The first 3 legs were all familiar territory; US city to US city. Grand Rapids to Chicago, Chicago to Tampa, Tampa to Miami. The final leg had the extra immigration step requiring passport in hand but the most unique thing for me was flying over the Caribbean. Curacao is way on the southern end of the Caribbean, just spitting distance from Venezuela. The Bahamas showed up beneath the plane not long after takeoff and then later, the larger Island groups (Cuba? Dominican Republic? Puerto Rico?). I was struck by the largeness of the sea after that. It went on and on. The other striking thing was the color. Maybe it was just the time of day approaching sunset. Or maybe it was the less deep areas where sand was still reflected from the bottom. But the aqua blueness was was quite remarkable. From a plane, it reminded me a bit of exploring via Google Earth. Same sense of wonder imagining what it would be like to be transported down to one of those remote vistas. Same view from up high except without the ability to zoom in and out and knowing exactly what you are looking at.
It was sunset as we landed so by the time we had cleared customs it was dark. The Curacao airport seemed less friendly and accommodating of tourists than I expected. There was a large Kentucky Fried Chicken sign in the welcome area but no friendly faces other than the Colonel.
The rental car experience turned out to be a bit stressful. When I reserved the car on line, I had the option to buy insurance for it. I was told by State Farm before I left that I would not be covered by my regular policy outside of the United States so I should include outside coverage. When I selected the insurance check box, it informed me that I would be charged for the insurance right now but I would need to present my credit card at the desk when I picked up my car to pay for the actual rental. So the unfriendly "Thrifty" agent who had no other customers and would not look me in the eye asks me if I want insurance. I tell him that I paid for the insurance when I made the reservation on the website. He says, "No, we accept no pre-paid insurance. Do you want to buy insurance or not?". I said that I did not want to pay for insurance twice and I already had an e-receipt that said I was insured. He want on to explain that if I did not add insurance now, I would pe charged for every little scratch or damage to the car. I decided to accept that risk knowing I had an email that said I was covered. But soon after I got to wondering why I had so much trust in an email message. So am I insured? I have no idea. So much for peace of mind.
The other stressful thing was driving in the dark on unlit, unfamiliar roads to a place that had provided rather poor instruction on how to get there, translated from another language. Mary was navigator and she did a very good job in accepting the potential for an adventure. The roads were bad with hardly any signage, the car ran poorly but we made it.
Bed & Breakfast Blenchi was unlit (like everything else) but it did have a small painted sign so we new we were at the right place. The door was open to a lobby of sorts but there was no one there. We called out. We walked around but we did not see any people. There was a phone on the desk, next to a Macintosh laptop. We thought about calling but what number to dial?
About five to ten minutes later, we heard a car drive up and Marit entered. She was the Innkeeper with whom I had corresponded. I had expected an old Dutch lady but she was a young Dutch lady. She had blonde hair, was strikingly attractive and thankfully, after the airport/car experience, she was reassuringly friendly and welcoming.
Marit took us on a tour of the place. We could not see the view because of night but we could hear the ocean. But the layout of the Inn is lovely with a pool, thatched dining circle and all kinds of little isolated patios with hammocks and lounge furniture. We have a large, if somewhat bare suite with its own deck and hammock and sprawling fenced in outside area.
1 comment:
An adventure already!
Enjoy!
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