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Caribbean Curaçao Events Lifestyle Travel

African Night at the Curaçao Ostrich Farm

One of Curaçao’s most unique experiences I’ve had so far is at the Curaçao Ostrich Farm. Every Friday they host their Great African Night Special – and oh my, Fridays are indeed for the adventurous! Two out of the ordinary tours, a selection of the cutest & most peculiar animals (crocodiles, monkeys and of course the ostriches) & in the end an African inspired 3 course menu at their restaurant Zambezi. See & read the full experience right here on Niekartistiek!

The Curaçao Ostrich Farm is located at the North Eastern part of the island – a bit off road & therefore totally different than what you’ll see while beach hoping or on a cruise through the city center. I got picked up between 3 – 3.30 PM and couldn’t be more excited for this adventurous afternoon!

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Aloë Vera Farm

The Aloe Vera Plantation

First stop: The Aloe Vera Plantation. This farm stretches for miles with aloe vera plants as far as the eye can see. An amazing fact about this company is that all the products they produce, are 100% home made. The farm is therefore very biological and makes a lot of super healthy products for skincare, bathing & even healthy juices to help with different types of ailments. We got to try & taste a freshly cut leaf of Aloe. Fun fact: the aloe is not green but see through & it’s more of a gel than a juice. Tastes a bit bitter, but it is super healthy & good for you!

One of their most used products on Curaçao has to be their after sun screen. It works wonders! I can speak of my own experiences here – living in a Caribbean paradise occasionally comes with some fire red tan lines.. Curaloe is my absolute favorite in those times of need!

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Safari Tour

The Curaçao Ostrich Farm Safari Tour

Next up is the famous Safari Tour at the Curaçao Ostrich Farm. Hop on their Safari Jeep and be driven around by amazing tour guide Alex! This drive takes about 40 minutes and every second is more than worth it. You’ll learn to distinguish facts from fables & get to know how this farm keeps their interns busy 😉

My favorite part of this tour would be the feeding of the ostriches. Hungry big fella’s who are eager to take a bite out of the food you’re holding up.

Note for the daredevils here: you can also book an ostrich ride!

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Curacao Ostrich Farm

No worries, this tour is way too much fun to spoil further around. Just make sure to book their Safari Tour, highly recommended, either with this Friday African Night Special or during any other day.

Back to this amazing African Night experience – since you’re on this farm anyway it’s time for some extra exploring!

📸 by NiekartistiekThe Animals

As mentioned before, the farm has a lot of animals. When I say a lot, I truly mean a lot! I believe there are more extraordinary animals here than in Curaçao’s own zoo – just that fact alone makes it worth a visit!

They have the cute regular farm animals like goats, a cow, lots of ugly duckling (kidding, their adorable too), cats, and lots and lots of birds. Think of parrots in all colors imaginable, peacocking peacocks and so on. Oh, and don’t forget the emu’s & of course the famous African ostriches! At the moment of our visit they even had an Ostrich Baby named Thabisha, which means ‘She will bring joy’ in South African. How cute is that?!

📸 by Niekartistiek
Nile Crocodile at Curacao Ostrich Farm

As for the more extraordinary animals.. they have two Nile crocodiles! These giant predators come straight, same as the ostriches, out of Africa. There also is a boa snake, and they’ve got my personal favorite: squirrel monkeys! I am in love with these adorable creatures. Can I take one home?

Pro tip: put your finger within reach but not within the cage: they will grab for it to hold your hand! *Shrieks in excitement* Might bite tho but if you play it safe the experience is merely a cute one 😉

Restaurant Zambezi

After such an adventurous day we were welcomed at their restaurant Zambezi with one of their signature cocktails. While we sipped our drinks and loved the Moroccan Flatbread with a bell pepper dip you could walk around further, enjoy the wild raging campfire & a breathtaking view of the st. Joris baai while the sun sets.

📸 by Niekartistiek
Moroccan Flatbread

Our night continued with delicious bites of more African inspired dishes. We picked the pumpkin soup (so yummy) and the ostrich carpaccio. For our mains we tried the ostrich steak (not only super healthy but also super tasty) and one of their signature tortilla’s. For dessert we indulged in a piece of their cheesecake & chocolate mouse. Um to the yum!

This restaurant is all about the details. Not only their dishes, but also their wine menu has a signature touch. All wines on it are exclusively from South Africa. I say cheers to that!

The great thing about this tour package is that pick up & drop off is included. When on a holiday or even while your here for a while it’s perfect that you don’t need to bother about transportation. So after the event you don’t need to worry about getting home. Around 8 PM the driver was ready to drop us off.

Long story short, I think you now might get why I am super excited about this event. The Great African Night special is an extraordinary experience which I can highly recommend to anyone who finds them selfs on Curaçao.

You can book this tour through here or give them a call via +5999 747 2777.

Enjoy! Please say hi to my little furry friends 😉

Categories
Caribbean Curaçao Events Lifestyle

EVENT ALERT! Madero Sunsets: the Bands of Curaçao

Imagine you’re on a captivating Caribbean island – living the dream or being on a spectacular holiday – why not add more good vibes to that experience? Come join me enjoy one of Curaçao’s delights: Madero Sunsets!

📸 by Niekartistiek
Madero Ocean Club

Madero Ocean Club presents one of their best events yet. Combining taste, drinks & music on the beach. A Culinary & Music Festival! This edition of Madero Sunsets will have ‘The Bands of Curaçao” – they feature 6 live bands! Check their event page here for the line up.

Any food lovers here? Great! Madero Sunset has 4 restaurant spots where you can get a lovely dinner or yummy bites. There will be a Sushi Station, Oysters & Cherviche Parlor, Meat on the Grill & Fish Market & Grill. I can’t wait to try!

To make this evening complete they’ve joined hands with your favorite beverages. There will be 5 Specialty Bars – all with their own expertise. I say cheers to that!

Join me on Saturday the 3rd of March at Madero Sunset: The Bands of Curaçao.

Be an Early Bird & get your ticket for only 15 Nafl! This offer is limited till the 16th of February (today!) You can get your tickets right here via DolfijnGo . From the 17th of February till the 3rd of March you can get tickets for 20 Nafl. At the door tickets will be 25 Nafl.

Doors are open from 5 O’Clock.

Madero Sunset Map
Madero Sunsets Culinary & Music Festival Map

Let’s have an incredible time and celebrate life!

Stay tuned for the Madero Sunset Experience – soon up on the blog!

Madero Sunsets

Categories
Europe Events Hungary Lifestyle Travel

10 reasons why you must go to Sziget Festival

Sziget. A 7 day utopia for music & art lovers. One hell of a festival you can not miss. I could list a thousand reasons why this festival is amazing, but lets first start with these 10:

1. The Line – Up

Sziget is known for getting a lot of major artist on their stages. With 7 (!) days to fill, you’ll see a lifetime of favorite artists. I was lucky enough spot Blink 182, The 1975, Queens of the Stone Age, Imagine Dragons, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Bastille, Lily Allen, Bombay Bicycle Club, OutKast, The Kooks, Calvin Harris… and so many more! In 7 days there are a lot of artist you can enjoy. Every year they’re growing with an even better line-up.

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Outkast performing “Hey Ya”

The amazing thing about Sziget’s line-up is its variety. With so many different stages, they provide for everyone’s taste. From local Hungarian folklore music to Rock & Modern music. There was a Singer&Songwriter stage, Classical & Jazz Stage, Europe Stage, Blues/Irish Stage, African-Latin Stage, Worldstage & so on. You name it, they provided a stage for it.

My Sziget tip on this is to go wander around. Don’t mainly stay at the Main Stage but try to discover new artist at the other stages. So many talented artists!

2. Location

In the heart of Budapest,  in the Danube River, this festival is located on it’s own island. Jep, you’re on an whole festival island in the middle of one of Europe’s most interesting cities. This screams for opportunities.

Do take a Sziget city pass so you can discover the beauty of Budapest itself. Not only for it’s historical  architecture, but also for its monumental bathing houses. With the City pass you’ll get free entrance to at least one.

3. The Vibe

With Sziget Szitizens there is nothing but good and friendly vibes. With hundreds of thousands of people on this festival island, all coming together to have the best time of their lives.

It’s a week lasting festival, what might explain the more relaxing vibe. People really take their time to relax, to chill and I think – in comparison with shorter festivals – that’s the reason why the vibe is so much more relaxed. Everybody tries to experience the smaller bits that the festival has to offer.

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My friend Pia knowing exactly how to execute the relaxing part

4. The Food

Don’t be afraid you’ll starve at Sziget: they provide amazing food trucks. It’s like a whole food truck festival of it’s own and it is yummy. Whatever you want, Sziget has it. Rows of food trucks, tents, and stalls which are selling basically everything you can wish for and a lot of traditional Hungarian dishes as well. There are so many and such diverse food options.

Try some of the local trucks as well. One of my favorite discoveries was an oil baked kind of bread, with garlic butter and cheese. These things are to die for! You’ll never discover new things if you don’t explore the more ‘exotic’ foodtrucks 😉

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5. Art Festival

Sziget offers much more than music. There are so many extra art amenities at Sziget.. so many exciting things to do! I could list all of them but then this post would never end. Here are my favorites:

First you have the Art Zone – a huge grass area with different sculptures and booths. Also a lot things to do. There is sculpture making, body painting and stencil spray, yoga, many interesting art classes and things with strange names which make them so much more interesting to try!

The Before I die wall – This should be a common one. It’s basically a huge chalk wall with the words “Before I Die…” where you can write your dreams, hopes or anything you still wish to achieve. It’s always inspiring to read what others wish to accomplish, to read one’s ambitions & to laugh at the jokes some people make with it.

When writing about art at this festival, I can not leave Cirque de Sziget out. It’s an outdoor and indoor circus at Sziget, each with its own line-up of quirky and interesting acts. Mixed between acrobatics & comedy where people have been dressed in a funny way and a lot of participation from the audience.

The Ability Park – here you could experience what it is like to have disabilities. Drawing sayings literally – like it’s raining cat’s & dogs, drawing literally a sky that pours cats & dogs – doing obstacles blindfolded and a few other insanely creative ways to discover what it is like to live with disabilities.

The Luminarium was probably my favorite artistic place to be on the whole festival. It’s an enormous geometric installation where you can go inside. Basically it was a huge inflatable sculpture that uses natural light to create very calming mood as you wander through all the rooms inside.  Very beautiful & with lots of colors. It gives you the idea of walking on the inside of a big air balloon.  It’s the perfect place to wander around in thoughts as well. The fact that the whole attraction needed to be experienced barefoot helped a bit too. The Luminarium has traveled all around Europe as an art insulation that thousands of people have visited already.

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The Luminarium

6. Chill Zone

This is the one spot I discovered Chai Tea Latte, and now I’m hooked. This area had all sorts of colorful sheets draped around the top area. With pillows all laying spread over the floor this was a spot to go to when you wanted to relax & chill out.  Most Szitizens came here to take a nap or just mainly relax majorly while listening to the calming music.

This area also had a lineup of DJ’s spinning mostly deep house, and had bars and some places to get food.

Each night there was a sweet campfire at chill zone – beach side – with different artists playing around the fire. Wonderful and ultimate enjoyable.

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Chill Zone Chillings

7. International Friends

People who come to Sziget Festival are from all over the world. It is amazing how easily you make new friends and learn about all these different cultures! One of my favorite things about festivals is the coming together of so many nationalities through music. There are so many extraordinary people. With a varied crowd – no age limit – so young & old people could come and enjoy the festival.

The majority of the crowd lays probably between 18-40 year . There was a huge Dutch population, but people really came from everywhere.

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Even Santa was at the party

8. Theme Parties

Every night at 7PM there was a ‘special party’ at the main stage. It started off with a bubble party. They passed bubbles out to the whole crowd to blow. Next day there was a flag party, where they gave out thousands of Sziget flags and also encouraged people to bring their own. I still have my blue Sziget flag as a token of this amazing experience. There was a confetti party where everyone had confetti poppers, a color party where all different colors of color powder were passed out – what a mess that gave in combination with the rain and the mud, but worth it – , a maraca party with little maraca shakers in the whole crowd, and a glow stick and laser party.

These parties give a real unique twist to the Main Stage area, and a way for everyone to unite even more.

9. Ambiance

Sziget wouldn’t be a proper festival if it weren’t for it’s decorations. A lot has already been given away with the Art Zone & Chill Zone of course, but to be honest everywhere you looked you saw a piece of finishing touch. Or just some weird things totally out of place that for a crazy reason still worked out.

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Like colorful umbrellas in the sky

10. The Whole Experience

Go enjoy yourself on this Island of Freedom. One of the reasons Sziget has such a great experience is that it’s a completely self-contained festival. You can camp on the festival grounds, meaning you can spend the entire week at Sziget without leaving – Altho I still encourage you to visit Budapest at least once during your visit – . This really gives the venue a feeling of community.

Go explore new music of genres you might never heard of before! Try all the crazy art workshops! Go on full Szitizen mode and see how many stamps you can collect in you Sziget Passport – you can collect stamps with different activities – and become a fully resident of the Sziget Community. Enjoy all food stations & enjoy all of the possibilities the Festival has to offer.

Enjoy, Explore, Discover this wonderful Festival..

& Celebrate life!

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