But first, an evening catch up! We are becoming creatures of habit and met up with Jo and Shami for dinner at 47 Degrees. They’re sisters from Brum and absolutely excellent company. It’s been really lovely getting to know them and we’re already planning on meeting up with them when we return home!
After dinner we all agreed that tonight we’d go to the show..this time called ‘Kneworth Rock’s. Basically, this was a run through the history of the Knebworth Music festival with the crew cast singing and dancing along to everything from Queen, Led Zeppelin, Robbie Williams and Oasis. It was jolly professional and great fun.
Early the next morning we woke up to find ourselves arriving in Oranjestad, the capital of Aruba, as the sun was still rising. We had breakfast and then got ourselves ready for today’s ‘Panoramic Aruba’ tour. This was a coach trip all of the small island of Aruba with our happy and informative driver, Benjamin. He talked as he drove and introduced the various sights by saying hesitantly ‘Now …..let me show you something…’. It made it seem very personal and like he’d never shown anyone these things before. Bless him.
Aruba was a very surprising island. Gone were the tropical mountains of St Lucia and Grenada….now we were in the Desert Island! Much more like how I imagine the Canary Islands …with scrubby vegetation, bare scorched soil and loads and loads of Cactus. This is because Aruba gets very little rain…maybe 15-20 inches a year and some years it doesn’t get any. BUT they have a water desalination plant so no worries.
We drove through the colourful villages with some Dutch old style houses and then along rough tracks with romantic names like Frenchman’s Pass and past the Spanish Lagoon. Our first stop was at The Natural Bridge along with many other coaches, open sided buses, 4 wheel drive buggies and even the odd cyclist! The Natural Bridge was a rock bridge eroded by the sea but unfortunately after millions of years in the making, in 2005 the bridge collapsed suddenly. Now we had to enjoy the view of the Baby Bridge instead! Benjamin had explained about some of the rocks we were seeing and the fact that a lot of the island is formed of coral. There was mention of Gabbro and Basalt …it was all very geography field trip ie very exciting!
Our next stop (and my favourite) was at the giant rock boulders. These are granite and there is a sort of garden area where you walk around and can then climb the various outcrops using the stone steps. They’re not as big as Dartmoor’s Tors but the views from the top of the biggest one were impressive and they’re a rather wonderful bouldery shape.
Next stop on our whistle stop tour of the 74km square island, was the California Lighthouse. This again has terrific views but from here you can see the beautiful white sand Arashi Beach and the incredibly turquoise/milky blue sea. We couldn’t quite make out Venezuela today but as it’s only 15 miles further south…it is sometimes possible. The highlight here, however, was the old bus selling amazing smoothies and we had the recommended coconut smoothie which was delicious.
As well as showing us the sights, Benjamin also taught us a little of the island’s history including the original Arawak settlers, the Dutch, the Spanish, the British colonialists. Colonialists who wanted to exploit the islands gold, its aloes and even its Arawak population. The island is no longer part of the group of islands called the Dutch Antilles but it is now largely autonomous with still with close links to the Netherlands.
On our way back to the ship we drove past the resort area of the island. This was SO different to the real Aruba. These big name hotels line the white sandy beaches and it became clear why tourism is now the biggest economy of the island.
After a little break and lunch (oh dear) onboard we met up with Shami and Jo and walked into Oranjestad itself. It’s famed for its high end shops particularly in the Renaissance Mall. We walked swiftly through and then got thoroughly lost down the scruffy backstreets behind. Eventually, we found our way back, nipped into Zara where surprisingly, I was the one who bought a new blouse!
We rounded off our little private excursion with a bucket of beers in Lucy’s Bar for retired Surfers! Famous for its shots containing a Scorpion. Er….no thankyou! The girls all agreed that their favourite stop so far was Aruba. Personally….I loved the grit and buzz of Grenada and the beauty of St Lucia!
Where shall we go to next? 