Friday, August 21, 2009

Treasure Hunt.....


Today I received an invitation from my friend Andre to be at a Treasure Hunt! Yes, this great promotional treasure hunt will be taking place in Curaçao on Monday....It is part of a campaign to do with Curaçao as a hidden treasure in the Caribbean. There are participants from the USA and Canada and the lucky winner will get half a million dollars! WOW!!

Of course, I cannot participate, contestants were chosen a while ago and are already having fun on the island. I can see how it will be, though. When we first moved to Curaçao, a scavenger hunt or sterrit was one of the best ways to spend a Friday or Saturday night. Someone will organize the route to follow with directions, clues to look for, things to collect, timings.... It was an art and there were a few of our friends that were excellent at it!

Once you got your invite, you'd round up the people you wanted to ride with. Some were better than others and were in demand. The day of the party, we would meet at a designated spot, get our directions and leave as soon as possible. We had a time limit to return to the place where the party was going to be afterwards. Then the race was on...we drove around looking for clues, collecting the items asked for, trying to lose everyone that got too close and just having a great time! Someone will drive, someone else will read the instructions, very important since they were in Dutch!.... and everyone else will collect the items.

Can't believe how easy it was to have a wonderful time on a warm tropical night, driving around the island with our friends, going back and forth to our homes to collect things we couldn't find...yes, we did that too: like license plates, or live roaches!!! Yuck! Still, it was one of our favorite things for a while. Still can close my eyes and see everyone scrambling into their cars, people getting lost on dirt roads, laughing out loud, getting back to the party and reporting on your finds, counting your items, giving each group its points, announcing the winner..... Simpler times, I miss them.

These people have no idea what memories they will bring back! How fantastic the whole experience will be even for the ones that will not win the money.......The beauty of the island will be enough.

2 comments:

Yo said...

Hola Mercedes. Qué alegría cuando hoy reviso tu blog y descubro que nuevamente estás aquí...Pensé que por algún motivo lo habías abandonado, menos mal que no..:-) Gracias por tu respuesta, recién hoy la leo, es que yo creí que de alguna forma mi correo me avisaría que tenía una respuesta a mi comentario, pero ya veo que no, estaré pendiente. El viernes vamos a viajar a Curacao, estaremos 10 días, visitaremos a la familia y además haremos algunas diligencias relacionadas con la mudanza, entre esas el tema del colegio para mis hijos. Ya tengo cita con el Colegio Internacional, ya veremos como va todo...Por supuesto iremos a las playas, que tanto me gustan, no me se aun los nombres, pero recuerdo una que queda en Otrobanda que es como una pequeña bahía, hermosísima...espero volver al igual que a Kontiki.
Cuando esté allá voy a preguntar por el Treasure Hunter, me pareció por tu escrito tan interesante y divertido...
Bueno Mercedes muchas gracias por este blog y compartir con tantos tu valiosa experiencia...un abrazo.

Mercedes de Marchena said...

Hola!
Qué bueno encontrate aquí de nuevo....
No logro muchos comentarios, aunque me dice el conteo que muchos visitan el blog...Lo importante para mí es escribir, poner en blanco y negro lo que me va saliendo.

El Treasure Hunt estuvo fantástico. Ganó una Americana de San Diego......

No sabía que tienes familia en Curaçao. Mis hijos fueron al Colegio Internacional...fue una gran experiencia. Conozco a la directora muy bien..dile que me conoces.

saludos!!!