On Thursday, January 17, 2013 we visited the plateau behind plantation house Siberie. Geologically the oldest part of the island, the part which first surfaced. It is a limestone plateau with still quite old vegetation. On Werbata nothing special is visible in this area, so this time it is mainly a nature walk. With special guest Bert Kienjet, who, inspired by the nature of Curacao, created a number of etchings; each of the sleuths have received a print as a gift (see picture)..
We gathered just beyond the point where, until recently, restaurant / bar Baranka was located and where now an apartment building is rising. Hence we went upward over a path that was cleared by a bulldozer in the past. The trail was still quite passable, though it was in some places quite overgrown. Along the path we noticed many old Brasilwood trees. These are easily recognized by their strongly grooved stem.
After about 1 km we reached a fork in the path. Straight ahead you would reach an old Kodela (Aqualectra, electricity company) path, which is also indicated on the Kadaster Map of 1993. The path to the left goes in the direction of the center of the plateau. And because that is our goal, we turned left after a short rest. The visible path soon disappeared so we took our gloves and pruner from our rucksack packed and pushed forward. Luckely pruning was not really necessary because there was hardly andy vegetation with spines.
Along the way we found some 'kelderflessen' (literally cellar bottles, a square bottle made from dark glass) so apparently we were not the first ones here; the nature was beautiful.
We detected a strange looking substance on the ground. Greenish and not appetizing looking. When we picked up some of this stuff it looked like thick seaweed; a thinner form van be found in the sea and in Japanese restuarants to eat. We didn't try to eat this stuff though.
Our target was a dent in the cliff on the eastern edge of the plateau. When we arrived we found a dry stone wall exactly on the edge. From there we had a nice view of the Country house San Sebastian and the church of Willebrordus. Nearby the viewpoint was a tree containing various mosses and fungi; the photographers took their time to take pictures. You had to be careful where to put your hand though, because there were a large-sized ants on the branches.
After a rest we crossed the plateau diagonally to the opposite northern cliff. Also there we found a dry stone wall on the edge. According to François we could reach the Kodelapad by descending there. There was some doubt in the group if this indeed would be the case, but everyone followed him down anyway. It was quite a struggle through the dense vegetation, but eventually François appeared to be right. We reached the Kodelapad. Identified by some large insulators along the path and a sign "Beware, Dangerously high voltage".
The path was not maintained for a long time. A logical decision by Aqualectra because the electricity poles have long been gone. Some remnants of these we find lying in the bushes. It became a difficult hike, because there was a lot of prickly vegetation overgrowing the former path; after a while we reached do a better passable section. From there we walked back to the fork and, via the path that took on our way up, we arrived at our cars.
Our guest, the etcher Bert, liked the tour, although he remarked that the vegetation was denser and much less accessible than he had thought. But it was a journey, which undoubtedly will result in some new etchings.
The trail we walked in blue on the topographical map of 1993
Getting acquainted with Bert Kienjet (left in the picture)
The first dry stone wall, close to our starting point
A natural sculpture; the lower part of a Brasilwood tree
A Brasilwood next to the path
Michèle and Hetty are following us along the reasonable passable path
A Manzaliña Bobo; a tree to be careful with, like François experienced during an earlier trip
Flor di Sanger; this one has indeed the deep red color of blood
This is also a Flor di Sanger; these come in several colors
These look like small tomatoes; the berries of the Watakeli
A Passion flower with to the left the still closed flower
This Dreymaeus snail is mistaken; normally these snails can be found on the stem of the Wayaca
Along the path a beautiful vegetation
At the fork in the path; taking a rest and discuss how to proceed
A half cochlea shows a beautiful interior
Also on the path there are several nice plants
A tree that we don't see very often, a Mata Piská
with a stem with poxs
and tiny white flowers and green berries
This one has also a yellowish moss on several branches
Looking back over the path we see Hetty, and behind her François and the wind mills
Flower and leaves of the Yerba di Glas
Remainder of a cellar bottle (underside)
A bit further we find also the top of this cellar bottle
What is this? Greenish, slimy; it looks like seaweed to me
A tree that we don't know; we saw several of these during our walk
The beautiful grooved stem of the Brasilwood
On this Brasilwood moss is growing
An ideal place to take a rest underneath a Wayaca
We are somewhat higher and so we find these kinds of moss in the trees
A nice view, to the left the church of Willebrordus, to the right the country house Sint Sebastiaan
Mosses and fungi on a tree
but also large ants; here one on a large fungus
On the dry stone wall under some trees some of us find a nice place to take a rest
On the northern edge of the plateau we look out at the water tank at Fontein
and at the mountains around the Christoffel
We finally arrive at the Kodela path as these large insulators show
Walking at a brisk pace
Back at the cars I see this flower on a Prickly Pear
