30 July 2013 Aruba, Netherlands Antilles, Caribbean Sea

Tuesday morning and we have docked in Aruba.  I thought it perhaps we may have been going to have a tender service today as this was a spur of the moment port and I did not think perhaps there would have been room for us at the port as we were not booked there but alas this is their low season, our guide told us they have four seasons, Summer, low Summer, high Summer and next Summer, very funny man. 

 We had our brekky and were off  the ship to meet our guide at 9.00am, he introduced himself as Prince Albert and he drove the banana bus, very entertaining man.  He took us for a drive thru Aruba up to the lighthouse and then on to a beach called Moomba Beach, we could use the lounges, Sam and I and anor couple found a fairly shady location with four lounges and set ourselves up.  We looked after their things so they could swim and vice versa funny we had only just me them.  Anyway the sea was beautiful, we stayed for about three hours quite enough in the Caribbean Sun, Prince Albert collected us gave us a run down of the island and took us back to our ship where we changed out of our bathers and then took a walk into the little town, some lovely shops a brand new hotel complex, very lovely, all the branded shops, a beautiful bar and pool overlooking the Caribbean, we did all the things one does and wandered back to our cloistered existence in readiness to sail by 7.30 then on to Curacao. 

The place of docking is called Oranjestad (Orange Town).  Located in the southern Caribbean, Aruba is 20 miles long (69 square miles in area) and lies 15 miles north of Venezuela and east of Columbia.  White natives tribes from Venezuela flocked to Aruba as early as 1000AD, Europeans did not discover the island until 1499 by the Spanish.  In 1636 the Dutch took it over, no wars for property etc.  After years of colonial rule, it was not until 1986 that Aruba became its own country, although it still remains a Dutch Protectorate.  They have a governor appointed by the Dutch Monarch, it was Queen Beatrix but the Monarch will now be a male as she has retired.  The governor has a 6 year term.  There is also a Prime Minister who has a term of 4 years.  They are all Dutch citizens.  They all speak four languages, English, Spanish, Dutch and Papiamento (local dialect - Tuti fruit – they call it) this is a combination of about 8 or 9 different languages.  There is no rain fall, their water is desalinated, so they pay dearly for their water.  Pop of 103,000 (2009).    Weather – you can rely on the weather to be warm, dry and sunny.  Due to a tropical marine climate, temp remains stable around a pleasant 82 degrees F. It lies outside the hurricane belt.

Everyone did all manner of different tours so everyone gets a different view of course but the general feeling was we all had a very lovely day, you probably would not come here as a matter of course, we did not expect to come here either, so very fortunate indeed.  Love Sabine and Sam  XXX