Introduction - Adventure Guide to Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao - page 10

sunsets at roughly the same times each day, regardless of the season. (The
sun rises at 6:45 and sets at 6:15 during December, while it rises at 6:15
and sets at 7:05 during June, making summer days only a few minutes lon-
ger than winter days.)
From January through March, the trade winds provide ideal windsurfing
conditions off the windward coast. Since the terrain is almost flat, these
same winds sweep clouds quickly over the islands without allowing mois-
ture to build into rain showers. Therefore, the sea off the leeward coasts is
rarely stirred up by a storm, and visitors may count on ideal conditions for
scuba diving, snorkeling, and swimming.
Did You Know? Current weather reports can be
found online at www.intellicast.com/Local
Weather/World - or the National Oceanic & Atmo-
spheric Administration at www.noaa.gov.
Plants
Landscapes on the ABCs resemble those of the southwestern
United States. Cacti outnumber palm trees and aloe plants
thrive where ferns won't grow. But, the countryside is lovely
in a dramatic minimalist sense, and the plants that struggle
to grow in the arid windswept soil deserve recognition for
their ingenious tenacity.
A dozen types of cactus grow on the islands. Most impressive are the tall
pillar varieties, which islanders call datu (straight-limbed plants that are
sometimes made into privacy fences) and kadushi (an organ-pipe variety
that is used in soups). The kadushi can grow to a height of 40 feet and live
as long as five years without water. After a rain shower, flowers spring
forth from the dense thorns.
Unaware hikers may come into contact with the prickly pear infrou ,
which makes a pleasant-tasting jam, but also delivers a nasty sting to bare
skin. Less dangerous plants include the large agave (century plant) that
sends out a 30-foot stem and blooms only once before it dies, and the prickly
bromeliads that attract thirsty birds to their red-centered white flowers.
Aloe plants are cultivated for their medicinal uses, and islanders recom-
mend their gooey sap as a balm for sunburned or cactus-gashed skin.
The most recognized and photographed tree on the ABC Islands, and the
national tree of Curaçao, is the divi divi or watapana . It always bends
toward the southwest at almost a right angle, pointing away from the east-
erly trade winds. Divi divi seed pods were once a valuable ingredient in
leather-tanning products, and plantations on Bonaire and Curaçao prof-
ited from exporting the crop to Europe.