Log - July-06-2003 Previous | Next Expedition Expedition | People Walking the town and beaches of Curacao On our sunday hike through Curacao, Dave and I encountered an unexpected memorial. It was hidden away near the beach a few yards from the main power and desalination plant of the island. The 1998 memorial remembers the slaves whose bones are scattered over this island and most of the Caribean. We turned left to stroll along the ocean where we discovered a small park of remembrances of the slave trade, the freeing of the slaves, and the contrast between the rich and poor. After 10 minutes beach strolling with many Hispanic men fishing in the surf, we hit a 30 feet wide inlet with no bridge or anything to get across. On the other side we saw a fenced in resort complex with pool, waiters, and all. Our return walk along the beach was stopped cold and we had to backtrack past the power plant and a 4-lane highway to get back into town. A striking feature of Curacao to us was how close elaborate mansions and delipidated buildings were to each other. The house shown here is at the entrance of the neighborhood where many countries have their consulates and many banks their nominal headquarters. It almost appears as if boom and bust are ongoing feature reflected by the buildings. Note the high bridge in the background to the left. The USCGC Healy barely passes through it when it left port the day after I took this picture.