Aruba's Parliament building. We didn't realize that Aruba is such a small island; you can drive from end to end in probably about an hour.
May 1 was Labor Day; many of the palm trees were wrapped in orange in honor of Queen Beatrix's mother's birthday.
This is really neat. Volunteers maintain a close watch of the nesting activities of endangered sea turtles. Nesting sites like this one are blocked off and we didn't see a single smart-aleck try to mess with them. Each barrier has a hotline phone number: if you see the baby turtles begin to emerge, you are supposed to call the number and not take any flash photos (the turtles instinctively head toward the light). Only 1 in 1,000 of the baby turtles survives to maturity in 18-20 years.
Danabelle tries out the water (she really hates it when I photograph her from behind, hee hee)
Our first dinner, at Matthew's in Oranjestad
Someone said this photo is so perfect, it's hard to believe it's real. Imagine seeing this all day, every day! We also recorded the trade winds and the ocean waves (I haven't figured out how to upload sound files yet).
We had a great time learning to paddleboard with Stand Up Paddle Aruba. We hope they continue to be successful after the giant Ritz-Carlton hotel behind them is completed.
A sampling of the variety of boats one might see in the high-rise hotel area. Where we were staying, down the coast in the low-rise area, it's nothing but sand and sun baby. The bark on the left is the Mi Dushi, which is a cool wooden boat but mostly an excuse to get intoxicated and swing on a rope. We didn't wind up going on that one but we didn't really miss it.
The surviving member of a pair of natural bridges on Aruba's harsh northeastern coast.
The remains of the other natural bridge (Dana has some good pictures and a nice video on the posting below).
For a little while, Aruba had gold. These are the ruins of a gold milling operation that ran from 1878 to 1916.
A sampling of Aruba's northeastern coast. A LOT different from the resorts on the west coast!
Over the decades, visitors to the gold mill ruins would make little cairns near the water.
A sampling of the desert landscape in Aruba's interior. Saguaros absolutely everywhere. Houses are simple but charming, and since there aren't that many places to go it seems pretty easy to get from Point A to Point B by bus, taxi or car (we tried 'em all).
The California Lighthouse, built in about 1910 (?) on the northwest tip. The lighthouse is named for a ship that ran aground and sank there two years earlier.
A view of the resorts on the southwest coast from the lighthouse
This empty cargo ship drove me nuts, sitting motionless in the ocean for days. Our guide on the snorkeling tour referred to this as "free parking in Aruba." Everything is imported and the only export is aloe (and Arubans), so it is probably common for a ship to arrive and simply wait until there is a load of empty containers to haul away. On the morning of our last day, this ship disappeared.
"Our rainy season is from September to November. It never rains in Aruba in May. NEVER."
(We blamed the storms on a subversive plot by Hugo Chavez).
Sunday afternoon was beautiful and we headed out for a snorkeling trip with Pelican Adventures
Liking the scenery!
Um... maybe not so much
Snorkeling at a coral reef and the Antilla shipwreck (blown up and scuttled by the Krauts during WWII), a few drinks and some great Latin music makes for a fun afternoon!
We were absolutely determined to catch at least one Aruban sunset while we were here. The brown pelicans were fearless and would dive-bomb fish in the water just feet away from us.
I'd do it all over again!
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