Willemstad - Curaçaos city

Willemstad: Punda

When I was not at the beach, snorkeling or doing anything else related to the beach I was in Curaçaos capital city Willemstad. The city center is not very big. You don't need much time to see everything. This old part of the town is diveded by the Sint Annabai the huge bay that give Willemstad a natural harbour. On one side of the Sint Annabai there is Punda and on the other side is Otrabanda. These two parts build the heart of the city. They are connected by the Queen Emma Bridge and if that swinging brigde is open there are ferries cruising. Just expoler the city. There is a daily market that sells mainly food imported from Venezuela. Willemstad is also good for shopping. Firstly you don't pay taxes and secondly there are a lot of shops. I am sure you will find what you need.
I would like to point out some restaurants and bars.

Queen Emma Bridge

I want to recomend you the Iguana Cafe just next to the Queen Emma Brigde (Punda). Why don't you go there for a drink just before sunset. No worries the prices are very low and I heard the food is quite good. I just had some beers....

Just in the center where you have the Curaçao sign there are two restaurants. I tried the one on the right. Do not ask for the name but the food was quite good and not to expensive.

Before I leave the topic food I have to tell you about this burgers on the street on Plaza Jo-Jo Correa. There is this small stand which sells burgers. They are good and very che
ap like $2.00. Go and try one...

live music @ Rock Beach

On Petermaai Road there are two realy cool places. Unfortunately I do not have any address but you can not miss these places. One of my favourite places I have ever been to is called Rock Beach! It is a place next to the ocean with live music, food and drink. We sat in the back and ordered some food and beers to start. The food was amazing very very tasty.... Uhhh gosh I have to go back there. After having had dinner we went to the stage for the blues concert of the night. It was Ralph de Jongh a durch blues man. Crazy guy but wonderful music. This guy I can tell you feels the blues! Please dear reader just go there I can not describe this place. It is just perfect for dinner and some good live music. They are open on weekends only. It is free entry and mostly blues and rock sessions.
Just across there is the blue bird cafe. A nice small bar. The barkeeper looks a bit like Herbie Hankock and mixes cool drinks. I suggest you to go there for you Blue Curaçao the typical Curaçaon drink. 

the reason why you go to Curaçao

One of the main reasons for me to visit this island was the beach. I wanted to stay at the beach for a couple of days. I can tell you I spent so many hours at the beach but still it was not enough... ;-)

Mambo Beach - the clean part

The nice beaches are on the southcoast of the island. On Curaçao you have to pay to get to many of the beaches. For sure you do not have to pay for the beach if you stay in the hotel at the beach... But for other beaches they charge you a couple of dollars for the access and even for the chairs.
One of the most popular beaches is Mambo Beach because on fridays and saturdays there are beach parties all over. The wet 'n' wild is like a huge bar with a stage. I recomed this one for people who like to go crazy and do party like @ Ballermann in Palma de Mallorca. Next to it there is a really big restaurant/bar with live music. (They had a very good salsa band on that night...) It is all openair and at the beach!

Behind all these are some shops, snackbars, restaurants and more bars. It is a two floor building which reminds me a lot of the promenade in Playa del Ingles in Gran Canaria. Upstairs is this salsabar with good DJs and brilliant dancers. We have been watching this dancers for hours. A lot of local people were in this bar.

During the day this long beach is just heaven on earth. It is quite, the water is warm and crsistal clear.

Caracas Bay with tower and ferry in tha back

On my first day some guests of the hostel took me to Caracas Bay. It is a huge bay with a long sandy beach. This beach is uses by locals and very few tourist. It is free and there are two bars. The water is clear and you can see lots of fishes!!! Very close by there is an old dutch tower on hill. Behind this hill there is a harbour with an old ferry which is out of service. Behind this ferry are some buoyes. After you crossed the last one you are able to see a ship wreck. It is amazing how many different fishes are living in there. Explore also the riff just a little bit further on. But be carefull with the current and the waves.

sunset in the harbour

On of the most beautiful places should be Kenepa Beach. I heard it is a peaceful but a bit crowed beach. I had to relax that is why I did not went there. Sorry...

One of my favorit places is located next to the Sunscape Curaçao Resort. There is just the end of the Mambo Beach. There is a very small beach on the left and a harbour with a some fishing boats. This beaches are free and the resaturants serve very good food. I recomend you to have a drink during the sunset and after a bite in the Surf and Turf just next to the harbour.

Besindes the beaches and the snorkeling diving is a big thing in Curaçao. There are diving centers everywhere. I did not have enough time to take the course. I will do that the next time.

Little Curaçao is a small sandy island in the southeast of Curaçao. It is popular for day trips by boat. It is one of these Robinson Crusoe islands with nothing on it than sand and some small vegetation. You can hire boat or go on some organised trips by boat or sailing ships.

sleeping day and night

I was quite surprised about the prices they charge for the hotels on Curaçao. Well, as on any other beautiful place the beachfront hotels are quite expensive. But I can tell you that they provide a perfect service. I spent five nights in the Lions Dive & Beach hotel @ Mambo Beach. A white, sandy beach with palmtrees, a cool beach bar and so on.... The kitchen is very tasty and the drinks are awesome! But it has its price. In my opinion this is the best hotel at the beach for a reasonable price. And it is just an hour walk from town. By Taxi it is about ten minutes.

for good nap during the day

If you do n ot have a lot of money no worries there are a few backpackers on the island. I stayed in the Moonz. It is quite close to Willemstad and has a couple of rooms and serves a delicious breakfast. The owner is a very nice dutch lady and it is runned by this jamaican lady. As the neigbourhood is not the best I recomend you not to walk there during night. During the night dogs are barking and in the morning you here the roosters crying. I slept were bad there but it was really worth to stay there because I got a unvarnished picture of the people and the standard of living on the island as you have a close look at the neigbourhood.

getting around safely

Curaçao is a small island but not as small as one of these maldivian islands... That means you can not explore the island by foot. Well you could but nobody would. There are different ways to get around the island. The roads in the city are not too bad but they get worse if you leave the city. 

Rental cars are about 30.-$ per day if you get any special deal. 

Curaçao has public transport. The buses are very cheap and run theoretically by a timetable. The main lines run as far as I understood once an hour and serve all the cities and villages. The thing is that in the evening the service is reduced. So if you want to go back to Willemstad where the central bus station is you should go early unless you won't go buy taxi back. 

A good alternative are the minibuses. They are a little more expensive than the normal buses. As the big buses the have their route. What I  really liked about them was that they would take you to your place. Just tell the driver your address and he will drop you there as long it is on his route. The minibus service is reduced from 21.00.

Taxis are quite expensive. Arrange a price before getting into the car. Normally you pay around 30-35$ from the airport to the town. 

Starting from 20.00 I think the fares for minibuses and taxis is around 25% higher. If you need a friendly and professional taxi driver do not hesitate to contact me. I met a cool and reliable taxi driver. He also does up to 8 hours island tours for a good price. 

Talking about security I can say that I never had problems. Well you should not go through the nasty parts of the city when it get's dark. People in general are very helpful and nice. Of course there are poor people but I did not see any beggars. The police is always around by bike or cars. At Mambo Beach and near the hotels are lots of securities with dogs. I felt safe during my trip. 

My first trip to the caribbean

Talking about the caribbeans most people think about Cuba, Dominican Republic and Jamaica so basically the Greater Antilles. But there are lots of other nice islands were the sun is shining too and even the weather is better. (From end of august until mid october there is the hurricane season in the caribbean islands. Well the sun is still shining but there is a change of having one of these huge hurricanes). The Netherlands Antilles are hardly ever affected by these hurricanes. Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao are protected by the trade winds which means that the wind is always blowing but it is also blowing away the bad weather.
As I was looking for a place to go for holidays I decided to go to Curaçao which is about 70 km north of Venezuela. It was a Dutch colony so Dutch is still spoken on the island.
Other languages are english and papiamento. A lot of people speak spanish as well.

You can reach this island very easy by plane from europe with KLM or Airberlin to name a few. Although the airport is tiny it has got good connections to Venezuela, the USA and other Caribbean Islands. Flights from europe are quite reasonable exept in october because there are holidays in the Netherlands. So KLM charges a lot more. KLM serves also Aruba and Sint Marten.

This time I decided to go for relaxing beach holidays so I did not see a lot of Curaçao. But what I saw was very nice. You never know but I think I will go back also to see Aruba and maybe Bonaire which are very close by. Nevertheless I would like to share my experiences with you.

the Atlas

col du Tichka

Dra gorge

architechtural elements

the surfside of Morocco

the harbour tower

After all these lively cities, the desert and the mountains I needed some relaxation on the beach. We decided to leave the countryside for the ocean. There are some popular beach destinations in Morocco. The most popular one is Agadir because it is reachable by plane non-stop from Europe. Essaouira is the other well known city on the beach.

There are good conections from Marakech to Essaouira. By bus it takes about 4 hours depending on the traffic. This nice former fishermans town grew a lot in the last years. There is a historical town center with a different architecture than other cities in this country. The Romans, the portuguese and Jimi Hendrix conquered this port and left behind their culture. (Jimi spent a couple of days there and he was followed by lots of hippie tourists.) Everything is about fishes and boats in Essaouira. So life is in the harbour and the restaurants downtown. Cheap fish and shellfish is served all over the city.

It has a beautiful endless sandy beach  in the south of the city.  The people of Essouira know the tourists, They charge for everything a high price. So you have to be a good in making deals. You can also find some cheap places and nice people. During summer and automn this town is crowded by surfers. We went their in November were there are less tourists and less noise. It is a good place to relax.

island of Mogador - nature reserve

kings and vagabounds

Fès, Meknès, Rabat, Marrakech are called the imperial cities of Morocco. They all were capital cities during a certain period. The current capital city is Rabat.

Bab Bou Jeloud, "The Blue Gate" - Fes

leather tanning in Fes

All these cities are quite old and very beautiful. There are lots of similarities such as the medina and the architecture. You definitfely have to visit at least one of them. In the medina you can get anything you need for a good price.

Fès is very well known for his leather tanning and the Blue Gate. The medina is built on a hill so you have to climb a lot of stairs to see the craftsmen at work. You would never guess what nice piece of work they do. We stayed in Riad l'Artiste just a five minutes walk from the Bab Rcif on of the big gates. The riad is runned by a morrocan who lives in France since years.

Bab Mansour Meknes

Meknès has its name from a Berber tribe which was originally from Tunisia. It is the city of hundres minarets. They built a huge prison for christian sailors underneath the fortress. I recomend to visit this city because the gate and a I think the old part of the city are on the list of UN World Heritages. We stayed in a lovely Riad called Riad La Maison d'à côté bookable on booking.com The riad is very hard to find. I suggest you to call the owner and he will pick you up on the big square infront of the Medina. As in most of the medinas taxis are not allowed to enter. And in Meknès it would not even be possible due to the narrow paths.

Stars and camels

An absolut must during your Moroco journey is a trip to the desert. There are many different ways to go for it. You should not go on your own as it is very dangerous. You can get lost very easy.
You can book tours with a camel ride or with a 4x4 and so on...
As I have been twice to the desert I tried both ways. For sure the 4x4 trip is lot more confortable and faster. I did enjoy the camel ride for 5 minutes. After that my back, ass ... startet to hurt. Unfortunately the ride just startet and it was planned to take another 45 minutes at least.



The camps are not very different. There are tents equiped with beds, or mattresses and with bed covers. The luxus-camps also have toilets. Normally the sleeping tents are built in a circle around the camp fire and there is always a meeting tent. The guides are making a fire and prepare the dinner while your are enjoying the desert. Please take a tour to the next dune during the night. It is unbelievable to see all this stars in the sky. Normally you get up very early in the morning to take a ride into the sunrise. But that is not a big problem because you might not sleep very well since it is very cold.
Beeing in the desert does not only mean to be surrounded by sand and camels. It is about the sunrise and sunset, to see the milkyway and to feel the peace. I can not describe that - you have to learn that on your own body!

The Berber people are the ethnicity indigenous to North Africa west of the Nile valley. They have a long history and are very well adapted for the life in the desert. These people know the way through the desert since they were living there since tousands of years. In past the transportet the spices throught the desert. Today just a few Berber people are still living in the desert. Most of them are now working with tourists doing this journeys to the camps or doing some arts and crafts. But most of the Berber families are now linving in little villages near or in the Atlas.

To get to the desert you have to cross the Atlas. This are the mountains between the ocean and the desert. It ist very high and you might see some snow. In winter you can go skiing very close to Marrakech. 

Marrakech - get your deal!

The food court of the Souk

First I gonna tell you something about Marakech. First of all, no it's not the capital, that is Rabat. Marakech is about 2-3h from the Essaouira were the atlantic ocean is. It's very lively and busy this city. They have one of the biggest market of Morocco. They call the markets souk. Often it's very crowded and in narrow paths they are selling their products. You will find everthng. Sheeps, spicies, turtles, fruits, arts and crafts.... Do you ne

the old part of the souk

ed anything? Just go to the souk. The souk of Marrakech is huge and you can get lost easily. But no worries. You always gonna find a way out just take time. The have this sings that should help you to find the places of interest.
The souk is open every day. Please remember that the arabs have their sunday on saturday. That means on saturdays the shops will open later or sometimes they are closed. The Moroccans are very good salesman. Imagine you want to buy this wonderful leather bag he will tell you the price. But never ever buy it for that price. That's way too high. You have to call your price. As far as I know you shouldn't pay more then a third of his first price. If the seller is a Berber it's very hard to decrease the price. But just try it. The seller are always happy if you are a good trader. Ther busines works like that. If you don't try to decrease the price the seller won't be happy.
Since I'm talking about money I gonna tell you were to get money. I always to cash from an atm. Sometimes it doesn't work but I'm sure you will find another one. The currency is Morocan Dirham. I never payed with dollars or Euros, but I think in big places and luxury hotels they will accept it.

4h flight to a different world - Morocco

As a travel agent I have a lot of experience in selling my clients their dream vaccation. Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Greece and Turkey were the top selling destinations. There is a short flight (2-4h), it's cheap, warm, nice beaches and it's safe. There is another country where all these parameters are identical: Morocco!

There are non-stop flights from Zurich with Edelweiss and even Easy Jet has flights to Marrakesch. The temperatures and wheater is just perfect even in november. Best time to travel there is from april to october but beware of the hot summer especially in the desert. The flight time is about 3.5h non-stop.

Hotels are quite cheap. I'm not talking about the luxury hotels. In my opinion you shouldn't stay in any of these hotels. Well, they are very nice and the service is just perfect but it's not Morocco. In big cities such as Marrakesch, Rabat, Fes, Meknes and Casablanca there are tousands of riads. That's a traditional moroccan house with a interior garden. We have stayed in very beautiful riads. There are some which are very nice decorated. Very often they are runned by the owner himself. Breakfast is included. You can book these riads online.

Public transportation in Morocco is very good. They have ONCF the biggest public transportation company. They run trains and buses all over the country. Normally they are quite on time. It's very cheap and the buses and trains are quite new.

Morocco is a very diverse country. You can swim and surf in the south where the beautiful beaches are. Hiking and biking starts to get very popular for tourists and I agree with that. It's perfect to explore the country on a slow way. The roads are good but you should be able to read the sings. Lukily they are in arab and french. So if you don't feel like going with one of these large tourist busses you can easily travel in a rental car. Please don't forgett to take enough water with you.
There is the desert - the big sahara! Go for a camel ride and stay one night in a tent with the Berbers. These friendly people are living in the desert since generations.
What else can  I tell you about this country? Well, they have realy good food!

Heaven on earth? almost...

Our last destination on this trip was Stellenbosch. There is a huge (the biggest I have ever seen) university. On the campus you find a shoppingmall including cinema, banks, hairdressers, travelagengy and a real estate agent. The students don't have to leave the campus to live... Crazy stuff. Yes we went to Stellenbosch because of this university. We met a very good friend of mine who waas in erasmus there. He showed us around the city. and suddenly we realised that there is more than this campus;-) 

Campus

Zevenwacht

Stellebnosch is a quit old city a 50 minutes drive from Capetown. There is a pretty old town, there are lots of studenthomes, shoppingcentres and the most important thing - the vineyards around the city. Remember we have been to South Africa in wintertime. So we had one rainy day but the other days the sun was shining and it was really hot. 

One day we went hiking again. This time on Stellenbosch Mountain. It was not very high but as we didn't find the right path we had to climb up. Not very good for me as I'm afraid of heights. But I did it! From the top we enjoyed the magnificent view over the valley of Stellenbosch. Be aware of snakes and other animals... For the way back home we took the official path. 

I you have time in Stellenbosch go to one of these nice vineyards. Don't go to these big vine estates next to the mainroad entering the city. Their wine is not good. Yes, there is bad southafrican vine! We found it sadly.

Go to one of the estates outside the town. I suggest Zevenwacht it's a very pretty one. http://zevenwacht.co.za/
Stellenbbosch has a lot of very delicious restaurants. They are not cheap but worth every single Rand. I want to mention one place for brakefast. Oude bakery is the name. Just try it out.

Is it safe?

South Africas roads are pretty good. All the mainroads are quite new and concret. Remeber driving on the left and the distances are different than in Europe. You can drive from Durban to Knysna in one day but it's a very very long drive. Even the roads are good the safety on the road is not the best. There are some dangerous drivers especially during night. Some cars are in a very bad condition. The lights are not working or the breaks.... Another huge problem are people walking along the road. Most of these people are black and wearing black clothes wich is so dam dangerous during the night. You can't see them!!! So please drive carefully. 

In Capetown they even have a bussystem and a little infrastucture for cycling. Capetown is a very western city. I sometimes had the feeling beeing in south europe (clima) and in England (architecture of some old buildings). In the city centre the majority of the people you see are white and there are lots of tourists everywhere. 

Security is an important question that comes up when I talk about this country. As far as I can tell it's very safe during the day. I never got in trouble during day and night. But I heard different stories. My advice is never walk alone during night and follow the mainroads. Please don't act like one of these stupid tourists leaving your belongings unattendent....

Devils Peak (Woodstock)

Table Mountain

Dear hiking fans did you know that Capetown even has his own hiling paradise? Firstly there is the Table Mountain Secondly there is the Cape were you can hike through the finbos and last but not least there is Stellenbosch with it's vineyards.

Table Mountain

Don't take the cableway to the top of Table Mountain. There are several hiking routes to the top. And I can tell you it's really worth to walk up there. The magnificent view on the Table Bay other hikers and the lush vegetation will help you to climb up this huge steps. Just drive up to the cableway station were the paths start. You will walk through a canyon before you arrive on the top. If you are still full of energy why don't you turn to your left. The Table Mountain to me is actually like to mountains. There is the smaller part on where the station and all the touristic things are and the bigger part with it's lovely paths. 

 We started early in the morning. It took us half a day to walk up, exploring the top and going back to the backpacker. For us it wasn't to strenous.

There are other routes that take much longer we were told.
The most beautiful route must take you from Table Mountain to the Cape Point. It takes you 5 days.

Need some relaxation after hiking? No worries. Just go to Kirstesnbosch. It's the botanical garden in Capetown. It lies on the foot of Table Mountain. The land was donated by Cecil Rhodes, the mining magnate and Prime Minister of the Cape, after his death in 1902 the State. Rhodes bought this area in 1895 to protect it from being settled. In summer there are free concerts of great national and international bands. You just pay the entrance to the gardens and have fun. Usually the concerts are sunday round noon. So don't forget to take some snacks and beverages with you.

First day in Capetown

Capetown is a very diverse city. There are so many things to see and do. You could stay there for weeks and you wouldn't see all of it. I want to give you some ideas to fill your days.

On your first day I recomend you to explore the city by foot. I always do that on the day I arrive in a new city. Or you take the Baz Bus day tour. There you get a lot of information about Capetown. 

On your second I suggest to visit robben island which is about half an hours boat drive on the coast of Capetown. You should book your trip in advance especially in high season. Take a tour on the prison island and talk to a former prisoner. 

After you got back to the old harbour you can visit the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront (V&A Waterfront). It's very touristic but a must see in Capetown. There are some good restaurants and a shopping mall.
There are some nice markets in Capetown. Green Market is in the city centre close to Long Street, It's the place to buy local arts and crafts and anything else. There is another market in Woodstock. I'm sorry I forgot the adress. Just ask locals they will know. This market only takes place on Saturday as far as I know. It's a food market were you can buy mostly organic food. It's not too big but very crowded. Around this market there are some shops and galleries. If you walk along the mainroad heading the city centre you will see lots of galleries and craftsmen with it's shops. It's a trendy district with a lot of young entreprises.
 It's a cultural melting pot. I guess it's the birthplace of so many ideas and plans.

If there is still time I mean if the sun is still shining go to the next store and buy a bottle of South African Wine. Then drive up to signal hill. It's the most popular spot to watch the sunset. Beware of darkness. Don't stay up to long.

Capetown - The Mother City

I'm very bad. I know. I has been almost a year since my trip to South Africa. Luckily it was my third time travelling through this beautiful country so the journey is still in my mind. 

We headed to the capetonian region because we wanted to have enough time to see all of it. Which we really did. Baz Bus offers you some very nice day tours from  Capetown to the Cape Peninsula and back. Including bike ride, information about history, culture and living in this region, a walk to the penguins and of course a hike to the Cape. I really recomend this tour to you it's a reasonable price and the buses and the guides are just perfect.

We stayed in Capetown Backpacker which is very good located in the hearth of the city 500m from Long Street and all it's Bars and Clubs. The Backpacker is quite big and therefore it can be loud of all the parties... But it was amoung the cheepest places why we picked it.

Just around the corner (Kloof Street) there are some restaurants and bars. We ate at Arnolds, they serve delicious meet. http://www.arnolds.co.za/ On the same road there is this mozambician restaurant, which is really good and there is the Cafe Paraiso, where they have a belgian-french kitchen. If you are looking for a very unique restaurant in Capetown you should go to Panama Jack's. Freshly made fish and Lobster or what ever they caught this day is served in a fishing hut style building next to the docks. It's very hard to find and even not every taxi driver knows the place. So good luck!!!! I wouldn't drive there with my own care not knowing the way. panamajacks.net