First Looks | Snorkeling the ABC Islands

Well, today (Wednesday) we arrived in Santa Fe around 2 in the afternoon. It’s not a huge city, about 70,000 people. It’s only the fourth largest city in the state, but it is the capital. We found our time share very easily. It’s a really nice unit. Granite counter tops, very nice cabinetry in the kitchen, two flat panel tvs, a large living room with a fireplace, and a lovely big bed. WIFI is provided for an additional fee via ATT – the one negative for the unit. We’re on the fourth floor, but we don’t have much of a view since we’re surrounded by trees.

We put our bags in the room, and came down to the big central square that has been the center of Santa Fe life for over 400 years. The square is a bustling place, with a stage for free nightly concerts. There are food carts selling burritos and fajitas for 5 bucks. The people are there with their dogs, listening to a guy gently strum his guitar. On another side a Native American plays a version of the pan flute doing an amazing version of the House of the Rising Sun. There are locals selling handicrafts ranging from silver and gold jewelry to blankets, textiles, and hats, ceramics and pottery.

The St. Francis of Assisi Cathedral dominates the skyline, one block off the square. Inside is an alter from the original church carved in 1620. The stain glass windows feature many of the saints. Outside, large scale bronze statues of St. Francis dot the courtyard and gardens. Santa Fe has a lot of art, and a lot of museums to see.

We wandered through many stores, set in buildings that have been there for hundreds of years. The adobe buildings are everywhere here. They are striking to look at, lending a serene look to the city. The New Mexico Museum is one of the adobe buildings just off the square that is very striking. I think I’ve taken at least thirty pictures of it, from every angle!

The shops are almost outnumbered by the galleries. It’s clear that Santa Fe is a haven for artists. Georgia O’Keefe, the great American modernist painter who lived to be nearly 100 years old, lived most of her adult life here in New Mexico. There is a museum dedicated to her, which we’ll check out tomorrow. Her style of bright colors, and large scale images of small things – an amaryllis flower over four feet wide, for instance – has influenced generations of painters.

Here is a sample of some of the ceramics they are selling — do you think Pam might be taking one of these home??

The weather is very nice, although the evening did get cool. The altitude is close to 7000 feet, so the air is a little thin. We won’t be jogging for a couple days yet!

Today, 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. 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.

I’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. It’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.)

We 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.

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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We 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.