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This is my island in the sun.... a look at Curaçao, or Korsow, as we call it, where I was born - one of the five Caribbean islands that make up the Netherlands Antilles.

Curaçao music - 4 compositions by Edgar Palm (waltz, mazurka, danza and another
waltz) performed by Livio Hermans

All photos: copyright © Rita Mendes-Flohr 2005-2008. All originals in my possession.
Contact email: ritme4@gmail.com


  • Schaarloo, from 2007 with additional photos from 2008
  • I dedicate this section to the memory of my uncle, Charles Gomes Casseres - community leader, writer of memoirs and history of the Jews of Curaçao. For in-depth information on the Mikve Israel Emmanuel synagogue (the Snoa) of t…
  • Entrance to the harbor, with floating bridge and elevated bridge; a walk through the alleyways of Otrabanda.
  • An old 'landhuis', or plantation house, that has been turned into an art gallery; the sea - one of the island's many beaches, and snorkeling in 'the Blue Room" - a cave that you enter from the sea, by swimming in, and where the li…
  • the Kibrahacha (Tabebuia billbergii) blooms only for three days, lighting up the parched countryside, following the first heavy rains after a very long period of drought. The trees do not bear leaves then, only bright yellow flowe…
  • Remnants of saltpans at various locations in Curacao - the sea water would be let into the 'binnen waters' - the inner waters of a bay - and was dammed in shallow sections, allowing it to evaporate in the sun. Built in the times …
  • Asphalt Lake. During the Second World War, great quantities of kerosene and gasoline had to be produced rapidly. The heavier oil components were dumped into a section of the Schottegat, which was dammed off from the rest of the ha…
  • A walk around the 'inner waters' of the San Michiel Bay. The saltpans, or sanlinjas, are presently underwater, and only the walls are visible. Flamingos were seen in huge numbers, but in the far distance. (for flamingo photos, see…
  • Coral stones and sea sand were used in the construction of the old houses, so that salpeter would come oozing out out of the cancerous walls, necessitating constant plastering and painting. In other words, without this never-endin…
  • We found another way to the cave at Noordkant plantation by way of the sea, walking through the dense mondi of cactuses and poisonous manzanilla trees. Many signs of water works, this was once a lush landscape, though now all the …
  • The 'mondi' is the dense shrubbery of cactuses and thorny bushes that covers Curacao's countryside. In the Christoffel nature park there are a number of trails and dirt roads, but my brother Fred and I have taken to exploring the …
  • Indian drawings on the cliffs at San Juan, just above the sea.
  • Manganese mines in the Christoffel Park and the ruins of Newtown, the manganese mill near Lagun and Jeremi. My brother, Fred M. Chumaceiro and I found the mines in July 2006, after walking through the dense cactus brush near Seru …
  • We set out to look for a stalactite cave near the top of the St. Hieronymusberg, but did not find it. Just as Columbus went west to find India, so instead of the cave we found a huge bees nest (perhaps hiding the entrance to the c…
  • iguanas in our backyard
  • Exploring caves in the ridge along the plain of Hato: Kueba di Raton and Kueba di Yechi. Notice the cave pearls, in Cueba di Raton. We went in, hoping to find a cave spider, and were disappointed we did not see any, until I looked…
  • A walk around the St. Joris Bay on the North coast of the island - from the coconut groves at Klein St. Joris, along the mangroves, to the entrance of the bay.
  • Walking in Asunshon by the sea along the rough North coast and around the inner bay; in the dried inner bay of Savonet, its 'hoffi" and on top of Seru Bientu in the Christoffel Park; Landhuis Groot Santa Martha and the Santa Marth…