Day 5
Country No. 92: Aruba

Date: March 14, 2007
Place: Oranjestad, Aruba

I return to South America, my second favorite continent to travel to (only after Europe).

Okay, Aruba may not count as a part of South America. But from the map, it lies just outside of Venezuela coast, at the south edge of the Caribbean Sea. There are 3 big islands in this area, all of them Dutch territories. Also known as ABC islands, Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao are among the most developed, liberal, and affluent islands in the Caribbean. Though our ship will not travel to Bonaire, we anchor at Aruba today and will be in Curaçao tomorrow.

Due to its geographical location, hurricanes don't come to the ABC islands as they do to other Caribbean islands (They are too far south). Also due to tradewind constantly blown to the islands all years round, they are quite breezy and less buggy (most insects are all blown away, so we don't have to worry about malaria or Dengue Fever). However, constant wind does make my (already long) hair very messy.

To avoid what happened to me in St. Kitts, I reserved shore excursions on Aruba two days earlier. Actually, I reserved two in the same afternoon: A cycling adventure at its northeastern shore ($58) and a sunset catamaran cruise ($38). They are not cheap but at least not outrageously expensive (cost is usually higher in Aruba anyway). But in the morning, I have time to wander around by myself.

Aruba is the 92nd country I visited. Though it is a part of the Netherlands, its autonomous status (they even has their visa regulation and money. No, they don't use Euro.) still qualifies it as a separate entity.

The capital, Oranjestad (this name just sounds so...Dutch), is not a very big town. There are a lot of Dutch style guild house but painted with patel colors. Almost all these houses are souvenir shops or some chain restaurants from North America (Yes, they do have Dunkin' Donuts there, right next to McDonalds'). I walked into a nice shopping malls with some nice bookstores, hair saloon, and panini sandwitch stand. It is just like any malls in US or Canada. Glad that I also found something I've searching for in the past few days: cheap internet access.

After checking my e-mails (no good news about job searching still) and bought some after-sun cream (Aruba is famous for its aloe products, which can be used for after-sun cream), I rushed back to the ship to join the excursions.

Compared to other Caribbean islands, Aruba is quite dry and relatively flat. It is quite easy to bike around. Though it tends to get hot in the afternoon, the constant tradewind can actually cool us a little bit. A van took our group to the Western Coast. The starting point is just next to the Baby Natural Bridge, a seaside arch eroded by wind and the sea. Unfortunately, what we visited is just the "Baby" Bridge. The bigger and more famous (as you had seen often in Aruba's tourism brochures) "Natural Bridge" no longer exists - it collapsed (by nature's force) in 2005. After a few pictures, we started out the 3 hours' biking trip north!

It is great that after all this eating, watching entertainment, and occasional dancing for four days, I would have the chance to work out a bit. We passed by an abandoned fort, and tiny church, saw many other tourists on various types of transportations (including the funny looking quad bikes). We ended our ride at a small beach. But we were only allowed to stay there for 20 minutes and then we were taken back to the ship.

Before I even had time to go back to my cabin to change clothes, it is time for the catamaran ride. There are more passengers in this excursion. Though the catamaran is smaller than I thought, it is big enough to fit all forty or fifty of us on. And yes, it is a "booze" cruise as I expected, as all the cocktails is offered for free. Since they are not too strong, I ordered about 4 different variations of tropical drinks. It sailed along the eastern coast of Aruba and passed an extremely touristy beach (Palm Beach). Seeing all those high-rise giant hotel resorts along the beach, I can imagine how popular Aruba is. I'm glad I did not go to those overtouristy beach, but instead took a trip to the off-beaten path west coast.

Be honest, Aruba is not as interesting as I hoped it be. Though weather is nice and it seems reasonably priced and convenient, it is still too touristy. And all these chain stores from North America make it even lacks in character and personality. Okay, the Dutch style buildings is cute (all those pastel colors) and they look fake.

Will Curaçao be more authentic?

Back to the ship at 8 pm, I had a relatively late dinner. But fortunately, tonight's dinner companions are even more interesting than yesterday's, especially a mixed Asian and Caucasian couple from Calgary, Canada. I'm glad that our ship did not stick to the traditional seating system, so I can get in the Reflection Dining Room anytime as long as it is open, and also have dinner with different dining companions every night. Maybe the conversation has gone too interesting, I ended up missing the main show in Tropical Theatre - the Broadway Musical Show. However, I was in time for the 10:30 hypnotist show in the same Theatre. Though I'm never really a person interested in hypnotism, this show turned out much more fun than I expected.

Finally on this cruise trp, I had both a good day (did a lot of physical exercise) and a good night (nice dinner, interesting companions, and a fun show). Things finally is looking up.

And there will be Country No. 93 tomorrow.

A catamaran sails right next to our ship. The water is so blue...