Curacao, Oil Refining and Tourism!

‘The problem is not the problem. The problem is your attitude about the problem.’ (Captain Jack Sparrow in the Movie ‘Pirates of Caribbean’)… from a poster hanging in the Customs Office in Curacao!

It’s time for a bus ride to the (1) Customs office, (2) Immigration Office, and (3) Harbor Master Office in Willemstad (Capital of Curacao)! Not having a local currency ‘Guilder’ (ANG: ANtilliaanse Gulden or NAFl: Netherlands Antilles Florin), we paid bus fare in US dollars ($1/person or 1.70 ANG). Both US dollars and local currency ANGs are accepted here. This island is the biggest Dutch island in the Caribbean with a strong economy. Tourism and oil refining is the major industries here. Different stores and restaurants have their own exchange rate if you pay in dollars. Personally, I like to use local currency to pay the correct amount and to get correct change. This is not possible between different currencies though.We had to cross the channel between the Customs office and Immigration office. There is a swing bridge that goes across the channel. When there is ship traffic, the swing bridge turns and disconnects from the south side. In order to cross when this happens, there are free ferry boats that run from one side to the other. We took a ferry boat to go to the Immigration office after clearing Customs. Overall, it took a half day and we paid a total $10 at the Harbor Office (Anchorage fee to stay up to 90 days at Spanish Waters Bay in Curacao).Our next stop is to get some local currency from a bank ATM. Proost!