Malpais (part 2)

Cueba di Chichi

"The enslaved woman Chichi of Malpais was pregnant and was going to be beaten. She fled and hid in a cave of the Seru Jamaníca, on the same plantation. There she lived for years with her husband, and had two more children. She fetched food at Gato, which was 'free'. When the bells announced freedom, Chichi could not be persuaded to leave the cave. She did not believe any of it. Only after she had heard many freedom songs did she dare to come out, and she even went to the lord of the knoek, who insisted that she present herself, as he received 200 guilders for every enslaved person. The cave is still called 'Cueba di Chichi'," says Paul Brenneker in Sambumbu.

The Archaeological Working Group went in search of the original Cueba di Chichi. In 2015 it investigated various caves in the easternmost corner of Seru Jamanika in Malpais, opposite landhuis Papaya on the Westpuntweg. Over the years large boulders had broken off the limestone plateau at Jamanika, together forming spaces in which one could well live. In this way a possible dwelling place of Chichi was found, even with a "living and bedroom". The spot also lies close to Gato, which was "free" because Gato had been given by the female owner to her enslaved people. For Chichi indeed a suitable place to live, from which to go and socialise and shop there now and then. But there are several caves on Jamanika that may once have been Chichi's shelter.

The bays of Malpais

In part 1 of Malpais we mentioned that it was once the largest plantation in the middle division. The former livestock plantation was bought by Shell in 1929, came back into the hands of the government and has been recognised as a nature area since 2013. Malpais borders on 4 bays, and these are, from east to west: the Vaersenbaai, the small Boka di Roi di Kenepa (Playa Uniko), the von Peschbaai (Bachelors' Bay) and the Bullenbaai. In this second edition: the bays of Malpais.

The Vaersenbaai

The former plantation Groot Piscadera was laid out in 1662 as one of the first food plantations for enslaved people who were housed in camps at Zuurzak and Sint Joris. Supplies of fresh milk and meat came from the cattle corral at Vaerschenbaai — or "Versebaai" — which around 1700 also belonged to Piscadera.

The terrace of the present restaurant at the Vaersenbaai is built on the remains of an old little fort, while at the top of the mountain there is also a consolidated battery. Fort Vaersenbaai has for some years been officially recognised as a monument. The remains of the gate and the battery above the beach have been consolidated so that they do not crumble further. Vaersenbaai was donated by Shell to the police force as thanks for their efforts to end a strike by Chinese stokers. The stokers were protesting against the life-threatening conditions in which they were put to work during the Second World War, and in an uprising in the detention camp at Suffisant fifteen of them were killed. The beach is now leased to the operator of Kokomo Beach and is a popular swimming spot.

Boka di Roi di Kenepa

Between the Vaersenbaai and the von Peschbaai there is a small and fairly unknown little bay, designated on old maps as Boka di Roi di Kenepa, or "Knipbaaijtje". It lies at the end of the Roi di Kenepa, a little path that refers to the many kenepa trees that formerly stood here. The little bay has a coral beach where pelicans like to linger. Because of the many stones and the coral reef it is not suitable for swimming; snorkelling is still possible. On the assumption that the little bay had no name, it was renamed Playa Uniko by Uniek Curaçao. Uniek Curaçao is, among other things, charged with managing various nature areas on the island.

Von Peschbaai

The von Peschbaai, popularly known as the bachelors' bay, is named after an engineer of Shell who had taken the initiative to lay out a sand track to this little bay. It was later also called Pestbaai, was visited mainly by families from the neighbouring Julianadorp, and was, although on Shell terrain, freely accessible to the general public. And because of its remote location and intimate character it later became a favourite of bachelors too…. As a result of sea-level rise, however, the former little coral beach has disappeared entirely.

Bulbaai

West of the von Peschbaai lies the Bullenbaai, which has a history from before the oil era: on the Werbata map it was still a small plantation with a dwelling house and outbuildings, which have, however, now disappeared. A little fort also once stood here: on the map of D. Creefts from 1784 Fortress Bulbaai can be seen, on a protruding rock point that was called Ponta Pecuda. Through the construction of oil-storage activities nothing remains of this fort either. Ponta Pecuda is possibly the location where a coastal battery was built by Americans during WWII. Both the von Pesch and the Bullenbaai lie in the former plantation Meiberg, which had already been bought by Shell in 1928 for 100,000 guilders. The landhuis of Meiberg no longer exists: after the war there was a severe shortage of building materials. As a result, stacked-stone walls and a few landhuis ruins, such as the plantation house of Meiberg, were demolished, except for the foundation and a section of wall, for Shell installations.

Ground lease on coastal water???

Bullenbaai (formerly also called Bullebaay, Bulbaai or Boelbaai) is a very deep natural harbour where later the very largest oil tankers in the world would moor. J. van Soest writes in Olie als water that immediately after buying Meiberg, Shell applied for a ground lease (erfpacht) on the domain land of Bullenbaai and a 100-metre-wide strip of water along the coast of Bullenbaai and Meiberg. A ground lease on a piece of land was no problem, but a ground lease on territorial waters to private parties would, according to high-ranking officials such as the harbour master and the military commander, set a precedent, and they protested vehemently. But thanks to an oral promise from the governor, Shell got the Bullenbaai terrain for 1,500 guilders per year for 11 hectares along the coast and the right of use of 100 metres of water along the coast at Bullenbaai and Meiberg for 1,000 guilders per year. In return Shell would install coastal lighting and provide accommodation for the customs and pilot personnel at Bullenbaai. Houses were also built for its own staff, and a company store was set up where goods could be bought at very low prices. Shell also built two air-raid shelters for the residents of these houses. These bunkers stood outside the gate of the oil installations, at two places along the road to Bullenbaai.

Swimming pool

In the coastal waters that Shell leased, "the swimming pool of Bullenbaai" was laid out for employees stationed there and for the crew of moored tankers. But third parties were also allowed to use it. Along stairs many metres long against the high rocks one could descend to the "swimming pool": a few metres of water that was fenced off as protection against possible sharks. The original steep stairs have disappeared and have nowadays been replaced by metal stairs installed by divers. The swimming pool has long since stopped being "shark-proof": of the fencing only the rusted posts remain.

The attack on Bullenbaai

Behind the row of Shell houses that still stand there is a sturdy, almost undamaged air-raid shelter from the Second World War, which is now used as a storage place by neighbourhood residents. A second air-raid shelter is located behind the row of demolished houses closer to the former gate of Bullenbaai. The guns of Coastal Battery Bullenbaai stood on the terrain of the oil installations along the coast and had their own ammunition depots. During the Second World War many German submarines sailed between Curaçao and Venezuela. And so in April 1942 a hostile attack took place at the installations at Bullenbaai. Off the coast a German U-boat surfaced and fired eight incendiary shells at the storage tanks, which were full of kerosene. They missed, however: the real tanks were hidden under large camouflage nets, and the American soldiers led the Germans astray with large lamps that they left burning far from the storage tanks during the blackout. And thanks to a quick counter-reaction by the coastal battery, the German submarine immediately fled, so that this attack ended with a whimper.

Coastal Battery Bullenbaai

The Archaeological Working Group investigated in 2011 the remains of this coastal battery on the oil-storage terrain at Bullenbaai. At the protruding rock point and at a sheltered bay with a small beach, four gun emplacements were found: two large ones, flanked by two smaller ones. Bullenbaai was armed with two 12 cm guns. These were large guns that were probably placed on the large gun emplacements. The purpose of the smaller emplacements is not clear. But they were all part of the coastal battery that was built by Americans in WWII to protect the oil installations at Bullenbaai. That was urgently needed: the refineries on Curaçao and Aruba produced as much as 70% of all the jet fuel needed to supply Allied combat aircraft during WWII.

Mammoth tankers

In 1973 the oil-storage site was modernised and the Curaçao Oil Terminal, COT, was built for the storage and transshipment of crude oil from Africa and the Middle East, an investment of more than 60 million guilders. And in June 1974 the first ship was moored at the Curaçao Oil Terminal. Mammoth tankers that were too big for the Sint Annabaai were unloaded here, and the oil was pumped with enormous pumps and through underground pipes to the refinery.

Kaminda Mgr dr Amado Römer

On the basis of oral promises to the governor, Shell had the Weg naar Bullenbaai built straight through Malpais and the salt pans on the north side of the inner water of Sint Michiel. Before that the bay was reachable only by a footpath. The road is nowadays called the Kaminda Mgr. Dr. Amado Römer, after the priest who from 1977 was attached to Jandoret for thirty years and also lived in the neighbourhood. He wrote various books, was strongly socially engaged and co-founder of various trade unions and of the credit system on Curaçao. He died in 2020 at the age of 88. (see chapter Jandoret)

With thanks to: Allan van der Ree, François van der Hoeven, the Archaeological Working Group (photos) and Frensel Mercelina.