Seru Manuel

Between the Seru Bosman and the Seru Manuel there is a large system of "roinan" (plural of roi in Papiamentu, which means place where the water flows from the mountains in the rain season). Fred had seen "something" close to the main roi on the topographical map made by Werbata in the beginning of the 20th century. This "something" looked like a fenced-in area with a wooden house in the middle. Interesting enough for an expedition by the archaeology sleuths. So we met at the entrance of the Christoffel park on Thursday February 6, 2014 at 8 AM. From there we drove into the Christoffel park to get to the Seru Bosman. There we parked our cars.

We had a good view on the valley and the Seru Samuel from the cars. Both the valley and the Seru Manuel looked quite overgrown. But we are used to that so we started our descend into the valley. And surprisingly the first part was rather easy. In 45 minutes we reached the bottom of the valley and found the main roi. On our way there we found some artefacts (parts of case bottles), a Karko shell, limestone and fossilized coral. Apart from the case bottles which could have been left by previous visitors the limestone rocks, fossilized coral and shell are not naturally present in this area so these are brought here on purpose. Normally an indication of human habitation or at least human usage of the area.
After arriving at the place where according to the Werbata map the mysterious ruin should have been we criss-crossed the area for half an hour in search for indications of it. We found a lot of bottles, old and more recent and two fields of Aloe but nothing else. So the structure was gone without a trace. Not so strange after more than a century if it consisted of a wooden fence and a wooden house.

After a rest we continued our hike on the other side of the roi and went uphill in the direction of the top of the Seru Manuel. Halfway on our way to the top we found an interesting structure. It consisted on one side of a large natural rock but on the other side of that rock there was a half-round wall made of stacked rocks. Certainly man-made. The whole looks like a man-made shelter to us. From which period and for which purpose is unknown. But certainly interesting.

We continued our journey to the top. We crossed a dry-stone wall; this time not a boundary between plantations but probably created as a fence to keep the cattle in a certain area.
On the top we had a nice view on the Northern shore of Curaçao. Directly opposite the top is Boka Tabla with to the left Boka Wandomi and to the right Boca Pistol. It was around lunch time so we decided to take our lunch break there.

After a well-deserved rest we started our way back. We took a heading based on a more or less direct line from the top to the closest point of the asphalt road. From there we would walk over the road to our cars. But the direct line was not what nature had in mind. We were forced to go more and more to the right of our planned path because of large fields of Teku (ground Bromeliads). We preferred not to go through these fields. But after diverting more and more finally we had no other choice. At a certain point we had no other option than to walk through such a field to reach the road. That was a hell of a job and very tiresome. We all were glad to reach the road although from there is was still a long and mostly uphill walk to the cars. Fred and I initially had the intention to leave the road and enter the mondi once again for a shorter path towards the cars but the sight of Teku fields everywhere along the road made us stay on the road.

No rights can be derived from this report.

• In red the track that we walked In red the track that we walked
• View from our starting point on the Seru Manuel and the valley View from our starting point on the Seru Manuel and the valley
• Here we go! Here we go!
• Hetty follows us down the hill into the valley Hetty follows us down the hill into the valley
• Nice example of Knip formation with included firestone Nice example of Knip formation with included firestone
• Another example of Knip formation Another example of Knip formation
• Our first artifact - part of a case bottle Our first artifact - part of a case bottle
• The white orchids are still in bloom The white orchids are still in bloom
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• Another strange artifact - a Karko shell Another strange artifact - a Karko shell
• Even stranger - fossilized coral definitely doesn't belong here Even stranger - fossilized coral definitely doesn't belong here
• An Aloe field - former habitation or agriculture? An Aloe field - former habitation or agriculture?
• Piece of a roof tile Piece of a roof tile
• Another piece of a case bottle Another piece of a case bottle
• A complete bottle - more recent A complete bottle - more recent
• The deepest part of the valley - the roi The deepest part of the valley - the roi
• An Iguana lost its teeth An Iguana lost its teeth
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• Mushroom or fungus Mushroom or fungus
• Another piece of roof tile Another piece of roof tile
• Small part of the bottom of a case bottle Small part of the bottom of a case bottle
• A mid 20th century beer bottle - Michel A mid 20th century beer bottle - Michel
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• Bright colored moss on wood Bright colored moss on wood
• A Teku field A Teku field
• On our way to the top of the Seru Manuel - view on the Christoffel mountain On our way to the top of the Seru Manuel - view on the Christoffel mountain
• Large natural rock Large natural rock
• with on the other side an manmade shelter with on the other side an manmade shelter
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• The Speurneuzen wondering who made this The Speurneuzen wondering who made this
• Fred seeks shelter Fred seeks shelter
• Fred wants to get an overview picture of the shelter Fred wants to get an overview picture of the shelter
• Yep, he made it. Now safely back to the ground Yep, he made it. Now safely back to the ground
• Piece of a the side of a case bottle Piece of a the side of a case bottle
• Dry-stone wall Dry-stone wall
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• Panoramic view from the top of the Seru Manual on the Northern shore Panoramic view from the top of the Seru Manual on the Northern shore
• This is a good place for a long lunch break This is a good place for a long lunch break
• Trunk of a large Wayaka with a termite nest with a bee's nest in it Trunk of a large Wayaka with a termite nest with a bee's nest in it
• Another field of Aloe Another field of Aloe
• The same dry-stone wall farther along our track The same dry-stone wall farther along our track
• View on Knip from the asphalt road View on Knip from the asphalt road
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