Full moon last night and when I awoke at 5:50am the moon was in the western sky . . .

. . . emJay was soon up to see the moon set and the sun rise . . .  and she saw a flock of flamingos fly by . . . FUN !!! Although she did need to have the citronella candle going because of the no – seums.

. . . we headed out early today to get to beat the crowds at the beach which attracts many visitors and we wanted to be in the shade. No problem!!!

And there were all kinds of ‘critters’ at the beach!!!

At first I thought this guy was the pigs owner the way he was following it around and taking so many photos . . . but after watching him for a while I don’t think he had a thing to do with the pig other than using it as a way to meet women. Seemed to work!!!

Pete the Pig ate some grapes out a small plastic container and kept coming back all day to these girls location. Wagged it’s tail like a dog and the little kids had fun petting it!!!!

emJay . . . ready to ‘suit up’ for our adventure. The sand was as fine as sugar . . . very nice.

. . . and here was our dive team. Bicky, Charlie and emJay ready to explore nooks, crannies and depths never before visited by man!!!!

. . . most of the islands have a sand beach/shallow area around the landbase. On aerial photos, or from the air you, can seed a definite darkening of the water usually 1/4 – 1/2 mile off shore where the ‘wall’ usually drops off to the abyss. We had a definite wall on this beach as you can see the depth dropping away and a lack of light penetration.

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. . . soon it was time for a nice little lunchie. Charlie has a book highlighting the 63 beaches around Curacao, rating three categories for each. High on our ‘must have’ list is good snorkeling AND a restaurant. We have made good use of both criteria.

Charlie had his second ‘Frikandel sausage‘ on the rip. He’s is become somewhat of a connoisseur of the saucy, seasoned sausages. This one looked a little lonely though and being a ‘man of pan’, he requested a bun.

. . . emJay on the other hand decided on a Williburger made from goat meat. Evidently the Williwood Restaurant has an agreement with this beach to served their gourmet burgers. It came with a little Curacao flag on it to show the country of origin. She said it tasted a lot like the Plazaburger from Madison.

. . . soon we were back in the water for a little more snorkeling. I was instantly surrounded by a herd of ‘Holstein Puffer Fish’ which were very curious about me, hovering 1-2 feet away. FUN!!!

. . . beautiful animals that actually have little armor plates for protection against predators. Also, they are able, when attacked by predators to secrete poison which is lethal to fish that are nearby. Sometimes they squirt a jet a water directed to the sand to uncover hidden sources of food like worms and small crabs.

. . . and soon we were hovering over a team of divers coming in from the depths. It’s been years since I scuba’ed but remembered how much fun it was . . . especially at depth, when one ‘dials in’ neutral buoyancy and floats around weightless. Must be what it feels like floating around in space.

. . . I wanted to grab on to this guy and hitch a ride!!!

. . . soon it was time to head home, get cleaned up, have a few Blue Lagoons on the veranda and head out for dinner. Right across the street from us is this cute little Jack Russell terrier who comes to the fence to say good by and welcomes us home whenever we leave. He makes a few laps around his pool at full speed and then jumps up on the fence. Very cute!!!! His owner says the pooch likes to sneak out everyone once in a while, but always returns home.

Tonight we would head out to the Eetcafé De Buurvrouw Restaurant for our emJay and my final dinner out on the town . . . lucky Bicky and Charlie have another week in Paradise.

. . . it was quite the structure with a soaring 55 foot conical shaped ceiling made of palm fronds!!!

Bicky ordered the grilled snapper, I  had the apple and brie roasted chicken breast and Charlie and emJay ordered the skewers . . . which were delivered to the table on these funny contraptions attached to the serving plates . . .

. . . it was a lot of food . . . but after an action day of snorkeling and adventure, hearty appetites soon . . .

. . . produced this result!!!  Sad to say we were all too full for any dessert!!!! But . . . we did return home and have a little wine spritzer aperitif as a night cap and all fell instantly to sleep!!!!