Willemstad – A Picturesque Tour

We’ve been in Curacao for over a month now. I know we should have posted a new blog by now but we have been super busy between exploring this island and the normal boat work to keep afloat! In these past few weeks we’ve also been able to meet so many new and interesting people that we may actually have a “social” life going for the first time in 5 months. There have been some major changes that have been taking place to our trip itinerary (we’ll go into that in detail later) and a minor set-back: I dropped our camera into the ocean! The plus side is that my Mom is a photographer, and while she went back to the States to visit my grandpa she left a Nokia D-70 onboard which we “borrowed” for the day. So sit back and enjoy our photo-tour of Willemstad, a world heritage site and capital of Curacao.

The Colorful Buildings Of Willemstad

Travelpod Image

Map of Willemstad

A brief history of Curacao and Willemstad. Willemstad was founded by the Dutch West India Company in the 17th century. By this time the indigenous people of the islands, the Arawak Amerindians had been exported as workers by the Spaniards who first discovered the island in the late 15th century. While Curacao did not have many of the natural resources that attracted early settlement, such as gold, it’s natural harbors would in turn allow the inhabitants an edge in maritime trading through the Caribbean and Americas. These martime activities not only included commerce but a healthy dose of piracy as well! Sadly what made the island the most prosperous was that it became the center of the slave trade of the Atlantic. By 1863 the Dutch abolished slavery and to this day there are plantation homes and slave huts all over the island.

Now that we got our little history lesson let’s get back to our tour!
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