Montaña Abou and surroundings

Zone no. 40, Montaña Abou, consists of the barios Montaña Abou (government land), Hoenderberg, Weto, Herst, Esperanza near Herst, Confianza and the former plantation Paradijs. Hanenberg is also covered on this page.

Montaña Abou lies east of Scherpenheuvel, near the Midden Seinpost (Middle Signal Post), or Seru di Seinpost. This hill lies south of the Weg naar Montaña and is 103 metres high.*

The border between the bario Montaña Abou and Scherpenheuvel lies at Seru Molina. A mill stood there where sorghum was ground. In the east the bario borders on Langulé (= Lang leven, long life) in Montaña.

Plantation house and public housing

Unlike Montaña, Montaña Abou did have a plantation house, as can be seen on the Werbata map of 1911. This plantation house stood opposite the Midden Seinpost, close to the present subdivision at Hoenderberg.

Until 1985 Shell Curaçao owned Montaña Abou. Between 1922 and 1930 the oil giant bought no less than 85 hectares for fl. 12,000 and had laid a pipeline from the refinery straight through Montaña Abou to the Caracasbaai.

At the end of the 1970s the population of Montaña Abou grew considerably with the construction of 513 public-housing homes on an area of 80 ha. Some of these houses were built in Rhederslust, a small neighbourhood whose entrance is in the little street next to the truck’i pan (sandwich truck) Sahara. Rhederslust is regarded as part of Weto.

As in Montaña, the streets in Montaña Abou are named after medicinal herbs. Here we find, for example, the Klasmulatoweg and the Basora Pretuweg, Kaya Yerba Bueno, Kaya Yerba di Sangura, Kaya Otaheito, Kaya Rosamarein, the Aloëstraat and Kaya Sentebibu.

The Cadushistraat behind the former Ritz Santa Rosa separates Esperanza, Weto, Rhederslust and Confianza from Montaña Abou.

Over the years private organisations also built public housing in Montaña Abou.

Hanenberg and Hoenderberg

Hoenderberg used to be part of Hanenberg; they are two former kunukus. They lie between Montaña and Montaña Abou, east of Seru Seinpost on the Weg naar Montaña (Kaminda Grandi).

Hanenberg was also written Hanneberg and was known in popular speech as Agubèr. Like Hoenderberg, it once belonged to the formerly enslaved woman Delfina, who came to own both small estates through a marriage.

Behind this lies a true krioyo soap opera, as told by Els Langenfeld in her book Verhalen uit het verleden (Stories from the past):

“The 10-year-old Delfina and her older sister were the property of Johannes Jacob Hoyer, who was married to Maria Elizabeth Specht, one of the thirteen illegitimate children of the enormously rich landowner Daniël Specht and the dark-skinned Maria Libiana. The two girls were separated when Delfina was sold to Bernhard Diedenhoven. In those days children were considered old enough at ten to work as adults. Delfina stayed with Diedenhoven for more than 20 years and after his death was sold for 400 guilders to the Jewish David Moses de Castro, who a month later sold her on for the same amount to George Leon.

Romance at Hanenberg

George Leon, a man of colour, owned the plantation Hanenberg and was married to Henriette Hermina da Costa Gomez. George almost immediately sold Delfina on to Angelista Steenmijn, who made sure that Delfina obtained her freedom and was entered in the civil register as Delfina Mijnsteen. Presumably George Leon used this detour to free his former slave: the relationship between George and Delfina went further than that of master and slave, and that could cause problems for his lawful marriage. Shortly after she was freed, Delfina gave birth to a son by George Leon, whom she called George Salomé. Once grown up, he took his father’s surname.

Delfina, a hat maker by trade, bought the plot Hoenderberg in 1864 for 200 guilders from her former owner and lover, for her 2 sons: George Salomé, alias George Leon Jr, and Antonius Kristinus.

Land near the Westwerf

Three years later Delfina bought land near the Westwerf in Otrobanda for 200 guilders and had a stone house built on it. When buying the land she was represented by George Leon Sr, with whom she had meanwhile had another son: Philip Augustus. Her new property was registered in the names of her three sons.

After the death of his wife, George Leon Sr married his former slave on 4 April 1883; he was then 72 and Delfina 54. He died three years later, shortly before he would have turned 75.

George Leon was a planter by profession but also bought and sold real estate. As his wife, Delfina became heir to his possessions, together with George’s only son from his previous marriage, Herman Emmanuel Bartholomeus Leon.

And one of these possessions was the plantation Hanenberg, which his father had bought in 1883,” according to Langenfeld.

Financially, however, the management of the estate did not go well, for in 1903 the whole plantation Hanenberg – then valued at 500 guilders – came into the hands of Joseph Joubert, who became the new owner for 250 guilders,” Langenfeld writes in her book Verhalen uit het verleden.

Jalousie

On the border between Hanenberg and Cas Grandi, south of Montaña and Hoenderberg, lies the small kunuku Jalouzie, or Jalousie, in popular speech Jalusia. Here once lay the Graf di Jalousie (grave of Jalousie) with a striking iron cross on it. Shi Maria lay buried there, murdered by her husband with an agan during a harvest festival. The agan is an iron musical instrument used at the harvest festival, seú, and also in tambú. Whether the murder was committed out of jealousy is not known. What is certain is that the murderer, a certain Joan, was later buried next to Shi Maria.

Jalousie once belonged to the family of the well-known singer of Doble R, Sindney – not Sidney – Isidora, alias “Mr Saab”. The Isidora family still lives on the adjoining plot. The Graf di Jalouzie has disappeared, and a luxury apartment complex now stands there.

Other kunukus near Montaña Abou

Kunukus, knoekjes, plantaadjes or also tuintjes (small gardens) were usually smaller than plantations. They were often owned by Catholic people of colour, who had few or no enslaved people working for them. The growers depended on the yield of their garden and lived in bitter poverty during periods of drought. The small gardens were sold regularly, but many names of the first owners still live on in present-day barios around former larger plantations, such as Montaña Abou.

Hanenberg, Hoenderberg and Jalousie lie south of Montaña Abou.

Former kunukus north of Montaña Abou (and east of Santa Rosa) are: Weto, Herst, Esperanza and Confianza (see also the attached map of Weto on the Werbata map).

Weto

Formerly also called Guaito, Weito or Njéto, this is the name of the first owner of the piece of land south of the present electronics shop Bon Prijs. It used to be full of tamarind trees, and a few still stand there today.

Dominating the landscape is the Seru di Weto – 68 m high – which forms the divide between the public housing of Montaña Abou and the Santa Rosaweg. Around the Seru di Weto – Ser’i Weto – lie several small residential neighbourhoods that used to be kunukus:

• Njanja lies east of Ser’i Weto and north of Montaña. It is a woman’s nickname;
• De Klundert, in popular speech Deklénde, also lies east of Ser’i Weto, near Jan Boos, level with the Panaderia (the bakery);
• Jan Boos lies north-east of Ser’i Weto. Pieter Jan Boos was the “captain of the free negroes”, as it was called at the time. The central house in Jan Boos served as a Sentro di Bario (community centre), and parties were also held there;
• San Thomas, Thomas, Sint Thomas and in popular speech Shon Thoms, lies north of Ser’i Weto;
• Confianza lies south-east of Ser’i Weto;
• Vredeslust, or Rhederslust, lies south of Ser’i Weto and north of Montaña Abou;
• Paradijs lies south-west of Ser’i Weto and north of Montaña Abou;
• Esperanza lies west of Ser’i Weto, between Weto and Herst.

Herst

Reportedly Weto originally belonged to Herst.

The origin of the name Herst is unknown. It is also called Hèrs and lies north-west of Ser’i Weto on the road from Santa Rosa to Montaña. That is where the new petrol station near Santa Rosa and the large multi-storey buildings now stand.

The Aruban Modesto Gonzalez, who had established a successful aloe plantation at Mahuma, also planted aloe at Herst. Older residents still remember the extensive aloe fields here.

The plantation house of Herst also still stands. According to a former resident it was still visible from the main road, with a large dam in front of the house, a well and tamarind, kenepa and shimaruku (cherry) trees. To the left of the house stood a large rose-apple tree, diagonally behind it aloe plants on the little hill, and to the right of the house a rain cistern. And people were also buried at Herst: the small plantation had its own consecrated burial ground.

In front of the – meanwhile rebuilt – plantation house once stood the strikingly large house of the Wellman family of the well-known Wellman Auto Supplies, which was once based in Saliña. Since 2025 a tall multi-storey building has stood on that spot, next to the new petrol station of Santa Rosa.

West of Montaña Abou

• In the west of Montaña Abou lies the Caminda Grandi, the main road that runs from Sorsaka past Scherpenheuvel and Montaña Abou to Montaña. Level with Montaña Abou and Hanenberg the road splits into a Y-junction that was called the Krusada di Maria Elía (Maria Elía’s crossing). That is where Maria Elía lived, who among other things sold sweets at the church of Montaña on Sundays.

Several small former knoekjes (small settlements) also lie west of Montaña Abou (see also the attached map of Montaña Abou):

• North of the Caminda Grandi lie Caracas and the hill mentioned earlier and the surrounding lands of Seru di Mulina;
• South of the Caminda Grandi lie:
• Buena Esperanza;
• Porto Plata, with the Seru di Ma Titi to its north;
• Paradijs lies between Porto Plata and Flor de Mayo;
• Flor de Mayo, where farming and livestock are still practised intensively;
• Also west of Montaña Abou lies Brazil, which means brazilwood.

*See also the pages of Roi Santu, Montaña Rei and Scherpenheuvel

Sources:

• Van Bellefaas Martis tot Angel Obia, een geschiedenis van Santa Rosa – Father R. Nooyen;
• Buurtprofiel Montaña Abou: Sociaal Kennis Centrum, Ministerie S.O.A.W.;
• Verhalen uit het verleden: Els Langenfeld
• Facebook page You know if you have lived in Curaçao;
• Olie als water: J. van Soest

With thanks to: Frensel Mercelina, Lionel Cordilia, Boy Andrea, Lilin Hersilia, Christel Monsanto, Ephraim Balentien, Jeroen Heuvel and François van der Hoeven.