Manicured Aruba

Casibari Rock Formations

Last night we tried The Beach House for the first time…on this trip. We’ve eaten in it before on other P&O cruises. The menu seems to be aiming at the American grill style of food with largely a meaty sort of fayre, but there were a couple of prawn and veggie options too. It’s next to the cafeteria so didn’t really provide us with any huge expectations. There’s a cover charge for this dining experience, just to give it that edge of being something different from the normal restaurant. We were offered inside or outside and of course, chose outside. 

It was a balmy, breezy evening, but fairly protected being at the back of the ship. We had a very leisurely, filling meal which was really tasty, well presented and perfectly served. Nick’s was a real “caveman” experience where he had to cook his steak on a lava block (it was seriously thick and chunky. The steak!) and mine was sizzling prawns. What was not to like? All to the backdrop of the moon, Venus and Jupiter all lined up in a row and extremely bright and lovely chilled club music in the background. There wasn’t a chance we could consider a desert and indeed if we return to the Beach House, I’ll need to be even more hungry than I was last night, just to cope with the very large portions.

In our quest to let dinner settle a little, we attempted the circuit we’d tried to do the night before, but had been forced back by the wind. It was still too breezy really to have a comfortable walk on the top deck. Both of us hanging onto each other and trying to keep my top under control. I was wearing one of my voluminous tents and felt at risk of being swept off the ship in full sail. So knowing it was going to be an early start for our stopover in Aruba, we returned to our cabin and bedded down as nothing appealed to us on the entertainment front yesterday evening.

The sandbar in Oranjestad

Breakfast on our balcony

An early start with breakfast on the balcony overlooking a sandbar and perfectly turquoise water and blue skies. I’m not too sure what happened this morning, but we were all organised by 8 and knowing we had to negotiate the port terminal, set off. No queues getting off the ship and the terminal was immediately outside the ship. We were actually so early, the bus hadn’t arrived for our excursion. We observed, while we were waiting for our bus, that after this morning’s beautiful sunrise, it was looking a little threatening. The clouds were rolling in and darkening by the minute. And then the heavens opened and the downpour came just as we found ourselves fully ensconced at the front of a very air-conned bus. 

Zaylon was our driver and guide. We had been warned by Michelle in her presentation of Aruba that the guide may be the driver too. Trying desperately not to think about the obvious lack of road safety where that was concerned, I decided I needed to simply sit back and try and relax. Zaylon had a very relaxed, chilled manner, so eventually that instilled some calm in me. 

The island of Aruba is 21 miles long by 6 miles wide. It’s 15 miles from Venezuela. Has 2 million tourists a year most of which come from the US. On a busy day, there are 35 flights a day into Aruba from the US. The second most popular tourists are those from the Netherlands and Colombia. The population is roughly made up of 110,000 legally registered people. The crime rate is low. Everywhere is very clean and tidy with neat, manicured gardens. Temperatures range from 25 degrees to 30 degrees and the island benefits from the northeast trade winds. There are no hurricanes on Aruba, even though the Caribbean is renowned for them. There are no mountains on Aruba, they are just hills. 

Cactus throughout the island

There is a lot of Cactus throughout the island. The cactus is not native to the island. Birds eat the fruit of the cactus, the seeds then drop to the ground and the next cactus then grows. Accommodation seems mainly of the single-storey villa type. There was an area of high-end hotels, but they were all together. We saw a number of Divi Divi trees which grow only on one side due to the prevailing wind. Aloe Vera products are a big business in Aruba and this was brought in by the Dutch. Aruba is proud that it has the 5th largest drinking water processing plant in the world, has 10 windmills on the islands and is adding solar panels all to assist with its energy issues. Aruba is protected by the Dutch Military. Aruba’s nationality is Dutch and schooling is in Dutch. Dutch is their first language, with Papiamento as their second language. This is a combination of Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, English and African.

Casibari Rock Formation

The Tunnel

A welcome at the gate

Our first stop was the Casibari rock formation. These massive, randomly scattered rocks are composed of quartz diorite. There were two accesses to the top. The easy way and the hard way. Or in Nick’s case, the stay-at-base way. I opted for the hard way, which involved crouching through a tunnel and then ascending the formation through a series of steps. I was rewarded with some great views over to the sea and could just make out our ship in the distance.

Original Natural Bridge, now collapsed

Baby Natural Bridge

Then on to Natural Bridge. This was on the north coast of the island where there are no inhabitants. There’s a fair amount of evidence of volcanic activities in this area due to the black rock. The natural bridge, formed out of coral limestone, was the largest natural bridge in the Caribbean until 2005, when it collapsed. Prior to its collapse, it measured 25 feet high by 100 feet long. It has now been replaced by a similar bridge which is named Natural Baby Bridge which is a mere 25 feet long by 3 feet above sea level.

Alto Vista Chapel

Then on to the Alto Vista Chapel. This is a tiny gingerbread Catholic Church, so small, that the main body of the seating is outside. The road to the chapel was lined with the Stations of the Cross. All particularly symbolic at this time of the year.  

California Lighthouse

Our last stop was the California Lighthouse, named after the steamship California which was wrecked nearby in 1891. However, the construction of the lighthouse wasn’t built until 1916. It measures nearly 100 feet in height.

It was a whistle-stop tour of Aruba, but let’s face it, this is not a big island and it was lovely to get a snapshot of its main attractions. 

A local tram

We weren’t ready to return to the ship, so walked to downtown Oranjestad. There were a lot of very high-end named shops. It’s evident there is a good amount of wealth here. We had a lovely mocha at one cafe and then lunch at The Paddock. 

Beer at The Paddock with Aurora in the background

A couple of beers and toasties took well over an hour. These folk are on Aruba time. There’s no need to rush anything. However, the Balashi beer was well worth the wait. It truly was the best restaurant in the area, on the seafront with a lovely vibe. 

Subtley decorated buildings in the town centre

As we ambled back to the ship in the late afternoon, I mused that this was a place I could definitely aspire to. Very civilised. A very slow way of life. I’d just have to find myself a hugely wealthy husband. Dream on Gabs. 

With the sun still high in the sky, we freshened up for an early evening of pop and being sold at. An invitation to the Penthouse Library Suite. I really must work on this hugely wealthy husband idea I’ve got my mind set on.

OK, in reality, the Penthouse was alright and if I’d had this as an upgrade, I wouldn’t have refused. However, the bed was the same size as ours, as were the bedroom and bathroom. The living quarters were way bigger admittedly. We had a great chat with our Entertainment Manager Paul, who we’d recognised was a Stokie, through and through. We shared some good Stokie stories and it was evident we knew the same folk. 

Nick asked me where I fancied eating this evening. I’d had such an unexpectedly good day and didn’t want it trashing by the restaurant. We opted for a glass of pop and meal at The Glass House. Now there’s a surprise. It didn’t disappoint. Tomorrow’s a sea day and we’ll just go with the flow.