Inside, Christiaan the owner sits down with each table individually and recites the menu personally. His family has been operating the restaurant for more than 60 years, hosting tourists and locals alike, who pull up the bamboo furniture to the floral tablecloths and tuck into classic Curaçaoan mainstays: garlic shrimp, fried grouper, goat stew, cactus soup. He ends his recitation with the iguana stew, which, after initially balking, we agree to try—just a small plate. Apparently, they raise their own.

Guess what? Tastes like chicken. Maybe that’s why iguana is also known as “free chicken” in these parts. There are a ton of bones to navigate, but I manage and it’s delicious, nice and spicy with a curry sauce. Yes, I’m doing this just to say I did it. You can, too. “Ever eat a bananaquit?” I ask. God knows there’re lots of them. But they’re just for show.

THINGS TO DO: IN CURAÇAO

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Curaçao and its capital city Willemstad form a complete vacation checklist: brilliant-blue waters, 35 white-sand beaches, a heritage comprising more than 55 different cultures (including Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese), beautiful European Colonial architecture with more than 700 listed buildings and a healthy perspective on the LGBTQ, including their own.

The benefits don’t stop there. This island of 160,000 is also outside the hurricane belt and blessed with trade winds that make it not seem quite so hot. Visitors find excellent and eclectic museums, some of the best scuba diving in the world and an actual café society due in part to the thousands of Dutch tourists who flock here year-round, including a large number of students.

• Mix up your accommodations and their locations. Spend a few days in the Pietermaai district at one of the boutique hotels, a day or two at Floris Suite Hotel (particularly for Friday night’s lobby party at 6 p.m.), maybe rent an Airbnb in the Jan Thiel area. There are all-inclusives, but you don’t really want that.

• Don’t be afraid to go out at night. Pietermaai is where the action is. Hit Mundo Bizarro for cocktails, Ginger for Asian Caribbean or Kome for a steak, then Miles Jazz Café for live music. Don’t shy away from the local food stalls and markets.

TRY THE TASTE: IGUANA STEW

• Spend at least one full day or two in Westpunt. Hike up to the top of Mount Christoffel (at dawn, before the heat begins), drop by Shete Boka National Park to see how the crashing waves have sculpted the coastal limestone, and try the iguana stew at Jaanchie’s for lunch (mind the bones).

• Beach-hopping is an actual thing. Each little bay has its own personality. Playa PortoMari has resident red pigs Woody and Willy (not kidding) to romp with, while Playa Piscado is busy with half a dozen wild turtles who clamber for treats from the local fishermen and delight the families swimming along just a few feet away. Lagun Beach is tiny and more peaceful, popular with divers and locals. Really, the whole island is a diver’s paradise with more than 60 sites.

• Rent a car right at the airport. Take note that gas is expensive.

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