Page 34 - MIN.OTMAR ODUBER FEB 17,2015

PAGINA 18
Opinion Publico
Nada di baño publico na
comienzo di Carnaval
ORANJESTAD (AAN): Un
lector a indica na DIARIO,
cu e ta haya cu ta un bofta
den cara di pueblo, cu Comi-
sion di Carnaval, mucho me-
nos DOW, no a pone baño
publico den area di comienzo
di Carnaval.
Net e area ey unda partici-
pantenan mes por haci uso
di dje, of hendenan local y e
miles di turista riba pia.
El a mustra cu pa colmo
no tabatin baño publico den
e comienzo, den area di Wen-
dy’s bin te pariba, pasa Royal fixtures, offering one and two-bedroom units in a completely updated, European style. The
Plaza bay.
E ta spera cu den futuro por architecture, she likes interior design. I bet she also gave up cooking while working around
haci algo al caso.
DIARIO DIAMARS 17 FEBRUARI 2015
BLUE VILLAGE, NO LONGER BLUE. It retained its name, but it’s no longer sad,
on the contrary, the place is looking much better under new ownership. In October, the
unremarkable and rundown property adjacent to legendary Madame Janette restaurant at
Cunucu Abao started a renovation process, destined to receive contemporary furniture and
renovations, under the direction of Melinda and Theo van der Sanden are going well, and
Melinda is totally enthusiastic about the project. While Theo oversees the engineering and
MJ. Why bother, leave it to the experts.
COMPLIMENTS TO HARD-WORKING PRIVATE OWNERS. What do the follow-
ing have in common?? The Boardwalk Small Hotel, Paradera Park Apartments and Bucuti
Beach Resort & Tara Suites?? I will tell you. They’re privately owned businesses. In the
case of the Boardwalk Small Hotel, the colorful property is owned and managed by a cute
pair of twins, from Belgium, with Kimberly Rooijakkers in charge of hotel operations
and her sister Stephanie directing reservations and guests relations. They are both excel-
lent at what they do, guests love them, and awarded them a TripAdvisor Traveler’s Choice
Award for BEST service in 2015, an achievement which is as easy as eating soup with
a fork. Stephanie just recently became a mom, and Kimberly will be turning that corner
shortly. They are thinking of expanding their resort as soon as their babies learn to answer
the phone, while mom is busy on the construction site. Then there is Paradera Park man-
aged by a husband and wife team, Henk Steenbergen and Deborah De Weer. He does the
heavy lifting, the maintenance and gardening, it all looks gorgeous and impeccable, and she
coordinates the rest of the kit and caboodle. Their 2015 award pronounces Paradera Park,
among Best Bargain Hotels in the Caribbean. Deborah also makes Loretti design jewelry,
Queen Maxima is the proud owner of a piece from the Royal Collection. Trip Advisor
names Bucuti & Tara Beach Resorts #1 hotel in the Caribbean, in not just one but four
categories, including romance! The resort, owned by legendary hotelier and environmental
guru Ewald Biemans and managed by a team of unstoppable women - methodical Debo-
rah Dintelman and feisty Tisa LaSorte. They resort sits as you know on a most gorgeous
beach, and takes care of business. How do they do it, I don’t know, Ewald says it’s easy, just
like fitting an eel with a snorkeling mask. Bottom line, they are one of the most successful
resort properties on the island. My conclusion, if you own your business you can go far if
you work it.
ICONIC MOUNTAIN PASSAGE. After drinking all the Trapiche wines in Argentina
we took a bus trip, crossing the Andes between Mendoza, Argentina and Santiago, Chile,
on Valentine’s Day, 2015, a truly unique experience of magnificent mountain scenery and
stark natural beauty. We stopped to take a picture of Mount Aconcagua - it towered over
us with an impressive snow cap from 7,000m above sea level. It is the highest mountain in
both North and South America. There were about 5,000 cars, trucks and buses in line on
this holiday weekend and our private charter bus driver said it was worth a least a 10-hour
wait, but his friends on the Argentinean side helped us out. It seems to me that the Argentin-
ean border police manages the crossing most inefficiently, maybe they too drink too much
Malbec for lunch, but we were lucky, we spent just two hours of crawling up the mountains
to the Los Libertadores customs facility, passing the incredible 3,000m tunnel on the way.
Then bags and passports were inspected and we piled back into the bus. We also used the
rest-rooms at the army barrack-styled pass, at 3,900m, it felt liberating! As expected, it all
went downhill after that with 19 spectacularly engineered curves in the road which took
us down the Andes on the Chilean side. A total of 10 hours, 364km flew by thanks to the
phenomenal DJ who proved to us we could be perfectly happy on just bread and wine! In
order to not to make enemies I have to add that the border between the two nations can be
found somewhere in the middle of the tunnel, and that the name of the place is different, the
Uspallata Pass in Argentina and Lost Liberadores in Chile, or maybe it’s vice versa.
CURACAO SUMMER CONCERTS. Curacao recently announced it will be orches-
trating Curaçao International BlueSeas Festival, in Willemstad, which according
to Marketing Manager Janine Neef de Windt, will unfold on Thursday May 7th
and Friday, May 8th. Nine artists will perform free on charge in Punda on Saturday,
May 9th. The festival will close with two concerts on the Kleine Werf, in the port of
the St Anna Bay. Blues lovers rejoice, the lineup is stellar. And if you are going for
the weekend in Curacao, here’s a suggestion: ACOYA, just recently opened there,
owned by the parents of Reena Chugani, check it out at www.acoyacuracao.com.
The property is gorgeous with large villas, and the popular restaurant Seasons which moved
from its old location to the new resort. The spa is preparing to open this month! So next
time you are in Curacao try something different Blues combined with an upscale vacation
home rental in a nice resort with hotel services, adjacent to a most beautiful beach. Reena
went to Wharton Business School and started her career with her family’s real estate busi-
ness in Curacao. She moved to Aruba three and a half years ago after marrying her husband
Tesh Chugani.
WELCOME BACK MYRIAM ROOS. If the name sounds familiar, it is. Rebecca Roos
has a sister who recently moved back from Sint Maarten to live here and be closer to family
members. Besides, she says, I needed a change of pace, trading Simpson Bay for Casibari.
As an experienced writer and graphic designer Myriam Roos worked for the Daily Herald
in Sint Maarten, from the time is was a weekly, printed in Curaçao. Admittedly, she has a
versatile resume also in other fields because her never-ending curiosity, gets her doing dif-
ferent jobs, including the management of a sailing marina, bartending, administration and
watersport with hobbies including competitive swimming having been a Barracuda syncro
princess back in the days. RC@visitaruba.com