A DAY IN ORANJESTAD, ARUBA

Oranjestad, Aruba


OK, now we have visited the three ABC islands. By order of preference, B would be A; C would be B and A would be C. More explanation later.

Today was an earlier start as we only had until 5:30pm in Aruba.

After a short walk we realized that the main tourist area is in the main part of town and if we wanted to see more of this larger island we would have to try and book some kind of a island tour or rent a car. Another very short walk took us to an area where there were a number of smaller buses with drivers offering to do island tours for $15.00. There were a number of ship passengers who were trying to do the same so along with 7 other couples we rented this small black bus and off we went for what was advertised as a two hour tour but ended up being closer to 3 hours.

Our tour took us to some of the major tourist sites as well as some of the back road lesser seen areas including some residential areas (which Lucy requested).

Aruba has a much more developed tourist industry. There seems to be more “money” here and the ‘encouragement’ to spend even more is on every corner. There was none of that “buy from me” approach on either Curacao or Bonaire.

Aruba has a huge hotel strip along the beach they call Palm Beach. All of the big name chain hotels are there and more. The hotels are massive; some of them all-inclusive resorts.

We noticed this especially in the city. The restaurants, café’s, bars and stores were very busy and they were not from our cruise ship. The hotel strip is a short taxi or bus ride from town so these folks come into town to eat and shop.

This was not the case on either of the other islands. Bonaire in fact, has the fewest attractions and yet the people seemed to be so friendly. We both felt the most comfortable with the island of Bonaire.

Again, Aruba had many unique physical characteristics. With only 25” of rain a year there isn’t a lot of green other than the trees. No lawns or gardens. And, other than a few inches of top soil the ground is very hard coral/lava. The only fauna we saw were the many lizards of various colours and sizes as well as wild goats.

Cactus plants seem to grow quickly and where ever.

The most interesting difference from the other islands is the rock formations. There are also many massive boulders just sitting in the middle of no where.

All three of the ABC islands love their colour. The buildings, homes and common areas are all painted with bright pattern colours. Bonaire was the winner in this category however with the subdivisions all painted with the many shades of the rainbow.

The bus tour ended up being a very good idea but keep in mind that the bus did not stop for a bathroom break or a snack break. We were very glad we had our water along. The bus only stopped at 4 of the sites that they thought was important to us.

Once back at the pier we took a quick break and left the ship again to go and find a place to eat in the city. We found this great eatery and had a wonderful lunch.

Hot, tired and weary we headed back to the ship mid afternoon and lazed; I by the pool and Lucy read on the balcony in the cabin.

By 5:30pm we were back on deck to watch them pull in the tie ropes and leave port. Everyone was to be back on board by 5:30pm and exactly at 5:30pm the ships whistle blew and the gangway was retracted into the ship. 10 minutes later we pulled away from the pier. This all happens with such amazing precision that I keep wanting to stay by the railing and watch.

It was such a wonderful, warm evening that we decided once again to use the buffet and eat outside on the back deck (Lido deck or deck 9). It’s a great view and there aren’t a lot of people who use it at supper time.

It didn’t take long and the island and other ships were out of site. Right now when I went up on deck to look all around and out into the sea I couldn’t spot any other lights. Here we are all alone on the deep, turquoise sea under a bright moon and star lit sky. Can this really be happening? How very fortunate we are!!!

Ps: Did you know that the toilets on the ship flush like the toilets on an airplane? You want to be off and away before pressing the button!!