One Happy Island

On Tuesday, we docked at the capital city of Aruba, Orangestad (pronounced Orionstot). Aruba is known to the locals as One Happy Island, and this theme is on the license plates. 

Orangestad, Aruba

The island of Aruba is different from all the other Caribbean islands we visited. It’s very commercialized with a lot of the large hotel chains, modern buildings, and looks a lot like America. It is a popular destination for beach seekers. The port here holds 6 cruise ships, and we were told that oftentimes there are more guests than natives on the island.

We explored most of the island on our excursion. Unlike the other Caribbean islands, Aruba is very flat, and we were able to ride in a very comfortable large motorcoach, as opposed to small buses or 15 passenger vans that tended to be overcrowded and uncomfortable. Our bus driver/tour guide was Marvin – he referred to himself as Marvelous Marvin, and we would have to agree, he was marvelous. He told us some of the history of Aruba and other interesting stories during our drive around the island.

Marvelous Marvin and me

We first headed to the northern coast of Aruba and as we were leaving the port, we drove through downtown Orangestad. There were many typical gift shops, restaurants, boutiques, etc. obviously catering to a large tourist industry. Along both sides of the main drag, there were many frames set up that would be turned into booths with a few coverings thrown over the frames. These were set up for Carnival that is currently taking place (in the evenings) in Aruba. Marvin said that Carnival is as big here as in Brazil.

On our way out of town, we passed by the Aruba International Airport. It wasn’t a huge airport, but had the usual adjacent parking lots. There was a place for short term parking, a place for long term parking, and a place for extended term parking. Then next to that was a lot that was overgrown with weeds and yet still had a few cars that looked like they had been parked there for quite a while. That must have been the extended indefinitely parking lot.

On the bus, we befriended the couple sitting next to us. They were from Ontario, Canada (we’ve met a lot of people from Canada on this trip.) Joe and the guy had nice conversations about hockey and a fishing locale in their neck of the woods that Joe and his family used to go to when he was growing up.

Some interesting things Marvin shared with us on our tour:

They are very serious about education here in Aruba. When a child is sick and therefore does not show up for school, the school sends authorities to the house to check on whether the child is really sick.

Even though Aruba is located in the Caribbean, they never experience hurricanes here, because Aruba is located outside of the hurricane belt. Aruba also does not experience earthquakes because it is outside of the tectonic belt.

They speak Papiamento here as they do in St. Maarten/St. Martin. But in addition to Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, and English, the Papiamento spoken here also contains the additional ingredients of French and African.

When homes were originally built in Aruba, the bathrooms were all outdoors, as was any and all garbage. The inside of the houses was kept clean and sanitized that way. Marvin said that the newer, modern homes were starting to include the bathrooms inside. Some homes have a fish symbol on the outside of the house. That means a fisherman lives there.

The drinking water of Aruba comes from the ocean, which means they have an unending supply. They have a large desalination plant here. Aruba water has been called one of the five best tap waters in the world.

Aruba is not a country, but is a protectorate of the Netherlands Antilles. This reminds me of a story I heard a long time ago. A family had taken a Caribbean vacation – so the story goes – and had taken their daughter out of school to do so. When she returned to school the following week, the teacher told her that she was required to have a note saying why she had missed a week of school. The parents were hesitant to say that they took their daughter out of school for a Caribbean vacation, so the father sent a note into the school saying that their daughter had missed school the previous week because she had a case of the Lesser Antilles. They never heard anything back from the school.

Aloe Vera is a big product of Aruba and there is a big export market. Apparently there are lots of donkeys that roam freely on the island, but we didn’t see any on our tour. We did pass an Ostrich Farm.

Ostrich Farm

The north coast of Aruba is so vastly different from what you think of as a Caribbean island. The environment is very arid, has a lot of cactus plants, and seems almost desert-like. There are a lot of organ pipe cacti and a lot of dusty roads.

Organ Pipe Cacti

Even though Aruba is closer to the equator than the other Caribbean islands, the average annual rainfall is less than 7 inches per year. Due to the desert-like climate and many sunny days, unfortunately skin cancer rates are very high here.

The north coast is very rocky and beautiful. We witnessed the large waves crashing against huge boulders and cliffs. 

There are no beaches on the north side, only bays. Even though the water is a beautiful sparkling blue color and looks very inviting, Marvin told us that swimming is forbidden here because it is very dangerous. Nevertheless, there are always those who cannot resist the allure of the ocean. Marvin told us the story of those who thought it safe to venture out, intending to only go knee deep. Then a wave would come along and sweep them out immediately to deeper, rough waters. Marvin said people are told if they find themselves in this situation not to try to swim back to shore; they won’t be able to do it considering the rough seas. When this happens, they have to call a helicopter to rescue the swimmer.

In addition to the mammoth rock formations and coral cliffs, we also saw a Natural Bridge feature, which was basically a rock bridge that had formed due to erosion underneath.

Natural Bridge

Along the coastal drive, Marvin pointed out a ranch that his family owns. Ranch here does not mean the same thing as you might think of as a ranch in Texas or out west. A ranch to native islanders simply is like a beach house, or what we might call a camp. He said his family likes to go there on weekends for fishing. He also said they never rent out the camp. If someone wants to use the camp, they simply “hand over the keys” and give them free usage. It wasn’t clear whether that was someone they knew or perfect strangers, but given the friendliness of people here, it could be either.

Marvin's family ranch

After leaving the rocky northern coast, we traveled to the ruins of a gold mine which were made of lava rock. 

Lava Rock gold mine ruins

Nearby was a display of stones, many piled on top of one another, known as the Stone of Wishes. Local people pile up the stones and make wishes.

Stone of Wishes

Our next stop was the Heart of Faith Alto Vista Catholic Chapel. Alto Vista was the first Catholic Church in Aruba and was built in the 1700s. Aruba is 85% Catholic, despite the fact that it is a Dutch protectorate. This is because in the 1700s missionaries came here and as a result, Catholicism took hold. The second largest faith is Jehovah’s Witnesses and the third largest is the Jewish faith.

Back of Alto Vista Chapel

Alto Vista Chapel

The Alto Vista Chapel still holds outdoor Masses once a week, with pews arranged in a semicircle in front of the chapel. 

Outdoor pews of Alto Vista Chapel

The chapel is near the coast and with the backdrop of the beautiful blue waters of the Caribbean Sea, it is very scenic. Lining the road to Alto Vista Chapel are the fourteen Stations of the Cross. 

One of the Stations

Along the way back to town, there are plaques alongside the road, each one holding a different line from the Lord’s prayer. 

Line from the Lord's Prayer

Apparently many local people come here for prayer and meditation, waiting until evening when all the tourists are gone.

As we passed a cemetery, Marvin told us that the tombs here are family tombs. When a family member passes away, he or she is buried in the family tomb. When the next member of the family passes away, they exhume the first body (hopefully enough time has passed for sufficient decay to have taken place), and they “shake down the bones”, which means they shake off the decayed bodily debris and only the bones remain. Then they place the bones in a box to make room in the tomb for the newly deceased. Marvin said they pray for the recently deceased to rest in peace and for the prior deceased to rest in pieces.

Our next stop took us to the California Lighthouse, which is located near the coast where there are some nice beaches. 

California Lighthouse

The closer we got to the beach, the nicer and more expensive were the houses. These homes start at $1.1 million dollars. (The average cost of a house in Aruba is $450,000.) 

The area where the lighthouse is located provided a breathtaking panorama where you can see from coast to coast. The island of Aruba is not very big – about 6 miles wide and 20 miles long.

While some people climbed the steps to the top of the lighthouse, we decided instead to take Marvin’s suggestion and enjoy a nice coconut smoothie. I’m not a big fan of coconut, but the smoothie was delicious and very refreshing. With coconut trees abounding on the island, the coconut is very fresh and makes for a most delicious treat. This reminded me of the times I tried foods I typically don’t care for in places where the food is local, and really enjoyed them (borsch beet soup in Russia; sauerkraut in Germany; etc.) Joe’s a big fan of always trying the local foods.

After our trip to the California Lighthouse, we began to make our way back to the port. On the way, we travelled through the resort area known as Palm Desert which is the place where most tourists go when they come to the island of Aruba. Here is where the hotels, resorts, restaurants, condos, timeshares, etc. are located, and also the many beautiful renowned Aruba beaches. Windsurfing and kitesurfing are very popular here.

Aruba was in the news in 2005 when an American teenager, Natalee Holloway, disappeared while vacationing here. Marvin said that when that happened, tourism in Aruba dropped 40%. He said people were afraid to come here because they thought it was dangerous. It turned out that the person responsible for Natalee's disappearance was not a native of Aruba, and the locals hoped that would convince people that it is a safe place to vacation. 

We thoroughly enjoyed our tour of the island of Aruba. This was one of my favorite excursions. We got a really complete overview of this fabulous island with coastal environments of sandy beach, desert, and rocky cliffs.