On Thursday December 19 we made our last hike of 2013. And because there is still a lot to explore in the area of Zevenbergen (seven mountains) in the Christoffelpark, we planned an extra long trip from a subtop of the Seru Gracia through an unnamed roi (riverbed) to Pos Kayuda and from there through another roi, Roi Sanchie, to another top, where we had parked on of our cars. And it became indeed a long trip because the vegetation was much denser than we had anticipated. It took us 6 hours to walk a distance of 5 kilometers. But it was worth every minute because we walked through an incredibly beautiful nature that made you wonder if you were still in Curaçao.

Roi Sanchie 20131219 009 small

We met at the entrance of the Christoffelpark at 8 AM. From there we drove to a subtop of the Seru Gracia and we parked one of our cars at another top where we would end our hike.

First we looked if we could find the rare orchid species that we had found here last time. And indeed we found again several of these orchids with and without flowers. It is the least known orchid of Curaçao. It is a very small plant growing on the rocks.

Descending along the side of the Seru Gracia, which was not easy because of the steepness and because of a lot of loose rocks, we passed the dry-stone wall that forms the boundary between Zevenbergen and Knip. We continued on the Knip-side. We descended into the roi. Because of the rainfall of the last months everything is green and a lot of plants have flowers. Luckily there was no water in this roi. Most of the time we could walk in the roi but sometimes we were forced onto the sides because the vegetation was too dense to go through. 
At one point in this roi we found a small area that was fenced off. Inside the fence there were a lot of palm trees of a kind that I had never seen. So either this is a rare native species that grows in this specific area or it is planted here in the past. There were also nice orange mushrooms in this area. And closeby we found a rare hemiparasite growing on a tree. A hemiparasite is a plant that takes part of its food from the tree it is growing on. This one is family of the Mistletoe and has orange berries.

After a rest we continued in the direction of Pos Kayuda. The pos (well) is supposed to be close to the roi but apparently is was not in the spot that was marked on the Topographical map of 1993. And the map from 1906 (Werbata) didn't have this well marked; just the text that there is a well in this area. When we found it we were surprised how small it was. Probably this pos was used to make it easier to get clear water from the roi. Looking at the form of the pos it is obvious that it was not completely circularly but apparently it had kind of an entrance on one side. Near this pos we took our lunch break. It was already over 12 PM and we were not even halfway. 

We continued in the direction of Roi Sanchie. When we reached this roi we found water in it. This made the area look very rainforest-like but it made walking in it not easier. Luckily we found something that looked like a path on the side. We even found a leftover raisin bun that looked as if was left here very recently. 
We found the source of the water about halfway the roi. There was a small well with a palm tree growing in it and a dry-stone wall to prevent the side of the roi to cave in into the roi. This well was mentioned on the Werbata map but not on the more recent Kadaster map. Past this point there was no longer water in the roi. 

At a certain point we had to leave the roi and climb the side of an unnamed hill to get to the one car that we parked there. With some improvisation all seven fit in the car and we drove back to where the other cars were parked on the Seru Gracia. 

A beautiful trip through a part of Curaçao that most people in Curaçao unfortunately don't know.

No rights can be derived from this report.

  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_001Our track (blue)
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_004Our third orchid species (rare) - Polystachya foliosa
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_006Almost blooming - Byrsonima crassifolia
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_007Here are the flowers - Byrsonima crassifolia
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_009View from a subtop of the Seru Gracia
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_010A nice climber
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_012Flowers of the climber in close-up
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_013Border between Knip and Zevenbergen
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_014Moss
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_017The descent from the subtop of the Seru Gracia is not easy
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_019
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_021Is this still Curaçao? What a lush nature!
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_026
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_027This tree is full of Banana shimaron (orchids)
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_028A small hermite crab in a tree
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_029This flower is looking at us - Tournefortia volubilis - klásmulato
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_031Ferns - Doryopteris concolor
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_032Detail of the same fern - Doryopteris concolor
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_036Lady of the night (orchid) - Brassavola nodosa - Orkidia
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_037Rare hemiparasite (orange berries)- a Satalaceae, family of the Mistletoe
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_038A Brasia (Brasilwood) full with orchids
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_039Banana shimaron - Lila flowering orchid in the Brasia
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_043These look like pearls - Maytenus tetragona
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_051Strange palm - native or planted here in the past?
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_052Mushroom
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_053View on Seru di Baha hundu
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_055View on countryhouse Knip
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_057Caused by the force of the water coming from the hill
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_058Pos Kayuda - an old well
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_061
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_063Inside of Pos Kayuda
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_065Mushrooms
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_066One of the mushrooms
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_067Roi Sanchie contains water
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_069Strange colored mushrooms
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_071A large palm in Roi Sanchie
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_072Aloe growing on the side of Roi Sanchie
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_073(Un)naturally beautiful
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_077Backlighted Bromeliads
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_080Kadushi di Kolebra (Dama di anochi) - Snake cactys
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_082water in Roi Sanchie
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_083This is the well feeding Roi Sanchie
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_084The well is safeguarded by a dry stone wall
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_086Lots of Ladies of the night blooming
  • Roi_Sanchie_20131219_087A final mushroom