Caribbean Footprint

02/08/2026

The sound of the cicada!

02/08/2026

In various locations on Curaçao, Bonaire and Aruba, it’s happening again: those incredibly loud chirping sounds emanating from the mondi, growing to deafening proportions. The cicadas have awakened.

Read more:

In various locations on Curaçao, Bonaire and Aruba, it’s happening again: those incredibly loud chirping sounds emanating from the mondi, growing to deafening proportions. The cicadas have awakened.

29/07/2026

Flowering Kibrahacha

One of the many surprises during the Geology excursion on Curaçao last Saturday, July 25, 2026, was a collection of flowering Kibrahacha trees at Seru Korporaal in Bandabou. A little rain was enough to make these popular trees flower with their bright yellow flowers in an otherwise dry and arid landscape.

Read more about this tree and its bright flowers in English and Dutch here: https://caribbeanfootprint.com/wild-flowers-kibrahacha.../

Kibrahacha (Handroanthus billbergii)
Curaçao
July 25, 2026

21/07/2026

Workshop Geology of Curaçao in progress with the first session tonight at Landhuis Bloemhof with geologist and educator Leon Pors!

14/07/2026

𝐌𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬: 𝐅𝐢𝐠 𝐒𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐱 (𝐏𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐲𝐥𝐢𝐚 𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐬)
Various species of sphinx moths can be found on Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao. The Fig sphinx (Pachylia ficus) is usually not very numerous on the islands.

READ MORE about this fascinating species, that is not the same species as the Giant Gray Sphinx of which the caterpillars decimate the leaves of Frangipani trees. In Dutch and English:

Various species of sphinx moths can be found on Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao. The most well-known species is the large Giant Gray Sphinx, whose caterpillars cause great panic every year because they strip Frangipani trees in gardens bare, much to the annoyance of tree owners (READ MORE ABOUT THIS SP...

09/07/2026

𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐁𝐂 𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐨 - 𝐄𝐜𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐡 - 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 - 𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝟏 - 𝐇𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚 𝐠𝐞𝐨𝐥𝐨́𝐠𝐢𝐤𝐨 𝐝𝐢 𝐀𝐫𝐮𝐛𝐚, 𝐁𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐢𝐫𝐮 𝐢 𝐊𝐨̀𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐮

In 2018 the local nature documentary series Ecosplash- The Blue Connection was published on national television on both Curaçao and Bonaire. Filmed on all three islands this documentary gave insight in the many priceless marine habitats on the ABC-islands and the individuals who took it upon them to do something about their protection without the power of an organisation behind them.

The first episode of the series talked in short about the geological history of the islands. Did you know all geological formations we can now see on the islands of Curacao, Aruba and Bonaire have been formed in the ocean millions to thousands of years ago?

Want to know more about this amazing story, watch the first episode of Ecosplash-The Blue Connection on Youtube! This local nature documentary series was made in 2018 by Curacao Footprint Foundation and is fully in Papiamento.

Watch it here:

Nature documentary series about the coastal ecosystems of Aruba, Cu...

07/07/2026

𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐬: 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐲 – 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐅𝐫𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐲 - 𝐄𝐝𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐁𝐂-𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬

Even in the generally dry month of July, fruits can be found in the ABC-islands’ nature, although they are mainly found in places where moisture remains in the soil for a longer period. Limestone terraces, for instance, are a good example of this.

READ MORE in ENGLISH & DUTCH:

Even in the generally dry month of July, fruits can be found in the ABC-islands’ nature, although they are mainly found in places where moisture remains in the soil for a longer period. Limestone terraces, for instance, are a good example of this. In this rock, water collects in small reservoirs a...

03/07/2026

It has been more than a week after the disastrous earthquakes that brought misery and tragedy to our neighbouring country Venezuela. It was not the first time this area became victim of the power of plate tectonics, with major earthquakes hitting the area in 1967, 1875 and 1812 with many less severe quakes in between.

When the quakes last week were happening, some inhabitants on the ABC-islands have felt some tremors as well. It is not the first the time the islands feel the earth trembling. Geologist Leon Pors has written an article in 2024 for local newspaper Dagblad because of the tremors felt on particularly Aruba just before. In it he explains the geological circumstances that occur in the Earths crust beneath the islands which lead to occasional tremors in our direct vicinity. As our islands are on the outer part of the Caribbean tectonic plate positioned bordering with the South American plate of which Venezuela is part, the tremors felt are logical. The situation is more complicated than that however, which we will try to describe in a follow up article soon!.

But for now we want to give everyone a chance to read more about the geological situation of the ABC-island with a link to the PDF of the article in Dutch which can be downloaded here:https://caribbeanfootprint.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/20241105-De-aarde-beeft-0511-25an.pdf (2024)

Translations in English will follow soon!

NOTE: There is a typo in the introduction that wasn't seen on the date of publication. 'Begin maart 2027' must be 'Begin maart 2017'.

30/06/2026

In memoriam: Gino Wauben

It shocked us to the core when we heard of the unexpected passing of Mr. Gino Wauben on Aruba last week. It took time to be able to write these words to honour the beautiful soul of this man. When we were filming on Aruba for the Nature Documentary series Ecosplash-The Blue Connection all those years ago, Gino was one of the main influencers we interviewed about the necessity of protecting nature and especially our oceans. He and his beautiful wife welcomed us in their home where we had a soulful conversation about his passion for the sea, his personal endeavours to protect the ocean habitats in his native Aruba and the deep connection he had with the sea, which he needed like he needed air. He introduced us to his little peace of ocean heaven just in front of his house, and let us join on one of his adventures in between the mangroves of Aruba. We are so incredibly grateful that we had the opportunity to capture his message on film for all next generations to see. His message will always be relevant!

Gino also joined co-founder Leon Pors on many diving jobs on both Curaçao and Aruba as a dive buddy going all the way to make sure every dive was a safe one, and a joyful one.

We are deeply saddened by his sudden passing and can only try to imagine the incredible loss of this amazing man for his wife, family, friends and all those close to him. We wish you all lots of strength and wisdom to be able to cope with his passing. Swim with the dolphins dear Gino!

16/06/2026

𝐒𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐬: 𝐀𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐞𝐧 𝐒𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥 (𝐏𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐚)

When walking along the shores of our islands we you can sometime find delicate pink wing-shaped bivalve shelves of varying sizes that look and feel like they are made of the most fragile of materials.

Meet the Amber Pen Shell and see if you have found it along the coastline: https://caribbeanfootprint.com/shells-amber-pen-shell-pinna-carnea/

When walking along the shores of our islands we you can sometime find delicate pink wing-shaped bivalve shelves of varying sizes that look and feel like they are made of the most fragile of materials. It is unusual to find them in one piece, in most cased there are pieces missing from the fragile ma...