Wild flowers: Brassavola nodosa

The best-known orchid that naturally occurs on the islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao is perhaps the Brassavola nodosa, also known as the ‘Lady of the Night’.

Our failures in design

Not that long ago, all household garbage on Curacao was dumped into the sea, an act deemed acceptable because the sea was seen as this huge endless pit that would take care of our failures. Even today, dumping garbage overboard while underway is still a valid way of cleaning up, on board of ocean going vessels.

Butterfly species: Gulf fritillary 

Curaçao has about 58 butterfly species and in addition at least dozens of moth species, most of which have not yet been identified. Aruba and Bonaire have a similar diversity

Shells: Caribbean Four-tooth Nerite

Marine snails which are part of the Nerite family often have small teethlike protrusions which can often be found on the mouth plate (columella fold), the calcerous part at the opening at the bottom of the shell where the slug’s body moves to the outside.

Wild flowers- Banana di ref/rif

Along the entire northern coast of our island, in the saliñas and along inlets and inner bays, grows a small plant that we all walk over carelessly and hardly look at.

Ten-legged alien

This beautiful and delicate creature is a relatively abundant inhabitant of the Caribbean coastal waters. It belongs to the order of Decapoda which is Latin for ten (deca) legged (poda), but most non-scientists will just refer to the name crabs while talking about these creatures.

Wild flowers- Mexican poppy

A wild plant you can mainly find on places where the original vegetation is heavily disturbed is the so called Mexican poppy or Flowering thistle.

Wild flowers – Cawara / Karawara (di mondi) (Cordia dentata)

When it rains the mondi is full with these cream coloured flowers, growing in dense clusters on shrubs or small trees that have dark green leaves that feel rough to the touch.

Wild flowers- Basora pretu (Varronia curassavica)

The Varronia curassavica is called Basora preto on Aruba, Karishuri on Bonaire and Basora pretu on Curaçao. It is a plant that can easily be overlooked and often considered to be a weed…

Shells: Common purple snail

In 1758 Linnaeus gave the scientific name Janthina janthina to a tiny and very delicate purple / blue snail shell and its snail inhabitant.

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