Aruba
Beautiful beaches and urban art
As we approached the island's harbor from our cruise balcony, we already noticed its colorful architecture.
Aruba's motto is "one happy island", and it is indeed the beach destination par excellence of the ABCs. To the north, the entire coastal district is full of resorts and high-end hotels.
As soon as the ship docked in the port of Oranjestad, we got off and went to the Arubus terminal, right in front of the port, to take the urban transport to the beach area. There we were informed that a potential strike of the drivers could happen at noon.
Although the currency is the Aruban guilder, the dollar is accepted throughout the island. So we bought our card for two rides at ten dollars per person and took our bus, whose route follows the coastal road to Eagle Beach.
It was early in the morning and still not very busy. First we visited the fofoti trees at the end of the beach, right in front of Amsterdam Manor Beach. These exotic trees grow on the beach pointing southwest by the wind. They are a real attraction on the island. There, too, the holes in the rocks generate amusing whistles or blowholes when the waves hit the shore, just like in the Hoyo Soplador on the island of San Andres (Colombia), which I visited with my family years ago.
The Caribbean flora is exuberant, but in Aruba -due to its dry and windy climate- it has several particularities, such as the coexistence of cactus and cardons.
The crystal clear blue water of Eagle Beach, with its super fine white sand, tempted us to take a dip in the sea, even when the clouds came and went, threatening showers that never came.
We enjoyed until noon the relaxation of the beach, and then returned to the cruise terminal area because the interest of @tripticity_ is always more cultural. We did not want to stay with the typical postcard that Aruba offers tourists in its hotel district. We wanted to know more than that, the authentic, the local. And the immense task of previous research by Mr. @tripticity_ had awakened the attraction of knowing San Nicolaas, the second largest city in Aruba, located nineteen kilometers southeast of Oranjestad, near the most important oil refinery.
Arriving at the terminal, to our good fortune the strike had been cancelled, so without a problem and only with some delay, we then took a new Arubus, for another ten dollars round trip, which quickly headed for Route 1 for a trip of about an hour to San Nicolaas, passing through the popular Dakota neighborhood.
The destination promised an open-air art exhibition. As soon as we got there, the sun was already shining and we could already notice the movement of policemen because that day the King and Queen of Holland were on an official visit. We strolled through the district getting lost between the Theaterstraat and Caya Dick Cooper streets, to discover excellent street art samples on each wall, but we had to do it a little fast because for that official visit the circulation could be affected and in the Caribbean islands there are few accesses to the ports, and when traveling by cruise it is essential to arrive on time so as not to miss it and turn the trip into a nightmare.
That walk among the colorful art of San Nicolaas was enough to quench our thirst for culture. It was also an opportunity to get to know the other Aruba, the most authentic one, the one of its original inhabitants. In fact, at the bus station, waiting for our bus, that hot January siesta, we shared a bench with locals who spoke Papiamento, their Creole language of the ABCs, so we barely understood a little of their conversation.
Once on the Arubus, the driver noticed that we looked like tourists out of the everyday context, so when we passed the highest point of the route - in Schaepmanstraat - he stopped the bus for a moment to tell us that what we could see on the other side of the sea was Venezuela. Indeed, the Santa Ana de Paraguaná hill, which is clearly visible from that high point of Aruba, since the island is located about twenty-five kilometers from the continent.
Once again in Oranjestad, we strolled through the little shopping center, a market of trinkets and souvenirs with the legend Aruba One Happy Island, stalls located right in front of the most sophisticated jewelry, watches and fashion stores, such as the Royal Plaza Mall, with its clear Dutch architecture.
Unwittingly, by the time we were returning to our cruise, the Renaissance Mall streetcar stopped and @tripticity_ didn't hesitate to take it. It's a very short ride in the refurbished antique carriage that passes by the Aruba Archaeology Museum to get to the top of the mall and after about fifteen minutes makes the short return to the port. Very entertaining, full -of course- of tourists, it was the last ride on the island.
But -in truth- we were left to enjoy the sunset from a fun sailboat. We had hired the tour, very unconvinced, perhaps only because we did not want to give up the fifty dollar credit that came with our travel package. However, distrust soon gave way to enthusiasm, as fate wanted that sunset to be glorious, majestic, simply breathtaking, as much as the one we experienced in the Indian Ocean with Mr. @tripticity_ on our honeymoon in the Maldives. Sunsets both over the immensity of the sea, changing colors of the sky, the clouds and everything around.
Upon returning to the ship, we headed to the Irish-style O`Sheehan bar. We ordered some nachos and hot dogs and toasted with prosecco and an aperol spritz to that sunset and the good fortune of having met the Dutch ABCs.
