Mi Stima Aruba

Hello again, or, as they say in Aruba bon dia!

This little island, right above Venezuela is a part of the Netherlands Antilles and has a palm-lined, white sand beach to its southwest and a desert interior. It’s quite a mix of peoples and you see a culture that while very European and American has a strong South American and African flavor. There are also large East Indian and Chinese populations as well.

The property I was videoing happened to be on the nicest stretch of the nicest beach in Aruba. This mean that there was a good deal of white sand, tall palms and many umbrellas made of palm fronds for guests to sit under. The sea is a rich blue-green and there is this persistent breeze that not only cools the heat but also lulls you into a relaxed state of being. (Even when you can’t ready your bloody monitor screen in the blinding sun!)

I happened to catch the island in flukey weather. Instead of the constant sun and 81 that the island always gets, the clouds happened to make a visit. That meant that the day involved me dodging clouds and recording when that sun would illuminate everything and then waiting when the clouds rolled over the sun once again.

The manager offered one of the cars to me so that I could explore the island. I really hadn’t anticipated this opportunity and accepted most graciously! I had a good deal of apprehension for many reasons but one must weigh these things in how rich it makes your life in the end. Indeed. Exploring the island.

So, I shot up to the northern coast to visit the California lighthouse. Yes, another lighthouse but the setting on the rocky landscape was quite something. There were lots of tourists and colorful tourbuses and people with 4-wheelers and Jeeps exploring the rocks and sand. What caught my eye mostly was the unique honey comb-like rock all around. It look absolutely unforgiving to the barefoot but helped to add unique contour to the area.


I had intended to head to park Arikok but seeing the sun coming out, shot back to the resort to shoot it in the sun. Who knows when it would come again? I made may way back. In a round-about fashion, I eventually arrived. You see, the streets don’t really seem to have names, at least none that I could see. After a few roundabouts, I found the map not so helpful. Other than understanding that 4A and 4B were the main drags I had to roam my way around with my compass, my map and ask directions. One wrong turn brought me to Madiki. Imagine that!

Shoot, shoot resort and then back to the road. This time to Park Arikok. I followed the signs here and there up into the cactus hills. I made it up to a the entrance and a sign that said the road was closed and arrows pointing in another direction. I took that route and found nothing and then repeated the whole windy process again, passing poorer looking housing and wild doggies. At the entrance again I saw a man in a hut so I asked him and he said it was closed but that I could park. He was a ranger and showed me where I could hike. With my cross, er, tripod and camera on my shoulder, I ventured into the desert. It was nice that there was absolutely no one in these late afternoon hills. I saw birds chirping, white donkeys on the hill and little lizards running through the brush. There were lots of these pointy phallic cactic shooting up into the sky. The trail also ran
around these divi-divi trees which are flagged, or, whipped by the constant Tradewinds so they all point West like a woman’s hair blowin in da wint. Then it was back again to the place.

As for this day, I found myself 120 feet underneath the ocean in one of the few tourist submarines in the world! It was cooler than I thought it would be. They shuttle you out and after about 15 minutes you watch the submarine emerge from the ocean below. Awaiting the unboarding of the previous
passengers, you await on the deck of the sub and shuffle down the stairs, facing the stairs, of course!

Below there is ample seating for over 40 people and round windows for you to gaze through. You drop down around the 50 foot mark and then eventually to 130, at one point even touching the sandy floor. But you get to see a lot of coral. I saw some of the largest coral I ever have! There were lots of fish too and I recognized grouper, 4-eyed butterfly fish and seargeant majors, but forgot many of the rest. You also get to see two ships, one being an old wooden schooner!

Back in town, Orangestad (Oranya-schtad) is a colorful area. Much of architecture is Dutch and colorful in that said fashion and there is a long market, that used to be the fish market, now converted to the selling of knick-knacks and souvenirs. This dock-side area also has open cafes as well, where I got myself some seafood soup. Across the street the mall area is full of jewelers, European cafes and the like. It’s very colorful and there are flags of many nations everywhere.

For lunch I went to one of the local favorites, the Old Fisherman. Here I had some seafood rice and a Balashi, their local beer, tangy and cold. I also asked for the hot sauce. Holy cow! This in league with the hottest hot sauces in the world! It’s called Madame Janette and made with scotch bonnet peppers which are related to habeneros. Just one dip of my rice into the sauce and I was like, ‘wow, okay, I’m done with that.’ But the meal was very good.

I finally made my way back and told myself I must at least dive into the surf to be able I said I did it. The waves were big, rolling, crashing and green blue. I grabbed my scuba mask and head out into the surf. I spent my time wading out in the swells sometimes riding with them, sometimes riding over, sometimes not paying attention and catching a breaker right on the top of the head. I watched some boarders skimming on the waves right next to the beach, played underneath them and finally rode one back to shore. After 15 minutes, that was that. My play for today.

Tomorrow I will cycle through 4 different airports on my way to Peter Island and the only resort on the island. I hope flights go well and I can make a connection to a boat taking me to the island. It’s one of those days that begin at 3:45am and end around 6pm if lucky. All part of the grand adventure I guess. Ku tur mi amor. Te aworo!