Going Places: Curiously captivating Curacao

By Liz Fleming

If you love the heat of the Caribbean but long for a touch of European sophistication, the tiny island of Curacao might be just what you're looking for. 

One of the ABC islands of the western Caribbean, located just 35 miles north of Venezuela, Curacao has the hot vibe of a beach getaway destination, combined with the well-kept, reserved elegance that comes from its Dutch heritage.

It's a curiously captivating collection of contradictions. While you'll find none of the nude beaches so popular on other Caribbean islands, Curacao has a legal brothel called Campo Alegre - Spanish for Camp Happiness. It operates in a fairly standard manner six nights of the week, but - just for a little change of pace - opens its doors to all visitors on the seventh night, welcoming non-working girls to its dance floor and open-air roof bar.  Now even the most buttoned-up Canadian women can boast that they've spent an evening in a brothel - and kept their virtue firmly intact.
Curacao takes a refreshingly honest approach to other issues as well.  Although many Caribbean islands might prefer to forget the shameful roles they played in the history of slavery, Curacao hides nothing.

Originally inhabited by the Caiquetios Tribe, an Arawak Indian tribe from South America, Curaçao was colonized by the Dutch in 1634.  Shortly thereafter, the enterprising colonists began importing slaves from Africa to sell throughout the Caribbean and in the southern United States. The fascinating Kura Hulanda Museum, built next to one of the island's most elegant hotels, not only celebrates the rich history of black cultures around the world, but also puts an unblinking spotlight on the tens of millions of Africans who were forced into labour in so many countries. This is a museum well worth giving up a few hours of sun to visit.

The well-manicured capital city of Willemstad is a UNESCO world heritage site filled with immaculately painted candy box houses.

Be sure to build in an afternoon to visit the spectacular Hato Caves. A climb down steep stairs carved into a mountainside leads to a series of watery caves where escaped slaves hid to practise their native religions.  Stalagmites and stalactites mesh like stone teeth as the waves wash through and you feel as if, like Jonah in the mouth of the whale, you've climbed deep into curiously captivating Curacao.