Aruba
Tuesday 4-16-13 Aruba
We arrived in Aruba around 7:00 am under sunny skies and 77
degrees. Yesterday was probably one of
the warmer days as the temperature reached 91. Aruba is 18 miles off the coast
of Venezuela and 42 miles west of Curacao, our next and last stop. The island is approximately 75 square miles,
20 miles wide and 6 miles long with Oranjestad, the historic Dutch city, is the
home to all of Aruba government offices.
The town is very attractive and quite developed as it relates to the
other islands we have visited on this trip.
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| The sand bar adjacent to where our ship docked contained one single tree which looked like it had been there for years. |
Upon leaving the ship we joined three other couples and hired a mini-van for a 2 hour tour of the island. We started at the dock area and proceeded to drive north eventually to an old lighthouse where we then drove along the western shore line where the major hotels are located as well as the most beautiful beaches.
Just some of the homes we viewed along the roadway. They illustrated what appeared to us to be a higher economic base on this island compared to what we saw earlier on the other islands.
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| Note the hurricane protection on the windows. |
Our tour included a stop at a rock formation that provided a wonderful view of the surrounding area.
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| The view from the top of the rocks. |
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| Shopping for some wonderful sunscreen. |
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| The tour also included a stop at an Aloe Vera shop, probably owned by the taxi drivers family.... |
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| Purchasing something to drink on this hot day. |
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| Just some of the beautiful white beaches. |
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| Yes, another Diamond International store. |
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| The colorful street close to the dock where most of the tourist shops are located. |
It was warm after getting back from the tour so I dropped into a casino to cool off!! We did spend the rest of the afternoon playing bridge with two ladies, who happened to live in the Hood Canal area. We have met several couples that live in the Pacific Northwest.
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| A beautiful tourist. |
Last night we had an enjoyable dinner with Gerry and Alex at one of the specialty restaurants. Shirl had a very good steak while I enjoyed a nice
sea bass. The food on the entire cruise has been exceptional and if there were to be a downside it would be the entertainment as most evening shows consisted of single stand up comedians or musicians.
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| After dinner we took a walk on the top of the deck with a wonderful moon shinning. |
Tomorrow we are off to Curacao, our last stop on the cruise.
73's
The Traveling Huntley's
Shirl andRoger
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