SEEING CURAÇAO

GOING OFF CAMPUS
When relaxing at a Sandals resort one can be forgiven if there is no interest in exploring the island further. Afterall, the charming upscale accommodations, the beauty of the grounds, the attentive staff and the many activities available on the resort, as well as great food, and free drinks all included, makes it is easy to slip through the days without a care or with every whim fulfilled.   

Sandals is an all-inclusive adult couple only chain of Caribbean resorts headquartered in Jamaica. There are now 17 resorts scattered over 7 different islands with the opening last year of Sandals Royal Curaçao. We will be going to Curaçao very soon.

SANDALS RESORT

GOING DUTCH

Admittedly the free scuba diving offered by all the Sandals resorts is a major alluring feature, not to mention the food and drinks, and Curaçao is considered one of the best places to scuba in the Caribbean with colorful reefs and wrecks with great visibility because the dive sites are all protected from strong currents. Year round the weather is warm and one can scuba dive every day if one so chooses. On our four previous trips to a Sandals Resort we did just that and dove every day.

But because Curaçao is a former Dutch colony we thought we should see more of the island, and we booked an extra day so we could explore the island and her beaches and capital and not feel the pressure of being pulled in two different directions. This way we could experience great diving and explore a culture that is a rich fusion of European, namely Spanish and Dutch, and Caribbean.

LOVE BY IGUANA

WHAT?

The Dutch colonial buildings of the capital, Willemstad are painted in pastel Caribbean colors and the people speak Dutch and Spanish, English and the local creole language Papiamentu and we will likely hear Soca and Bachata, Reggaeton and Ritmo Kobima the music style that originated in Curaçao in the 90s, while walking through the colorful streets or having a Dutch beer or a Blue Curaçao infused drink at Netto's, the oldest bar on the island.

Blue Curaçao is a Dutch liqueur flavored with the dried peel of the local bitter orange Laraha, isn’t necessarily blue but can be clear or red or orange hued as well.

The palate explodes with foods influenced by Dutch Spanish and Caribbean cuisine items like Keshi Yena which are baked cheese balls stuffed with meats and vegetables, Arepas a traditional Venezuelan dish of cornmeal cakes with meats and vegetables inside, Poffertjes a sweet Dutch puffy pancake or Bitterballen which are Dutch tapas of savory meatballs.

Of course, there’s a lot of seafood, including red snapper, and Lionfish, an invasive species to the waters that is actively hunted and now served at some area restaurants. But, a visit to Curaçao must include a meal of fried Iguana. It may taste like chicken, but local lore says it’s an aphrodisiac! You think I'm making this up? You must be at least 18 to eat Iguana in Curaçao.

No snarky comments please.... although I need all the help I can get.

Updates shall follow.

Thanks for reading.

© 2023 by Gregory Dunaj

Ritmo Kobima from Curaçao

SEPTA SENIOR PASS

I GET AROUND

Here’s some sage advice offered FREE by Vacations From Home Central:

Keep Having Birthdays!

Not only is the alternative boring and kind of sucks, if you accumulate enough birthdays, you get free shit.

SEPTA

Our middle-class garret in Collegeville Pennsylvania is tantalizingly near Philadelphia, but conveniently far enough away so we can avoid the machinations of city life. As travelers to destinations near and far we decided to forego vanity and sign up for a senior pass on SEPTA, (Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority).

With a senior pass one gets FREE travel on all SEPTA routes for bus, trolley, Broad Street Line, Market-Frankford Line and the Norristown High Speed line.

Free travel is not inclusive to citizens of the Commonwealth, but a senior pass must be obtained before arriving.

OH THE PLACES YOU WILL GO

So, now that we have these passes, we don’t have to endure the torturous traffic heading into the city or vie for parking spaces. We can head into the city for lunch and a museum, take transit to the ball games or even take SEPTA directly to the airport. As a commuter into NYC for decades I swore by mass transit and so this was an easy choice to make. Besides, when one gets too tipsy at a Philadelphia Phillies dollar dog night, the train is the way to go.

COME GET ONE 

Dollar Dog Night

To get a free pass requires photo ID and proof of your advanced age, obviously, but you’ll need to either go to the SEPTA headquarters at 1234 Market Street or to a State Senator or Representative’s office. Go to the headquarters and you’ll get your card right then. With the others they take your picture, and you’ll get it in the mail.

We recently applied for our SEPTA discount card at a….gasp…senior expo in Oaks. Aside from collecting a bunch of pens, a cookie and some chocolate and a couple of bags, we were in and out of there before anyone noticed we weren’t THAT old. (We did leave our walkers in the car.)

SEPTA SENIOR DISCOUNT

BEYOND PHILLY

NJ Transit also offers a senior discount fare. Not free, but it’s something especially when on a limited income. Here’s where you can go to obtain your senior reduced fare card from NJ Transit.

NJ TRANSIT REDUCED FARE

Check your own local transit system and see if they offer similar discounts or free travel.

Get out there....

Thanks for reading.

Love, Janet and greg

© 2023 by Gregory Dunaj

SANDALS CURAÇAO

A, B, C

Your favorite traveling tandem is soon off to yet another Sandals vacation, this time to Curaçao. Once part of the Netherland Antilles, the island nation has been a constituent country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands since the dissolving of the Antilles in 2010 and relies only on the Dutch for foreign policy and defense. Curaçao lies less than 50 miles off the northern coast of Venezuela. Together with Aruba and Bonaire, the three are collectively named the ABC islands.

We’re especially excited because the scuba diving in the ABC islands is exemplary. 

DIVING IN CURAÇAO

IT’S EASY AS 1, 2, 3

The Sandals Royal Curaçao is the newest resort in this Caribbean family of resorts, opening in 2022. This will be our fifth trip to a Sandals, which is an all-inclusive, adult couples only chain headquartered in Jamaica. We have already been to Antigua, The Royal Bahamian on Nassau, Jamaica South Coast and Grenada.

A vacation at a Sandals resort is romantic and opulent and a stay there is indulgent, and one never hears the word “no” to any request. It is that relaxing ease, that comfortable catering to whims that has us returning to a Sandals resort. The staff are helpful, attentive and all the resorts have been beautiful.

where in the world?

There are plenty of restaurants and swim-up bars and phenomenal activities like PADI-certified scuba diving, which is a costly endeavor if one wanted to buy individual dives. As we are both Open Water certified by PADI our only cost would be if we wanted to rent a wet suit. We don’t own equipment, and the Sandals’ dive crews provide everything, and their dive masters really ensure our safety.

SANDALS ROYAL CURACAO

AS SIMPLE AS DO RE MI

Activities at Sandals include day and night entertainment, other water sports like kayaking, and snorkeling, golf, tennis and bicycles to ride around the resort and a well-equipped fitness center for those hearty and hale and so inclined to pull themselves out of the swim-up bar.

There are 13 bars scattered around the Curacao resort all stocked with premium liquors.

Sandals Curacao
food truck

Here’s an interesting story about that: 

A couple of years ago we were at the Sandals South Coast in Jamaica, a beautiful resort with two miles of private beach and an over-the-water bar which was a great place to watch the sunsets. We were there on the faux holiday Cinco de Mayo, and of course I wanted a tequila. None of the bars were carrying this Mexican alcohol, but a quick mention of this oversight to the concierge and the problem was swiftly resolved! By the time we ventured out for a drink there was tequila everywhere.

A boy could get used to this.

There are 8 restaurants in Sandals Royal Curaçao, and what is an interesting twist for snacking, they have three food trucks on the property. One is for tapas, the other is typical Curaçao food and the other is Asian fusion. Don’t worry, there’s always a sushi restaurant somewhere at a Sandals resort.

DUTCH TREAT

Willemstad, Curacao

Visits to a Sandals resort are booked by the day and not simply by the week and this time we’re going for 8 days, just so we can explore the island. Curaçao is a multi-cultural country influenced by Spanish and Dutch culture and where both languages and the local language Papiamentu and English can be heard on the streets of the capital Willemstad.

With her winding streets and pastel-colored Dutch colonial buildings, there is plenty to explore and plenty of inviting bars to get an electric blue Curaçao infused drink.

Sandals usually give their guests complimentary bottles of rum to take home, but we get Blue Curaçao in Curaçao.

When in Rome… drink a Blue Hawaiian.

Bedankt voor het lezen!

Love Janet and greg

© 2023 by Gregory Dunaj