World Aruba Oranjestad

Travel With The Hubbells

Sun Princess - Aruba Apr 22, 2007

We arrived in Aruba, an island in the Caribbean Sea off the coast of Venezuela, about 8 a.m. The weather was very cloudy with rain threatening when we pulled into the harbor at Oranjestad, the capital and largest city. This is a very small island, only about twenty miles long and six miles wide. It has a population of about 105,000 people, and its main source of income is tourism. Aruba was a Spanish conquest in 1499, then became part of The Netherlands in the 1600s, as it still remains, although it considers itself a sovereign country. It is ruled by a 21-member democratically-elected council, with a governor appointed by the Dutch monarch. Their native language is called Papiamento, and it is an amalgam of eleven different languages including Dutch, English, Spanish, and the native Indian languages. Dutch is the official language, but most people are conversant in English and Spanish as well.

We took a three-hour bus tour from the ship. Our first stop was the Butterfly Farm. This was a fascinating place. It is quite a small netted sanctuary, full of lovely flowers, and designed to protect butterflies and moths from around the world. The native species are not included in this sanctuary. A knowledgeable guide told us about the life cycle of the creatures including the fact that the pupae in the cocoon actually turns to liquid ("DNA soup" he called it) while the wings form. This liquid eventually reestablishes itself into a butterfly or moth. Another thing we learned is that the difference between butterflies and moths is that moths have a little "radar dome" on their heads, while butterflies have antennae.

After way too short a time (45 minutes) at the Butterfly Farm, we went to the Aruba Aloe Balm Factory. A couple of young but knowledgeable tour guides showed us the factory and the process used to harvest the aloe plant and manufacture aloe products. We weren't allowed to take pictures inside. No one was actually working since it was Sunday. Of course, the gift shop was open.

Next we went to the natural bridge area. On the way, we saw interesting rock formations, cactus fences, and organ pipe cacti that are a bit different from the ones we know so well from our time at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. Aruba has a relatively dry climate, with less than 20 inches of rain each year, so cacti make up a large part of the flora here.

The large natural bridge that used to be a great tourist draw collapsed on September 2, 2005, in the middle of the night, so no one was crushed. It must have been quite spectacular. Now it is a spectacular pile of rubble. There is a smaller "baby" bridge next to it, but it, too, is showing cracks that indicate future failure.

When we got back to the ship terminal at about 11:45, we walked the short distance into town. Many of the shops were closed, but the ones that were open were mostly jewelry stores and touristy junk places.

By this time the heat was really getting quite oppressive with the very high humidity. We left Oranjestad, Aruba, about 5 p.m. under clear skies.