ATV/4-Wheeler Tour (Day 4 - Pt. 1) - Curacao - November 2025

We'd originally had a snorkel tour of various parts of the island scheduled for one of our days, but the rain made the waves too harsh to snorkel (unless you're a pro, which we are not). We had family photos taken on Day 3 (which are skipped, as that's not my photography); I also got a fabulous massage. However, the day we had our ATV and 4-Wheeler tour scheduled ended up being gorgeous, so that went off without a hitch. Through Baoase (our resort), we scheduled a tour with Eric's ATV Adventures to go on the East Side tour. There's not a map anywhere, nor are there super-specific names of where we went, but what ended up happening is that I drove AKD and I in a dune buggy while JTD and CRD were on a four-wheeler (NOT COOL with me) around this rough route:

We started at Eric's ATV Adventures (Baoase is nearish the purple X off to the left). I wish I had a photo of it - they had a photo of Tom Cruise on one of their ATV tours on the wall, so that interested CRD who had literally watched Edge of Tomorrow or something twice on the plane to the island. We rode through some city areas, stopped for a while at the Ostrich Farm (which sounds way more fun than it is), through an aloe vera plantation, on through the desert where we went into an ancient cave, and then to the shore which was largely made of fossils. This is a real loose interpretation of our path based off of guesses and the geolocation on my photos.

NO idea why I was terrified of these two on an ATV. Surely the adult here is taking things seriously.

I cannot tell you how important the face masks and goggles were. (I'll explain more in next caption.) Also, look COOOOOL?!

A few things here: #1. This is about the level of enthusiasm we got out of A most of the day. Related to next item. #2. Please note how filthy my forehead is. Since we were the only dune buggy, we were at the very back of the tour. The ATV riders were given very strict instructions not to drift or peel out, but the a-holes right in front of us did it about 80% of the time we were in the desert. It got all over AKD and me, and enraged her in particular. I think she at least sometimes enjoyed it until it got really hot and then we had to look at ostriches and climb up into a cave.

We rode through this aloe vera plant just outside of the Ostrich Farm.

Us all at the Ostrich Farm. In AKD's defense, it wasn't as cool as you'd think. I wanted it to be. What was neat was the tower that's right behind my back - you could climb to the top for a great shot of parasailers over the ocean. But the ostriches and pheasants were fine.

Here's a peacock. The ostriches weren't that close or photogenic.

Fortunately, the other three of us (in particular CRD) got our money's worth! There was a large expanse of desert we rode through - this was as we got off and were preparing to go up into a cave. CRD made friends with our female tour guide, so she not only let him ride with her for a long time as she zipped around, but she also let him drive her ATV for a bit. Hence the big smile.

On our route through the outskirts of the desert, where there were brush and cacti. (Later, it would be barren.)

Before we get to the really barren-sandy part, though, first we're going to go across all of this shaded area.

We climbed up a cliff into this cave prior to that trek. We walked around in here, past a marriage stone that you're supposed to kiss if you want to get married soon, and then we climbed up on top of it to look at the ocean.

Here's the desert-y desert.

The "beach" here was hard rock. Very filled with fossils, reminded me in some ways of the Burren in western Ireland. Very cool. The water sprays were also fun!

The water spray behaved for us in the background!

This is the desert across which we drove. Curacao is only about 40 miles or so from tip to tip, but it has beaches, rainforest, desert, etc. I cannot recommend it enough for a family vacation - yes, it's a beach vacation, but there's SO much to do.

JTD and AKD enjoyed the fossil-y beach area while I hovered over CRD driving an ATV.