Aruba!! We arrived back on the lovely Island of Aruba
at 0800 hours our time…it feels like we were here only last year…oh wait, we
WERE here last year. This time, we
decided to be really brave and organise our own trip with a local taxi
driver. We were not disappointed. After disembarking you are pretty much
spoiled for choice with regards to private tours. We chose an air conditioned taxi/minibus
thing with another couple…just the four of us in total. The driver took us on a trip around the top
half of the Island and it was really beautiful. 
Last time, all we saw of Aruba was the town and shops….it was really
nice to go further out to see what else was on offer.

 

The island has the
Atlantic Ocean on the Eastern coast and then 
the western coast right down to the southern coast is all Caribbean
sea. The difference between the two
bodies of water and also the coastline in those areas is stark. On the Atlantic side, there are few houses,
very few buildings of any kind because the salt eats away at everything. The seas here are spectacular. Waves crash against the volcanic rock and it
would be near on impossible to attempt to swim here. The Caribbean side is full of white sugary
soft sand beaches and palm trees….tranquil calm waters and also the funny trees
which lean to the south (the direction that the trade winds blow) When I remember the name of the funny trees,
I will post it! There are some pictures
of the funny little trees included anyway.

 

We saw some rock
formations which were slightly inland. 
These were created at the time the Island was formed from a volcanic
eruption deep under the sea. Even
inland, the remnants of the sea bed are apparent as you walk around on coral
which is hundreds of thousands of years old. 
There are also some cave paintings inside some of the interesting rock
formations. These date from before the time of Christ and are protected. I took some pictures of them also. Little little would like me to include the
picture of the one formation which includes a smallish rock in the shape of an
apes head…..

 

As well as rock
formations, rugged Atlantic coastline and gorgeous Caribbean beaches, we were
treated to some of the Dutch landmarks. 
The Island is of course one of many in the Caribbean where the primary
language is Dutch.

 

The weather in Aruba
never fails to disappoint. Fifteen
minutes of rain the day before we arrived was considered to be a deluge of epic
proportions. (because it rarely rains!) For us, there was no rain, just the usual hot
hot Aruban sun and trade winds bringing only a little relief. The Island is covered with Cacti, another
sign of just how dry this place is.

 

Although dry, the
main town of the Island is cosmopolitan and bustling. There are major chain stores here and many
many jewellery shops. We found a lot of
the shops on the Island to be a bit expensive and also selling a lot of the same kind of things so we wander
of the beaten track a little bit more to find better deals. Little little got ANOTHER t-shirt and a very
sweet shop owner gave her a wrist band for free….just because she is a monkey
apparently. Last time we came here, the
tram was in the first stages of being built. 
It is now finished and is being put to good use transporting both
visitors and locals up and down the busy streets.

 

My knee is
horrendously painful but I am trying to grit my teeth and keep it moving. I am pretty sure I have tweaked a ligament
somehow. Dave's toe is on the mend!

 

Tonight we were
invited to join an American couple we met earlier in the cruise for a meal at
one of the ships restaurants. They are
from the deep south, bible belt area but they are in no way like the stereo
typical image of Americans from that part of the world. A really lovely, intelligent and funny couple
we are going to keep in touch with them after they leave us at the end of the
week. He is an ex cop who has switched
policing for I.T and she is ex Navy and now bakes cakes for a living. They are around our age and we get on very
well. They are also our quiz companions.

 

Speaking of
quizzes….we forgot to snaffle an elderly couple for our team this evening so it
was just Dave, myself and the American couple Kelly and Kerry. We didn’t do so well on the questions only an
older person would know. Tomorrow, we
will be sure to kidnap an oldie so that we can reclaim our place at the top of
the quiz tree.    

 

I need to add
something but it’s a bit gross. Sitting
in our usual barfly position at Crooners bar tonight there was a very large man
sat on the chair/stool to my left. He
was sitting with his back to me which was fine….but then he kept breaking wind
right into my face. At one point it was
so vile the bar steward noticed mine and Dave's faces and thrust some cucumber
into our hands so we could sniff that instead of his stench. He was truly disgusting…..he looked a mess as
well.

Anyway it is late
here and I need to sleep! Tomorrow is
second formal night and also the first of two days at sea! Hopefully I can rest my knee a bit because we
have done a lot of walking the last two days and it really is very very
painful.

 

Love to all!