Fatherly care

Years ago I had the fortunate opportunity to work with a professional nature photographer, Peter van der Wolf. He had a highly developed sense of animal behavior, and this helped him, for example, to trace nests of breeding birds.

Wild flowers: Common prickly pear

The spiny Infrou (Opuntia caracassana). This native cactus does exceptionally well on the island as it favours degraded areas such as pieces of land.

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’.

Island endemics – Anolis lineatus

The Tree Anole or Kaku is a frequently seen guest on beaches, in gardens and of course in the wild areas of both Aruba and Curaçao. It is an endemic species for these two islands, a species only occurring here and nowhere else.

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.

Glimpses of the past

Ammonites are extinct relatives to modern day octopuses and squids. The shells are chambered, in contrast to the shells of snails.

Download Book ‘Rikesa di yobida‘ now!

The very popular book ‘Rikesa di yobida’, written by authors Gerard van Buurt and Carel de Haseth and illustrated with pictures by these authors and by Leon Pors, was published in 2011 by Fundashon Bon Intenshon on Curaçao.

Cookieconsent met Real Cookie Banner