind of bird you can imagine, it’s a photographers and bird watchers paradise. To the West about two miles down a crazy-narrow, two-way road lies the beautiful beach of Porto Mari which is by far the most visited natural beach in Curacao. There is also a locals beach called Daaibooi which is located directly in front of the church about two miles “as the crow flies” and even a resort called Coral Estates very near that on top of a very high mesa. Sint Willibrordus Roman Catholic church was built between 1884 and 1888 in the Neo-Gothic architectural style common for churches built in that period. The design being an input of architect E.K.Margrij, it was constructed by the builder-priest V.Jansen. It was common for priests to be engaged in building activities in those days. The church was the second to be built on the site. The first one was erected in 1849 by the community. Under the inspiring leadership of Monsignor Niewindt, bishop and missionary, who worked from 1824 until 1860 on the island, small parishes were set up throughout the island with a small school and a church. These structures quite often were not more than shelters. Sint Willibrord village was among the first parishes to be founded by the Roman Catholic mission. The church was renovated with the support of the Curacao Monuments Foundation in 1999 and 2011. As you can see here they just finished renovations and it’s newly painted. We have driven by here many times over the course of the year and it’s been surrounded in scaffolding and construction. For any of you wanting photos of this beauty get out there now as this paint will fade very quickly and slowly turn to a shade of white.

Many of you wrote and said you saw us underwater yesterday, that is so cool!! I should be out there again at 12:15 today, that’s 9:15 for my mom in Tucson, Arizona!! Hint, hint!!

Love to all, thanks for the support, Barry

Today, Curacao’s Carnival is a celebration in a class of its own. It more or less takes full possession of the whole community through competitions (Tumba music and Calypso festivals), beauty pageants, private and public parties and street parades during the first weeks of the year climaxing on the weekend and Tuesday preceding the Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent). Here on Curacao there is an adult carnival and a children’s carnival, both involve great costumes and loud music so bring ear plugs if you go!! From what I was told it takes one full year to get these costumes ready and they never wear the same thing twice?? Many costumes are taken apart after the carnival and parts are used for a new design. Most large companies in town will sponsor a group as the cost of the costumes is so high but volunteers are still used to sew them all together, can you imagine the work??

Off to bed, be back tomorrow, Barry