“Blanch your plantains!” our instructor commands in a no-foolin’-around voice. Blanch? “What does blanch mean?” I furtively whisper to Julia, my partner in this off-the-wall adventure. You see, we were cooking for our supper in Angelica’s Kitchen where our group of intrepid travelers has come for a lesson in traditional cuisine. Having already had a rather lengthy lesson in the art of knife-handling, and inhaling the ambrosial aromas wafting forth from boiling cauldrons, we looked forward to an evening that would end in a memory-making meal or – at the very least- an edible one.

A group of us, journalists all, are visiting Curacao, an island rich in history. Settled by natives of South America, in 1499 the Spanish arrived and, in 1634, the Dutch defeated them to stake their claim to the island. It is the largest and most populous of the three ABC islands of the Lesser Antilles: Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao. It is under 3 hours flight time from Miami and a mere 35 miles north of Venezuela.

Bon Bini!

What makes Curacao unique and special among the Caribbean islands? Naturally there’s the transparent turquoise sea, the soft white sand, the ubiquitous palm trees swaying in the breeze. So, the difference? In a word: Authenticity. And, accomplishing the seeming impossible, Curacao still feels undiscovered, almost like an exclusive hideaway that only you were smart enough to find. It has a heritage both European and African. Spanish, Dutch, British, African and Jewish settlers have each added their own distinct flavor and today more than 50 nationalities are represented here. On my visit I heard a profusion of languages and islanders frequently greeted us with a lusty Bon Bin! which means welcome in Papiamentu, the local language.

We took a tour of Willemstad, Curacao’s capital city and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Row upon row of candy-colored houses – pink, green, yellow, turquoise – gave the town a pretty, fairytale look. The homes featured pitched gables, shady verandas, jalousie windows and many were covered with cascading bougainvillea, a flowering plant that’s considered good luck. In fact, on New Year’s Eve, people use the flowers to make a fragrant water to wash down their houses, thus insuring a fortuitous new year.

Orange is the new….well, Orange

At least on this day. The people of Curacao wear many bright colors but on April 30 of each year, it’s orange or nothing. The bright hue is the national color of The Netherlands and this date marks the Queen’s birthday, so Celebration Time is On! The atmosphere was festive as we danced in the street to the rhythms of calypso, meringue, tango, reggae and salsa. Although I found myself with not a stitch of orange clothing, I joined the thousands of revelers and made do with a bright, exotic orange flower stuck behind my ear. It worked.

Taking the Plunge

After the swinging, hectic celebration of Queen’s Day, I awoke to the sound of the ocean softly beckoning outside my window. It was a call I had to answer, opting for a day of lazing on sparkling white sand of the iconic Avila Hotel and trying out my new snorkel gear. The water was warm as a bath and of a blue so luminous it defied description, making the view below a colorful romp with the myriad fishes that swim near the shore. Snorkeling is right up my particular alley – not scary, yet allowing me to feel I’m doing something really adventurous. However, for those of you who want to delve deeper, you should know that Curacao is a scuba diving paradise, among the best in the world with 165 dive locations, and a chance to view endangered coral reefs and ancient ship wrecks. That evening, we dined at Belle Terrace, Avila’s seaside restaurant, serenaded by a trio playing traditional island songs and sitting under a huge silver globe. Can that really be the moon? Yes, it was.

During colonial times, a good part of the merchant class that moved to Curacao was comprised of Sephardic Jews looking for religious freedom. Our tour included a visit to The Jewish Cultural Museum which housed a fascinating display of objects illustrating the customs and traditions of these early settlers and the history of a community going back hundreds of years. The museum is a part of the oldest synagogue in continuous use in the Western Hemisphere – Mikve Israel Emanuel – a wondrous building to behold.

Our stay at the Kura Hulanda Hotel was special. Our rooms were furnished with hand-carved mahogany and teak furniture and was surrounded by attractive bluestone walkways, boutiques, restaurants and sculpture gardens, all done in 18 th and 19 th century Dutch colonial style.

There are two spectacular pools, including a grotto surrounded by natural rock formations and fed by a calming waterfall. On its site is the Kura Hulanda Museum, a beautifully-curated, anthropological gem that focuses on the predominant cultures of Curacao, exhibiting the trans-Atlantic slave trade in its totality. There is a vast collection of artifacts from Continental Africa, the largest of its kind in the Caribbean. We found one of the more remarkable pieces in the museum’s garden – a standing woman sculpture, one side of her face beautiful and beguiling, and the other side displaying the continent of Africa.

Fun for the Whole Family

If you’d like to venture into a cavern, take a tour of Hoto Caves. They are open daily except Monday. Guided tours will take the family through the stalactite and stalagmite-filled rooms, several of which include pools and waterfalls.

A definite winner with the kids, the Sea Aquarium is one of the Caribbean’s finest marine exhibits. There are local fish, coral and sponges but it is the outdoor tanks with sharks, sea turtles and stingrays that really captivate. Want to swim with the fishes? At the Curacao Dolphin Academy, you can swim, snorkel and even dive with these special creatures.

Pull your head up out of that sugary white sand and take the family to the Curacao Ostrich Farm with a population of over 600 birds, one of the biggest farms outside of Africa. Kids (of all ages) are fascinated to view how ostriches live and breed.

As our Curacao travels came to an end, I’m happy to report that at Angelica’s Kitchen I did learn to blanch and, in fact, all of my cooking buddies did a great job with their assigned dishes. Cooking together, messing up, laughing a lot, making new friends, and ultimately turning out a darn good meal is an experience I’d highly recommend. Leaving Angelica’s we felt sated, convivial, and very Bon-Bini-ed – a memorable Curacao experience!

SIDEBAR

Hotels:

Avila Hotel (from $140/night)
www.avilahotel.com

Hotel Kura Hulanda (from $135/night)
www.kurahulanda.com

Restaurants:

Moon Restaurant (dinners $15-$45)
www.mooncuracao.com

Jaanchie’s (dinners $14-20)

To Do:

Angelica’s Kitchen ($105 per person)
www.angelicas-kitchen.com

Jewish Historical Cultural Museum
www.snoa.com

GETTING THERE: 

American Airlines has 5 daily flights to Curacao via Miami from as low as $154.00

Photos courtesy of Sloane Travel Photography

1. Willemstad
2. The Sea at Curacao
3. Sculpture from the Kura Hulanda Museum

The tiny Dutch island of Curacao in the Caribbean, seems an unlikely spot for an anthropological dig. Not the kind where the dusty soil coats to the sweat of your skin and creeps beneath your finger nails but the sort where human history is revealed up close and personal by simply keeping your eyes open.

Curacao (pronounced Cure-a-sow) is a curious blend of architectural styles and cultures, from European sophisticates and traditional medicine women to fishermen who cross the 35 mile stretch of open water from Venezuela.

While the Spanish were the first to lay claim to Curacao in 1499, by the mid 1600s it had become a strategic and bountiful Dutch colony. Apart from a couple of brief British interruptions in 1803 and 1807-1816, it has remained an autonomous part of the Netherlands ever since, with a lucrative plantation system, and a busy commercial harbor which once operated one of the largest slave-trading depots in the Caribbean.

Willemstad, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is postcard-pretty with its seashore lined with brightly-painted 17 th & 18 th century homes topped with curlicued gables and arched galleries, churches and Dutch-perfect courtyards.

Twice a week, the streets swell with passengers off visiting cruise ships, but on other days the prices plummet and you can stroll through the open air markets, filled with the diverse produce of Venezuela, and barter for fish off the boats.

There is a strong Jewish community (settlers began arriving here to escape the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions) and the Mikve Isreal Emanual Synagogue, built in 1732, is the oldest synagogue in continuous operation in the Western Hemisphere.

There’s plenty to do further afield too: plantation landhouses put to intriguing uses, mysterious underground caves to explore, a big national park called Christoffel where orchids grow on cacti and tiny white-tailed deer may be spotted. Across the hilly, semi-arid landscape are explosions of green and the vivid yellow of flowering kibrahachi trees and, with more than 50 white-sand beaches, Curacao offers some of the finest diving and snorkeling waters in the Caribbean. Hiking the lava plateaus promise windswept views of crashing waves against a craggy shoreline, and for the young and old alike, a visit to Curacao’s Ostrich & Game Farm, or swimming with the dolphins at the Curacao Sea Aquarium are not to be missed.

If time of the essence, then a visit to Kura Hulanda is a must. This is where slaves were first deposited before heading on to the ‘new world’ and so, for islanders, carries a dark history. Kura Hulanda not only acknowledges this heritage, it has become a fascinating historic and environmental preservation project that comprises refurbished homes as guest accommodations, airy restaurants, gardens and a museum housing the largest collection of African artifacts in the Caribbean. It even has a recreated full-size slave ship’s hold that demonstrates the appalling circumstances under which slaves were shipped. Visiting Kura Hulanda is a rich and textured travel experience.

If time has languished into a Caribbean rhythm, be sure to include a visit to Den Paradera. This is the 100-acre home-garden of Dinah Veeris, a spiritual and holistic herb doctor whose mission is to teach ‘the old ways’ to the younger generation. As such, she mixes hands-on exhibits and education with folklore, inviting you to crush leaves, taste petals and learn of a plant’s curative properties. If the leaf sprouts roots, the love is true; if not, move on to another suitor. Her shop, too, is a veritable apothecary of herbal remedies and solutions for any number of ailments, many of which she’ll diagnose a remedy.

And if time has simply stood still, as it is wont to do on the beautiful island, then stay a while until your curiosity subsides. Though be warned, that might take longer than you had planned.

Information: www.curacao.com

PHOTOS by Chris McBeath