Curacao Among Park Trails, Caves and History

In Christoffelpark, two driving routes can be distinguished by their colors: the northern route is blue, and the mountain route is green; both are paved and accessible by any car. Along a hiking trail, you can find bromeliads, orchids, lichens and Spanish moss. This means two perspectives exist side by side in the same park: the color-coded routes and the plant life along a trail. If you are interested in nature, you can plan your visit around either the drives or the vegetation you’ll see while hiking.

Rocky Landscapes and Caves

At Shete Boka National Park, visitors can walk above the cave along the limestone cliffs. At Hato Cave, the focus is on features inside: it covers 4,900 m² and contains limestone formations, pools, a waterfall and a statue of the Madonna. A colony of long-nosed fruit bats, which are rarely seen, also lives in Hato Caves. For planning your trip, these experiences are clearly distinct: Shete Boka offers the described walk along the cliffs, while Hato Cave is defined by its geological formations and other cave features.

City History and Museums

Punda is the oldest part of Willemstad, the capital of Curacao. The district was established in the 17th century on the eastern side of Sint Anna Bay, next to Fort Amsterdam, and was the city’s only district with a defensive system of walls and ramparts. For travelers interested in city history, Punda combines a historical timeframe with a specific location and a clearly defined defensive function.

The Savonet Museum tells the story of the Savonet Plantation and the adjacent Savonet area in a 19th-century plantation house. The Curaçao Museum covers a broader range of topics: it displays the geological history of Curacao, pre-Columbian artifacts, and maps and charts of the Americas and the Caribbean. It also presents information about the professions, beliefs and way of life of Afro-Curaçaoans after the abolition of slavery, as well as a traditional plantation kitchen. While Savonet focuses on a plantation and the adjacent area, the Curaçao Museum brings together natural history, historical exhibits and social topics.

Hòfi Mango Park was once a plantation and contains more than 700 mango trees. Landhuis Chobolobo is a 19th-century country house where, among other things, Blue Curaçao liqueur is produced. These are two different ways that history and the present come together: a former plantation with mango trees and a historic country house where liqueur is made.

Find a Hotel That Matches Your Travel Interests

When looking for a hotel in Curacao, you can first decide what you want to focus on during your trip. Would you rather explore park trails, plants and caves, or focus on Punda’s city history and the subjects covered in its museums?

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