Koraal Tabak

Koraal Tabak is today the site of the most recent and most modern wind farm on Curaçao. It is an initiative of the Bakhuis family, owners of the former plantation for more than half a century, and government bodies, to develop sustainable energy at this location where the constant sea wind is dominant. Koraal Tabak, in the 17th century still called Toeback Coreal or Taback's Coraal, lies in the far north-west corner of the Sint Jorisbaai, the inner water that is popularly called Shenshó.

Agricultural experiments

Around 1700 Koraal Tabak was 492 hectares in size and one of the nine plantations that the West India Company (the WIC) had laid out on Curaçao. It is named after a trial planting of tobacco in 1635 under the leadership of Johan van Walbeeck, the first in a series of failed agricultural experiments on Curaçao. After the conquest of the island in 1634 there was considerable enthusiasm among Dutch farmers to try their luck in the new colony. The existing Indian hofjes at Sint-Joris (Chinchó) were extended, and the first colonists, Laurens Pietersz and two farmhands, came over in 1635 and were stationed at Groot Sint Joris. Besides tobacco they also experimented with barley and oats, in addition to the usual planting of native crops such as beans, cassava, sweet potatoes, (potato) bananas, maize, (water)melons and pumpkins.

Indian tobacco

The native crops did well; the Dutch barley and oats, and also the tobacco seed from Tobago, did less well. Pietersz's conclusion that the "clay soil was unfit for tobacco planting" proved incorrect: according to the author M. Visman, on 3 March 1636 an Indian appeared before the Council with magnificent tobacco plants that he had grown on his own little clay plot. Van Walbeeck and the entire Council travelled to Chinchó to see the tobacco miracle with their own eyes, and Pietersz was instructed from then on "to supply himself with insular tobacco seed from the Indian and to entrust it to the ground at the new rainy season". Van Walbeeck — himself no smoker — also sent a small sample of Indian tobacco to his superiors. Although Sint-Joris is a very water-rich area, Koraal Tabak could count on groundwater for irrigating crops much less than its neighbours Choloma and Groot and Klein Sint-Joris. It is known that Koraal Tabak had a hofje with palm trees on the north coast. Meanwhile Pietersz's wife, who had stayed behind in the Netherlands, complained to the Chamber of Amsterdam of the WIC that her husband had been hired on Curaçao by director van Walbeeck to plant tobacco for only "25 guilders per square metre. Whether he may have half more, or else come home". Pietersz eventually chose to enter wage employment as factor — overseer — of the WIC's fruit and vegetable gardens at Sint Joris, Zuurzak and Zuikertuintje. Supervision proved necessary in the evening too: during night-time raids soldiers helped themselves so much to the produce in the gardens at Zuikertuintje and Zuurzak that the death penalty was even introduced.

The plantation house

Koraal Tabak was never a flourishing plantation; after a series of failed harvests it was even sold under compulsion in 1833. The status of the plantation is apparent from the simple plantation house, consisting of two rectangular little houses joined together along their long sides. Only its elevated position and the striking rising staircase give it some of the allure of a landhuis. On the west side — the front — of the house lies a spacious, raised terrace with a rain tank, and ruins of mangazinas also stood here. Also clearly visible on the west side is the pyramid-shaped hill Seru Kabes, which lies in Santa Catharina and is the love nest of a pair of Partawela, a species of falcon. Also visible on the west side of the house is Seru Kita Piká, which merges into the elongated Seru Stela, which ends at the inner water of Sint Joris. On the south side of the house stood dilapidated corrals and servants' quarters. In 1851 Koraal Tabak still had an old little house with dried grass for horses. From the east side of the landhuis you see the landhuizen of Choloma and Klein Sint Joris.

Snuff factory

Kurá Tabak, as the estate is popularly called, was first leased by the WIC to Jan Dorcas, who was later declared bankrupt. It was offered for sale without success in 1707 and 1710 and in 1717 leased for 6 years to the highest bidder, namely for 120 pesos (1 peso = 2.40 guilders). The name Taback's Coraal probably had a great attraction for Antoine Delvaille, a French Jew who in 1796 bought both plantation Sint Jago near Scharloo and Koraal Tabak. He was, after all, the wealthy owner of a well-known snuff factory in Pietermaai. Willem Hoyer, owner of Koraal Tabak in 1828, however had so many mortgage debts that he only had to pay 11.80 pesos in land tax, and in 1835 he disposed of the plantation again.

Mister Wonderful

In the mid-20th century the Bakhuis family bought the plantation. Hugo Bakhuis also had a block factory west of the church of Janwe, which was later expanded and moved to Koraal Tabak. He arranged the transport for his staff himself. In 1963 Bakhuis had the mangrove trees at the edge of the western part of the inner water removed for the construction of a recreation park: Wonderful Beach. The weekend houses were dismantled wooden barracks of the refinery that were re-erected. Besides the weekend houses there were also slides and volleyball and tennis courts, a go-kart track and a strip for race cars. Behind the hills at Wonderful Beach a horse-racing track was laid out along the water, with a football field in the middle. Around 1980 matches still took place here. A restaurant was opened in the landhuis, and Bakhuis, also called Mister Wonderful, was the first on Curaçao to start a bus line from the city to the outlying district.

Drag race in the mondi

Wonderful Beach was not a success and was closed after 2 years. Only the 400-metre-long drag-race track, south of Koraal Tabak, on the terrain on the north coast proved a great success: along the sides of the strip it was black with people sitting everywhere in the mondi (the bush) to follow the races. Names like Charlie Moron, with his car The Godfather, from Curaçao and the Aruban Chico Croes with Bad Banana will ring a bell with many drag-race fans. The pioneer Hugo Bakhuis died in 1973.

Fatal stunt

In the 1970s a small plane of the Aeroclub Curaçao crashed onto the drag strip in front of a large crowd. People were waiting for the next drag race; the little plane had just come back from a practice session over the Spanish Water and was on its way back to Hato. The occupants probably decided to attempt a stunt over the strip, with fatal consequences: the two occupants, an instructor and Johan van der Hoeven, at that time the only radiologist in the hospital, were killed. On this well-known strip a secret commando also landed in August 1984. It later freed 79 passengers from a hijacked Venezuelan aircraft that stood at Hato. Both hijackers were killed in the process.

Boka's

Koraal Tabak has two inlets: Boka (di) Tabla and Boka Mangel. At Boka Tabla, which lies north of the drag strip, stand the mysterious ruins of what is known as Fort Klooman, said to have been built during WWII. The Werkgroep Archeologie (Archaeology Working Group), however, doubts whether this was a fort, as defence works were normally built on the south coast of Curaçao. Because of the hewn limestone it is probably even older than WWII and looks more like a former quarry, like the one on the coast at Patrick, according to the Werkgroep. The ruin and what its purpose was remain a mystery for the time being. From Fort Klooman the remains of Bakhuis's more modern quarry can be clearly seen on the high terrace. It was still in full operation in the 1960s. Diabase was also extracted at Koraal Tabak, and trass was formerly found there, which was used as a binding agent in making cement. The small bay, Boka Mangel, owes its name to the mangroves — forced flat by the wind — that grow around it. In certain parts of the year, such as May, the coastal strip at Boka Mangel is fenced off with electric wires because it is then the breeding season of the meeuwchi (gulls).

Seru Stela

The elongated mountain range west of the landhuis defines the landscape of Koraal Tabak. The westernmost part is called Seru Kita Piká (Forgiven Sin) and merges into Seru Stela, which is strewn with enormous boulders that have broken off the plateau. Stela consists of various sections that have a different name in popular speech: the northern part is called Seru di Bika, in which there is a spacious cave with several entrances: the Kueba di Bika, named after an Indian woman who gave birth there. On 15 February 1960 a weathered stalagmite (dripstone formation) was found here that had probably been given eyes (coffee beans), a mouth and a nose by Indians. The artwork was christened Joris Tabak by archaeologists.

Seru di Madan, 21 m, is the continuation of Seru di Bika: a woman who was married to an Englishman once lived there;

Porta di Playa, Gateway to the Beach, is the middle part of the ridge;

Seru di Ka'i Reda, hill by the fishing-net house, is the southern tip of the ridge. At its foot stands the ruin of the little house where fishing nets (reda) were formerly kept. At an elevated spot on the east side lies an Indian site with oyster shells, some of which have rolled down through erosion. The Indian drawings in the various caves of Stela are also a legacy of these former inhabitants. Just below the top of Seru Stela, with a wide view over the north side and Boka di Shenshó, lies the floor of a lookout post built during the Second World War. At the end of Seru Stela, close to the entrance of the inner water, stands a broken-off rock spike with a striking pyramid shape.

Wind turbines

The 22.5 MW wind farm was built at Koraal Tabak in 2024. It consists of 5 wind turbines, each 150 m high, with blades 72 metres long. In addition, part of Koraal Tabak has been parcelled out for housing, and there are plans to restore the plantation house.