Search results for

Curaçao is one of the most diverse islands in the Caribbean

5 little-known spots for exploring Colombian beaches, deserts and mountains

These San Francisco restaurants have some of the most unusual, interesting, and fun tasting menus across the city

Add this Caribbean island to your travel list.

Overview

Wandering Chef: Mary Sue Milliken in San Francisco

AFAR chose a destination at random—by literally spinning a globe—and sent Frank Viviano on a spontaneous journey to Venezuela.

On the Caribbean island of Tobago, you’ll find sand, surf—and the fastest goats on the planet. Now if they’d just run in a straight line….

Overview

Overview

Near the pontoon bridge in Handelskade in Willemstad, wooden boats from Venezuela dock alongside the canal, and vendors here sell just-caught fish and tropical fruits and vegetables (plantains, citrus, papayas, avocados) directly from the quay under the shade of tents. Mornings are the best time to visit, for the finest selection of produce, the cooler temperatures before the midday sun shines, and the pleasant ambience of the hours before the crowds arrive.

An easy adventure for the whole family, Hooiberg (with an elevation of 541 feet) is the third largest peak on mostly flat Aruba. You don’t so much hike it as you climb the 562 concrete steps that lead to her summit. Panoramic views all the way to Venezuela make it worth it.

An authentic Latin American kitchen experience at a motel? That’s pretty funky! Chef and owner Raul Claros pays homage to his Venezuelan birthplace and Bolivian childhood by whipping up his mother and grandmother’s old family recipes. Headlining the menu are Bolivian salteñas—imagine empanadas on steroids—filled with a gelatinous beef stew to which he adds carrots, peas, onions, olives, egg, and roast chicken. Representing Venezuela are the arepas, ground corn cakes (grilled or fried) served plain or stuffed with combination favorites like roast chicken and avocado, braised beef in tomatoes and chili peppers, and grilled skirt steak with tomatoes, onions, and cilantro. (Thanks to my Dad for introducing this eatery to me!)

Once upon a time, Europe (mostly Switzerland, France, Belgium, and the UK) dominated the chocolate market and through aggressive marketing and downright colonialist extraction methods, became erroneously known for being the world’s experts on cacao, yet cacao came from South and Central America and didn’t grow anywhere near Europe. Recent years have seen the best chocolate rightfully return to the source where it originated—Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela, where a boom of quality chocolate has replaced reimported European milk chocolate sold to those cacao producing countries for generations. But Switzerland is back in the game with this excellent new chocolate shop by local food expert Dieter Meier and his patented cold pressed extraction method that brings out the botanicals and nuances of these sourced cacaos in ways other chocolate manufactures cannot. The results are Cuban, Bolivian, and Guatemalan single bean bars ranging from white to 80% dark that are unlike anything else on the market. The tiny shop overlooking the Limmat River opened in December 2017 and is not cheap, but worth every rappen for its exquisite expression of flavors.

When the heat gets to be too much, cool down at Morelli’s Gelato in City Centre Bahrain. Unique flavors such as red velvet cake and honeycomb are served alongside classics like caramel and strawberry. For something more satisfying than a scoop, treat yourself to one of more than 25 sundaes, including the signature Morelli’s Bacio topped with hazelnuts, chocolates, chocolate sauce, and whipped cream. Started in the UK by an Italian immigrant family, Morelli’s has been churning out creamy confections for more than 100 years. The gelato, made fresh daily, features such top-notch ingredients as cocoa from Venezuela, Alphonso mangos from India, and pistachios from Sicily.