All posts by Maurice

Curacao, Vacations

Grote Knip, Playa Lagun, Caracasbaii

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FilefishToday, Wednesday, we headed up to Westpunt, and tried out Grote Knip. It’s a lovely beach, apparently used quite often for postcards of Curacao. It is a long beach, with beautiful white sand. Grote knip There are palapas and tables and it’s very popular with locals. There is a large parking lot, so you know it gets busy on the weekends! There were not many people when we were there, only about ten.

It looked like there would be very good snorkeling along the sides, although in the middle we knew there would little to see, since most fish don’t hang around the white sand. The water looked very inviting indeed! It’s easy to get in, as the sand slopes gently down in the water. The water was a bit “cloudy” from the sandy bottom. Heading to the left, I saw a rather large barracuda riding shotgun on a school of fish. The visibility was not great, and the snorkeling was mediocre.

This is a great beach for swimming.

FlounderI’ve had a couple of people wonder how you say “Curacao” so I’ll try to explain it phonetically. Most Europeans say it “Cure-A-Sow” and that’s acceptable. Far better than the women at the New Jersey airport who announced our flight to “Crack-Cow”. The second “c” is never hard, always like an “s’. However, the locals spell their island Korsou and they say the name of their island Cur-sew. Golden damselIt’s done quickly with no rolling of the “r”.  So there you go. If you want to appear like an in-the-know local, go with the two syllable version Cur-sew, but if you want to be spotted as a tourist, or a European,  say it in the three syllable version “Cure-A-Sow”. (Note the local way is Cur – like a dog…. the Euro way is Cure like in medicine.)

ParrotfishWe headed back towards Willemstad, the capital city, and stopped at Playa Lagun. It’s a small cove, with an easy entrance to the water. We saw some neat fish, but most of the best fish viewing is down too far for snorkelers. The visibility was fine, just that the fish were 20-30 feet down for the most part. When we entered the water, we headed to the right and saw some fun things – the usual suspects.

Moray eel We had a brief lunch then headed to Caracasbaii, where we’ve been before and can expect lots of fun things. It didn’t disappoint. The wreck is so easy to swim to, and there is always plenty of action to see.

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ParrotfishWe had dinner at the Rib Factory. It’s a small eatery, that is full of locals, for lunch and dinner. It does a booming take out service as well. They have a small deck that has ten tables or so, and a few more inside, with air conditioning. We sat out on the deck in warm evening air. I had the chicken fajitas – not a big rib fan – and they were excellent. Mike had the ribs and he said they were very good. Fall off the bone tender, with a great sauce – you could choose from three different kinds. Service was fun and good. Prices were reasonable. Would definitely eat here again.

This is a brief movie of Grote Knip, the first beach we visited today.

Curacao, Vacations

Caracasbaii and Royal Sea Aquarium

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Flying gurnardToday we headed just south of our hotel and snorkeled at Caracasbaii. Pam and I have snorkeled here before, and it’s kind of cool. There is a submerged tugboat, and it’s a very close to shore. You can park within five feet of the beach, and just walk right into the water. It’s a nice sandy entry, very level. The ocean was calm and warm, and really clear – the visibility was astonishing! As soon as our faces hit the water, we saw a flying gurnard, only the second one I’ve ever seen in the wild. Quite a cool sight!

WreckThe wreck is not very deep and it is covered with coral, Christmas tree worms, and fish! We saw a couple of moray eels hiding near the top, close enough you could reach down and touch him. The Hull is filled with lots of schooling fish.

We saw all the usual suspects, parrot fish, chubbs, sergeant majors, trumpetfish, filefish, wrasses, morays… And being so shallow you can can really see everything up close! It’s really a great place to snorkel. I’d say it is on a par with the Royal Sea Aquarium, but for different reasons.

Bluehead wrasse The bluehead wrasse is a quick, darting fish, that is difficult to photograph. Seems every time you point the camera at him he darts quickly away. I’ve included this photo because somehow I managed to nail him! Shocking!

Gold morayWe saw several morays, but this gold colored fellow was only about 3 feet from the surface of the water. He kept his eye on us, and would retreat into his little cave if we got too close with the camera.

Red guyAnother fish we have trouble getting a picture of is this red colored guy. I’m not sure what is name is, but he’s very shy, and usually hides under rock, shelves or pieces of wreck. He only came out into “the light” because he was chasing another fish and I happened to be there with the camera turned on.

I have purchased an underwater housing for the camera this year and I’m quite disappointed with it. It bulky, cumbersome and heavy. It’s awkward to use the zoom button, and every operation requires both hands.Nudibranch It’s impossible to dive down, and use one hand to take a picture, so I’m not getting the shots I want. I would not recommend you get this housing if you’re a snorkeler. It’s also impossible to use any of the special feature buttons, like macro mode. And turning on the film mode, is hit or miss at best.

Queen angel For the afternoon swim we headed back to the Royal Sea Aquarium. It was just terrific again. The highlight was seeing the largest green moray eel I’ve ever seen! Mike said he was big as a house, but I think he exaggerated, he was as big as a small apartment! The pictures we took of him do not do him justice, but I’ve added a movie at the end of the post… pretty impressive beasty.

We saw another queen angel, and she was very large too! We’ve seen some impressive examples of this fish so far, but this beauty is the best so far.

PorcupineWe spotted a porcupine fish, another shy fish. They hide in small caves, under ledges, or wherever they think you can’t see them. It’s difficult to get a good shot, because you always have to dive down to get the shot, and as I mentioned, this housing has made those shots even more problematic for me. But here is a funny one of him – it looks like we’ve photoshopped some white teeth on to him, but no, this is really the shot!

Enjoy the movie!

Curacao, Vacations

Curacao in 2011

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FortWell, here I am in Curacao again, but this time Mike is with me. Pam has stayed home recuperating, while I cavort with the fishes. The flight down was in three stages, first to San Francisco, then to Newark, New Jersey, then into Curacao. The flight to San Francisco was on a Airbus, and it was a terrific flight. Nice wide seats, lots of leg room. Going into Newark was not fun. We paid extra to get more legroom, but the seats were narrower, and the trade off is that you don’t get to recline the seats! It was a rough flight. The flight into Curacao was almost empty, so we had a row to ourselves! We managed to get in some sleep time.

Fort view Unfortunately, our luggage only made it to New Jersey! Can you imagine? The woman at YVR gave us all our boarding passes to Curacao, then tagged our bags to New Jersey! Sigh… Not a great start. 90 degree weather, long pants, wool shirt, sneakers – not the way to dress! We had to buy a pair of shorts each. They said it was possible we’d get our luggage on Sunday, but maybe Wednesday. When we got to the resort to check in, they told us that Continental had called and our luggage would be in by 1 pm on Sunday. At 5 pm, the office called and said our luggage was in, but did we want them to deliver it (as they had promised) or did we “want” to go pick it up. I figured, if we didn’t go get it, we wouldn’t see it for a couple more days.
CannonsWe drove to the airport, and tried to get the luggage, but they told us the offices were closed. I asked a security guard to call and got voice mail, that was full. He said go ask the security guard down at arrivals. We do. He says, go ask the security guard down at departures! Another fellow says, call this number – we do – voice mail full. The guy says, well the office is closed what do you expect? I said, they just called us to come get it! He says, ok just wait here, and maybe she’ll bring it out! haha Anyway, I found the Continental cell phone number, not the local mail box that was full, and he called. She came out in two minutes!

Queen angelfish We spent Sunday just checking out Curacao. We drove down to Caracasbaii, a place we snorkeled last year, and had a great time. We climbed up to an old fort, and checked out the view. They have built into the ocean, and built some apartment buildings on the land they have built.

We had dinner at Il Forno’s, a brick oven pizzeria. You eat outside, under the stars, and it’s very good. The pizza has a thin crust, and it was cooked perfectly. We had desert of profiteroles and tiramisu, and both were very good. The service was good, but a little slow after dinner was over, and we just wanted our bill! We didn’t get to snorkel, but it was an ok first day.

Scrawled FilefishWe snorkeled this morning, Monday, at the Royal Sea Aquarium, and it was spectacular! The ocean was flat as a pancake, no waves, and the water was super clear. We saw just tons of fish, and moray eels, and all sorts of things. I’ve posted three movies on youtube, and I’ve attached them to the end of this post.

MorayThis first one is mainly of black durgons, a type of triggerfish. Note the size of the coral around them! This site by the Royal Sea Aquarium is one of the best snorkeling sites on the island!

This next video is of doctor and surgeon fish. They hang around together in a big school, and several kinds of fish try to hide out with them. Note the big trumpetfish, the long skinny fish, trying to pretend he’s one of the crowd!

This final video is of a bunch of fish. Near the end of the video is a scrawled file fish. He’s kind of yellowish with blue/green spots and the odd shape.

Sunset The unit we’re in has a great view of the ocean, and the sunset each night. Last night there was even TWO rainbows! We saw a pair of rays swimming out on the ocean too. The water was glassy smooth, and we could see them cavorting about 100 meters off shore.

The shot of the sunset is taken through the side of our balcony. We’re on the second floor. Kind of cool I think.

Commentary, Health Issues

Getting around in a wheelchair

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With Pam needing a wheelchair to get anywhere, it’s been interesting to see how people react, how easy it is to get places, and how people treat you in general.

For the most part, people have been pretty good with treating us as people. I hate to say it, but it’s been along racial lines that people ignore you. Here in Surrey there is a very large East Indian population, and they have been amazing. Opening doors, smiling, chatting – even more so than when we weren’t in the chair! I’ve really been pleased with the reception, it’s been wonderful and heartwarming. The Chinese, on the other hand, have been rude, abusive, and pushy. They’ve never once held a door open, they’ve virtually ignored us, and they’ve run to cut us off, failed to move even an inch so we could get by, and even pushed to get on a small elevator first. It’s a real tragedy over the way they’ve treated us. At the local T&T, a mostly Chinese store, the staff has been good, but the customers even pushed by us to get ahead in the checkout line!

On the other hand, every restaurant we’ve been to has been amazing. They’ve rushed to open the doors, helped us find a table, moved chairs, and basically done everything possible for us. Patrons in our local pub, Brewster’s, have been really terrific. They have literally RUN to hold open the door, cleared a path for us, and treated us with amazing respect.

Most stores have been quite accessible. Well signed elevators, wide aisles, and respectful staff. In no way could you say that we’ve been overlooked, or mistreated. Kudos to all of them. With ONE exception! The Bay in Guildford Mall was abysmal. The store itself is huge, with tons of open areas, but it was impossible to get around any of the aisles containing products! We wanted to look at shower curtains, but could not. The aisles were far too small for a wheelchair to get down.

As for parking, it’s been generally very good. However, there have been a number of times when we’ve seen people in the handicapped spots, who were clearly not impaired in anyway. One young girl cut us off to get into the spot, then got out and ran into the store, and I mean RAN. We found a spot farther away and struggled to get Pam into the chair in the narrow parking stalls. I used to be kind of ambivalent about the handicapped spots, but having to get around with the chair has really given me an appreciation for their effectiveness, and their real need. We have a handicapped parking pass but I’ve made sure I avoided the handicapped spots when Pam was not with me.

Overall, I’d have to say it’s been a pretty good experience most times we’ve been out.

Something About Us

Well Mom….

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Bathroom tilesI hope you are sitting down!

We’ve finally got the bathroom finished! The marble tiles on the floor are all in, grouted too. New baseboards are installed, all finished off with caulk.

The bathtub has been installed, the knee wall has been built and all the glass tiles have been installed, and grouted. We found a highlight tile of a mixture of glass and marble to set off the dual color smoky grey glass tiles.

The glass topped vanity is installed, with the vessel sink and brushed nickel tap.

The toilet is a dual-flush water saving design, that is quite a bit smaller than the old one. And it’s pretty quiet too!

We finished it off with a baby blue paint. The room looks twice as big as it was before!

Thanks Mom!

 

Health Issues

July 28th

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Both incisionsHi everyone. Sorry for taking so long to post again. Pam is doing ok. She is still a couple weeks from being able to try putting weight on her broken leg. She has been going to physio and they are pleased with her ability to bend the broken knee. She started with about 40% range of motion, but has that up to about 75% currently.

Inside incisionShe has had some problems with one of the incisions not healing quite properly. It has never quite knitted together, and it’s sprung a few drops of blood. We’re heading back to see her doctor today to see if she should get a stitch or three put in to help. The other side is doing ok, but has become irritated with the brace she has to wear 24/7. It has rubbed right near the knee cap, and it’s a bit sore. When she stands up for any length of time, the injured leg gets quite discolored, going a deep red, so I’m not sure what’s up with that.

Both these pictures were taken July 5th, over two weeks after the surgery. Her leg is still quite swollen in the pictures, although it has gone down quite a bit since then. It’s still quite swollen, but getting better anyway. She has a lot of sensitivity in the leg, and has a lot of trouble getting comfortable. Partly, I think, because of the inactivity she is forced to endure. Usually we’re out in a park everyday with Max, so it’s been hard on her to sit in her chair.

She was going stir crazy just staring at these walls so we piled in the car, along with Max and we drove to one of the local parks. I wheeled her around in her wheelchair so we could see the flowers and watch Max prance with the dogs, so that was nice. There have been precious few nice days this year. Unlike most of the world, we’re stuck in cool weather, rainy and very little sunshine.

Overall, I’m feeling positive with how she is recovering, physically. She is struggling with the mental side, though. It’s a been a long couple of years with all these surgeries and injuries, and she still has a long fight ahead of her to even get back to walking. I can’t blame her for feeling a little down.

She gets a visitor once in a while and they really have been a great tonic for her. Maggie came over and painted her toes a bright color and put some fancy tattoos on them, so she was pretty thrilled about that. She’s been a real boon to Pam’s spirits, a really great friend.

We’re hanging in there. Hope you’re all doing swell!

First snorkel as locals
Health Issues

Short update

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Pam had her first physio appointment yesterday. Her therapist basically used the day to get baseline measurements, how far she can bend her knee (not far!), range of motion in her ankles and feet – stuff like that. She still has considerable swelling near her knee, but it is better than it was last week.

She’s managing the pain a lot better I think. She’s taking the “long term” pain killer twice a day, and takes another booster as necessary, and she seems to be taking fewer of those. She is still three weeks or so away from putting any weight on her left leg. She has managed to actually turn on her side during the night, at long last, so she’s really happy about that.

We still have not heard from Home Depot. I went to Home Depot with the private investigator to get statements from employees, and a copy of the incident report. They were not willing to provide either. The manager did seem quite surprised to hear that we had not been contacted, but said it was out of his hands. We did manage to talk to the woman who tried to administer “first aid” to Pam, but she refused to elaborate, nor did she even ask how Pam was doing. It’s all rather remarkable to me. They can’t even ask how she is doing?? I realize for legal reasons they don’t want to say they’re sorry, but they could show SOME compassion!

Thanks again guys for all the kind words. I’m sorry I’m not providing better updates, but we’re hanging in there. Pam’s spirits waver, but your words do help her. It’s not easy to see her struggle, but I do see minor improvements from last week, and that’s all we can ask! Keep the faith, as they say.

 

 

First snorkel as locals