The countries and islands that make up the Antilles are:
- Puerto Rico
- Hispaniola
- Cuba
- Jamaica
Why are they called the Antilles?
The term Antilles has a history dating back before the arrival of Europeans in the Americas, when the term Antilia referred to the legendarily located lands west of Europe across the Atlantic Ocean.
Netherlands Antilles is an impeccable country and a perfect destination for your holidays.
What is the difference between the Antilles and the Caribbean?
The West Indies, also commonly referred to as the Caribbean Islands, are a group of small islands located in the waters between Central America and the Atlantic Ocean. The Antilles, which is a subregion of the Caribbean, is part of the West Indies.
The Antilles have a wide collection of tourist attractions.
There are lots of imposing cities such Curacao, beautiful beaches, markets that are duty free for tourist, and more scenic islands that are a major factor why thousands of internal and international tourists flock in the country all the years.
The country also has a superb terrain with many parts being flat hence easy exploration. Moreover, it has a tranquil serene atmosphere that will make you want more of it.
My husband and I planned for a one week visit to Netherlands Antilles to adventure its beauties that we had read in many historical books.
The experience we had was the very best and magnetic that I developed a great desire to appreciate its beauties to all and sundry and hence help all who are planning of visiting the country.
Our long awaited visit to Netherlands Anilities started off at the amazing Curacao Museum. We were totally soaked into mind blogging views of the scenic museum as we were first astonished by its massive and beautiful exterior architectural design.
The building was in indeed amusing and so temping that we hurriedly walked in to explore the wonders that were attractively hidden within it. The museum had two floors. The ground floor showcased loads of historical info especially geological information.
There were also beautiful exhibits of the ancient inhabitants of the island. We were lucky enough to find a guide who enlightened us on more of the unknown history of the museum. This experience was incredible and we hardly wanted to leave the museum.
The upper floor on the other hand, displayed lots of fascinating traditional furnishings. They were so beautiful that we had to take several photos of them and wished they were on sale as we could have carried them home. This was a sure start of an amazing trip.
We then headed to the enticing Floating Market. This site was so scenic and astonishing as we had never heard of a floating market. We mesmerized walking though the attractive water ways that lead us to the boat’s parking lot.
There were numerous charming goods on display. There were sweet smelling fishes on the exhibit that had made the whole territory tempting and we could hardly leave before tasting one of them. There were also gorgeous fruits and vegetables.
The fruits were greatly appealing that we found ourselves salivating. The vegetables too were attractive as they were green and looked very fresh.
We took a meaningful time admiring them and more so tracking the best to carry home with us. This was indeed a great moment and we vowed to visit the Floating market again in our second visit to the Netherlands Antilles.
The stunning Arikok National Park was next on our adventure list. We could hardly turn our eyes away right from the moment we stepped into the park. The park was the best of its kind with unique lovely caves.
We had fun exploring each of them as we scarcely wanted any of their beauty escaping our curios eyes. The first one was Quadiriki Cave. It was so thrilling with two enormous chambers standing on its top. We hypnotized climbing over it to get a clear view of what it really was. We also walked into its interior that was relatively dark though appealing.
We really enjoyed standing inside and also searching for one another as darkness had totally encompassed the whole of it. We then explored the enchanting Fontein Cave that was compactly embellished with Amerindians’ drawings.
It was surely spectacular and worth our visit. We took several photos of the formidable caves and proceeded with our adventure to search for charming graffiti that was left behide by the ancient colonizers.
They were very compelling that we kept wondering why such beauties were only known to a few early fellows. Our visit was truly going great.
The dazzling Koh Lipe Island could not be left on our adventure tour in Netherlands Antilles. This enticing Island is within the Tarutao National Park and was dubbed Koh Lipe since it a flat terrain in which you will hardly require a vehicle to survey its beauties.
We had the best moments of our lives walking along the beach while admiring the pristine waters that stretched right from the shores. We actually used a boat to sail over the waters for pellucid clear views of the astounding coral reefs that were spread out in a lovely style within the waters. This sight was remarkable as it brought to light the marine ecosystem.
We had a wonderful moment swimming in these waters as we tried to catch sight of the many magical fishes that were swimming proudly past us in a probable competition with us. This experience was so moving that I kept thanking my husband for having considered visiting the beautiful Netherlands Antilles.
We also had a joyful moment basking on the shores while taking in every bit of the tranquil atmosphere that was flowing past us making the whole area a real heaven.
We then progressed to the magical California Lighthouse. The building was impeccable. We particularly loved its architectural design that was so thrilling and worth of photos.
We were totally immersed in the illusory world as the building looked more unreal than real. We enjoyed walking through it as we had a great time appreciating its wonderful layout. Its pinnacle was the most dramatic part.
We were surely dreaming of being in a different planet. The peak offered full 360 degrees panorama of the vast underlying beauties. We were fluky to have carried a camera with us as we captured live videos of the many charming activities that were taking place on the land.
We were basically happy to view hordes of people walking along the streets of Aruba city. It was indeed a fabulous moment and wanted to visit the Lighthouse again.
The mysterious Jewish Cultural historical Museum was yet another site we had memorable moment touring. The site was scenic and well placed with endless compelling Jewish cultural items. We were specifically joyful as we had never stepped into Jewish premises before.
We thus got ourselves busy analyzing the beautiful displays of attractive household objects, personal items and more surprising were the Torah Scrolls.
We were very grand to have found one of the Jews who helped us in understanding most of the museum’s history and more so the mind blowing mores observed by the Jews. It was indeed a stirring moment that will hardly get eroded from our minds.
We finally visited the charming lovely Philipsburg city to do our final exploration. The city was scenic with lots of friendly people who were always so ready to come to our assistance.
We liked the many well decorated streets where we did stroll to admire the alluring shops that were all open and full of inviting items on display.
We had fun exploring one the shops that seemed to be the crown of the other shops where we did lots of shopping which we would carry back home. We also enjoyed seeing the many nice looking items that had been displayed on the streets’ sides and also had a splendid moment relaxing in one of the impressive restaurants.
The experience we had was undoubtedly beyond our expectation. Netherlands Antilles has the best attractions in the world that will always leave you wanting more of them. We would definitely visit Netherlands Antilles again.