Curaçao - Adventure Guide to Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao - page 224

tractions. Groups must comprise two to 10 participants. 465-

2703 or 561-5368 (cell).
Old City Tours-Anko vande Woude takes a look at historical
Otrobanda and Punda on Thursday afternoons at 5:15. Your
guide will be a resident architect or art historian.

461-3554.
Atlantis Adventures conducts the 1½-hour open-air trolley
tours through Willemstad, starting at Fort Amsterdam. Call
for exact departure times, 462-8833.

Does Travel & Cadushi Tours has scheduled excursions to
many popular sites on the island, including Christoffel Park.
Guides also lead visitors on walking tours of Otrobanda and
bus tours of Punda. The all-day Great Tour goes into exclusive
residential neighborhoods and out to the beaches.

461-1626.
Curaçao Actief specializes in eco-safari tours of the island
with ample beach time. Other specialties include customized
mountain-bike adventures, windsurfing, diving tours, and sail-
boat or canoe excursions. If you can dream it, they can arrange
it. 433-8858; www.curacao-actief.com.

TIP: See Adventures on Water, pages 244 ff, for in-
formation on sightseeing by boat, snorkel/scuba
trips, and party boats.

Self-Guided Tours
The capital city of Willemstad is the focal point of Curaçao,
and you will want to spend at least a half-day seeing its color-
ful, historical sights. Along the way, hunt for bargains in the
lively markets, stop for a snack at a waterside café, and rest
in the shade of a palm tree in one of the lovely plazas. To get
oriented, take the 75-minute trolley tour of the city, which leaves Fort
Amsterdam at 10 am. Tickets are $20 for adults, $10 for children. 461-

0011.

Willemstad - UNESCO World Heritage Site
First-time visitors to Curaçao, especially those who arrive by cruise ship,
are amazed by the altogether un-Caribbean appearance of the capital city
of Willemstad. The Dutch, never a people to leave home without their crea-
ture comforts, built a little Amsterdam for themselves when they came to
colonize the island in 1634. Much of their creation remains, and UNESCO,
the organization that takes worldwide heritage sites into its sheltering
arms, has selected the city as a worthy spot to protect.
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) hands out its World Heritage titles sparingly and after intense