Of the three Dutch islands, Aruba is small with 120 square miles. It is 19 ½ miles long and 6 miles wide with a population of 72,000 residents (2009). The official language is Dutch, with English, Spanish and a mix called Papiamento that includes French and Portuguese. The winds here can be described as savage, and the terrain is like a rocky desert with cacti and aloe vera plants. And always present are the divi-divi trees that grow the way the winds dictate. Sideways…..
This island was basically ignored until gold was discovered in the 1800's. Oil refining took the stage until the 1990's, when tourism became the number one income. At that time, the number of tourists was ½ million. That was also the time when time-shares became popular here. The largest number of hotels and casinos are located at the Eagle and Palm Beach areas. And that is where the fun happens every night of the year. In fact, there is a colorful bus called the Kukoo Konuku that picks up guests at their hotels and deposits them later in the evening. Today, we noticed these buses were being used to transport guests from the other cruise ship in port.
Speaking of cruise ships, the Celebrity Silhouette was docked before we arrived at 7:30am. And as we expected, the Freewinds was also in the very same spot as the last two times we were here. So we Googled it to discover it belongs to the Church of Scientology. They conduct a religious retreat for the highest level of followers, giving classes and conferences onboard. We also read that jazz concerts and movie performances happen on this ship. They are free, but donations are gladly accepted we believe.
Anyway, the forecast for today was scattered clouds with temps in the low 80's. While we were doing some internet work at 10am, the sky turned dark, and there was a sudden rain storm that left huge puddles everywhere. It did pass over, but without umbrellas, people would be soaked. Needless to say, we packed them today, even when the sun came back out.
Taking some photos of the driving rain, we spotted what looked like a huge hawk. When the rain let up, we got some shots of it before it flew off. Hooping to see it later, maybe we will be able to ID it.
We had brought the required room card, ID, and Covid vaccination cards, although no one asked to see them. We did not even see a sign requesting we wear masks. Yes, we still did, especially knowing we were mixing with folks from another large ship. We headed for the marina, passing the Renaissance Resort. The streets seemed quieter today, mostly because it was Sunday. Several shops and restaurants were closed. Even most all of the boats in the marina were unmanned. Normally we get some good photos of fish being cleaned and pelicans begging. But not today.
We walked through the Renaissance Marketplace and around the end restaurant where the good pizza could be found. Any other time, we would have had lunch here, but we are still being cautious. Maybe next time, as we are "pizza-starved" on this trip.
We took the same path around the Renaissance Ocean complex, and had fun feeding the tropical fish on the small bridge of the lagoon. Thinking ahead this time, we brought a piece of sourdough toast from breakfast. Breaking it into small pieces, the fish went nuts eating it. Hope some of the photos came out good this time. Also saw some smaller iguanas, but they were not very active today as it was cooler than usual.
Every ten minutes, we noticed that a plane was landing at the nearby Reina Beatrix International Airport. Guess the tourism is re-bounding nicely.
Heading back, we had some shopping to do. Still on the lookout for those koozies, we looked in every stall on the roadside, with no luck. They had everything but….like one million magnets, just as many t-shirts, and purses, toys, and trinkets. Eventually, we came across a real souvenir store, and finally found what we needed. Now our soda cans will not sweat and the soda will stay colder.
Milano and Diamonds International were also on the way back. Yes, we got more charms, and even though they are not worth much, it is fun to collect them. Today we got a whale tail and one set of dolphins.
Back at the ship, we snacked again in our room, not hungry enough for a Lido lunch. Does us good to cut back every now and then. And there was a reward to that. The hawk had come back, and upon closer inspection, we were able to identify the bird as an osprey. Doing some research, we learned that these birds fly here to hatch their young, and raise them until they fledge. They look like one powerful bird of prey with a hooked beak and curved lethal talons. They have a two foot long body with a wingspan of 71 inches. We were lucky to see this bird.
Another plus was finally getting a few shots of the sun setting before 7pm. Not a really striking one, it was as good as it gets here. Another thing of interest – since it is daylight savings time at home in the US, we will not have to put our clocks back one hour. None of the islands here honor the time change, so now we are all the same time as EST.
Dinner was good in the dining room with entrees of Rudi's chicken and beef wellington. We were done by 9:15pm, and by then, most of the dining room had cleared out. With three days of touring, swimming, and fun, we believe most folks were tired. Asking Presty about tomorrow's Covid testing, he said the number of in transit guests was over 260 people. Originally it was about 200, but that many more signed on for another cruise. Thinking we had a smaller group, we had been asked to go to the Half Moon Room on deck one at 9:30am. Guess we were wrong.
Two days at sea now, and we will be back in Ft. Lauderdale.
Bill & Mary Ann
Monday, March 14, 2022
Report #86 Oranjestad, Aruba Sunday-March 13, 2022 Rain And Windy With Periods Of Sun 78 Degrees
