Kura Hulanda Museum

This is by far the most intriguing museum on Curacao and perhaps the entire Dutch Caribbean. To call this a ‘slavery museum’, as many guidebooks do, is to only scratch the surface. Slavery plays a very important role here, but there is much more to see. Take at least three hours to see the whole complex, which seems to continue on and on from rooms to huts to courtyards and back again. One hall displays Mesopotamian artefacts, while the next one brings Charles Darwin back to life before moving on to a collection of casts of early hominid skulls. It gets really interesting in the room where the Black Panthers, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King are all put together in one place, despite their differences in philosophy and behaviour. Even the scary hoods of the Ku Klux Klan, some stained with blood, are on display. Overall, this is the best display of Caribbean, African and American history we've come across in the region, but be prepared to be shocked if not depressed by some of the exhibits, especially the ones that pertain to torture. The guided tour of the museum is long as it's presented in three languages, so we recommend you stroll through its halls on your own.